Tribes Veterans Reveal Hover Tank Combat Game

Black Jacket Studios, an independent studio comprised of veterans from Marble Blast Ultra developer GarageGames and Tribes series creator Dynamix, has officially pulled back the curtain on its first game: Metal Drift.

In development for the PC, Metal Drift is a hover tank combat game with a sports-like twist, in that two teams battle for control of the ball and then attempt to score a goal.

Played from a first-person perspective, the 12-person game sports a variety of tank configurations and arenas, with players able to unlock more weapons over time.

Metal Drift is expected to arrive in the first half of 2009. While Black Jacket has yet to say how the game will be distributed, the game's official website sports a logo for GarageGames' InstantAction, and is listed on InstantAction as a "featured game."

Full disclosure: I actually had the chance to play an early prototype of Metal Drift years ago, and I've been looking forward to more ever since. There just aren't enough hover tank combat games these days, and the way the heavy tanks slid around just felt right.