User Reviews

Tachyon: The Fringe is simply the best space combat game I have ever played. The graphics and sound effects are still up there with games currently being released, even though Tachyon came on to the market almost 8 years ago, and the storyline is one of depth and quality.

The story begins with your lovable character, Jake Logan, as a mercenary space pilot working for Advanced Ganymede Techlologies. Through an unfortunate chain of events he is arrested and exiled to The Fringe of colonised space. There he is caught up in a war between mega-corporation GalSpan and mining colonists Bora, and must fight to earn his right to clear his name and return home. The twists and turns of the plot will keep you hooked throughout.

The game is layed back and open, with you deciding what missions you fly and when. Some missions will earn you lots of cash, depending on the importance and the dangers of the objectives, some not so much. One of the best aspects is the wide range of weapons and hardware available to customise your ship with. The ships themselves all have distinguishing features, some are better suited to certain missions. There's plenty to do when your not blasting space pirates or taking part in a massive fleet battle, such as listening to the Tachyon News Service, or playing the slot machines in a huge casino space station. The game never gets boring.

The graphics are stunning considering when the game was released. Beautiful nebulae and asteroid fields, plenty of big explosions, and huge awe-inspiring space stations and capital ships. The laser and missile effects are decent, maybe could have been better, but they do the job. The fighter craft are excellent, each looking futuristic and distinctive, perfect for this game. Sound effects and voice overs make the game come alive, with Bruce Campbell at the centre. The sound is not brilliant in places, but overall is very good, and accompanies the graphics well. The script is superb and very humorous in places, and makes you want to get to know and care about Jake Logan. Other supporting characters such as the evil Baron Hajod add to the depth and excitement of the game.

I do have a few minor reservations, the main one being the speed of the ships. You get the feeling that the ships you pilot are sluggish, and the game lacks pace and adrenaline in areas because of this. And as I mentioned before some of the weapons effects are mediocre.

Do not in any way let this put you off though. Tachyon is a masterpiece that was way ahead of it's time, and never received the credit it deserved. Big games designers should definitely consider reviving Tachyon using modern game designing technology, as there is definitely a market for this genre, the problem being no decent games of this type created since Tachyon itself. With the creases smoothed over Tachyon could be an epic.

Falsly accused of mass murder, contract pilot Jake Logan (you) are exiled from the sol system to the fringe of civilized space where corrupt corporations (most notably The Galactic Spanning Corporation AKA Galspan) fight for corporate control. However, the colonists of the fringe have banded together into the Bora Mining Guild (the Bora) to fight off the spanner agenda.

You play as contract pilot Jake Logan who is very quickly thrust into this conflict and forced to choose one side or another.

This game is simply awesome. Not only are you able to customize your ship and its armaments, but the missions are adaptive so that what you do beyond the mission objectives in Mission A could dictate wether or not Mission B becomes available or is replaced by Mission C.

Each side (Bora and Galspan) have a fully playable campaign under their flags as well as quite a few independent third party missions (which for the most part are available regardless of which side you play)

Complimenting this are two distinct (but similar) endings to the game dependent on which side you choose.

Great plot, great flight simulator Well worth the money!

Tachyon: The Fringe I think is the best the simulator game of all time. The plot of the video game is that you play the experienced fighter pilot named Jake Logan (voice by Bruce Campbell). Suddenly when a medical facility is blown up you are the unlucky person who gets blamed for it. You are then exiled to the Fringe of Colonized Space where all the criminals and low lives are. You are then given to choice to either side with Galspan (almost like the big business of the future) or Bora (the rebels who seek and freedom from the big corporations.) This game got me hooked from the start. There is danger everywhere and you must defeat it. One of the best parts in playing the game is when you go into a gladitorial like fight but it is with ships shooting each other to death. This game is fun and has a storyline and even if you don't like space simulators, you'll still like it. Trust me, I did.

10/10

that game still rocks , and is only matched in it's qualities by softs like the old wing commander series or starlancer . if you like space sims , you will love this one , there are different types of objectives and the game is totaly open-ended , it anything but linear , you can even choose the order in with you complete the missions ( you got a problem with escorting missions , then do another type and you might get the upgrade for your ship that might give you the edge )

freelancer might have newer graphic technology , but it doesn't support at all any form of joystick ( they should do a patch for that ) so if you are like me and need a good space shooter fix , take a look at the underrated "tachyon : the fringe" , you can't go wrong 9 out of 10 ( only because too many escort missions for my taste )

If I wasn't so strict about not labeling anything best of this or best of that I might have given this game the 'Best Space Simulator to Date' title on my part. But since I'm not like that then I won't. No, I won't....*clipping my fingernails*.... Ok. IT'S THE BEST SPACE SIMULATOR TO DATE!!!

I only played about half of it and I can't get enough. I haven't finished the Bora side of the game yet but from my experience with GalSpan I can say it's great.

Did you play FreeSpace? Descent: FreeSpace? Conflict: FreeSpace - The Great War? Take that. Add some cool new features. Much better graphics. A different 'This time I'm taking care of myself' setting and put Bruce Campbell (He's just too good) playing the lead character and you got Tachyon.

It has, action, drama, betrayal, side switching, twilight fog, scary scenes and Bruce adding the clever humorous remarks we love him for.

It may be only out for a few weeks (6/6/2k) but it's already loved by many. And I'm sure it will sell a few hundred thousands by next year. I recommended it to everyone I know and I recommend it to anyone who reads it.

See you on the NovaWorld arena.

hey are you a Bruce Campbell fan? A Wing Commander/Freelancer /Freespace fan. Then this game is for you. I have been playing this game on my system since it came out.. This is so much fun. I am an advocate for cheats. And this has some great ones, you will want to use them, cuz Bruce has some great jabs at ya if you do.. lol The controls are awesome, the graphics the same. Other than Vice City, this is my favorite shooter/space sim. the weapons are top notch. The voice acting is great, you ethier love the characters or hate them. The designs are top notch, the ships are huge. In Short this is the bomb of space flight sims. 10/10

The greatest space ship simulator / shooter / adventure game. Why is there no sequel, after all these years? I guess the original was a flop... but it makes me wonder why, because it is one of the greatest games made.