Tachyon: The Fringe

by NovaLogic

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00002EPYJ
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: April 21, 2000
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #34,290 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Bruce Campbell, star of Evil Dead, Army of Darkness, and Xena: Warrior Princess, lends his superb voice-over talent to space fighter jock Jake Logan in Tachyon: The Fringe. As Jake, players assume the role of a badass pilot for hire in the 26th century.

The plot and setting of the game are perfect for a gritty sci-fi tale. Tachyon jump gates connect distant planets, enabling interstellar trade. Megacorporations hire contract pilots to protect space convoys and valuable cargo from pirates. Jake Logan, a veteran pilot battle tested from age 14, has built a reputation of skilled combat and quick decision making. Advance Ganymede Technologies, a starship design firm, takes notice and hires Jake for contract work.

For the most part, Tachyon: The Fringe eschews standard space combat simulation conventions by eliminating linear mission structure. Tachyon typically provides several missions, called "jobs" in the game, which the player can select in any order. Rewards for completing jobs include gaining the use of new technology, obtaining cash for purchasing new ships, weapons, and equipment, and advancing the main story line. Players decide how to equip their ships and spend their mission bounty. This freedom gives each new mission a fresh feel.

Bruce Campbell's infectious sarcasm and undeniable cool factor fit the grizzled space cowboy perfectly; often you'll want to complete missions or destroy enemy ships just to hear which one-liners Bruce says next. Missions jam packed with dialogue create short, exciting stories; soon, though, Jake finds himself embroiled in a larger plot involving a renegade colony fortifying its territory in an area of space known as the Fringe.

Tachyon's graphics look sharp, though inconsistent in areas. Star bases and fighters exude size and detail; however, bland hanger bays and the multicolored ship interface strike a contrast against the beauty of deep space and immense capital ships. Sound effects fare better with stellar voice acting, crisp weapon effects, and menacing deep bass as ships rush through space.

A solid entry into the space combat genre, NovaLogic's Tachyon: The Fringe dares to be different and succeeds. Free multiplayer action over NovaLogic's online gaming service NovaWorld extends enjoyment; compete with dozens of players online in deathmatch-style Arena Match or the team-based Base Wars. --Doug Radcliffe

Pros:

• Two words--Bruce Campbell
• Nonlinear mission style gives the player numerous choices on how to shape the story line
• Highly customizable ships permit weapon and equipment combinations to suit a player's specific combat style
• Free multiplayer component provides hours of additional gameplay

Cons:

• The graphics, though good, aren't quite as impressive as in FreeSpace 2 or StarLancer

Product Description

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful and challenging space sim, May 22, 2000

By 

John Ingle - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tachyon: The Fringe (CD-ROM)

This game shines and shines beautifully. It has excellent graphics and the controls are beyond superb in handling and response time. The missions are well balanced in their complexity and the computer AI is challenging enough to give you a run for your money.

The reason I gave it four stars is due to two minor flaws. The first is due to long load times. I am running the game on my PIII with 256MB of RAM and it still takes a good 30 seconds to load between missions. The second is the ability of the computer to fly in and out of structures in the game. This gets pretty frustrating in the later missions when you are trying to protect convoys and the like. Both of these are pretty minor as the second happens only on occasion.

Overall this game is an excellent addition to a genre that has lacked depth over the last couple of years. The variety of ships, missions, weapons, and wingmen in which you can complete the game adds a tremondous amount of replay-ability. The multiplayer games are fun and the ability to talk online to your teamates (with a mic)is way too much fun as well. I would recommend this game to anyone who likes flying games or space sims as this is one of the best.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Space Game In Years, April 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Tachyon: The Fringe (CD-ROM)

Ever since the release of the original Wing Commander, space combat games have all been basically rehashes of that formula: You're a hotshot pilot in a futuristic military, taking orders from someone else. The only exceptions to the rule have been trading games like Elite, which have no story to speak of, and slightly more structured games, like Privateer, which let you act as your own boss, but are still linear enough to tell a story. Tachyon falls firmly into the latter category, and it's the best example of this style of game since Privateer itself. The sounds and visuals are all cutting edge, but the game's sensibilities are old-school: provide challenging combat, tell a good story, and keep the player intrigued to the end. This game's never boring. And once you've made your way through the game from both sides of its deep story line, there's still multi-player to enjoy. Try a game of Base Wars online; it supports 120 players per game, it's more fun than Microsoft's Allegiance -- and it's free. Can't beat that with a stick. Bottom line: If you like space games and you've been itching for something new and different, go for Tachyon.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars AN EXCELLENT SPACE SIMULATION, March 25, 2001

By 

EMAN NEP - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tachyon: The Fringe (CD-ROM)

First of all, this review is ASSUMING THAT THE GAME WORKS ON YOUR COMPUTER. I read some of the other reviews below and heard about how this game isn't compatible with some graphics cards or whatever. If that were the case, I'd haved to give this game one star. But since this game did run perfectly well on my machine, here's what I have to say about it. The only space sim that I've played other than Tachyon is X-Wing--an old VGA game--but in many ways X-Wing was the turning point in space sims. The graphics in Tachyon are really good, if somewhat redundant. What I mean is that sometimes I see the same patterns and textures on space stations. Speaking of space stations, I was MOST IMPRESSED by their SIZE. The people at Novalogic really did an outstanding job at scaling things correctly. But what really got me to buy this game was the fact that you could buy different ships and decide what armament and upgrades you want to put on it. Certain ships have a certain amount of slots, and the possible combinations are nearly endless. Another nice feature is that you can own multiple ships at once, or sell individual ships or parts for money. You can hire wingmen to assist you on missions. Since there is no in-flight camera, it's hard to tell if your wingmen did anything to help you, but at least they don't die easily--even the poorer pilots. There are several external view, but I didn't find them very helpful. They should have put a gunsight on the external view so that you could fly through the mission, accomplish it, and enjoy the scenery at the same time. The game is sorta nonlinear. You get to choose which level mission you want to undertake, but ultimately you will end up doing the others. The missions are fairly simple and varied, which is nice. I remember that X-Wing was downright frustrating at times. By the way, there are cheats for this game, so if you get stuck, look 'em up. The levels with the fog are interesting, although they can be a strain on the eyes and disorientating at times. But that's not until the end. There are some cut-scenes, but nothing truly original or amazing--they're still the in-game graphics. This game could have been better, but overall I'd say it's worth its price. But I'd check to make sure it can run on your machine, first.