At a glance...

Previewer	Platform	Publisher	Developer	Players	Release Date	Screenshots
Matt Bailey	PC/Mac	Paradox Interactive	Quazar	1	12th October 2007	Here

Tarr Chronicles preview

There I was thinking Galactic Assault was a bit different for strategy specialists Paradox Interactive, and then in the very next game I preview they give me a space combat title. Where's the tanks? Where's the world map? Where's the tactics screen? It seems Paradox are branching out, and they're doing so with the help of Russian developer Quazar in Tarr Chronicles.

Tarr Chronicles isn't even a sim - it's described as an "arcade space combat" game, and that it certainly is. With the focus firmly on the action, the game decides to forgo an open-ended approach and deliver missions more linearly. These missions vary greatly, and include things such as defending convoys, clearing minefields, or just good ol' taking out the bad guys in a certain sector of space. The missions seem fairly enjoyable in the code I've been playing, though they have yet to do anything particularly different than other games in the genre.

While space combat games have in the past been the territory of joysticks, Tarr Chronicles, like its modern contemporaries, is designed around the mouse and keyboard. The direction of your ship is controlled by movement of the mouse, with other functions, such as adjusting your speed, changing weapons, or locking on to a new enemy are mapped to your keyboard. However, if you're a purist, then joystick support is present, and in my experience it seemed to work just as well, and should satisfy those far more used to this control method. I also gave the Xbox 360 controller a try - a controller which is seemingly becoming a standard for the PC thanks to Microsoft's Games for Windows initiative - but game pad support seems limited with only the left thumbstick functional, and the triggers also out of action. While you may have a bunch of buttons available, the setup feels awkward, and as this is not a GFW title, I wouldn't expect this to change ahead of the final version.

Graphically things are looking good for Tarr Chronicles. The preview code showed a very competent 3D engine, which manages to convey a vast region of space with plenty of objects on-screen. The ships themselves are detailed and most of the visual effects look nice. However, you can't help but feel that the freedom of the lack of gravity would provide some more impressive destruction effects for ships, rather than the fizzing out present here.

The game focuses entirely on the single player, so there's no multiplayer action on the cards here. It prides itself on story telling, and while things are looking good on that front at the moment, with dramatic cut-scenes and interesting dialogue, it remains for the full game to be released for us to determine whether Tarr Chronicles can pull it off, and get away with its linear structure.

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