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Starsiege: Tribes

Last updated: January 9, 2026

Overview

Starsiege: Tribes was a groundbreaking multiplayer-focused first-person shooter developed by Dynamix and published by Sierra On-Line in 19981. The game was notable as “the first of its kind: a retail first-person shooter designed specifically for multiplayer competition”2, taking the significant market risk of being essentially a multiplayer-only game with only training missions for single-player content3. Set in the 40th century within the Starsiege universe, the game featured multiple human tribes fighting for territory in a post-apocalyptic future4.

The game revolutionized online multiplayer gaming with its innovative jetpack movement system, large-scale outdoor team combat, and emphasis on teamwork5. As one contemporary reviewer noted, “Starsiege: Tribes was, arguably, the birth of the team-based, objective-focused multiplayer shooter as a subgenre in its own right”6. The game’s most famous feature was its “skiing” movement technique, which began as an unintended physics engine exploit but was later embraced as a core gameplay mechanic7.

Story Summary

Starsiege: Tribes is set in the 40th century in a universe “that has been infested with a deadly virus that almost wiped out an entire race of people”9. The surviving humans have organized into various tribes that compete for territory and resources across vast planetary landscapes. Unlike traditional single-player focused games, Tribes concentrated almost entirely on multiplayer combat scenarios with only basic training missions providing narrative context3. The game’s backstory connects it to the broader Starsiege universe, previously known as the EarthSiege setting10.

Gameplay

Interface and Controls

Starsiege: Tribes supported multiple control schemes including keyboard, mouse, and joystick/gamepad configurations11. The game featured a sophisticated player customization system with three armor types: light, medium, and heavy, each offering different mobility and protection characteristics12. Players could equip various “packs” that altered their abilities, including jetpack systems that enabled the game’s signature vertical movement13.

Structure and Progression

The game supported 2-32 players per match across nearly 40 available maps14. Primary game modes included Capture the Flag (which ran on 75% of servers), Capture and Hold, Defend and Destroy, Find and Retrieve, and traditional Deathmatch11. The game’s structure emphasized team-based objectives rather than individual scoring, with bases featuring generators, turrets, stations, and sensors that teams could control and defend13.

Puzzles and Mechanics

The core gameplay revolved around mastering the physics-based movement system, particularly “skiing” - a technique that allowed players to gain tremendous speed by riding momentum down hills and valleys7. As one player review described it: “Tribes has a huge skill curve created through the complex use of ‘skiing’ up and down hills and valleys in order to gain speed. Add to that precision aiming at moving targets while flying through the air at the equivalent of hundreds of miles per hour”15. The game featured eight primary weapons including heavy mortar, sniper rifle, explosive disc launcher, short-range gatling gun, grenade launcher, blaster, plasma rifle, and laser rifle12.

Reception

Contemporary Reviews

PublicationScoreNotes
GameSpot8.6/10”Ambitious game that successfully delivers a rich and addictive multiplayer gaming experience”16
Next Generation5/5”Tribes has the design and the technology to be the next standard in Internet action gaming”1
Loaded Inc93/100Professional review score17
CNET Gamecenter8/10Reviewed by Paul Schuytema18
PC Gamer UK80/100Professional review score17
GamesDomain4.73/5”Tribes is simply the best multiplayer team game to grace our screens so far”14

Modern Assessment

Modern retrospective reviews have maintained the game’s reputation as a classic. Metacritic shows an 8.7/10 user score based on 28 user ratings15, while MobyGames reports scores ranging from 7.6/10 to 86%4. ModDB Community rates it 8.9/1010, and IMDb users give it 8.4/1019. Long-term players continue to praise the game, with one 2021 review calling it “Still the best online multiplayer game, 23 years later…“9.

Development

Origins

Starsiege: Tribes was announced in May 1998 and developed by Dynamix under Sierra On-Line20. The development team was led by Executive Producer Jeffrey Tunnell and Lead Software Engineer Mark Frohnmayer, with a total of 68 credited contributors1. The game represented a bold departure from traditional single-player focused shooters, as the development team believed that “no AI created with today’s technology can be as smart or as effective as a human player”21.

Production

The game was built using Dynamix’s custom 3D engine called Darkstar, which was completely reworked to take advantage of hardware acceleration and more powerful PCs of the late 1990s14. Voice acting was provided by a cast of ten actors including Mark Berry, Kiamalise Budak, Jason Cottle, Andromeda Dunker, Craig English, Kit Harris, Jay Hopper, Kate Myre, Matt Reidy, and Kelly Wright1. The music was composed by Timothy Steven Clarke1.

Technical Achievements

The game featured advanced graphics capabilities for its time, including 3dfx Glide support with OpenGL patches planned, and stable networking code supporting 32-player matches22. The engine incorporated hardware acceleration, a fractal terrain system, variable precipitation, and footstep effects11. The game supported multiple connection types including TCP/IP, IPX, modem-to-modem, and direct serial11.

Legacy

Starsiege: Tribes received numerous industry awards including IGN’s Best Online Game of the Year 1998, PC Gamer’s Special Achievement in Innovation 1999, and the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences’ Online Action/Strategy Game of the Year1. The game’s influence on the multiplayer shooter genre was profound, with PC Gamer noting that “Tribes re-wrote the rules of online combat”5.

The game spawned several sequels including Tribes 2 (2001), Tribes: Vengeance (2004), and Tribes: Ascend (2012)23. A cancelled expansion pack called “Tribes Extreme” was planned to include single-player missions, additional multiplayer maps, and bot AI21. The original game was released as freeware in 2004 and continues to maintain an active community24.

Downloads

Purchase / Digital Stores

Download / Preservation

  • MyAbandonware
  • Community servers still active through TribesNext and similar services25

Series Continuity

References

Footnotes

  1. Dynamix Fandom Wiki – - Developer, designer, and basic game information ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  2. GameSpot Tribes 2 Review – - Description of original Starsiege: Tribes as first multiplayer-focused retail FPS ↩

  3. eBay Product Listing – - Game’s multiplayer focus and training missions only for single-player ↩ ↩2

  4. MobyGames Entry – - 40th century setting and tribal conflict background ↩ ↩2

  5. Wikipedia – - Innovative jetpack movement and large-scale team combat ↩ ↩2

  6. Super Jump Magazine – - Historical significance as birth of team-based objective shooters ↩

  7. Tribes Fandom Wiki – - Skiing movement technique as unintended exploit turned feature ↩ ↩2

  8. Strategy Wiki – - Platform information ↩

  9. eBay Product Description – - Game setting description ↩ ↩2

  10. ModDB – - Connection to EarthSiege universe ↩ ↩2

  11. PCGamingWiki – - Control scheme support ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  12. Archived Computer and Video Games Guide – - Armor types and characteristics ↩ ↩2

  13. Laberinto Gris – - Equipment and pack systems ↩ ↩2

  14. MyAbandonware – - Player count and map numbers ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  15. Metacritic User Review – - daydull user review describing skill curve and skiing mechanics ↩ ↩2

  16. GameSpot Review – - Michael E. review score and quote ↩

  17. Archived GameRankings – - Professional review scores from multiple publications ↩ ↩2

  18. Archived CNET Gamecenter Review – - Paul Schuytema review score ↩

  19. IMDb – - User rating ↩

  20. Archived Dynamix Press Release – - Original announcement in May 1998 ↩

  21. IGN Tribes Extreme Interview – - Scott Rudi quote about AI limitations ↩ ↩2

  22. Archived CD Mag Review – - Technical specifications and networking capabilities ↩

  23. [Tribes Fandom Wiki](https://tribes.fandom.com/wiki/Tribes_(series) – ) - Series continuity and sequel information ↩

  24. Spokesman.com – - Freeware release in 2004 ↩ ↩2

  25. TribesNext – - Community service for continued online play ↩

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