Tarr Chronicles Preview

CDV and Akella must be big fans of movies like Top Gun and TV shows like BattleStar Galactica, because I just got done with another round of interstellar space piloting in their soon-to-be-released space saga, the Tarr Chronicles. The game moves at one speed, "all out" and puts you squarely in the middle of a pilot's campaign I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy (and I mean that in a good way).

In the game, you play as a former convict who, because of piloting skills, is pushed back into action in order to continue the human races struggle to survive in a war torn future universe. The universe is made up of six races, all hell bent on keeping their share of the pie, the pie being a solar system that not only supports life, but allows it to flourish. Some of the aliens are incredibly hostile while others prefer more diplomacy, but all that get chucked out the window when a new threat "the Mirk" arrived on scene from right in the middle of everything and began tearing through every race, destroying all it touched and those who managed to survive, merely became one of the Mirk. The preview copy eludes to a sort of Borg-ish race (from Star Trek) that absorbs all life into its fold. One particularly nasty group of aliens called the Mea' Tarrs sent their fiercest warriors after the Mirk, only to have them killed and re-animated fighting for the Mirk.

Interestingly enough, the preview copy had many of the back story in black and white, giving the game a definite story feel to it. The graphics at this point look really good too. The areas you fly are often riddled with decaying space stations and debris all over the place, giving the player a real sense of danger as the war between, well pretty much everyone has been going on for too long. I am particular inclined to mention an earlier part of the game where I assisted in a dog fight between two other fighting races, siding with the lesser evil if you will. The graphics are really innovative and I honestly believe, accurate. Fighting in space would be incredibly difficult given all the blackness, a HUD can be activated as you fly, giving you an idea of exactly where your closest enemy is. Trust me, it is necessary. The constant maneuvering as you chase enemy fighters is really well done, one second you have a bead on your foe, only to chase him as he heads towards a bright star, blinding you temporarily. The lighting effects and use of darkness contrast really well, with all the action.

Tarr, at this point, really has a polished look and sound to it. The different characters you run across will flash in a small window at the top of your screen. You see who you are talking to, and in some cases, you have no idea what they are saying cause it is an alien language. There is a translation scrolling across the bottom to help you out. Still, I thought it was pretty cool to be in the middle of a fight and have my commander order me to destroy a particular ship or take off to a rendezvous point in order to protect a civilian ship carrying hundreds of passengers.

Tarr Chronicles has a strong back story to it, and that gives the game weight, as does your ability to choose which style of ship you want to have, the nimble and quick ship, the all-around warrior vessel or a flying tank, armed to the gills. You can even customize your own weapons load-out and ship stats. Reading your personal e-mail gives you an idea of who you are and where your character is going. Don't doubt for a minute this is merely a space shooter, there is controversy and back stabbing going on in the universe and you will get caught up in it. The game borrows from BattleStar Galactica in the sense that there are political forces working with and against you throughout the game. This is after all, six races who don't get along, attempting to unite to fight off a common enemy. You wouldn't think some of those races wouldn't capitalize on another's war machine being weakened now would you? 

Either way, I liked this preview, and I liked the fact that it ran and looked good on my slower machine, AMD 2800+, 256mb graphics card 1 gig RAM. Be on the lookout for the Tarr Chronicles, I suspect it will be a real treat.