X Rebirth

I should first say that I'm no hardcore X-gamer. I have some memory of testing out one of the X3 way back when, but something happened and I went on and played some other game instead. With that said this review are not meant for the fanbase anyway as they have already played X:Rebirth and either hated it and went back to X3 (and are probably playing X4 now) or stuck around long enough to see the game becoming what it is today. I love this game! Is it the best game ever made? No. Are there still some bugs even though the game as been on the market for some seven years now? Yes. Do the occasional bugs make the game unplayable (as some would say)? Absolutely not! It’s probably true what most reviews say (and a lot of the X-fanbase on the forums says) that the game was a mess at the release but Egosoft has done a great work making it a really fun and enjoyable space sim! And by now I think that the hate surrounding X:Rebirth that are still present are just because it’s different from the other X games, which also the names of the games implies (X, X2, X3, X REBIRTH & X4). It was never meant to be just one game in the series, it was meant to appeal to a broader (or at least different) audience. One of the big different being that you can only fly one ship (the Skunk). So are you coming to the X-universe to live out your dream about being a space trader, or captain of a big capital ship, then yes, you might want to try out X4 instead. I myself has no desire to fly around a big brick in the sky that takes 5 minutes to turn around, I much rather sit in my agile ship or stand on the bridge of said cap ship (the mod that gives cap ship bridges is a must!) and order my fleets to fly to or attack what I want them to. You never see Darth Vader taking controls of one of the Star Destroyers, that low level job was beneath him! It also gives you time to manage your trade empire while waiting for your fleet of capital ships to carry out your orders. Which to be honest, can be a bit of a hassle when you have 20 freighters flying around selling the goods from/buying goods to your 8 stations (there are functions in the game to automate a lot of the trading/station management but I’m somewhat of a control freak). One other aspect I love about X:Rebirth are the graphics. It’s amazes me how a game this old still can look this good. And what I’ve understand there are mods out there making it look even nicer. So are you one of those that require good graphics to enjoy a game (no criticism as I’m like that myself) and don’t think good old X:Rebirth can’t keep up? Think again! I’ve only scratched the surface of X4, trying it out on a friend’s computer once like a year ago. I’ve been waiting to buy it as I discovered X:Rebirth way to late and I’m nowhere near finished with it, but my feeling are that the big difference in the two games are that X:Rebirth are a little more “straight forward”. Some would probably say it’s a little more arcady (and that’s probably why many X3/X4 fans still hates it) even though it’s a really immense experience. But sure, some aspects might have been dumbed down a little bit but for me that don’t take away any of the experience of me building a great empire and taking control of the galaxy! As I mention before, X:Rebirth really divided the X-community (and still does) but all I can say is that if you came here trying to decide if you should try X:Rebirth or X4, my advice is: try them both (if you are able to)! You will probably find things you love and things you could be without in both games. The best part is that Egosoft thrive on the modding community allowing you to change the game and gameplay to your liking. One mod for me that made the game go from a nice experience I would had enjoyed playing around with for a few hundred hours to something I feel can be with me for years are the CWIR mod which allows for destruction of stations, conquering of zones/sectors and a more dynamic universe as a whole.