There is a command window available that serves as radar screen, and will allow you to track and issue commands to your teammates, or even take over manual control of a base defense turret.
The gameplay of Tribes 2 makes it necessary to work as a team, by including class restrictions, as well as the need for a variety of roles. Your "team" will never succeed if you individually rush 1000m across the map into an enemy with a well-constructed sensor and turret defense net, and you will hit a dead end if all of you are assault units with no repair capability if your generator/inventory station/vehicle station is destroyed.

The worlds of Tribes 2 are in comparison to typical FPS games quite huge, and full of hills. They can range from tundra, to volcanic or tropical landscapes, with rain, snow and fireballs of lava. Large portions of battles are likely to take place in open areas rather than in hallways and rooms, and vast landscapes combined with non-instant projectile weapons force the use of "aim-at-the-foot" type shots.
The large scale of these Tribes 2 worlds brings me to my favorite part of Tribes2 - Vehicles. It is often necessary to utilize vehicles - ground (hover) and anti-grav (flying, up to ~100m) in order to traverse the large distances. Again teamwork is necessary, as many vehicles require a pilot along with a gunner/bomber at the same time. It is a great experience to let the plasma bombs fly onto an open enemy base or to pick off enemy units with the fusion mortar from the Beowulf Tank.

One convenient and important feature of Tribes 2 is for radio messages. Using a series of hotkeys you can issue commands, requests, and general comments to others globally or within your team. To take it a step further, voice transmission is possible and inbuilt into the game.

Conclusion: Graphics in the game are great, from the landscapes generated to the textures/skins of the players, as well as impressive lighting and weather effects. The large scale and fine detail can cause make it harder for a lower end system to cope, but a range of customizability with texture and special effect levels, as well as a range of resolutions available ranging from 640x480@16 to 1600x1200@32 will cater for a large range of machines.
Sound effects add great atmosphere to the game, from the sound of bombs falling from the sky to a variety of character vocals available.
The gameplay is awesome, and caters for a vast variety of roles, which extends replayability to no end. Change from a sniper, to a walking assault unit, to a medic or even a pilot in seconds.
Overall the most immersive, addictive team based shooter available.

Score: 95/100

Falcon
falcon@gamesurge.com

Useful links:

Tribes 2 Official Site
PlanetTribes

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