Overall most helpful review

Posted on: January 13, 2017

FabioMVSousa

Games: 42 Reviews: 4

Immersive and Repayable Space Combat Sim

I played and replayed Tachyon: The Fringe in my childhood. It was a game ahead of its time in terms of graphics and gameplay. Sadly, it was also a very unknown game. The story is well written, albeit linear, and immersive (you get to choose a side in a space war). The voice acting is amazing and the world building is impressive for a game developed by a small developer noted mainly for its Delta Force (FPS) and Comanche (flight sim) series. Combat is solid and you get a variety of different ships, each fitting a specific role (for example, bomber for extra firepower; fighter for extra maneuverability; etc.), upgrades and mountable weapons. The hub areas are amazing and one of the features that pushed this game far ahead from what you’ll usually see in the early 2000. You get to choose different jobs, read the news (sometimes your actions are reported), hire mercenaries to accompany you in more dangerous outings and buy new ships/weapons/equipment. One particular hub (a casino-like space station) also lets you gamble. Tachyon: The Fringe is well deserving of a sequel. We also need more of Bruce Campbell/Logan in our lifes.

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Posted on: January 14, 2017

wvpr

Games: Reviews: 47

Good, fun, complete

Reviewing the original game, not GOG's packaging of it. This is one of the more entertaining spaceship action games of its era. It's not groundbreaking, and it's not the caliber of Wing Commander, but the tone is always fun and the quality is consistent throughout. The space sim aspects are a little weak in places. All systems draw from the same power source, and they're balanced in a way that makes most ships slow and vulnerable if you try to keep all systems partially powered. Most zones feels like large enclosed rooms rather than small sections of open space. Missions can be fairly long, and it can be difficult to locate or stay on top of victory conditions. Large enemy capital ships are easy to dodge and very slow to kill. But despite the limitations, the universe feels large and diverse, with colorful characters established purely through voice communications to your ship. Speaking of voice, Bruce Campbell. Your character is the usual roguish Han Solo type. There aren't very many outright funny one-liners in the script. And that doesn't hurt Campbell's performance in the slightest. He brings all his talent to the role, throws in plenty of asides, and is a large part of the appeal of flying long distances to advance the game. There are two competing factions to join near the beginning, offering opposing missions and storylines. It's essentially two long games in one package. Each faction has its own distinct lineup of ships and equipment. The corporate side is easier to use but both are quite playable. Each ship has its own unique balance. Not all are worth using. There are lots of upgrades to purchase for your ships, some offering tradeoffs rather than straight improvements. You can hire useful wingmen as well, though there isn't much interaction with them. It's not perfect, but if you like the first several missions and don't run into technical issues in this version of the game, you'll almost certainly enjoy the whole game.

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Posted on: January 17, 2017

Ackapus

Verified owner

Games: 131 Reviews: 2

"Hey, I think I hear your mama calling!"

Those familiar with space combat flight sims will love this game for the array of choices in ship type, enhancement modules, weapons, and the strategic distribution of energy to ship systems. Fans of the epic space opera will enjoy the timeless, although somewhat cliched story of the rugged pioneers who settled down in virgin lands only to later find themselves at odds with the inexorable progress of civilization. Action gamers will see graphics that have aged well, a predictable and enjoyable physics engine, and solid challenge in the gameplay as it progresses. Bruce Campbell fans will revel in the Big Chin's famous snark, done with surprisingly pleasant restraint, and shriek with glee when he's upstaged by Baron Hajod. The overall story structure isn't anything to write home about; the theme's been done, plain and simple. However, here you're given both sides of the story, and you can see heroes and villains everywhere. The few designated villains are suitably cartoonish enough to spot from the next star system, and there's little to offend the spirit of the game. Aside from a few auditory bugs with engine noise and cutscenes, the engine is solid, and with sufficient input you can drift your engines, barrel roll, juke, and recover the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Not everything you can use is useful; for instance, the bomber class ship is painfully inept at dogfighting, the radioactive fog never seems to damage your ship whether you have the radiation shield equipped or not, and JASPER can't take a joke. You can discover the ins and outs yourself, or hit up one of the many guides from the Time Before Wikis (I recommend Gamefaqs), but I can leave you with this piece of advice: DO NOT MESS WITH STAR PATROL. SERIOUSLY, DON'T DO IT. LIKE, EVER. YOU WILL NOT WIN. And if you ever find yourself facing down a dozen Corvus fighter-bombers full of mercs out for the bounty on your head, I hope you hired a Demon Pirate wingman for that mission.

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Posted on: June 25, 2021

bulletx97

Verified owner

Games: 188 Reviews: 5

Default distrib didn't worked for me

To play in Glide, set 'HW_TYPE=1' and 'USE_HARDWARE=1' in tachyon.cfg (game folder)

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Posted on: February 8, 2020

funk_masta

Games: 31 Reviews: 1

Still Fun

I got this when it originally came out and had a blast with it. I bought it again here on gog.com and it's still a really fun space flight sim. Nice ships to unlock, nice weapons to choose from and other goodies to customize your ship to play how you want. Sometimes you fly alone, sometimes with other ships, sometimes part of a fleet. Missions are varied as well: kill, escort, drop-off, rescue, steal, defend, immobilize, etc. And you can choose your missions, so if a mission looks boring you can skip it. Battles are totally 3D, ships flying everywhere, ships at all different angles. Large ships often have individual parts that can be targeted like shield generators etc. AND it has the one and only Bruce Campbell voicing the main character. Voice acting all around is really good in this game

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