Hi-Rez Studios announced today that the latest patch for their free-to-play, first-person team-based shooter , Tribes: Ascend, is a massive bugger with plenty of new content to boot. Some of that content includes 16 brand new weapons, a much more in-depth class customization feature, as well as an improved, streamlined UI.

Todd Harris, Hi-Rez Studios Chief Operating Officer commented in the press release, saying...

“Our next update includes additional class customization and a much more polished user interface that really showcases the sci-fi, high resolution graphics of Tribes: Ascend. We are collapsing the total number of playable classes from 12 to 9, but adding the ability for players to unlock new weapons for each class and further customize their loadout. Three of the nine classes will be available right away so a new player will have access to a Light, Medium, and Heavy class in his or her first match.”

The game itself harkens back to the days of Sierra's Starsiege: Tribes, enabling gamers to partner up with teammates and glide, fly, or drive around massive stages using space-age weapons and partaking in a number of different game modes. The action is fast and furious and the gameplay is a lot smoother than you might be expecting.

Tribes: Ascend is still undergoing heavy beta testing and features three operable vehicles, 9 playable maps and three different game modes. The final product will service gamers with Ranked Servers as well as Custom Servers.

You can actually jump right into the action right now so long as your PC meets the minimum requirements and you feel like fragging someone, hard. The game is still free-to-play and you can learn more or download the client by paying a visit to the Official Tribes: Ascend Website.