Tribes 2 is a multiplayer online game, designed for Internet or LAN play with up to 128 players (64 vs 64) or bots per match, although a small single-player tutorial mode is included.

Player movement about the map may be on foot, using a jet pack, or in various ground and airborne vehicles as pilot, co-pilot, or passenger.

Each player may also choose from three armor types (which trade off various abilities, e.g. weak but fast, strong but slow, or median), and a weapon and equipment loadout, which may be reconfigured at any time during a match.

The large variety of equipment and deployable items results in many opportunities for creative play and tactics, from pure combat to stealth.

Tribes 2 gameplay makes extensive use of jet pack-powered flight, which adds a notable vertical element to combat, and a skiing action to slide down slopes.

[2] On November 2, 2008, Sierra/Vivendi disabled the authentication servers required for its online multiplayer and dropped all official support for the Tribes franchise.

[3] In early 2009, a fan community project provided an unofficial patch and replacement server which restored online multiplayer functionality.

Its sales had surpassed 200,000 units and were steadily rising by the time of Dynamix's closure in November 2001, according to the company's Dave Georgeson.