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Back when the Internet was for just losers, I used to be completely in love with a space sim/flight game called X-Wing vs. TieFighter — well the whole series really. My Internet handle started there, and it has developed to what now is a short version of it; so when I had the chance to get a sneak peak at another space fighter game called Tarr Chronicles, I took it. With the lack of development in this genre over the last few years, I am definitely all psyched to play a new game!

Tarr Chronicles is a storyline-based, space combat game. It is the future, and man has reached outside of its solar system only to find that others are already there. The ancient beings, long extinct, have created a highway system of jump gates around the galaxy, allowing all beings to travel much faster than their normal technology allows. As the complex network is explored, humans find an old dead-end system once inhabited by the ancients, and it is then that their mission to recover their technology takes a twist. As your ship attempts to flee the system, while under attack, your engines are damaged, resulting in an erratic jump; leaving you stranded in an unknown system. Now, you need to find your way home ...

As I said, Tarr Chronicles is very story-oriented; it uses videos throughout the entire game to advance the story; giving you an introduction to the situation, then a mission briefing. From that point, you enter your headquarters — your base ship — where you can read logs, information on allies and enemies, news, and your piloting statistics.

The highlight of Tarr Chronicles is the ability to customize your ship before you launch. You are capable of customizing your fighter to fit your mission needs or play style. You can select hull types, armor, engines, reactors, shield generators, gun type weapons and missile hard points and even create special devices from resources you have obtained to mount on your ship. Your hull type governs weapon points, takeoff weight limit, durability and maneuverability of your ship. Your armor type can regenerate, be paper-thin to save weight, or heavy and bulky if you need the defense. Your engines are important, governing your top speed, and the ability to cool down (thrusters and energy weapons generate heat). Your reactor, of course, generates power and helps to recharge your shields, while your shield generators consume energy to generate a defensive barrier around your ship. Ships can have from one to three gun hard points; they all take energy to power up, but energy weapons will generate heat, while particle weapons do not but have ammo limits. Missile hard points are similar to particle weapons; they just pack a bit more of a punch. In both cases, you might be more of the style to fire a lot and hope to hit them kind of person, or hit them once ... really, really hard. It is your choice.

Another nice feature relies on disassembling your hardware and using the parts you gain to create new devices to mount on your ship. As you advance through the game, you are given new hardware choices to pick from, so eventually, you'll encounter some component choices which are just completely obsolete, or simply not your style. Disassemble these parts, and use them to create a device that can directly influence systems of your ship nothing else can. More power, better cooling, better damage, shields? You name it, you can build a device that does it, and does it very well, or does a little bit of a bunch of things.

Once your ship is set, you need to launch and get your mission started. Your squad leader will often talk with your base ship to get orders, or react to in-mission situations and change your orders. Objectives are displayed clearly on the left side, next to your radar screen. Ship weapons and defenses are on the right side, with speed and heat capacity in the center of the HUD. Ship control is pretty simple actually; your mouse changes directions, the buttons fire guns and missiles, and your mouse scroll will change your speed. Targeting is done through a handful of buttons, which leaves booster, defensive mode and a few controls to switch your active weapons around. There is no manual control of power systems, weapon or shield controls, which simplifies combat greatly, allowing you to pilot your ship more and use your thrusters to evade and maneuver in tight situations.

During your battles, there are likely going to be changing situations. Your wingmen and base ship will be communicating often, and you also will be able to watch scenes as they unfold. Luckily, your wingmen are somewhat capable of killing the enemy, so they will be a great help to you — that is if you don't kill them all faster than they can lock onto enemies with missiles. Numerous times throughout the game, you'll reach a checkpoint in your mission, and it will save your progress in case you happen to die. Dying is something I got familiar with.

Tarr Chronicles was enjoyable to play; the numerous styles of combat and ship equipment really give you options to play as you like. I went from a durable multirole fighter to a fragile ultra-high attack powered ship after a time of getting a feel on the game. My high accuracy didn't allow my weapons to overheat excessively, combined with my conniving ability to hide behind my flight leader on the initial approaches, kept me safe. While Tarr Chronicles has no multiplayer — or even single player options beyond that of the story line campaign — it was a fun, yet short, space combat game. The gameplay is definitely entertaining, however not complicated, and may lack some replay value. If you like to fly in space as much as I do, keep your eyes for Tarr Chronicles hitting the shelves soon!