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X3 Reunion: Review

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X3 Reunion: Review

from Sins Forums
Ok just got this game last week and i want to write a review, since we are all into space games (or most of us should be) i thought this game would be nice to show around.

X3 reunion is the 3rd installment of the X series based on the Space Shooter concept. In this installment there are so many things you can do it makes you feel overwhelmed. First off there is a Vast and complex AI controlled economy that has prices of items that fluctuate with supply and demand. As a trader you can use the econmy to your advantage to become the next millionare. Also you can buy your own stations to produce items, create your own AI controlled trade fleet that finds the best deals and sells for the best price.
The fighting concept is the usual 1st or 3rd person space shooter, there are many ship options to choose from starting with the basic fighter and ending up with a titan or collosus size ship. You are also able to have multiple wingmen (AI controlled)that follow variouis commands. with 180 sectors to explore, there are over 100 (180 i think) to explore with 12 different races, you could spend days or weeks just exploring.
And on a side note X3 has an amazing graphics engine, if you have a graphics card that can handle it GET IT, i have never seen such awesome visuals in a space game in my life.

No game is perfect however and x3 is DEfinatly not perfect. There are the sneaky crash bugs that can happen once in a while and since you can only save while docked at a station crashing can be a hassle. Also since this game gives such a wide wide wide variety of things that you can do, it can be extremely overwhelming and you could be lost on what to do. The controls arent to bad but it takes a while to understand them since there are so many options availible. The demo of the game has a tutorial for some things but the actual game itself doesnt throwing the player in a world of confusion. All i can say is thank god for walkthroughs and noobie tips. Also dont expect to be palying the game for 2 days and conquer the universe with ease, i have been playing for a week and i dont have a space sation yet, but this is a good thing because it gives a long lasting appeal.

So in conclusion i beleive this game has amazing aspects to it. and even though some of the controls are confusing as well as the concepts, its easy to get used to after a few days of play. this definatly is a game of thinking and stratagy more than a shooter uper but for those homicidal maniacs there are some awesome fighting that can go on in this game. For $19 this game is fun and challenging at the same time and im definatly gonna be stuck with this one for a long time to come.
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15,131 views 31 replies
Reply #26 from Sins Forums Top
To folks who are coming back to X3, check out the Xextended mod. Here is an overview (taken from their website).


90 new sectors including:
- The Terran Solar System
- New Xenon, Khaak, Pirate, and Yaki Sectors
- New Goner, Unknown and Main races sectors
- Countless other places to explore or conquer, each one unique and useful to every players' needs.

95 New Ships:
- Argon, Terran, Paranid, and Otas M0 class ships
- Full compliment of M7 frigate class ships
- Full complement of MM6 military corvette class ships
- An M8 class ship for each of the major races with a special feature per M8:
- Argon Griffon: capable of producing and launching Fighter Drones MkII
- Boron Swordfish: a powerful Ion-Blast (shield damaging) Frigate
- Otas Custodian: group shield and repair Frigate
- Otas HCF: allows capture of enemy ships and repair of damaged hulls
- Paranid Agamemnon: fitted with the latest in powerful missile technology
- Split Panther: a support frigate capable of producing Split fighters
- Teladi Tern: a mine layer frigate for laying explosive blockades.
- Terran Ollerus: wormhole deployment to make dynamic tradelanes.
- 7 Ships from X2 brought back, remodeled and refitted by special dealers across the universe
- Full compliment of Terran ships on sale and active in the universe from M0 down to TS/TP and fighter class.
- MTS, Military Transport class ships, TS ships with much improved statistics.
- Pirate Galleon, Frigates, Corvette and 4 unique Pirate fighter models.
- Otas (a corporation specializing in highly advanced technologies) will have a full compliment of ships from M0 down to M3, each with special distinctive features.
- A new race, and over 9 ships used by them.
- A fleet of new Yaki and Goner ships to discover, buy and use.
- New T0 class Civilian ships. These HUGE hulks go back to the days before cargobay-compression was invented. Nowadays most are converted to mobile ware- and resource production facilities.
- Full complement of M3+ fighters for each race, even the Yaki!
- The Goner Aran, the most powerful vessel the player can own, capable
of mobile ship construction, reverse engineering, template equipping, remote fleet transport and even the 'conversion' of rogue-minded villains.
- Many other ships and lifeforms like Boron X-Craft, revamped Xenon vessels, who knows, you might even encounter a Space Dragon!

Xtensive Effects improvements
- Shockwaves and improved capital ship explosions
- Added detailed debris in most ship explosions
- New pirate and Yaki engine effects
- New sound effects for weapons and missiles
- New sector soundtracks
- Missile trails
- Many new types of Suns
- Many new Planet types
- Improved Nebulae and more.

2 New Weapons, 3 new Missiles and over 8 new shield types
- The Paranid Heavy Missile Gun: An ammo base missile launcher capable of devastating long range bombardment
- The Sohnen Beam Cannon: Limited intel available due to a distinct lack of survivors.
- Military 5MJ, 25MJ, 125MJ, 500MJ, 5GJ shields as well as special pirate and Sohnen shields
- Additionally all Terran weaponry can be purchased at Terran equipment docks (if your Terran notoriety is high enough!)


Over 45 New commands and features including:
- Shipbuilding capabilities on some ships
- Drone building capabilities on the Argon Griffon Drone Frigate
- Ship extension upgrade options at player owned equipment docks for fleet equipping purposes.
- Complex warehouses to increase the amount that can be stored at factory complexes, or for their own stand alone use to store goods.
- Multiple electronic warfare and hull repair features on Otas ships.
- Point to Point jumpdrives on some advanced- and M0 class ships.
- Many other features including installing ship repair facilities on docks and on carriers, setting capital ships to automatically execute tactical retreats when under fire, the ability to deploy scout drones for long range reconnaissance, and much more...

New stations:
- The huge and ancient Dyson Sphere, under control of an unknown force
- The magnificent Otas Headquarters built around a series of old mining facilities.
- New factories for the production of the Heavy Missile Gun and ammo, Concussion Impulse Generator, Scout Drones and new Shield types.
- Many larger factories for weapon and ship components production (potentially still compatible with Ashley's XXL fabs)
- New, distinct Shipyards for the 5 main races AND Terrans

Over 20 New Missions:
- Including a new Xtended plot involving a new and terrifying race with the player trying to avert a universe shattering war.
- Multiple ships to discover and interact with within the universe, leading to missions and side quests and general interaction with the universe.
- Several new BBS missions, including missions to unlock new ships such as the Argon Leviathan.
- Dangerous new missions into uncharted enemy space

Many other new features including:
- Countless new wares, freebies and features to find and use
- Much improved AI usage of all ships, leading to more variety and life in the universe
- New docking bays that allow M5 only, M6 only, TS/TP only docking, as well as new internal docking options
- various AL plugin options to enable:
- Shockwave damage from capital ship explosions
- Other independent companies within the universe
- Randomized or fixed locations for new shipyards and important stations
- Many new stations to find and trade with


The mod hasn't reached v1.0 yet so expect some bugs as you go along, but it's pretty impressive (and fixed several quirk with the original game).
Reply #27 from Sins Forums Top
I think woefully inadequate UI is what kills X series for me. -It is barely adequate to control single ship, but when you get empire (or even small corporation) going game just degrades into fighting with UI.

Controlling empire trough series of dialogs and long menu trees is inadequate .They have a space empire game with UI of a simplistic action shooter. NO good control over your properties, wingmans , their orders , etc. etc. Issuing a simple order to one of the ships itself can be huge challenge when you have to scuttle trough dozens of menu's just to find the ship ,then trough another dozen to issue it an order. And what if you want to do this to a group of the ships ,which are not in the same system?- Rinse repeat. 90% ui work 10 % fun- thats why overall game is boring
DeskScapes - Bring your desktop background to life.
Reply #28 from Sins Forums Top
I've looked at the mod. It is very ambitious and I would like to play it, AFTER I finish X3's storyline
Reply #29 from Sins Forums Top
this is a game I helped to beta test, (my name is in the back of the manual) personally I won't touch this game, I preferred X2 over 3, but it does get boring, once you have got huge amounts of money there is little left to really do, the story is short and rubbish, then again X2's was as bad, the only X game that had a decent story was xbtf, but all the later games uses the same map with a few more sectors added each game, there are some decent mods out there, but I won't bother to pick this game up again to try them, its too much of a disappointment and boring
Reply #30 from Sins Forums Top
its very hard when u first start and complicated i just cant be arsed with it
Reply #31 from Sins Forums Top
The X series are what i call a "geek" games. Very steep learning curve, but fun once you figure things out (and live to do it). It does get old, and repetitious after a while. I got X2, and X3 though steam. When i fired up X3 for the 1st time i was appalled at the opening cinematic. I thought i got the wrong game. Once i got into space i breathed a sigh of relief. The visuals are pretty impressive.

I have tried a few mods for the x games as well like the system takeover mods, realistic AI response, and AI jump to protect. Combine all those mods, and watch the AI factions hostile to each other go ballistic on each other

I haven't tried any of the other mods yet, because X is a very long game if you want to get anywhere. I just dont have that kind of time on my hands.