For those of you who were fans of the original Tribes game, Tribes ascend plays a lot like the original Tribes but has the added bonus of being free to play. There are jet packs which still allow you to fly and now you can "Ski" across any surface if you hold down a key, but this is affected by slopes. Currently the game has capture the flag and rabbit game types with 3 maps in CTF so far and yes it is still a first person shooter, except with jetpacks and fast paced movement. Jet packs and skiing really make Tribes different from a normal FPS. While skiing, you move pretty fast so if you can get a good distance between yourself and someone who isn't skiing, they won't be able to catch or kill you. The jetpack that everyone gets also makes it more difficult to hit someone with slower moving explosive weapons, but auto-fire weapons are good against someone who's spamming their jetpack.

There are also classes now which utilize the heavy, medium or light armor sets and have their own unique weapons and abilities. Unfortunately, if you plan on not spending any money you will have to play for weeks to unlock just one class. You do start off with two decent medium armor class "Load outs" though. Also you cannot select which weapons you take with you, your class or load-out determines this.

The fact that it is free to play is sort of a problem though, as there needs to be an incentive for players to buy the game and those incentives are load-outs (Classes), exp/token boosters and the ability to buy the load-outs. Is it buy to win? Somewhat, as you realistically wouldn't be able to buy ONE class without playing a week or so for multiple hours a day and since you earn EXP for skills, the boosts you can buy help you get stronger faster. Additionally, there are free servers and VIP servers (Which are in the works). The free servers have limited map rotations, while the VIP servers will have all the available maps. To be a VIP you will need to buy cash shop cash or a exp boost, and if you buy during closed beta you get lifetime VIP status. I sort of think separating the servers will thin the population and limiting the map is another way to kind of coerce the players into spending something.

If you really wanted to play now, you could buy your way into beta for $30, which also gets you $30 worth of cash shop credit (Gold) a exp booster, VIP status (Extra exp and access to all maps), and access to the beta. Though if you wait until open beta or get accepted for the closed beta test, you won't need to. Personally, I think this game is great for a F2P FPS, the graphics are of superb quality and it'll keep you entertained for hours and there are still many more maps and features to be added. If you plan to play without paying you will have to work quite a bit to get the class you want though.