Canberra. A town that’s many things to different people. National capital (even if only in name, being realistic). Haven to public servants and junkies – as well as people who are both. Choice destination for XXX porn shoppers. Halfway house for people en route to the Snowy mountains. And now – game development hothouse.

That’s right – sleepy old Canberra, whose sole contributions to the entertainment industry have been the Summernats, adult stores and the nations largest collection of automated public toilets is the birthplace of one of the best first person shooters released this year. Yes – Tribes Vengeance is really that good, which means that yes, the makers, Irrational Games, are really that good also.

It’s a series of firsts for the game. The first time that a new development crew has worked on a title. The first time the slick new Unreal engine has been put to work in the Tribes series, and equally critical – the first Tribes game to have a single player mode. Irrational obviously thought the difficulty level of producing the game wasn’t high enough.

Talking with Irrational’s Art Director, Ben Lee at Vivendi Universal’s Asia-Pacific summit really brought home just how serious the company was taking the new look and single player storyline. Lee was intent on enhancing the level of identity that the Tribes factions had, and the end result is outstanding. Split into three factions, the Blood Eagles, the Children of the Phoenix and the Imperials, and they’re readily identifiable in a Warhammer/Mech style series of armour blazons and sigils. It’s safe to say that Tribes veterans will be thrilled at the graphic upgrade, which doesn’t sacrifice the treasured Tribes movement to achieve a higher level of detail.

You also get some startlingly good explosion and fire effects for your money as well, which when taken into account with the sprawling terrain can give the impression that this is Tribes done Unreal Tournament style, which isn’t a bad thing at all. The cool Tribes stuff – the huge maps, the aerial gameplay, and the light, medium and heavy armour types – are retained, just with a new, glossy exterior. However, there were two big question marks going into this game – could the single player story actually be meaningful enough to capture the attention of new and existing Tribes punters, and could Irrational retain the feel of the older, Dynamix made titles.

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