Tarr Chronicles, a space shooter in the same vein as Wing Commander, takes place in the future, where humanity has once again found a way to alienate the beings it comes in contact with (sorry for the pun). The story has immense depth and it wouldn’t be surprising to see a novel released to fill in the gaps. The story is told via in-game mission sequences, text, and lengthy cinematics. The voice work in every part of the game deserves special mention as it’s exceptional. There is Russian dialogue still in the game (not sure if it was left over from localization or part of the story), but it truly gives the person an appreciation for the elegance of the Russian language. Spoken in such an exciting and professional manner, it makes one want to sign up for Russian language classes.
You find out the Universe has been torn by years of war, and is itself dying. An ancient location is found and the artifacts within holds the key to destroying or saving everything there ever was. In the galaxy there‘s something called the Mirk. At first glance it appears to be a big blob absorbing everything in site.
There are six races that can either help you or get in your way: Humans need no explanation. Sia’Nuss is a race of super intelligence. Mea’Tarrs is the typical warrior race you find in any combat based game. Moxies are symbiotic creatures that believe in the harmony of Nature. They act a bit like the Elves in other games including the fact they don’t like outside influence and just want to be left alone. There is a race called the “Bioses”; they are biomechanical creature and yes, were created by humans originally intended as motherboard parts. The last major race is called the “Guard” who were once human but the Mirk changed them to something beyond human recognition. Though much of it sounds like the races in Galactic Civilizations, they do have a lot of character which gives them their own definitive feel that leaves behind the standard stereotypes.
The game plays out in missions a little reminiscent of Wing Commander and the old Lucasarts X-Wing games. Unlike the titles of yesteryear however, you have a fantastic array of options at your fingertips. Over 150 wings, engines, cannons, rockets, and other subsystems are available for use as the story unfolds. For gamers who enjoy “tweaking their characters” this should be a lot of fun. Energy and weapons management will be crucial to mission completion – more than a twitchy trigger finger. The ultimate success of Tarr Chronicles for gamers will be dependant on how well these options are balanced.
Mission objectives are laid out before ship departure and as the mission progresses the story unfolds. There are just nine distinct missions, but that number is a misnomer since each mission is split into sub-missions and contain breaks with the ability to heal (and reload). The missions are intense with superb radio chatter and flawless voice-overs. In fact the voice work is so good, it makes you wonder why more companies in the United States can’t manage that level of quality audio. The music has the same level of quality as well. Good balance between not overpowering the pilot, but enhances the dramatic mood of the situation. The graphics are good, but for those used to the visuals in Eve On-line - there won’t be any wow factors for the ocular senses.
Your ship can be controlled via mouse or joystick. Both devices work equally well and the ship controls are easy to grasp. Some will appreciate the simplistic controls as it makes getting into the game a breeze. Others may find the simplicity takes away from the technical environment surrounding them. Shipmates appear to have good AI and are constant companions. You will never feel like you’re playing this game alone. Missions are typical space-fare of “kill this” and “protect that” – at least that’s what the preview build highlighted.
The preview build ran flawless and was rock solid - though using alt-tab caused repeat lock-ups. If your specs are somewhat near my own: mid-range Intel Core-2 Duo, 2 Gig of RAM, and a previous generation video card (ATI X1900) – you will have no trouble maxing out every option in the game. This includes running at a wicked high screen resolution, utilizing full anisotropic filtering and full FSAA. Tarr Chronicles is a surprising game that has received little to no hype but one that could find a niche. It should be hitting store shelves around the time you read this.
