Space Sim Parkan: The Imperial Chronicles Hits GOG

I can't say I'd even heard of Parkan: The Imperial Chronicles, but some folks seem awfully excited that the Russian space sim/FPS/RPG from 1997 is now on GOG - and in English for the first time. I am certainly interested in gems we missed here in the UK during the years we got our games in boxes from shops, when we rarely saw games from Russia and Eastern Europe. A game where you can do the usual merc-o-pirate sandbox space stuff, go on foot in FPS action, and build colonies... I'm interested!

It's a big and complex thing, so you'll excuse me if I turn to developers Nikita for a description:

"The player will appear in the year 4097 since the foundation of the Lentis colony in the forsaken corner of the galaxy and will have to travel on the imperial starship Parkan to find a lost research vessel called Wanderer, which has mysteriously vanished in the deep space vacuum of the Lentis. This won’t be an easy task: at the moment your ship helplessly drifts on a strange and nameless sun orbit — your last interstellar jump has knocked out your starfighter's long-distance communication system and the hyperdrive. To get back to your base you will have to repair the fighter and provide it with fuel, find new weapons and navigation systems. And there's more than this — here everyone will be able to create a squadron of auxiliary drones and ships, board a hostile starship, colonize a distant planet, engage in trade or piracy, find himself in political games or even create his own clan. In short — the whole universe of possibilities is open to the player! Your mission is clear: how you choose to complete your objective is up to you!"

Well, that certainly sounds interesting. No idea if it lives up to that! Er, any chance any of you played it in Russian and are able to tell us more? Parkan's 2005 sequel is on Steam, by the way.

Parkan: The Imperial Chronicles is £4.49 on GOG.