Vivendi Universal Games announced that it is currently taking applications for the Tribes: Vengeance beta testing program, which will begin June 14th and run for several months. The closed beta program will begin with a very limited group but expand weekly until later this Summer when the public will be invited to partake in the testing. Tribes: Vengeance will ship to retail stores worldwide in October 2004.
Gamers interested in beta testing Tribes: Vengeance can visit the official website for more information and a link to the application page. Beta testers will be chosen based on system specifications and previous testing experience.
An additional opportunity to partake in the closed beta testing program will be made available exclusively to attendees of Tribal Wars, the first annual bi-coastal Tribes LAN party that runs from July 22-25. Attendees of either the East or West Coast LAN event who pre-order Tribes: Vengeance from any retail store and bring their receipt will receive an automatic entry into the Tribes: Vengeance closed beta testing program.
In Tribes: Vengeance gamers become immersed in a roiling galactic thriller. Throughout the game, the player catches glimpses of myriad interrelated stories that unfold behind-the-scenes and is given the opportunity to experience the full scope of the single-player story through multiple viewpoints and characters. Utilizing the Vengeance Engine powered by Unreal technology, the world is brought to life with characters that have facial expressions and fully-realized personalities, vehicles that kick up dust as they pass by, and weapons that display spectacular effects. Tribes: Vengeance will also build upon the Tribes series' legendary online multiplayer action by continuing to focus on team-oriented goals and fluid movement. Developer Irrational Games has hired one of the Tribes community's leading developers to head up the design and creation of the game's multiplayer component. Particular focus is being given to making Tribes: Vengeance easily accessible to the video game modification (MOD) community. Irrational Games and VU Games have worked together to ensure that Tribes: Vengeance's game modification tools are easily accessible and robust.
