X3 is thus far the culmination of Egosoft's space series, following on from X-BTF, X-Tension and X2. As a simulation it's pretty realistic if you imagine space friction. (I have Private Pilots Licences for Single & Twin light aircraft, helicopters and TwinJet helicopters, and find it's not far removed from flying the real things). It takes some getting used to, don't expect to learn it in a few hours - it takes most people a few weeks to learn, but if you stick with it, it affords an amazing experience of trading and fighting all in real time. It will certainly challenge most people if you want to trade properly as well as fight. People with low intelligence and or concentration will soon find that they cannot get past the first few hours, become frustrated and give up due to the complexity of the game initially, however, once you have spent some time learning the millions of controls, it becomes second nature and is the only game/simulation I have found which keeps people riveted for years. I know people who have been playing it for more than 2 years and are still thriving on it! When you do.… Expand

I'm not surprised that many people here don't like the game- I'm equally unsurprised that plenty love it. X3 is the only game I know which allows you to accumulate a fortune properly. It's hard work, very slow paced and at times VERY VERY BORING, but once you have enough money to buy that new Station or Destroyer, it's worth it. It can be more satisfying than any other game out there, but to get to it you have to dedicate hours of your life- weeks, even. The controls are appalling. I managed to get 10,000,000 credits on X2, through weeks of play. I had an armada of ships, but not nearly enough money for one of those 40,000,000 credit beasts. THIS IS A GOOD THING. I'm fed up of games which become easy once you get the best the game has to offer. This game will reward you time and time again for your hard work. What was today's achievement was yesterday's aspirations. When I moved from X2 to X3, I was bewildered by everything again. It really feels like an entire world and it will take a good 6 or 7 hours to get accustomed to it. The graphics is amazing and the voice acting is terrible. The infamous Starforce protection system has been removed in the latest patch. It runs with out a disc, so there's no reason for you not to give it a go. You'll need a beast of a machine to play it on highest everything, but this isn't the sort of game where frame rates matter- most of the time you'll be staring at spreadsheets and figures. Please, give this game a chance. If you have the patience, you'll be rewarded. It makes a great deal of very little, but you won't care. You'll spend hours watching massive tankers drive past, then suddenly you'll have enough money to buy one of your own. You'll think about your next moves when you're not playing it, and whilst you are playing it, more and more possibilities open up to you- where do you explore next? Is there a lucrative profit to be made in a sector? This game is unlike any you've ever played before. If somebody could merge this with Elder Scrolls Oblivion we'd have the best game ever. There would be armies fighting in real time about the map, massive businesses opening up, and a 500,000,000 gold sword for sale. This game is an aquired taste. You won't enjoy it straight away. You're dropped in the deep end and you'll have to find a rock to save yourself. Once you learn the ways of the universe, you'll begin to appreciate it, and exploiting this game is the most satisfying thing of all. It's a shame that some people can't appreciate these elements, though I agree that it's a VERY time consuming game and that some people would rather have a quick online game on Face2 or De_dust2 . Although this is only single player, it feels very alive. Nothing is static in this universe and there are plenty of things to see and do. Enjoy.… Expand

Well I've only logged about 3 hours or so on this game but I have so far had no problems which was quite a relief after all the horror stories I've read about this games bugs (I have downloaded the patch 1.2.01). The graphics are fantastic - worlds, ships and effects and it's not the system hog I was expecting and I'm running at res. 1600x1050 (P4 3.4Ghz, 2 gigs RAM, Geforce 6800). The frame rate does drop for a split second when an enemy ship ship explodes (oh and strangely the cut scenes are a bit jerky) but other than that the frame rate is fine and frankly dropping the resolution would probably cure that. Dog fights are great fun using either the mouse or the joystick (I'm using a joystick). Only downside is at the moment I still don't really know what the hell I doing in terms of trading etc (and a lot of buttons to memorize). It's a real nice change of pace from everything else I've been playing, I do think this game is going to become extremely addictive.… Expand

I've got a pretty good new system. 4800+ (overclocked by 10% using N.O.S) 2x Winfast 7800GT Extreme cards, (both pre-overclocked) 1.5 gig ram, Audigy 4, Spinfast 120 harddrives (brand new).. The game plays (with 2 patches). ...just ! But... The story gets confused after about chapter 6 if you go back to your base the wrong way (as well as many other "shopwstoppers" apparently - but this is the one that's bugged me. Economy makes no sense..buy from chock full factories at very low price, go to sector where factory is stopped because they don't have the commodity you have bought - go to sell it to them and make a loss !!!! Where's the supply/demand structure in that ??? Graphics STUNNING , don't care what people say, messes all over Eve (BIG time) BUT Get into a battle and frame rate (on my 2 week old rig) drops to 4 or 5 (yes tried every trick in the book to get it working - options / Mobo / Rivatuner / Tweaks / "unnoficial" patches to lower pedestrian traffic etc - still need Deep Blue to get the flipping thing shifting. Really feels like a BETA. I want this game to work, go on make it work, i'm sure it'll be worth it .......… Expand

Do you like to read? How about reading a lot of murky science-fiction-based manuals and procedure lists? If so, X3 is the game for you. If you don't like to read, you're going to get frustrated in a hurry with X3. The learning curve is steep, thanks to a convoluted user interface in the game, but also thanks to the X-Universe, which is largely persistent from the games of which X3 is the sequel. The X-Universe is more or less a compilation of every sci-fi cliche since Star Wars, but re-written so that most of the important nouns have made-up words, like cahoona and mazura. Trying to figure out the economy of the game, where you are trying to figure out if a SQUASH mine factory needs energy cells can be frustrating, unless you do your reading. There's a manual that comes with the game, and a revised manual that was published on-line, and you'll need to read both. Then, there's the patches for the game, which do help a lot, but which also require some research to apply. The complete saving grace of X3 is the on-line forum at Egosoft, where many friendly people are willing to answer all sorts of questions on X3 gameplay, and some of them are talented modders who make X3 gameplay a more enjoyable experience. But, be prepared to spend more time reading than playing if you join that forum. Lastly, there's even an X-universe novel, translated from German of the "Leelee heaved her three alien bosoms inside her space-bodice, thinking deeply that she needed revenge for the death of her father at the hands of the Evil Overlord" variety (note that this isn't an actual bit from the book text, but to me, it seems to be a lot along those lines), which could be read to gain more backstory on the X3 game. As it goes, X3, like many games these days, has way more backstory than actual plot. There is a plot in the game, but it's as loose as the elastic on your grandfather's underwear, and the character acting and models that propel said plot are about as amateur as any you can find outside of an elementary school. Good thing that you can abandon the plot at will, and that the spaceship and space effects are really nicely done. X3 is woth picking up for cheap (if you can even find it on the game store shelves), provided you have the patience to do your reasearch and your patching -- the patches are as large as the Egosoft patch server is slow. In some ways, it's more of a challenge -- and a thrill -- to get X3 up and running on your computer than it is to actually play the game, but once you get it going, there's many things you can try out in the game. It's as open-ended as a video game can get where you are the only person in the whole galaxy with free will.… Expand

The initial game was buggy, but after updating to 1.2 it got pretty good but 1.4.03 has all the bugs worked on my system. I can now play and very much enjoy this game. This game is not for everyone, and it is slow to start, but after some persistant playing it is turning out to be a great game. If you liked XBTF or X2 then you will love this game. But if you hated these other games you will not like X3. If you buy X3 go to egosoft's web site and download the patches and look over the scripts, these will make the game much more enjoyable.… Expand

if you have 1.0 of this game your missing out of the most in death space sim ever better than freelacher and its past as X2 same kind of gameplay that X2 had but this time it all fits togever and works like nuffing you have ever seen befor this is a truw game that is worthy of being in the same leage as elite.

X3:Reunion is a fantastic game. And to all those who experience problems with X3 (performence, etc.) i just can say: buy a better computer or don't buy such a game!! The game impresses with graphics and realism, AI and many possibilities to create an own empire. It's EGOSOFT's fault, that the game is not complete, but EGOSOFT is patching and updating it, to fix all Problemes. And for that the game gets a 9 from me. Because the small ammount of Problems at the Moment (v 1.4.03) will be fixed and only the small ammount of battles InGame avoids a 10.… Expand

First off, I LOVE sim games....no matter what the sim is......flight, life, fight, or driving....dun matter...love ‘em all...as long as they are realistic. Second...this game is astronomical; it has great potential and is extremely fun to play (patched). The only way that I see that someone doesn't like this game is a low ended computer that lags the game like none other, don’t like sim games, or just dun like/know economics. If you don’t get a lot of money in game....u can’t have the fun of building fleets and finical empires…but has that nice little feature that u have to play to get to the good parts...notoriety and all. Overall, if we were in space flying around…I think this is how it would be…just…more populated….I mean…those sectors can have a lot more in them….stations and ships alike or even planets that are able to be landed on and be interactive surface side…build a company on the planet as a kick off to a space company….but I think that that is something that the games lacks in the most….micromanagement of company. That aside…again…awesome game…… Expand

Very detailed and pretty, as well as challenging. "Cinematics" and voicework are the only parts that are annoying.

Insane learning curve, but ridiculously addictive once you get the hang of it. As others have noted, the game shipped originally as a Beta, choked with bugs, CTD's and missing content. Now however, thanks to Egosoft spewing out patches and addons, it has finally become the game it was meant to be. Update 2.0 will make it game of the year for me. Sorry Bethesda.

A very good game, once you learn the game menus (which could have been better. The game has a Huge area to explore and amazing graphics, however it could use more interactivity on bases and in space The explosions are only ok compared to the rest of the graphics.

Well the fact that people give 5 or below are the ones that have no interest in a game that need wits, or have no patience to learn the game for at least 6 hours(yes it took me 6 hours to catch the basics). This is is not all it is, with mods and scripts, you can do ANYTHING. Best of all, 3 years into the years now, this game is very stable, and has a lot, yes a lot of scripts and mods available for FREE. The normal mode is already extra-ordinary, with mods/script, there is nothing else like it.… Expand

The best space sim ever. Yup there are games that do this and more but this one gets it right. The best forum as well.

It ain't perfect and it isn't a total piece of excrement. If only the XTM developers/egosost(whoever was responsible) would hurry up and fix the upper turrets on the odin i.e they end up having 4 cannons visable on each individual turret when there sould be 2, lets not mention they don't move. People tend to notice little things and 4 buggy turrets right in front of your HUD smacks of extremely poor effort. Still, if you don't cheat it will take a hell of a lot to get everything from it. So it gets a nine for staying power and an awesome mod community.… Expand

If you ever wanted a modern version of Elite, this is it. I experienced none of the packaging problems listed.

Steep learning curve, unbelievable complex and immense in size. It'll keep you happy for many, many hours.

All of the X games have been close to perfect, I perfer slow econemy vrs fast paced trade. the graphics are seccond to none even on my computer, the combat system is amazing, specifically beacause its first person altho you can controll many ships, the game engine itself is a work of art. X3: reunion is no exception,! The only people who cant stand to play this either have no interest in space games, or cant micro manage anything... the controlls are hard to master but if you played the others you should be used to how the general setups are for the x games... rated 10 for its close to perfection gameplay... Quote: Stratagy first… Expand

Great! Graphicall, it is one of the best-looking games on the market. It runs wonderfully on my pc with graphics maxed out. Combat is spectacular - nice effects and easy to fly with the mouse. So many game options, too - you can follow the campaign, or ignore it and play as an explorer, pirate or merchant.

At last they've almost perfected it. All we need to do now is be able to land on the planets and I think I'd give it 11 out of 10. Great Game for us old boys who actually like some stimulation in a game.

It;s a very, very deep game, sad that it has so low score... Do you remember the Elite game from the 1980's? That's it! But 1000 times better!

I love this game.

I only played this game for say 2-3 hours, I was blown away, graphics/sounds/effects/ everying done superb, but the lip-sync sucks to be honest, I dont really care about the manule, I always just play the game and learn it from just doing it, Well I have to rate this game 10/10, It is very good, WEE pretty pictures, and the planets looks very realistic, and yes, BLOODY HELL the AI can bloody diss you an everything. Good job EgoSoft, another good X series.… Expand

Quick and Dirty players beware, this game is not a one night stand. Learning curve is astronomical, but once you understand the method to all the maddness, the controls ARE intuitive, gameplay IS immense, and you will realize how stupid those game reviews really are. It's like EVE Online, a rather unknown MMO, not for the dull witted or the un-educated player. This game requires basic economic understanding to "build" a profitable business in-game. Ship combat is somewhat frustrating at first, but when you build a fleet, it gets interesting (macro/micromanagment). The game is sporadically buggy, game saves sometimes do not save/load, and other random crashes to desktop, in addition, the hardware requirements are relatively high for best results. If you do buy this game, i suggest googling newbie's guides to X3, as there is a large community base for this game, it will ease the burden.… Expand

This game offers a great deal of open-ended play with excellent graphics. It's user-interface is very complicated, and takes some getting used to, but once you have spent some time learning your way around it, it turns out to be powerful and customizable. I have not had any problems with creashes or instability. Make sure to get all of the updates and patches. Overall, it is a bit rough around the edges, but once you get into it, it is a great game.… Expand

Excellent involving game with great graphics and immersive world, want to forget you really exist, be in the X3 world!

Still the best Space-Trade-Fight-Think-Sim there is. And now with the 2.0.02 Path and the new ships/missions almoust perfect. No other game gives you that much fun, for so long time. I played all 4 games of this sequel and this one is the best of all, because of the graphics. There are some minor things that can be improved in the next one, such as making complex bulding easier, and maybe an longer Story, but until then I will enjoy playing it. Not every day, but often.… Expand

X3 is the best game I know at the moment. Something that is cool: You can not simply start it and just know everything (as it is in other games). You always discover new things and you have got aims to reach, sometimes quite high ones. You don't find that in any other current game. Well, some guys which rated the game with a bad rating will have had problems with the aspect «THINK». That is something which belongs to the game, but there are people which have troubles with that. Something I've never seen in any game: Both the community and Egosoft, the publisher. They work together like nowhere else.… Expand

Engrossing and complex. Cerebral expereince broken by moments or terrific space combat.

Ive spent lots of hours on this game and I don't regret it. It's a "very large" universe with lots of things to do, like creating a huge empire consisting of hundreds of ships, from small to capital ships and factories, from large ones to entire complexes. It doesn't stop there, why not making a script to meet your empires needs? Don't forget to check out the mods then fans made! My only question is: When may we see X4 hit the stores?… Expand

Yes the game was buggy on 1st release - if people bothered to read the forums (at egosoft.com) they would have found that this was due to untenable deadlines being set by the publisher as was the requirement for starfarce. The guys at egosoft have done a tremendous amount of support on this and release 2.0 is excellent. To play this game the biggest boost in performance is through a 256-bit 256MB gfx card - anything below is just a waste. A final note to the impetuous - if you are fickle enough to present criticism to a product because yo don't have the patience to do real research don't bother casting comment - this game is not meant for you as you lack imagination and creativity.… Expand

This game got evry thing you can play like pirate/trader/ or mission and the world is big so you have much time on you.The hard thing is only to know all meny and stuffs then its will be really cool.

Great. Interesting story line, realistic view of space, and plenty of space to grow and expand. The only reason I do not give it a 10 is for the learning curve, if I had not known a friend who has gotten very far in the game, I would most likely not know as much as I do now, and it could have taken me days to understand.

It could have been a fantastic game, but it just wasn't finished. The graphics are incredible, the universe to explore is vast, but around every asteroid theres a new poorly done cutscene or poorly designed piece of code ready to bring you back to reality. The community for the game have taken it to completely new lengths (with the xtended mod) and to experience what you should have got from egosoft in the first place, you have to rely on them. Lets hope egosoft pull it together for their next release.… Expand

Great game regardless of the negatives everyone else seems to be harping on. Yes the interface is clunky, but if everyone spends time with it it is a very addicting game. Great graphics, don't care about voice acting/cut scenes (that's ignorant in a good game), controls/interface (do need work, and sorry if they didn't dumb it down for everyone). Play this game and give the time it deserves and you'll see a game with limitless possibilities. Grow a pair, man up and enjoy the game.… Expand

Great game. Has some issues but it's gratifying to see them being rapidly addressed by the developer.

After you get past the niagra falls learning curve with no tutorial, the game is AWESOME! It feels like eve online but in single player, where you actually have control over the time when going some where. I have gotten a lot of people hooked on this game and they took to the controls faster then I did only because they used the mouse dc: There are a lot of short comings with no tutorial but once you are over that, this is a engorsing and addictive game.… Expand

This game is nothing short of incredible in terms of graphics, gameplay and did I mention graphics? BUT it has starforce... which has basically screwed up me using my cd-rom drive. Because it uses StarForce, i deducted 4 points from it's total score. StarForce only punishes legitimate owners! >:-( (and makes us very angry)

What a game. Initially when you jump into the game, the interface seems a little cumbersome, but the graphics are amazing. It does take a while to get into the swing of things, but after a couple of hours of playing you start to realise that this game is huge, with hidden depths, it really is Elite for the 21st century. Combat is great and realistic as well, and the trading part of the game is great if a little frustrating at first. This game is worth sticking too, whilst it does have a very steep learning curve, it is well worth playing, and as it says in the manual, say goodbye to your social life!… Expand

The first computer game I truly became addicted to was Elite (on the Amiga). I later enjoyed Privateer 2 on the PC. This is my first game in the “X” series. I consider this game to be in about the same league. I was a bit miffed at the lack of any tutorial however I found the information I needed on various forums. Visually the game is beautiful. My PC is 2 years old (XP3000, 1.25 gigs RAM & Radeon 9800 PRO 128), when I purchased the game I only had 0.5 gigs RAM – I have found this upgrade to speed up the game a lot. I do not get hardly any slow down in Argon Prime (I applied patch 1.3 today which has made the game even smoother). I recommend this game. PS, the best game of all time is Total Annihilation.… Expand

Expansive, beautiful and complex. It's a game for those of us who really do think that we live in a world with space travel. Make sure you give this game time to fully develop, the steep learning curve makes it hard to delve into this game. With the content and patches on the way from the developers in the form of free updates, bugs will be fixed and new things added. Definetly a game to take a look at.… Expand

This isn't the game fir tiy if you're looking for space combat but is the closest thing to an up-to date Elite that has been released. Economically this is a trading simulation with elements of space combat thrown in much in the same way as Braben and Bell's original Elite was. That's not to say that its lacking in quality as its a very accomplished and pleasing game to play.

I have to admit, this game is not deserving of a 10, but it is also not deserving of the score that the impatient and ill informed use. StarForce has NEVER crashed a game on me, I have never seen another person's game crash because of StarForce and StarForce offered $5000 to anyone who could prove otherwise. StarForce is the best protection on the market, and using it signifys quality. It is true that the game lacks the 'good' tutorials from X2. I personally believe that the reason for this was people hated doing the repetitive slow, borring, 'how to move' tutorials. This makes the game only 'slightly' harder to play, but it is pretty standard. I am customizing my keys because some of the changes form X2 to X3 are just redundant or stupid (I found out how to do that in only 5 min on my own.) Although X2 and X3 ARE ill explained, there is a wonderful fourm community for both of them. Use it. I have a 1.8GHz Sempron and ATI 9600 Chipset with 512MB Ram. The game runs perfectly. I have since determined that people are trying to run the game with 'all it has'. My old windows 98 computer can run HL2, so that doesn't make any difference, what does mater is that HL2's graphics is primarly its 512 textures, there are so many 'different' graphical enhancments besides textures. Of course using programs to skip the load screen is probally why you didn't notice the 'graphics' button. Also, Autopilot is primarly for long distance control or travel. You, are expected to fly the space ship (something I noticed in X2, you can get somewhere quicker by using human intuition then the autopilot.) And it is NOT the year 5000, it is a different time measurement. And yes, Egosoft really DOES need to reiterate the story a lot better, but the don't, so deal with it.) FInally, you are not a programmer so you have no clue how these engines work, Eve doesn't sync every ship, at most it is syncing 50. If they claim otherwise they are only transmitting little data. Either way, they 'syncing' is so minor it doesn't even matter. Oh, and only idiots have 1600x1200 resolution on a size 1024x768 monitor. But the game does issue many 'sucky' problems. Primarily, I noticed massive amounts of old 'stuff' being used in this version of the game. Let alone the vids have a tendency to 'break' (or show an flash of something 'else'). The aiming system feels even harder to control, (those who never played X2 probally don't know where to aim) and while reprograming my controls, I broke most of the keys. I haven't "progressed" much into the game, primarly because I am fixing a few things, but I do notice how similar the game feels to X2. My primary reason for purchase was to break away from many of the X2 failures. X3 does not fix these, instead, it mearly adds massive visuals and appeal. If you want the visuals and customized key arrangments, go with X3. I, on the other hand, am prepared to stick with X2. There just isn't enough reason to play X3 except for the continuation of the story and the better graphics.… Expand

After playing this game for only a couple days (I haven't gotten too far along in many aspects, merely enough to test the waters) I believe it's definitely worthy of a decent score, though not a 10. One could live with a bit more adrenaline, and a dedicated tutorial definitely needs to be implemented. Let's face it, many gamers don't bother to check websites or play previous games in a series; in addition, many casual gamers would be immediately frustrated upon attempting to learn the controls of X3. However, if one can get past the non-existent interface intro, and the (somewhat realistic in my opinion) fact that you won't be in combat most of the time, the game is worthy of at least grabbing the demo on. If you're a fan of both space sims and other open games such as Oblivion, this is definitely a game for you!… Expand

It's a good game if you can get past the steep learning curve and you are lucky enough to have no graphical/system compatability problems If like me you played X2 its easy to work out the game, however if your new and want a game that give you no challenge or is a "lets shoot everything is sight" game then buy something else, however if you have an imagination and want to be a multibillionaire and rule the universe this is you game.… Expand

Having finished the game I would really like to congratulate Egosoft for the idea and partial development of the game. Beautiful and some time unbelievable graphics, nice music rapped up with average sound effects (especially for EAX owners) and a fair amount of lovely gameplay are what this game is all about. However, its premature release and very high requirements in personal life-time and system components surely effect this game very negativley. Having finished it however (the missions) my feelings were generally positive. Must buy for space fans ET lovers andwith people with much time to spare!… Expand

Starforce was probably the only big downpoint with this game, and Steam has eliminated that. People need to stop killing it's poor rating.

What a great game! I gave a 9 beacuse of a plot bug that means I can no longer play the plot on this particular save game, but the plot is only a tiny part of an otherwise fantastic game!

I played the demo, wish they had given you a few more options, even though it takes alot of time to get things done, it is a great game to play when you have time to spend and love Science Fiction games.

This game is one of the best I've seen in a while. Yes, it does have quite a few bugs, but these are easily resolved by downloading the newest patch. It's on par with Freelancer and Homeworld 2.

If your into long game play and like great space graphics. Then this one is it.

This is a fantastic game which covers all the different play styles a person could want. The Dev team have supported this game with patches to purge any bugs and have even included a patch which adds more content to the already full game. If you are looking for a Space Shooter, Trade Simm, Empire building scifi flight simulator then this game is for you! It does have a steep learning curve at first but its worth it. The amount of things you can do in this game is mind blowing. Not to mention the fact the modding community is huge and there are a ton of mods out for this game! Thanks Egosoft, Mod teams/Scriptors. You all rock!… Expand

If you like to go into a game, and do your own thing for as long as you like, whenever you like - this is the one for you ! there's missions... massive invasion forces to destroy, or if you prefer, become a business tycoon! I've never found a game that can rival the excellence of the X-universe!

This is, by far, the best game I have ever played. I hate games that cost you $50 and only gives you 6hrs of play. X3 has a learning curve that almost looks like a U-Turn, but it is well worth it. This game is not for the timid, and it WILL consume hours and hours of play. What do you expect? Technically, the game has no end unless you attempt to control each sector, which would require you to build an immense amount of resources. I can't understand how people can say it is boring. This game requires a HUGE amount of constant maintenance in order to build your empire. Looking for a good dogfight? Then start hunting down the bad guys. Still not a challenge? Then try to take over the sector occupied by 100+ pirates. Still bored? Try to take over the Xenon sectors which, in total, probably equals to over 200 ships. Still not interesting enough? Then give it a go in the Kha'ak sectors who make the Xenon look like pretty pink bunnies. This game is jaw dropping.… Expand

When I first got this game, around it's release date.. I would've rated it a 1 or 2. It simply was too hard to learn with the information provided. I really did love the idea of the game, and really wanted to like it, but I put it on the backburner as I didn't have the time to overcome all the frustrations. Now, a couple months ago I decided to boot it up again, and actually make a concerted effort at it. I can't believe how amazing this game truly is. I would definitely recommend heading to the egosoft forums and reading through the various 'newbie' guides. This will make X3 life so much more enjoyable, as the documentation and 'tutorial' is rather lacking. The game is a pandora's box inside a pandora's box of things you can do, none of which is even hinted at upon first glance. Don't be turned off by the rather steep learning curve, if the idea of this game sounds like fun to you, it's definitely worth it!… Expand

When X3 was first released I was one of many people to simply not play it for a while due to the fact that yes... upon release right out of the box it was buggy as hell. Shortly after the developers patched it numerous times releasing more and more features, simply put X3 now is a truely great game. If it had been in its current condition upon RELEASE i have no doubt that it'd be hailed as the new elite over and over. Pro's - Awsome Eye Candy Dynamic universe, the game engine constantly adapts to the economy. No two games are ever the same. Open ended gameplay, no limits on what you can do, the plot only opens up a few things. Con's - Ships feel like they have too much firepower. Very steep learning curve (X2's tutorials were good) You need the patches in order to play it reliably.… Expand

The sophisticated artificial life and scripting potential makes this a very interesting game, where planning and creativity actually pays off. Thumbs up.

Best single player Space-based game in a long time. Players of EVE-Online and Homeworld should enjoy this beautiful and complex game along with the amazing support and mods from Egosoft and the community.

for the limited who have no inteligents to figure out the controls, i shake my head at you and your pathetic pea sized crappy brains with no patients. this is an impressive, imersive game that takes you on a journey that you will never forget. and some tips for those who are new to the game may i suggest registering at egosoft to use there chat. or rougey for posting. it doesnt make sense to spend 35$-50$ on a game and get past the learning curve to make it worth the money . i for one would spend $400.… Expand

Great game with great reconfigurable controls GLENN T! But truly a good game. Those who complain that its too complex must be dumb because i learnt to play this when i was 15.

Friggin' Awesome. The vanilla game is ok, but after some customazation(dont have spell check or dictionary handy) it's a rock solid game for gamers who love extremely in depth gaming. but if you just like the pick up and play games (halo or most other FPS) I don't recommend it.

For overall clarity of understanding the game rates a bit low. It's not that it's impossible, nor is it even complicated. Rating a game based on how complicated it is is just silly. If you can't understand it, it doesn't mean someone else can't. Chess is complicated for many people. That doesn't make it a bad game. No, what I mean by "clarity of understanding" is simply how well the game explains it's complications. For instance it's a bit tricky to navigate your way through certain menu options. At times it's a bit like shopping at Lowe's hardware. Certain items simply are not the aisles you would expect them to be in. The same seems true at times with X3: Reunion. I spotted a review from a user giving this game a zero (0) rating simply because the controls "could not be reconfigured to invert the mouse X axis." I'm sure Glen looked for that option, and probably didn't find it, but it does in fact exist in the game. The problem is the way the menus are broken down it's not under the heading most gamers would look for. For game play itself, the actual flow of the game and the abilities of the player to immerse themselves in the universe of X3, I'd say the game is impeccable. During play there is a sense of really being there. And when reality becomes suspended I personally feel "if only it could really happen!" Now that is suspension of disbelief! Another downfall of this game, and it can be a major one, is the tricky messaging system. Some messages that one would feel are key are left out of the message log. Now, most players will complain about this, and even I find it annoying as I have been spoiled by games like "Fallout 3" and "Oblivion" as well as others that keep very detailed "quest logs" The thing is us old school gamers should know better! We should be keeping notes on important quest details! (I'm 42 myself and I've been gaming since ZORK was a baby!) In fact I think the designers did this intentionally. No, not to make some of us moan and whine. I think they did it to make us THINK. You remember when gaming took thinking if you're older than 25. If you're younger than 25, I apologize, but yes at one point we actually did have to think to play computer games. We had to take notes by hand on paper with pens in order to remember what important things NPCs had said, or what details we had read in some note or on a sign. Other than the fact that this game has some glitchiness with the quest system at times (for instance your quest targets simply not being there when you get there and n o explanation then or later as t to why!) it really is worth the money you pay to play it. Speaking of which, I see a review by a man claiming to have pirated this software to try it. You know, I'm probably not the only member of law enforcement who reads these boards. Fortunately for you I'm just a local patrolman. Finally, in parting, let me say this: Reviewing a game you haven't even done more than play an hour of is not really a fair rating. Please keep in mind that when you read individual's reviews. Many of the people who rated this game on this page simply got frustrated within a few minutes or hours because they couldn't understand the game. That is not reviewing. That is ranting. And while some of those rants may help people, at least try to be fair. Granted, it may save gamers with low tolerance for thinking from buying this game.… Expand

Gameplay is excellent but the recurring problems evident in it's predecessors, X BTF and X2 are present in X3 as well, Graphics gets choppy on the fastest systems and it takes some system tweaking to get the game running well, once it runs it is a brilliant game that will steal many hours from your life and probably even break a marriage or two.

This is a great game with amazing depth and ambitious scope which for the most part is pulled off. Runs like a dream on my PC and has never crashed. Don't be put off by the same person who is constantly posting 0 under different names because of some axe to grind. The new Elite.

Many users may be turned off by this game at first glace, as I did. However, if you are determined to see this game through the first few hours you'll begin to realize just what it can offer. It could use a lot of work, but it fills a niche that no other game has managed to fill so well. The main quest is fun, but the real meat of the game is in freelancing around the galaxy and building a fleet of stations and ships.… Expand

this game was absolutely mind blowing, the graphix kicked ass and the entire concept was incredible, for the year that this game was made i certainly am amazed at the lush scenery, this game looks as good as doom 3 to say the least. and i would recomend this to anyone who enjoys a good space flight sim.

possibly the most addicting and deepest game ever, if you take the time to get past the learning curve it is awesome! patches have fixed all the old issues, its a great game, buy it!

Great game, absolutly worth it for the Steam price. If you're looking to purchase, keep in mind that this game is targeted for a specific audience. If you like 3D space shooters and very user driven gameplay then this game will suite you. However, if you like to be carried along in a story or have waypoints lead you everywhere this game might be a little too deep for you. Performance wise I have not had a problem. If your computer can run games such as Doom 3, Half-Life 2, and Prey and full or good settings you shoudn't have any trouble at all. My friend however is having problems getting his Radeon graphics card and this game. The framerate is less than average and he has to run the game at 1024x768 for it to be playable. Suppose it's the universe's way of telling you all to buy NVidia.… Expand

What a great game! I can't believe that this game gets such a low score, it is so much better than that. I think that the reason for the low score is that the game is so deep and most people just don't have enough time to get properly into it. However, once you start going there is just no stopping this game.

Awesome Game... After it was patched of course! If you liked X2 or Freelancer then your going to love X3 with all the latest patches & goodies loaded! Worth the money and the wait!

Very ingenious game. Whoever has posted a low score on this game here is an impatient person, who can't sit down for a few hours, adn learn how to navigate the easy menus. Yes, they're cumbersome, yes, they're a-plenty, but they are very easy for at least an intelligent person like me to navigate. Patched to the latest version, bugs are nearly nonexistent, and quite contrary to the previous posters who need somebody holding their hand every step of the way, the freedom is quite refreshing. No doubt about it, this game is the KING of freeform. Also, for those who say it takes hours just to get somehwere, how about checking out how to turn on time acceleration (SETA)? The economy is very lively and realistic, revolving around an extremely well-simulated law of supply and demand. (Not simulated...AI traders actually trade products based on the law!) You can waste hours in this beautiful game (only part of which will draw you in being the entrancing New Age soundtrack), and if you're a learner and are successful, combat will come quick and often, the money will come floating in, and every ship in the universe, from light fighter, to corvette, to destroyer, will be yours to command. A unique game, indeed.… Expand

Best Space Action Simulator Game I've Played Since Star Control 2 and Freespace 2.

Once you get your head around the menu screens this is the open ended "Elite" of this century we've all been waiting for. Opportunities/gameplay is truley endless.

This game doesn't deserve a 10... 10 is for games that are perfect, that are without faults and are rated by unbiased gamers who feel that it has nothing negative about it... Unfortuntly, X3 Reunion does have faults, it does have a few negative points, but, the positives outweight the faults, and that in my opinion, earns this game a healthy 9... It is a complex game, and you need patience, intelligence and the ability to adapt to the games very in-dept interface which at sometimes, can be frustrating. What makes X3 great, is the fact that your placed inside a universe that revolves around you. Not only is this universe stunning in fantastic detail, but your left to your own devices to make your own destiny. Whether it be a commercial empire or militant empire bent on destruction, or maybe, a-bit of both? Some would say that this is an illusion, that the universe doesn't revolve around you, its just all cleverly scripted... thats a blatant lie. I've had many moments in X3 that made me go "wow", one such moment involved an asteroid being blown to bits due to a fight, that had nothing to do with me, and said asteroid crashing into my station and well... causing alot of financial damage, ehem... But that wasn't scripted. This wasn't part of the plot, it was random, it just happened, and a little mis-fire ended up causing me some credits and I felt good about it! Thats why X3 is one of those games that you have to look beyond the clumsy interface thats before you. X3 has alot of gameplay in it, and for those who are patient, plenty of replay value. To get the most out of X3 though, a MOD is required. And quite possibly the best mod that you can get right now, for X3 Reunion, is Xtended. A mod that not only adds tons of stuff to your game, but adds valuable features too it that makes you think how you could ever play it without such a feature. If you love space games, if you want a good space simulator thats not too easy, and not too hard, then get X3 Reunion, and go for the mods once you do the story! If you want an easy game to get into, without much hassle, then X3 might not be for you, perhaps a more simple game... Space Invaders? ;)… Expand

This game rocks the very foundation of what we all should expect from future space sims.. Though the performance glitches can be an annoying feature... Those are patched up quite quickly... I believe this game will last for several years to come... And if Egosofts keep working on the bugs and all that.. And if they even would consider to take a look at the voice acting and syncing of the characters... *smile* Then we would al remember this game for a long time.… Expand

I was really looking forward to playing this game. I've spent 2 days trying to figure out the basics without reading the manual (I love figuring out a game's mechanics by myself) and finally gave up. I started reading the manual, which was pretty annoying too because half the stuff they mention in it seems to be written for people who have played previous versions of this game, and not for newbies to the series. So I started playing anyways. The graphics are pretty nice, and the amount of customization really excited me at first, but... wow, it got soooo boring. I would never call this game fun. Maybe if I eventually learn to play it, it could turn into a nice experience, but never into a fun game. I stopped playing after I tried to make one of my ships land on the same station my main ship was in, but suddenly it blew up to pieces. I mean, wtf? I guess the best thing about this game is that it makes 15 year olds feel smarter for having the patience to play this, hehe, no offence. Anyways, I'll try this game again someday (when they fire me from work and I have more time in my hands) but for the meanwhile, I'm gonna play fallout 3.… Expand

Ok the space flight, fighting & trading is superb, but i thought space games were about exploring planets, other ships & space stations not to mention meeting new alien lifeforms. This game is difficult to learn & very time consuming to master, then when you have, you realise that your a paralysed from the waste down astronaut in space who can never leave the cockpit which is most peoples idea of a nightmare.… Expand

This game has a pretty steep learning curve, but if you stick with it, once you get some time into it and get used to its quirks, it can be extremely addictive. The mod community has added a lot of subtle (and not so subtle) much-needed extras to the "vanilla" game.

OH NO!!! I am a big Science Fiction Fan - played Wing Commander 1 on a Super Nintendo ;), I loved Elite and Privateer. So X³ should be the perfect game for me. Well - wrong. The Game is soooooo slow - it take MINUTES to fly from one Sector to another - and ofte you have to fly trough 9 Sectors until something happens. The Music fits right to this - it nearly makes you sleep. The Game also is - well - just a Alpha stadium. Mouse in Menu needs 1 second to respond (!!!!!!!!) and in the Option Menu you can select Video and Audio (not more) - in Video you got ONLY one Option - AGQ. THATS IT!!!! I am not able to shut down the kind of nebular that always surrounds me when i am flying the first ship you got in the Storlyline makes speed about 150 - whatever. I was calculating the speed - 10 km in 1 Minute. Thats 600 km / h. EVERY Fighter Plane on earth is faster than that. A Space Shuttle has to fly 30 000 km/h to stay in Orbit.....whatever. So the game is not only buggy - the user interface is HORRIBLE. Nothing really works. People from EGOSOFT - did you had BetaTester??? It looks like I have to wait for another Privateer.… Expand

Not much to comment on,its a year from the beta testing and was released non working,2 patchs later it still isnt working for most people. plot broken in many places,CTD`s and frezes every 3 minutes for most,needs a super computer using bio memetic sync to even get 15 fps. who pays to fix the bugs in a game ?...x gamers do

Dispite the fact that upgrading all sorts of things will help the performance of your computer, I expect that a full priced game would not require as much effort as asked for by this game. I have a high expectation of things being easy to use right out of the box. If they want to make it as hard as it is to tweak the performance they should add "Some assembly required" and "Good performance settings not included" to the cover box.… Expand

This game gets a 1 for graphics and potential. This was the worst game Ive ever bought. Correction...it was the worst 'Almost game' I've ever bought. Egosoft, the publisher, they can both stick their $ where the sun doesn't shine after pulling this fast one. Good developers finish their games before release. Good publishers let their developers finish their games before their release. And they also trust their customers by NOT putting programs like Starforce to crash the hell out of people's computers on it. It was like I was opening a jewelry box that was supposed to contain a diamond ring and instead got a fat piece of sh%t with FU written in it. Don't buy this game unless you get it from Steam. SInce its supposed to be somewhat finished now its probably a good buy for $20.… Expand

It was released early alright. It was released so early the box didn't have any CD's inside. The first box I purchased was empty. After a second trip to the store, I finally had a box with the game inside.. And that's where the fun ended. The game is so buggy & patches thus far have done little to bring this game to a playable level. Egosoft & Enlight has screwed the gaming community by releasing what is basically a beta and then offering next to no support. Utilmately this wasn't worth one trip to the store; let alone two. It's PC games like this that drive people to XBox.… Expand

Boring! This game is the slowest thing since molasses. You will spend most of your time floating meaninglessly through space. The tutorial is basically just a quick combat scenario with no real information about the game. If you have nothing better to do with your time than sit and watch the stars pass by then this is the game for you. The only reason I gave it a 2 instead of a zero was because it has beautiful scenery. But I would rather play EVE online.… Expand

I'm not new to space sims..and I'm lost..be prepared to waste the first couple of game session learning to use the basic keys.

Game has way to many bugs to list game should have spent about 2 more months getting finished and it would have been a great game but as is its crap!

A game with poor quality in all aspects. The interface is too cumbersome and not intuitive at all (double-click buttons?? who invented that?). Labels look like expandable containers, scrollbars are hard to see. It doesn't allow you to save the game in space (you know it would be very easy if they would have done that!). But regardless the game crashes so often so you become a regular of the last station you docked. Very bad design decision. I don't want you to give me 10 save slots just don't forget where I was last time that would be enough. The gfx is relatively slower compared to EVE Online (which is an online game and shares it's CPU time with network handling and synchronizing with 17776 players online at the moment). Navigation and commanding interfaces are too complicated if not everything in the game. You have to memorize many keyboard shortcuts and the fact that some of the rectangular objects on the monitors can be "menus" actually. There is a tutorial which says "you'll receive rest of the tutorial in messages" but it doesn't tell you how to read them so you need to explore your screen until you figure out a 8x8 icon in your 1600x1200 resolution. It's year 5000 but still every ship needs to explore the universe once again from scratch. Just plain stupid. That same high technology invented an autopilot which doesn't recognize an asteroid before almost hitting it and makes 90 degree uncomfortable turns for ship's passengers. The game starts with a simple patrol mission around your home planet but accompanied with a "Victory March" soundtrack? What the hell dude, we just started the game, relax. Intermission screens are simple flash-like animations with embedded Robot Chicken quality 3d characters. Disoriented gate jump effects, lousy station dock interfaces (and design), almost everything makes playing this game a painful experience. On the bright side, atmosphere moves separately than the planet itself. But planets are only props, you can't land on them, you can't interact with them. So even that is not a plus I think. Fortunately there is a time acceleration feature to shorten the earth minutes you spend on this game.… Expand

I was very excited to try this game out. I'm sadly stuck on 56k, so I couldn't download a demo. Well I could have... But honestly every time I went by the game shop, I stared at the box, and finally gave in. I knew X2 was a hit, so figured this would at least follow in it's footsteps. Wow. I have a machine with specs high enough to play Half-Life 2. Battlefield 2. TES: Oblivion. All at decent framerates (at least 30+ FPS in Oblivion), with alot of pretty eye candy. Fire this up and... What a joke. This has got to be the crappiest smell I've had in my nose for years. The instruction manual was amazingly... Misinformative. Tons of typos and bad grammar. Some items were listed twice (Page 11, ). X3 has so much going for it... But it just falls short. Because of laziness. And greed. Oh, don't even get me started on the fact it uses StarForce protection. That simple fact right there shows that Egosoft just wanted money. The story is like one of the worst B movies I've seen. Good idea, badly put together. Then of course the fact that there is no way to really change any options. The in-game video changes system codecs... Which teed me off. If I try to play X3, then exit and go to play Battlefield 2, without restarting... It forces the game to run in 16bit color, and all the background movies cease to exist. Why should we have to shut down explorer to play a game? I mean, on some systems, that don't meet minimum specs, I can see this helping greatly. But for a system that *EXCEEDS* specs?! C'mon. I have to spend 3 minutes shutting stuff down, and running a few tweaks (I revery these every time, only reason I have to do them again) just to get mediocre performance from a game. Because they force us to play with bumpmapping on everything, without the option to turn it off. Pure and simple- this is crap. I'm holding onto it though, just in hopes that it won't be abandoned, and future patches will further improve performance.… Expand

Fantastic Grahpics! But oh what a shame about the gameplay and the annoying voice of the shipcomputer.........what a waste....

I bought X2 when it was new, and it was terrible and broken. It still is. Egosoft never adequately patched X2 so that it will run on my system at an adequate framerate, despite the fact that I can play Half-Life 2 no problem. So, in light of this little bit of fraud, I decided to pirate X3 instead of buying it. Joke's on me, because this one is just as bug-riddled and shitty as the last one. I will never even bother STEALING another Egosoft game again, simply because they're not worth playing at any price, unless you want to use them as punishment for bad kids. Garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage.… Expand

IF this gamewas X3 it would be superb,BUT it is simply an expansion that was sold as a full game,..it`s bugged and broken to an almost illegal degree,...it runs terribly [if at all] on monster machines...a miriad of features were removed...and very little added,...the official forums is awash with complaints and ranting,..but they do promise to "fix it",...but as it is its a pale comparison to its earlier incarnations,....waiting till oct-nov 2006 is the best bet to get to see the complete game,...as the present release is only half finished and only a lucky few can run it,or complete the plotline.… Expand

My fellow Mad Goners would probably disagree with the high mark I've given this game. Thinking it worthy of maybe a 1 or 2. On release in UK it is still the brilliant game idea X BTF was, it has fantastic graphics..so that's really good yes ?? Well......? Firstly, it's not really much more than any of the previous games, a lot of the features are not (yet) present. (Mobile Mining - User Bases etc etc) and the graphics while very nice, make even reasonably good systems splutter. People with 3.5Ghz processors and 256Mbyte cards are getting very poor frame rates after what is, after all, a game set predominantly in space... I mean what is there is very well done, but theres a lot of black empty space in the mix as well. When it's released int he states it will have the 1.2 (and maybe 1.3) patch included. Without them the game doesn't really play at all (Patch was released on game release day in the UK) Egosoft blame it on publisher pressure for release date, as the end customer that should all be completely transparent to me. I couldn't give two hoots what a publisher wants, I have paid for a working game with the features as advertised. This is not what I get. Like the X2 USA release in 2003, Egosoft will fix all/most of these issues in time. and this may well be the game of the year. I love X games, and haver a lot of respect for Egosoft, just release games that are finished please lads, not ones that need a patch on release day just to get more than 10 mins play before COTD. Clarker… Expand

I am quite surprised there are so many positive reviews for this title. IMHO the game feels very amateurish when compared to say Privateer 2 or Allegiance. Sure the graphics are great, but you would expect the designers to have integrated the best interface elements from successful predecessors rather then create such a clumsy mess. To add to the fustration, the engine just shugs. It is very telling when even on the startup screen the mouse response lags! I installed the 1.3 patch and it helped a bit, but not enough. EGOSOFT if you're planning on an x4, do us all a favour and hire some talent!… Expand

5 for potential - 3 for the game as it is. I got the 1.3 patch, now the game starts on my main PC. Funnily enough ran on my laptop (Pentium IV 3.6 Ghz but just a Mobility Radeon 9700 with 256Mbyte video ram) reasonably well. Wanted nothing to do with any of my other systems, I have 4 systems above minimum spec for this game and perhaps 30 computers or bits of computers in all. The laptop was the only one that produced playable framerates (FRAPS average 27 at minimum settings). My AMD 3700+ with 2x 6800 GT (SLI) was so poor even the menu stuttered all over the place. And before some smart pants says - Yes ,.. I know about keeping DX up to date Can easily handle CODEC management Can flip around a BIOS and understand every setting, Use current patches Can install graphics drivers without leaving old DLL's everywhere. Can disable features with Coolbits/ATI Tweak Knows how to turn off other services to preserve CPU time etc etc etc So PLEASE don't just suggest these (or the 101 other things I've tried) It's the game - not me Having said that some people have no issues with this game. MANY knowledgeable / experienced / computer users simply can't get the game to function at all. Try the new rolling demo before you buy to see what camp your in! Because the game seems worth it if it works.… Expand

This game is so dissapointing because you can see how good it could be. I have both enjoyed and cursed it. My pc is not shabby to say the least and yet it practically crawls through sections. The storyline is not worth doing- I could not hear half of the dialogue and it looked ameteurish. I think i could do better with a few flash cartoons. Worst is the in game functions. the autopilot turns itself off at random times, meaning you crash into objects ad-nauseum and the computer cannot be trusted to control your assets. I have watched a Centaur I paid 10,000,000 credits for simply fly itself into an asteroid repeatedly until it was nothing but space debris. some weapons are good but once the frame rate drops they become useless. They are lucky the graphics are so fantastic, because you get the chance to study each frame very carefully once someone fires a psg (one of the area effect weapons). In summary, if they were rushing this one out for christmas, it would be the gift Santa would give the bad kids.… Expand

DO NOT BUY THIS GAME. I thought I had done all my research into all the different reviews, and read about the pros and cons to this game. I thought I could get around a challenging interface, but this game SUCKS. Pure and simple. The dogfights are insanely difficult, the plot is there just for show, the targeting system is crippled, the AI is too smart for its own good, it cuts you down at every turn, outsmarts you, outright cheats at times. The manual is nonsensical and is a loose collection of gameplay tips. Finally, this game uses Starforce copy protection. This is easily the most frustrating game I have ever played in my entire life. Do not buy it. The only thing it has going for it is pretty graphics.… Expand

Very good. Much better than what people are saying about it here. i have had it for weeks and it hasent crashed once. its by far the most stable game i have ever played.

It looks like a great game on the cover but, there are many game-killers. For one, people not familiar with this sort of massive-space-sim genre it will be nearly impossible and incredibly confusing to get into it. Also, for those who want action, let me tell you I shot at a random space-station floating in space, then was informed on my radio that the space police were coming for me, and it took them half an hour to reach me, I watched them approach very, very, very slowly. And this game does pretty much drag on. So, if you're new to this genre, want action, don't have patience don't waste your time with this.… Expand