PC Critic Reviews

Tribes Ascend is, by more than 300kmhh, the most exciting first-person shooter I've played in years.

Tribes: Ascend is the most pure representation of the Tribes experience since Tribes 2 perfected it back in 2001. Almost every single part of the experience has been tweaked and improved, classes reborn and expanded, maps detailed and sprawling. You can ski like a master within minutes, but perfecting your routes, jumps and jetpack tactics are still the aim of the game.

A game that is just fun as hell. It has something for everyone, not only the Tribes fans. If you don't like the skiing, pilot a vehicle. If you don't like the flag capping, defend your generator. If you don't like shooting midair, repair and upgrade your defenses.

Capture and Hold and Raindance are strong additions to an already-strong free shooter, and it makes Tribes: Ascend an even more addictive "just one more match" FPS that's unlike any other shooter on the market. In the age of me-too shooters, that's not just a good thing, that's a great thing.

As always, the perception of good value lies with you, but even without a penny paid this is still one of the most fluid, elegant, and strategically rich online shooters available. It's a beautiful game to play – in the elaborate motion of its tactics as much as its bright, crisp worlds.

Even with its relatively minor flaws, anyone with even a cursory interest in Tribes: Ascend should play it. No other shooter conveys the same sense of speed – or the rush of pleasure that comes from nailing someone at over 100 KPH – as Tribes.

In the end, even with just the three starting classes and nothing else unlocked, the game is a lot of fun and still completely free. It's worth checking out for both old fans and those of you who don't know what a Spinfusor is.

Fresh air for a genre that needed it. A title with old-school gameplay evolved and adapted to current times with great results. Very fun and charming, sometimes frantic and also free-to-play. If you like non-stop triger-happy action, you should try it.

A few tweaks and concessions aren't enough to stall this brilliant revival of the fastest multiplayer shooter on PC. [June 2012, p.50]

Contrary to the classic gameplay of an FPS that requires constant cover, slow advances, crouching and prone positioning, the battles of Ascend happen on the ground, as well as in the air and in tremendous speeds- thus changing drastically the classic tactical approaches of the genre. It's a breath of fresh air in the online FPS world. [September 2012]