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After a day of hands-on play, we're ready to re-enter the atmosphere with new details on this sci-fi flight shooter.

Russia knows a thing or two about space. Forget arm-folded dances, vodka, or fuzzy hats: in the motherland's golden days, she broke the stratospheric tape, shooting Sputnik, then Yuri Gagarin into orbit as the first satellite and soul in space ahead of the Americans. The country's cosmic heritage lends itself toward intergalactic games, and Soviet studio Quazar has spawned several: birthing a handful of space shooters in its "Tarr" universe since its formation, though Chronicles is the first in the series to come stateside. At press tour in San Francisco last week, we grabbed some cockpit time courtesy of publisher CDV.

For genre enthusiasts, it may feel like light years since the last quality space sim touched down. Though there's been small steps in between, the genre has lacked the giant leap titles like Wing Commander or Freespace delivered in their day. Tarr Chronicles may not share these classics' pedigree, but it could bear more than a resemblance to their bloodline. Quazar shows familiarity with the genre's '90s roots beginning with Tarr's story, which PR Manager Ted Brockwood describes as a Russian take on "Battlestar Galactica." Like brave Starbuck & Co., your pilot follows a floundering human fleet trying to keep afloat against heavy odds. When a hyper-node in the center of the galaxy lost its cool, the cataclysm it unleashed birthed "Mirk," a murderous, intangible force, that in a few hundred years has already overrun much of the galaxy, completely occupying sectors and extinguishing the life within.

Impending doom aside, of more concern to the human race and her allies are the De'Khete: evil embodiments spawned by the Mirk that facilitate the spread of their father substance across the galaxy. Making friends with the Mea'Tarrs and the Guardians, mankind deploys her remaining military might to keep the De'Khete at bay and preserve its right to survive.

An early translation of the game didn't unsheathe too many storyline specifics, but time spent outside the cockpit grants players the opportunity to catch up on plot points. Within whatever cruiser or battleship you happen to call home, you can glance over log-like journal entries, check your service record, or study official files to learn more about the Tarr timeline . You'll find your statistics here too -- ships shot down, hit percentage, and so on. Down the hall, the hangar's home to a wealth of ship customization fans of MechWarrior or Freelancer will find familiar.