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Death Rattle Game:
Tribes 2 | 2001
Despite being an anxiously awaited sequel, and birthing an inexpensive, open-source engine, Tribes 2 sent Dynamix the way of the American Indian. Legend has it that parent company, Sierra, didn't cotton to the "when it’s done" release philosophy prevalent amongst mod-friendly contemporaries like Valve and id Software. So, to keep revenues streams flowing like the mighty Suwannee River, Tribes 2 went retail marred with slowed gameplay, an unwanted emphasis on vehicles and horribly persistent crashing.
Above: The gang's all gone
Identity Loss
An expansion pack was canceled as customer complaints grew, and more and more copies of Tribes 2 found themselves returned to retailers. And while each successive patch plugged leaks and aided mod support, remaining gameplay aspects were nerfed and the unique, yet buggy, community features were scrapped entirely. When Sierra itself was summarily swallowed up by Vivendi Universal in a 2001 acquisition, poor Dynamix just didn’t make the cut.
Above: This lone warrior represents Tribe 2's remaining player
Hope for Resurrection?
Nope. Sierra shifted development of the last game in the series, Tribes: Vengeance, to Irrational Games to surprisingly good review scores in 2004. Sequel? Not from them. They got a little busy with their own properties: a tiny game you may know as BioShock. Good to know when playing Six Degrees of Andrew Ryan.
Above: Tethered by failure.
Surviving Dynamix members found their way to GarageGames, literally working on severance pay from a Eugene, Oregon car port, using Tribes 2’s Torque Game Engine to create games like XBLA’s Marble Blast Ultra.
