Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Game... Provided you don't mind forum research, July 19, 2009
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
Fight, trade, build and think. It's all here and any route or combo of routes can make you a powerhouse in the universe. For many, including myself, the path to glory is almost exclusively fighting.
Because of the fact you can randomly cause pilots in heavy fighters and smaller to bail by doing hull damage (larger ships can be taken using marines), one can build up a fleet without needing to micro-manage the vast economy. Ultimately some will start building stations and NPC controlled cargo ships as a nice change of pace from pure fighting. Station loops and trading ships can be set-up to be hands free automated or micro-managable, so there are multiple gaming styles that can be used.
If you want to be a pure trader, builder, even a total pacifist, it's possible. Story lines can be ignored. This game can be played as a total sandbox. This is what makes the X series so great for a niche base of players who don't need linear plots.
In my opinion, the best way to play this game is to pick a starting persona- Defender, Patriot or Merchant being the easiest. Avoid assassin start when learning the game. Change you name, make up your own story and do whatever you want. Ignore or play the plotlines.
Plan on the first 24 hours of game play to be mostly learning how to play and some outside the game net forum reading. Once the game is learned, actual play can be a few hours for tangible gains.
I would discourage anyone from purchasing this game who is not willing to spend days to learn it and a good amount of time (weeks of non-casual play) to get into a capitol ship.
Some of the complaints about long travel times even with time compression are solved in the later game with jump drives. The clunkiness of the interface can be overcome once the hotkeys for your main commands are learned. At first, when navigating the interface though menus, it is awkward to the extreme, expecially while in combat.
Overall, if your into this type of genere, this game is worth the small investment of $$$ and a large investment of your time...
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Superb Game for Hardcore Gamers, June 25, 2009
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
First I want to save some folks some time. If you are looking for a game where you hop into a spaceship (preferably one you've seen in a movie) and go blast things for an hour or so every Saturday, look elsewhere. This game flaunts every rule ever made by game companies wishing to appeal to casual gamers. Only serious gamers willing to dedicate several hours a week over the course of months are going to have an interest in this game.
Still with me? Good, because this game is awesome. Sure, you can fly around and blast enemies in your fighter, but that's just the beginning. You'll be commanding entire fleets before you're through. You can also spend time on the economic side of things by using freighters and buying factories. Eventually, you will build an entire space empire!
The game is designed to be played for 100+ hours, quite a rare thing in these days of full price games lasting only 10 to 20 hours. How can the game keep you entertained for so long? By introducing new aspects of play! When you start, you've just got your one little ship, and then you have a few ships, then some trading ships, then some bigger ships, then factories... and so on. Each new phase requires you to learn new aspects of play. Another reviewer mentioned that this game has a steep learning curve. I don't think it's actually all that steep; it's just a very long, steady slope upwards.
The game does have its bugs. The autopilot can and will kill you, for instance, and large ships will often explode when trying to leave some of the more awesome space docks. It doesn't take long to learn the quirks of the game, though, and it will reward you with months of fun once you learn to dodge them. Be sure to check the official forums for help and some fun player-made modifications to the game.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A good follow up to a good game., April 16, 2009
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
First off, I have found no evidence of any "install limit" from the DVD version of the game. I play this on a computer that does not go to the internet except every few months, when I choose it to, and have found no evidence of the game requiring connection every time it is played.
As for the game itself, I found it to be an improvement over X3: Reunion in almost every way. The interface is much more streamlined, and most commands are easier to access, though some are nested in menus. The graphics are better, but there seems to be some issues with stuttering in crowded sectors that impede performance.
Be advised, this game has a steep learning curve - it takes a bit of effort to learn to play, but once figured out, it is enjoyable - as in gee it's midnight and I have a 7:00 am meeting, but just this one more thing - type of enjoyable.
It is a combination of space flight sim, with decent combat and an economic simulator. The plot can be ignored until you want to follow it, and the game can be completely played in a sand-box style, open ended with no goals other than expand you empire and follow your desired, including commercial expansion, fighting with anyone or everyone (not recommended). No territory conquest, but there are several unclaimed sectors you can use if you honk off everybody on this side of the galactic rim.
The official forums provide a wealth of information and ways to expand the game,including mods, extra scripts and an official "bonus pack" of the best scripts (under development).
I foresee many lost hours of sleep and months of play in the game for myself.
TTFN
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