X3: Reunion
November 10,2005 - Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but it only goes so far in hiding the flaws that distinguish the great from the good. X3: Reunion is a case in point. In many ways, it is a worthy successor to Deep Silver’s previous X titles, and at its best, a complex and satisfying excursion into the outer reaches of deep space. Great voice acting propels forwarded a solid story, and free exploration is stimulating and rewarding. All of this assumes, however, that X3 works for you, and this is an enormous “if.” As good as it can be, X3 suffers from a multitude of technical flaws, including bugged missions, an easily-broken storyline, and an unstable visual engine that can bring even the most current machine to its knees. Even with two patches installed, X3 is a beautiful disaster, making us simultaneously grin and cringe, and can only be recommended to those willing to deal with its host of bugs. If you not easily annoyed, however, Reunion may well be one of the better gaming experiences you have this year.

Streaming Video

An awe-inspiring trailer for X3: Reunion

No space game is complete without an alien artifact and the warring factions that battle over its possession, and on the familiar save-the-world scale, X3: Reunion delivers in spades. The campaign is long and complex, and brings back familiar X-universe characters as well as new ones. The relationship between main character Julian and his father adds a personal spin, and thanks to strong voice acting, you will have an immediate connection to this realm and your place within it. Complex gameplay is complemented by a complex narrative, and that story also forms the basis of numerous awe-inspiring set pieces, such as an early knuckle-biting planetary escape that is as exciting as any sequence in recent gaming memory. While the initial missions move along slowly—almost excruciatingly so—the pace will increase significantly, and assuming you can survive numerous bugs, the surprise ending offers a gratifying payoff.

X2 players will find themselves back in welcome territory, although those new to the X titles will be daunted by the combination of tradeskills, empire-building and action that form the meat of its gameplay. Reunion mixes these disparate aspects with aplomb, and there is plenty to see and do from the moment you jump in. If you expect the game to tell you where to go and what to do, you may be in for a rude awakening when you realize you will be forced to make some decisions for yourself with little obvious feedback. It isn’t that the feedback isn’t there—it’s just that you need to know where to find it. Freedom is a refreshing change, but for many a frustrating one, since there is no real tutorial to help—just some menu tips and a charming in-game information station available on the comm of most bases.

You do not control a single ship, but a fleet of them as you progress, from smaller M3’s to enormous destroyers, and as your cash and reputation increase, you purchase factories and other structures in order to expand your empire. While this sounds remarkably like an RTS, you don’t command your fleet from a top-down view, although you can issue commands remotely, assuming your ship has the right hardware. Combat can be handled with a few simple clicks, which sends the autopilot after the chosen enemy, or you can directly fly the vessel from a first- or third-person view (readily switched with the function keys). Flight and combat is handled easily with either a joystick or keyboard and mouse, although those intimidated by flight simulators need not worry, as k&b handling is not prohibitively taxing. At its best, combat is a lively, Freelancer-type affair with lots of explosions and vertigo-inducing evading. You can equip an enormous variety of weapons, and combine them into groups that you choose with the keyboard’s numerical keys, or change targeting methods depending on your level of comfort in battle.

While our policy is generally to play games unpatched out of the box, we came across some technical issues in early combat right away that forced us to download and apply the most recent 1.2 patch. For example, the “k” key changes your targeting mode, and greatly impacts your success in combat. An early mission was seemingly impossibly to complete until we discovered we needed to change the targeting option, yet every time a batch of enemies appeared, the method would change back to its default, forcing us to switch back again. This happened every time a new group of enemies spawned, as well as after cutscenes. In the same early mission, target drones were supposed to appear, yet about half the time, they would simply never arrive, causing our flight companion to chide us that we must be out of practice. Thankfully, that would retrigger the drones, although that wasn’t enough to lessen the irritation: they should have flown out the first time. Even the Starforce copy protection system caused problems, forcing us to enter the CD key multiple times before the game would run.

Trading forms the crux of your empire building, so you will spend a lot of time traveling back and forth, looking for the best buys. A variety of hardware upgrades allows you to search easily for prices in a sector, and to trade remotely when distant ships are docked in stations. Bartering is a new addition to the X universe, so if you can’t find the item you want for sale, an AI pilot may have something to offer. In fact, unlike X2, which was great but lacked personality, X3 feels more alive, as you will encounter various pilots throughout the sectors with whom you can communicate, whether to get directions or tell them to surrender. The market is actually pretty flexible, so you can sell a variety of different items, or choose to concentrate in a particular area.

Games, News, Reviews, Media and More