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.