Shazbot! Tribes: Ascend announced. Multiplayer-only, coming this year, has trailer

New Tribes news benefits us all, PC gamers--even the least jetpack-amicable among us. Hi-Rez Studios (the Georgia-based dev that made Global Agenda ) is creating Tribes: Ascend , a multiplayer-only, download-sized successor to Tribes 2 in the Unreal 3 engine. This is a separate game from the developer's more massively-multiplayer use of the license, Tribes Universe, which is also in development. Inside: the Ascend trailer.

Normally I'd feel a little uncomfortable about a dev digging up years-old quotes to build excitement for it's sequel, but heavens to healthkits, if Tribes doesn't deserve a proper modern reboot, I'm not sure what shooter does. There's such a void that's formed as multiplayer FPSes have moved away from the complexity and acrobaticism of Quake 3 and Tribes to favor the narrower, grounded gunplay of Call of Duty. That said, it's a modest warning sign that Hi-Rez says that Ascend will be available on Xbox 360 as well as PC. I don't doubt that it can be done, but taming Tribes' high-speed gameplay for a controller--while maintaining its creamy, Spinfusor-filled core of breakneck movement and open-air fighting on PC--can't be easy.

Here's Hi-Rez Studios' Todd Harris, COO: "Before Halo, before Modern Warfare, and before Battlefield, there was Tribes. Tribes fans appreciate the game's essence--athletic FPS combat combined with teamwork and strategy. As we began development of Tribes Universe, we focused first on capturing that essence--refining and modernizing iconic elements like jetpacks, skiing, and vehicles. We've had tremendous fun play-testing and realized the potential of a multiplayer focused title ahead of Tribes Universe. The community has been waiting for a multi-player shooter that is the modern successor to T2. Tribes: Ascend is that game.”

To review:

Tribes Universe (the MMO) is still a ways off.
Tribes: Ascend is a separate, multiplayer-only shooter coming in 2011.

Evan's a hardcore FPS enthusiast who joined PC Gamer way back in 2008. After an era spent publishing reviews, news, and cover features, he now oversees editorial operations for PC Gamer worldwide, including setting policy, training, and editing stories written by the wider team. His most-played FPSes are Hunt: Showdown, Team Fortress 2, Team Fortress Classic, Rainbow Six Siege, and Counter-Strike. His first multiplayer FPS was Quake 2, played on serial LAN in his uncle's basement, the ideal conditions for instilling a lifelong fondness for fragging.