Tribes Vengeance is the third game in the Tribes series. After the original developer, Dynamix, was shut down by Sierra, this game was developed by Irrational Games (developers of Freedom Force) and published in 2004 by VU Games.

Unlike the previous games in the series that were multiplayer-only, Tribes Vengeance has a fully single player campaign. Irrational hoped that this would attract more people to the game and soften the steep learning curve that dissuaded new players from playing.

The story revolves around two princesses, Victoria and her daughter Julia. The game is structured so that you go back and forth in time, and you play the game from many different people's viewpoints, not just those of the princesses. In the process, you'll learn about the different tribes, uncover a conspiracy and discover Victoria's dark secret.

The enviroments are varied, with massive outdoor landscapes and plenty of indoor areas such as an imperial palace and an underground base. The interiors are designed to take advantage of the presence of the jetpack. The developers tried to imagine what buildings would look like if people its inhabitants had been able to fly. There are lots of multi-layerd rooms (no stairs, of course) and some rounded rooms to test skiing with.

The game's focus, however, is on multiplayer. The most popular game type, as in Tribes 2, is Capture the Flag (CTF). Teams must capture the enemy's flag and take it back to their own base in order to score. Bases are equipped with a variety of items such as generators for powering turrets and other electrical items; sensors for detecting enemies; turrets; inventory stations for equipping players with armour and weaponry; and vehicle stations for spawning vehicles. This means that players can take on all sorts of roles to help the team such as destroying enemy generators in order to cripple the base to make it easier for the flag runners.

Other game modes include Arena (basic team deathmatch), Ball (football with guns and jetpacks), Fuel (teams try to grab fuel cannisters to fill their depot with whilst fighting off opponents) and Rabbit (one person grabs the flag and tries to keep it for as long as possible).

In addition to the popular Spinfusor weapon which fires a blue exploding disc, players also have a Chaingun, Grenade Launcher, Laser Rifle and powerful Mortar weapon. New to T:V is the Rocket Pod, a weapon that fires spiralling rockets at its targets, and a grappling hook. The grappling hook makes use of the game's physics system and enables players to perform all kinds of acrobatic stunts. It can also be used to swing from the ceiling and grab the flag.

Vengeance uses the same armour system as its predecessors. Light armour offers excellent speed and manoeuvrability but at the cost of hit points and ammo capacity. Medium offers a balance between the two and Heavy offers high armour but low speed. It is the only class that can wield the devastating Mortar weapon.

There are four vehicles in the game. There is a fast Rover buggy, a Jump Tank with limited jetpack ability, the air-borne one-man fighter craft, and a three-man assault ship with bombing capabilities.

The game is powered by the Unreal 2 engine which powers other titles such as Splinter Cell, so graphics are impressive. The physics system has had a lot of work put into it because it is crucial to the gameplay.

Despite receiving praise from reviewers, the game was not commercially popular and Vivendi announced in 2005 that it was withdrawing support for the game. Fans are still creating modifications for it though.

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