Tarr Chronicles Hands-On

Space combat games have always appealed to the imagination. After all, what could be cooler than zipping around in a deadly fighter and blasting aliens throughout the interstellar void? That's the focus of Tarr Chronicles, an upcoming space combat game from developers Akella and Quazar Studios. Tarr Chronicles focuses on the Battlecruiser Talestra, which is lost in space and under assault from alien foes known as the De'Khete. As one of the fighter pilots aboard the Talestra, you'll be called upon to defend the ship against formidable odds.

Like any good space opera, Tarr Chronicles will try and tell an epic story that involves multiple alien races, as well as a terrifying assimilating force known as the Mirk. We played through an early part of Tarr Chronicles, and it adheres closely to the model established by classic games in the genre, such as Wing Commander and Freespace, right down to the style of the mission briefings. In each mission, you jump into your fighter and fly out to destroy waves of incoming fighters and capital ships. There's a bit more to Tarr Chronicles than just the combat, though. You'll have the added advantage of being able to customize your fighter with more than 100 different parts and components. These can range from hull type to weapons, reactors, armor, shields, and more. Another neat aspect of the game is that you can salvage raw materials and use them to create entirely new parts, which adds a crafting element to the game. If this is all a bit confusing, an auto configuration button can take all the hassle out of your hands and give you the best possible ship based on what parts are available.

The missions that you'll fly in Tarr Chronicles are fairly typical for the genre, covering fighter sweeps, escort missions, and minesweeping duties. There are more than 30 missions in the single-player campaign, which is a solid amount. On the other hand, Tarr Chronicles has no multiplayer to it.

If you're a veteran of space shooters the control scheme will seem familiar, as it maps closely to established convention. You don't need a joystick to play the game, but you can use the mouse to steer. The mousewheel serves as a throttle. Roll upward to accelerate and downward to decelerate, and if you need an extra speed boost you can engage afterburners by holding down the Tab key. Your guns are fired with the left mouse button, while missiles and other secondary weapons can be fired off with the right. This scheme took only a few minutes to get acclimated to, though the only real issue is that if you're using the mouse to maneuver in a turning battle you have to constantly pick it up and set it down again to maintain a turn. Another option is to plug in a USB gamepad, which the game supports.

The weapons all seemed familiar. Our guns were our primary weapon, and since the beams don't travel instantaneously, you have to aim ahead of where your target is heading in order to hit. Thankfully, there's a lead reticle on the heads-up display. Guns slowly drain if you fire them continuously, so you have to fire in bursts and then let them recharge. Missiles can inflict a lot more damage than guns, though you have a finite number of them, and to fire them you must first lock onto a target. A rotating box will lock onto a target, signifying missile lock, and then you can fire away.

Space games tend to look beautiful thanks to the fact that space tends to be very empty, allowing programmers and artists to lavish lots of detail on ships and background images. Tarr Chronicles is no exception; we saw some incredible asteroid fields and nebulae. There's a nice sense of scale, as you'll fly in and amidst huge capital ships and even more gigantic structures, such as space stations. Meanwhile, there's also a gloomy feel to the game, as this is set in a dying galaxy where humanity is on the run. You won't run into lots of shiny new spacecraft, as everything looks and feels like it has seen better days. A fairly complex story is being told here, mainly through mission briefings and in-mission voice messages. Hopefully, though, the developers can clean up some of the messy translation issues (the game was originally developed in Russian).

Tarr Chronicles doesn't look like it will add anything revolutionary to the genre, though it looks like a solid space action game for fans who grew up on the epic space battles in Star Wars and other movies. We'll see how it comes together when it ships in late September. Editor's Note: This preview previously contained incorrect information; specifically, Tarr: Chronicles will, in fact, support joystick controllers. GameSpot regrets the error.