Just like a cartoon character barreling its way through a brick wall, body contorted in a character-shaped chalk outline pose – there's a peculiarly Tribes-shaped hole in our collective heart left when the classic team-based shooter was passed over by a newer, fancier generation of team-based shooters. But while those games have filled all sorts of other random holes in our heart (the thing was a perforated mess!), we find ourselves still Tribes-less.

Our best hope for a full recovery comes a week from today, when Fallen Empire: Legions – a spiritual successor of sorts from the original Tribes developers, formerly of Dynamic and now at GarageGames – begins its open beta at InstantAction.com. If you want to get a quick taste of the browser-based FPS, check out our video from GDC embedded after the break or hit up the galleries below.

Fallen Empire: Legions isn't just the best reason yet to enter our giveaway for one of five $100 InstantAction.com accounts, it's also a spritual successor, if you will, to the fan-favorite Tribes series. You see, a bunch of the guys from Dynamix went on to form GarageGames and – after years of people asking them, "Hey, when are you going to make a Tribes-like game?" – they eventually just hunkered down and out came Legions. Coupled with Quake Live and Battlefield: Heroes – all three are free-to-play FPSs – we've got ourselves a full-blown gaming trend here.

GarageGames' Tim Aste gave us a brief tour of Fallen Empire: Legions at GDC this year which we've embedded for you above. Also included, a tour of the second-most compelling reason to enter our giveaway: a tour of Cyclomite courtesy of Wideload's Scott Corley. You've got until tomorrow at noon to enter (that's two calendar days, so there's room for two more entries!).

While we were at GDC, we got a special one-on-one tour of the InstantAction platform from GarageGames CEO Josh Williams. He walked us through much of the site's functionality and answered some questions on the service. Lucky for you, we filmed the whole thing. If you're still not sure how InstantAction is different from other web gaming portals, watch the above video tour, then leave a comment here if you're interested in winning one of five $100 InstantAction accounts, courtesy of GarageGames.

GarageGames wants you to reconsider the way you look at "web gaming" and it's hoping its InstantAction platform will be the lens that shifts your perspective. In short, InstantAction is a free web-based gaming platform with the requisite friends lists, chat rooms, and multiplayer; however, unlike web gaming sites of yore, InstantAction games sport impressive 3D graphics and similarly impressive exclusive games (like the excellent Marble Blast Online, Wideload Shorts' Cyclomite, and the upcoming spiritual successor to Tribes, Fallen Empire: Legion). While the gamesa rare free, everything won't always be; after the beta period, you'll be able to purchase additional maps, levels, weapons, et al for many of the games, and that's where our latest giveaway comes in.

GarageGames is already generously dropping 100 ActionTokens (the platform's virtual currency) into every new account sign-up, but they wanted to do a little better for five of our (luckier) readers. You'll have five days to leave comments on this post – one each day – for a chance to win one of five $100 InstantAction accounts (that's more than 10,000 ActionTokens). If you're the cautious type, check out our screenshot tour of the service before you get commenting.

• To enter this giveaway, tell us your thoughts on InstantAction.com (you're in the beta, right?)
  
• You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec; excuse-moi Quebecers).
  
• Limit 1 entry per person per day. If you enter this giveaway more than once each calendar day you'll be automatically disqualified and forced to play internet solitaire!
• This entry period ends in five days at 12:00pm ET Saturday 3/15/08. We'll randomly select 5 winners at that time (please check your email!)
  
• For complete rules you can play in a web browser, click here

Though it doesn't "officially" launch until tomorrow, the fine folks at GarageGames let us know that you can sign-up for their InstantAction "platform" immediately – great for those of you eager to secure your precious gaming nom de guerre – and then sign-in to check out the service in beta.

If you're not familiar with InstantAction, you can check out our preview of the service from last year, or settle for the following description: 3D "console quality" games in a web browser (note: PC only for now, though Mac and Linux compatibility is under works). Hit up InstantAction.com and click the giant red "Sign Up" button to get going. We just made an account for ourselves; we'll have a tour of the service up shortly, as well as a giveaway for you starting tomorrow. If you sign up, share your Username with us.

Do gamers need yet another platform? GarageGames hopes so. The company's latest project, the InstantAction "platform" -- that word was specifically used -- sits inside a web browser, creating a new environment for gaming. And unlike Flash's 2D limit, InstantAction will support a variety of developer-driven technologies and engines, scaling up to first-person-shooters that even utilize video hardware acceleration. (GarageGames had its hand in the Tribes games after all.)

Like other browser plugins, InstantAction has cross-platform intentions. It's first launching for PCs in early 2008, Mac support will be coming as soon as possible, and a Linux version is under consideration. Gamers will be able to download several titles at launch with pricing to be determined. (Free content may be an option, while paid titles could follow subscription models, multi-game package sales, or single purchases.)

We recently explored an in-development version of InstantAction to wrap our heads around the platform-in-a-browser concept. The execution impressed us, but we're still unsure if InstantAction attempts to solve a problem nobody has. Will 3D and developer-driven environments be enough to displace Flash, as GarageGames hopes?

Sierra has confirmed that F.E.A.R. for Xbox 360 is gold and will ship out on Halloween. Aside from last year's PC game, the port will include some new levels (apparently, not the Extraction Point expansion), Instant Action mode, and 16-player Xbox Live support.

While it's the competitive price, we were surprised to see that F.E.A.R. will retail for $60, given that the meat of the game has been ported from a year-old PC title. Despite an early jump, F.E.A.R. is competing in a shooter-jammed holiday and a $50 -- or dare we say, $40 -- price tag would have been more inviting. Where does F.E.A.R. rank on your priorities list?