1. Hardcard

   9

   I don't understand how anyone can rate this game below 8.
   I've played a lot of space sims, I've spent massive time in getting to know (and mastering) each and every one of them.
   This one has given me something that I wasn't even expecting to find: a depth so deep that I don't think there's anything you can't do in this game. This game can take you from a "miserable" starting position (only one small, nearly useless ship and no money. Like a poor strayed dog left to the immensity of space), to the top of your own built space corporation, managing huge merchant and military fleets, farms, factories, supply stations, and nearly anything else you set your mind to.
   The most important thing is that every step you take in order to achieve this, you're taking it on your own. This game gives you freedom in every action (or transaction), there are no preset fleets or businesses, there is no preset campaign or anything like that: you do as you please, you build what you want to.
   If you are looking for some kind of easygoing space sim, you'll definitely try some other game (Sins of a Solar Empire, Freespace 2 (upgraded), Nexus, Homeworld...)
   You could also play X3 in a simple pirate style (hit-take-sell), but by doing so you'd miss 80% of the stuff X3 offers (and eventually you'd get bored and quit the game too).
   In X3 you are whatever you want to be: a smuggler, a bounty hunter, a handyman, a pirate, a businessman, or all of these together.
   But don't be fooled by visions of power, wealth and glory, to achieve these you must work hard, study the market, think and be very patient. It takes a huge amount of mistakes, failures, learning, observation, travel and money to build your own military and commercial empire. Take it easy and prepare to spend a massive amount of hours in traveling, dogfighting, trading, planning, upgrading, exploring, etc.
   
   I don't give it a 10 because I find the interface rather undeveloped. They should improve the command and information systems, make them easier to access, make them more intuitive. They should also fix some AI issues like the autopilot crashing into gates and buildings sometimes or like own ships disappearing after being commanded to dock, etc. Were these problems arranged, X3 would be a true masterpiece, a game like no other.… Expand

   • Helpful? 1 of 1 users said Yes.
2. Rebun

   8

   Huge learning curve to get over, but once you've mastered the basics the game becomes much better. I understand that its not everyones cup of tea, but pushing through the learning curve is well worth it.
   All choice is left to the player on how they want to build themselves up. From merchant to pirate, warrior or builder, there is an infinite amount of things to do in the game. Even though its free play, you have to play the game with some kind of endgame goal in mind, otherwise it can be extremely boring. I myself built up a massive trading empire, declared myself independent to the other empires and began to annihilate one of those empires. It is quite a long haul and a lot of work to get there (~2 weeks or so) but its well worth it. Its got a neat polish to it as well, which i dont often see from german simulation games… Expand

   • Helpful? 0 of 0 users said Yes.
3. I_Am_Turok

   6

   I really want to love this game. Having a decent 2012 PC, the graphics are so smooth and great, music great, open ended, huge universe, endless side-tasks, fun battles, and a trading system - so far, what's not to like - but niggles that begin early on become more apparent after 80+ hours of play. With my 10+ freight and 15+ combat ships, I should be having all the fun in the world, but things are becoming a drag. Ships still crash into docks and get destroyed. Auto-trading is too slow that it takes hours to bring in cash. Manual trading is repetitive. With 15+ combat craft in a wing, you can win pretty much anything. And the UI feels like it was written by a Unix developer who hates UIs and likes lists of old. For example, look up who builds say a missile, and it'll give you a list of 30+ sectors alphabetised scrolled down - errr, how about simply pointing out on the universe map which are the closest sectors to me that sell the missiles, I'm not memorising every sector name!!???? At this stage, I am playing the main task/quest, if only to finish the game, which will probably take another 80+ hours of play! It's still very much worth the buy for $15 or less, either this or the generally cheaper X3 Albion Prelude which looks identical. You will enjoy the whole feel and really getting into the universe. I know I do and will probably pick it up for 2 hours of play a week for the next year. That's gotta make it good value for how much I spent on it. But for me, I'd struggle to give it more than a 6 because of how slow it is to get anything done. (to the developers, what if, for the next game, you start with a station, and resource collectors and your own sector, then build up stations and fleets, and either dominate trade by killing off competitors, or dominate the universe by conquering sectors - with those beautiful graphics and combat play, now that would be a fun game indeed).… Expand

   • Helpful? 4 of 4 users said Yes.
4. TruckarJ

   3

   While I enjoy slow and thoughtful gameplay X3 only provides an agonizing single player grinding experience with no real challenge to beat at the end of that grind. Add to this a combat system that doesn't really require a player, a user interface that will leave you wondering where the information you want is located, and frame rate drops that will leave even the best systems presenting you with one to two frames a second and you have a fairly joyless space simulator. I would recommend thinking carefully before purchasing this game.… Expand

   • Helpful? 2 of 2 users said Yes.

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