Tachyon: the Fringe Review

After a series of flight simulations the boys in Nova Logic decided to take a shot at space simulations. Their first game in this genre, Tachyon: The Fringe is one of the so-called "Privateer" games. This means that it has a storyline but you still have a relative freedom in choosing missions, weapons and ships.

You start the game in the Solar System in the shoes of Jake Logan, a freelancer working for the highest bidder. Jake lives in a world run by big corporations, pirates and various independent organizations. After a couple of introductory missions, he gets into trouble, which leads to his exile to the fringe of known universe where only the toughest survive. To survive on the Fringe, you have to join any of the existing interest groups. The story concentrates on the clash between the settlers and a corporation that wants to take their territory over. Here comes your moral/financial dilemma and the rest of the game will depend on your choice of sides.

The only things you initially possess are an average sum of credits and two relatively good ships. Once you get evicted though, you will be condemned to the weakest ship and a miserable amount of credits, barely enough to buy some basic weaponry and ship systems. As you complete missions, you will earn money to by better ships and equipment. Depending on the side you choose you will have different technology at disposal. Better weaponry will appear as the game progresses.

The ships and equipment can be acquired in stations. In contrast to other games you are tied to a single station in the system, so you cannot fly whenever you wish - only when you accept a contract. The travel between systems works much the same - it is one of the options in the contract menu and it is for free.

The stations and systems vary in visual appearance, surroundings and equipment and weapons available. Some systems are more dangerous than others. Space is filled with all sorts of nebulae, asteroid belts and similar things that make traveling through it more difficult. Some stations offer you an alternative way to make money - gamble for it. You will rarely win, but when you do it will make you a rich man.

Every mission is unique and there are no generic missions we used to see in other games. Each mission contributes more or less to the story. This makes the game more dynamic and there is no danger of it becoming boring because you keep getting the same mission with a different employer's name. The profit you can make and the equipment prices have been balanced in that way that you won't have to finish too many assignments in order to get a new upgrade. This makes the game shorter, still more dynamic.

The mission design is great: you will be engaged in carrying parcels, protecting ships, attacking adversaries, and many more things. You can even hire a wingman to accompany you. Each of them has specific characteristics that determine his price and percentage of profits. Wingmen have been done rather well (not as good as in Freespace or Wing Commander), but that was not much of a priority because this is one of the games for people who like to fight their battles on their own.

In the course of the game you will meet many NPCs. Some will be positive, some negative, and some comic relieves. Most of these characters influence the course of the game - they either help or hinder you, give you vital information on various locations throughout space or your notorious enemies. You may happen find yourself in midst of a conflict that has absolutely nothing to do with you and your missions, and you may avoid such conflicts, but if you decide to help one of the sides it will influence your personal status and your record with that side. For instance: if you decided to play on the Bora colonists' side, you fill be in position to help a cop fighting some pirates. If you manage to rescue him, he will make a report about it and the government will from there on have a much more friendly attitude towards you and your associates. This is just one of numerous situations of this type you may encounter.

The enemies will come in all possible flavors: from clumsy newbies to highly experienced professionals. Pilots flying for different corporations are usually not much trouble, which is less than could be said for mighty pirate clans. There is also a bunch of local nobs and barons with supporters who fanatically fight for their cause. If you are not in the mood to spend expensive ammo on enemies who are of no importance to your quest, or simply don't feel up to the fight, you can always run away.

The ship design is a bit unusual which isn't bad at all. The models and textures are very detailed. Background lighting can sometimes make targeting harder. The graphics are altogether beautiful with great design and special effects. The programmers tried hard to represent flying through nebulas realistically and I may say they made it (No, I haven't been flying through one personally, no).

The sound and music are also very good. The music contributes to the game atmosphere without distracting attention or irritating the player, which is a frequent case with in-game music. The sounds of explosions and lasers sound realistically and the digitized speech is very clear and easy to understand. There are no subtitles.

All in all, the game is dynamic and interesting. There are few objections I would make, possibly the lack of FMV sequences and some other trifles. If you ever liked Privateer and similar games you won't regret playing this one.