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Slow but Steady

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 19 / 20
Date: March 15, 2007
Author: Amazon User

For those of you who have been looking for that space simulation that's actually a simulation, you've probably found what you've been looking for.

Let me start with an explanation, X3 is storyline optional. There are several different options to start off with, giving you the choice of just about any time of job, with the storyline turned on or off, creating a massive sandbox. Massive is right too, with about 120 sectors, each with an infinite navigable space, although most people will probably go about 30km on each axis. Each sector is connected to other sectors adjoining it via HUGE gates, at least 500m in diameter.

Another thing about X3 is the simulation. This will turn most people away, as the game takes place in real-time, with time compression to simply speed up time. The game literally seems to take forever. There are numerous ways to make money in the beginning of the game, and none of them are by any means quick. Money is treated realistically, with ships and weapons outrageously expensive. Prices are calculated on a supply and demand, so unlike games like Freelancer, you MUST keep an eye out for good deals, as the prices will almost never be the same at the same factory.

For example: If you buy 5000 units of argnu beef for 40cr for 200,000cr, the prices will probably be about 60cr after you buy. Then take them to another factory, and say they buy argnu beef for 50cr, once you sell they will buy for maybe 30cr, and from that trade run you make a profit of 50,000cr. The game isn't this rounded, but that's about how trading works.

Fighting is also always present. Pirates have bases in certain sectors, and will attack you sometimes, depending on how vulnerable you are, and what you're carrying. If you're empty and well-armed, they'll probably avoid you. You can, however, capture ships, pirate or otherwise. Captured ships will NOT be in the best of condition, but they will still sell for a pretty penny at certain stations.

Later in the game, you can save up and buy factories which produce products or resources. You will of course need to rent a ship to transport them, unless you already own a certain type of ship, as well as buy ships to transport goods to and from your factories. The scripting for the ship AI is pretty decent for a universe that virtually runs itself.

At first you will probably feel constrained by your equipment. There's always that freighter that makes 100x more than you, or that fighter that's faster and more maneuverable than you, or that ship that has better weapons or shields than you. Although after a few days of nursing your hoard, you'll find that you can afford some really big ships and better equipment.

The complexity in X3 is absolutely astonishing and I honestly can't do it all justice. It can be completely overwhelming for most people, but if any of the above sounds like fun to you and you have a fair amount of patience, I suggest you buy this game. For $20 you can't go wrong!

If you do buy this game, I suggest you check the Egosoft forums for some helpful scripts and bonuses, both fan-made and official.

Be prepared to quit your job to be a space pilot...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 12 / 13
Date: October 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

X3 is the ultimate space game. Period.

Most space games just focus on either the combat or trade. Certain titles doesn't allow you to have fun unless you're following the storyline. *cough, cough* Star Fleet Command *cough* but in X3, you can do WHATEVER YOU WANT!!!

Now, what does that mean? You can fly through space and just enjoy the view. Watch a military campaign from your cockpit and don't have to worry about following a storyline. The game world is running in real-time in each sector simultaneously.

Want to pick a fight with anyone? Go ahead. There are dozens of ships flying in one sector at a time. Attack pirates, military, merchant or civilian freely. For a fighter class the battle system handles like a console flight-combat game. Grab the goods that were left in the debris and sell it. If you're lucky (EXTREMELY LUCKY) the pilot will jump ship and you'll gain a new addition.

Perhaps you like to trade? Find good markets within sectors own by five races. Depending on your ship's speed one sector can take a half an hour to pass through (or buy a jump drive). But don't fret, cause auto pilot can do the navigating for you! Do your chores, homework or business report as the ship flies itself. I actually take two hour walks. But, make sure your plot doesn't involve pirate infested space and don't carry illegal cargo (Like liqour, slaves and yes, weed). There are actually police and customs that scan your ships.

Don't think weapons, repairs, upgrades and new ships come cheap though. Just to give you an idea you start off with 5000 credits and it costs 4,000 to fix 1% of hull damage. Make sure you trade, give taxi rides, do errand runs, steal cargo or destroy enemies of the state. Maybe refurnish your freight into a cruise ship?

This game is for the hardcore gamer who has patience to sit for hours. Live like Han Solo before all that rebellion nonsense. Boldly go where no man has gone before, you know?

Not for the faint of business sense

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: July 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

First and foremost, this game is a business simulation; that it's in space with a storied plotline sometimes seems like an afterthought of development. If you can keep that in mind and are okay with it, it's actually a great game.

The persistent galaxy dynamics of the game are as elaborate as anything I've ever seen...space stations and factories all have energy and resource needs, thousands of other ships populate the spaceways (some making money resupplying those stations), and pirates prowl those same lanes looking stragglers or weaker ships to prey on.

As an independent pilot starting out with a decent fighting ship, you can spend your time destroying pirate ships for bounty, buying and selling goods to those needy factories, or even (gasp) following the main plotline of the game, which is rather anemic and not entirely believable. The game really shines, however, when you have saved up enough money to acquire any of a large number of other ships available for purchase. Everything from large transports to bulky and menacing carrier ships can be had, given that you have the trust of the alien race you'd like to buy it from. What makes the game truly a large scale business sim is the fact that you can own an unlimited amount of ships, all with their own pilots whose actions you can dictate or even allow to trade/operate on their own, with the profits going to you.

The level of depth in involving yourself in your own corporate startup, coupled with better than average graphics even on an older system (the game runs great with a 3 year old computer using a 9800 Pro video card) amount to a satisfying experience for any money-maker out there with an itchy trigger finger.

Steep but fun

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: June 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game has a steep learning curve but in about a few hours of gameplay, a player can get used to the interfaces and become pretty well proficient at operating the controls. The game is pretty interesting even if you finish the storyline. There's a huge fan based script and add-on forum on the X-universe site which can add more hours of play with new ships and weapons. The game is well detailed and allows the player to immerse him/herself into the X-universe. I've finished the game's storyline and it's still fun to play with goals of getting new ships and exploring new sectors. I've started to play Elder's Scroll: Oblivion and it's pretty much the same concept.... except this is in space and you can take over the whole universe if you want to with houndreds of your own traders, space stations, and even your own aramada.... for some, you can even be a galactic pirate.

Great for those who enjoy space sim combat, or who want a trading experience.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: December 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

OK, so this game is a lot of fun. Many, many, MANY hours of fun.
To start off with a couple of minor negatives, the in-game console is slightly cumbersome, and also the physics engine leaves a lot to be desired in terms of realism (read: angular changes in trajectory rather than smooth arcs).
Ok, with that out of the way, I can move onto the good parts...
This game is mostly about freedom, you really can do pretty much whatever you want and still accrue your credits and affect the surrounding solar systems(or not) to the same degree.
The graphics are stunning, the game won the best in show for graphics at the E3 convention in the year it came out, and wether or not you have a good computer you will be able to appreciate the stunning visuals.
The crowning glory of this game, as other reviewers have hinted at, is the amazingly dynamic economy and "AL" (Artifical Life). The supply and demand mechanics have been worked out to a fine degree, and there are thouands and thousands of AI ships and stations that participate in it.

To start off, I ran a few taxi missions, ferrying supplies or passengers from one system to another, which, once you know and understand the UI, is very simple, (Open Command Console> Navigation>Dock at...>Select the station>Initiate Time Accelorator and watch your self arrive in a couple of minutes.)
After I had enough credits from the taxi missions to arm my ship,(actually the first few storyline missions help with this as well), I started to prey on lone and weak pirate ships, after loading my ship up with as many big missiles as it could carry. Saving before any given fight is a must so that you can perfect your technique and maybe even get the pirate to jump ship.
After that, the options are limitless, you can continue to raid pirates, or wage war on one of the other races. You can equip some transport ships with hired pilots and watch them advance from "System Traders" to "Universal Traders" while your bank account grows just as quickly.
The main fun for me in this game now is setting up complete manufacturing stations with all the different resources to make expensive end-line tech products, an then equipping my own armada to prep for a mass invasion of one of the alien sectors.
The game is fun, immersive, and extremely dynamic, I reccomend it for any space sim fan...

Great game if you hav patience.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: February 19, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Well the title to my post says it all. X3 Reunion is a great game if you have time and patience. The game has a lot of depth, and the plot is worth following, but not necessary to enjoy the game. If combat was more like Freelancer and the interface was more consistent I wouldn't hesitate to say this game is the best in it's genera.

This series is getting better...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: May 08, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I started playing this kind of game with Elite on the C64. That game was always the one to measure the others by. Unfortunately I've never had as much fun as I once did with that old game. Sure, everything aspect of gameplay has moved on but it never quite worked well enough for me to get into the game like I once did. The X series has certainly been the leader and this latest version, the 2.0, is far and away the best space combat/training game ever made. It allows you to play it like a Wing Commander/Starlancer mission based game or (and my preferred) completely open-ended. I feel like I'm flying around a fully realized universe with this game. I almost get that limitless feeling like I once did with Elite. Indeed, there are many different ways you can play the game and that is why the replayability is also something remarkable here. Compared with all previous games like this one I think the combat aspects are the best they've ever been. I'm very satisfied. The game certainly needs some work in some areas, such as more voices...got tired of the same old voices when docking. Still, any problem is certainly minor. I've been enjoying this game a great deal. A word of warning, if it grabs you, you better have a loooot of free time.

Same as X2 but I still like it.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: July 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

It's nice mindless fun. In X2 it took forever to get any new ships because you had no choice but to do little trade runs and missions. In X3, however, you have the ability to take down some pirate ships if you're good. Missions are almost impossible to find in this one and you'll soon find that many of the sectors are the same as in X2. Best part about this version over the previous versions of X3 is it doesnt come with the spyware the game came with on its release. Overall, I'd say it's a good game, but can be repetative so it would be a good idea to have something else to do during the boring parts.

Doesn't satisfy me

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: May 27, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I have to say. I hear a lot of about how buggy the game is. I installed and updated it just fine and the game ran great on my computer. Guess I got lucky

Now when I got into it I realized this game will take some time to get into. I did a lot of reading on the forums and spent a good amount of time figuring the dynamics of the game just to realized I've just barely begun. First of all going along in the story, the dialog was a joke. It reminded me of a really bad movie. I had to turn the volume down so my wife wouldn't laugh at me becuase of the cheesy lines.

I thought the game was very open ended and you could just go at it and do whatever you wanted. In the end I felt empty inside. Normally setting up a business and making a lot of money would be a good drive for anyone, but only in a MMORPG. You can be filthy rich and have a powerful ship but in the end... it's only a single player game and it's meaningless. So I finally just uninstalled the game and traded it in for something else more enjoyable. Unfortunately I only got like $4 for this game.

I think that a hardcore fan of the previous X games would enjoy this but anyone else would do better with another game.

Oh. I forgot to mention that one thing I enjoyed about the game was the graphics were beautiful.

Tech errors galore

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 21
Date: November 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

1. Six disk install.
2. Wouldn't accept input from my Logitech gamepad
3. Constantly aborted to Windows.
4. Update didn't work.
5. Update locked up PC, on reboot Chkdsk was needed.
6. Uninstalled.

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