Tribes Ascend is a high speed skill based first person shooter from Hi Rez Studios. In this sci fi game, players are given jetpacks that let them that fly through the air and anti-friction boots that let them slide effortlessly along the ground, known as skiing. By utilizing skiing and jetpacks over the hilly terrain, players can gain speeds over 400 kilometers per hour. Almost all the weapons are projectile-based, making the skill required to hit shots with explosives and machine guns alike very high.

The main competitive game type of Tribes is Capture the Flag. The goal is simple: grab the enemy’s flag and bring it home safe to your own flag to get a point, and the first to five points wins. Games are typically played in teams of 7 vs 7 or 8 vs 8. Players must select one of several different light, medium, and heavy classes in order to fill a variety of offensive and defensive positions on each team.

On offense, there are cappers, using the pathfinder class, rocketing at high speeds to quickly grab the enemy flag. This is no place to go slow; a slow grab, or llama grab, is easy pickings for skilled defenders; there is heavy offense, or HO, in the juggernaut class, raining explosive mortars from above; there is also light offense, such as the shielded raider class with his high-damage weapons, or the sneaky infiltrator class, who can turn invisible and launch surprise attacks.

To repel the offense, a team will use several positions on defense, There’s the Heavy on Flag, or HoF, usually in the Doombringer class, whose tries to block incoming enemy cappers; there’s light defense, often in the soldier class, dueling with enemy attackers; there are chasers, as the pathfinder class, who run down and kill cappers who get out with the flag; and snipers, in the sentinel class, spotting enemy offense and killing them with his rifle.

When one team’s flag is grabbed, the other team has to act fast. If they can’t kill the enemy capper, they will often try to do an emergency grab, or e-grab. Since a team can’t capture the enemy flag without their own flag safely at home, e-grabbing can prevent an enemy team from getting a point. If both teams have each other’s flags, this situation is called a standoff, and teams must defend their flag carrier and try to return their own flag to get the capture. After knocking the flag out of a defender’s hands with an impact nitron grenade, player touch the flag to instantly return it home.

Between the high speeds, close grabs, and clutch plays, Tribes Ascend is a thrilling and dramatic game to both watch and play. It is completely free to play, so go download and play it today!