Tribes Ascend

Currently in closed beta, you can obtain a beta key simply by liking their FB page: http://www.facebook.com/tribesascend

I went about installing it yesterday and became rather hooked. It is F2P so you have some typical complaints from users about other players having advantages etc, but straight out of the digital box, it's pretty damn fun.

Fast paced action but with limited classes and weapon scope to begin with. It reminds me of Killzone 2 MP actually and that's not a bad thing. You can unlock any class at any time with a few $'s, or via XP points over time - insuring that you learn the ropes before you jump into some of the more involved classes.

The learning curve is quite small if you start off with Team DM (which has a nice twist from the typical TDM modes: there's one flag, whatever team is carrying it gets 2x the kill count on the opposing team). I haven't dabbled much in CTF yet, I feel it supports a wider range of classes to begin with. There's also "Rabbit" which I haven't checked out.

Anyway, it's free and feels like a complete game already - so if you want some fast paced action, check it out

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It also has some of my favourite HUD Damage indicators of any game - gels so well with narrative and beats the hell out of the boring ass "BLOOD IN MY EYES " You see everywhere.

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Quote from Thrik

although I'm waiting until the final product is released as I'm past my days of dealing with alphas/betas.

Can't hurt to try it out It's free and does feel quite complete already.

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Are there still turrets and stuff like that?

Yep, turrets/vehicles/generators/target strikes etc. Turrets don't seem too effective to me, especially investing in their upgrades. I'd like to see a bit of homing technology coming along with the upgrades - but then again, I have died to them a few times also.

I played quite a bit of CTF today and have to say, it's pretty damn cool skiing straight towards the enemies flag and snatching it at 180km/h then fleeing back to your base under pursuit One of the more enjoyable experiences an FPS has delivered in a long time.

Quote from Thrik

Hopefully T:A has generous limits on turrets like T2!

Ahh those turrets, yeah they're still in also. I thought you were talking about the stationary base ones, which I find more effective on some maps than others.

The game is playing very similar to KZ2 in that the more you level up/unlock, the more you begin to play with players who have different combinations. I'm seeing all kinds of groovy grenades, force fields and lock-on missiles lately.