The classic Tribes franchise officially returns to the PC on April 12, 2012 with the release of Tribes: Ascend.
Developed around a free-to-play model, the game has been in open beta for a couple of weeks, hosting around 400,000 players thus far. Developer Hi-Rez Studios is still offering spots in the open beta, which can be obtained by enlisting here, until the fast-paced shooter officially goes live next month. Player progress in the beta will be carried over to the final release, the studio reports.
Tribes: Ascend will be the first new Tribes game to be released since Tribes: Vengeance hit the PC way back in 2004. Developed using Epic's Unreal Engine 3, the game will be the official multiplayer successor to 2001's Tribes 2. The studio actually acquired the Tribes IP back in October 2010, and is currently working on a Tribes-based MMO called Tribes Universe in addition to the current multiplayer-only shooter.
Along with announcing the game's release date, Hi-Rez Studios also unleashed a parody trailer called "Llama Island," as seen below. "Tribes is all about speed and movement," explains Todd Harris, Hi-Rez Studios Chief Operating Officer. "In fact the community uses the term llama to refer to a player moving too slowly, like a plodding llama. So this video demonstrates the perils of trying to capture a flag while going too slow. The outcome is predictable but no less tragic."
To play Tribes Ascend, users will need to meet the following minimum or recommended system requirements:
Minimum System Requirements
* OS: Windows XP (SP2), Windows Vista or Windows 7
* Processor: Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz or Althon X2 2.7 GHz
* RAM: 2 GB or greater for Windows XP, 3 GB or greater for Windows Vista or 7
* Video card: ATI or Nvidia graphics card (512 MB video ram or better and Shader Model 3.0+ support). ATI Radeon 3870+ or Nvidia GeForce 8800GT+.
* Sound card: DirectX compatible sound card
* Hard drive: 10 GB available
Recommended System Requirements
* OS: Windows 7 64-bit
* Processor: Quad-core Intel or AMD CPU
* RAM: 4 GB or greater
* Video card: ATI or Nvidia graphics card (1 GB video ram or better and Shader Model 3.0+ support). Nvidia GeForce GTX 560+ or ATI Radeon 6950+.
* Sound card: DirectX compatible sound card
* Hard drive: 10 GB free
