Tribes 2
From Dynamix and Sierra Studios

View the ad: Page 1 or Page 2

Ok, so you have a big sequel coming out to an under appreciated – but critically revered -- online game from 1998.  So what do you do for the ads?  Well, if you are the marketing team at Sierra Studios, you make zero reference to the prior game’s legacy and instead just throw up a logo and hope players have heard of the Tribes series.   Although the original game was the first real attempt at an online team-based action game, you wouldn’t know it from this ad.

Admittedly Sierra might not want to make players feel like they had to play the first Tribes in order to enjoy this one, but as it stands, they are putting all their eggs in the basket of an impressive two-page screenshot.  (I’m not sure if it’s a real image, but certain visual effects in the image make it look to be at least slightly doctored).  But if this is a real screenshot, why not say so?  Remove the shadow of a doubt in my mind and put in big letters, “Actual In-Game Image.”  If it’s not a real screenshot, well then this ad is deceiving because it makes you want to think this is in-game action.

But there is a lot of action in this ad, and I like the poses of the characters.  While it would have been nice to see a bit more firepower being used – why isn’t anyone firing their weapon? – The image used does effectively convey the “us vs. them” team mentality of the game.  

However, I’m still left wondering, “Is this a single or multiplayer game?”   Fans of the series know that Tribes 2 can be played online or offline (unlike the original) but this ad says little about the whole online world of Tribes.  That’s a mistake.

Grade: B