X2: The Threat Critic Reviews

Perhaps the finest game to strap on its space-trading boots since the seminal "Elite." It's better than "Freelancer," better than "EVE Online," better than the original "X: Beyond The Frontier," better than any number of Privateers, Battlecruisers, Freespaces and Frontiers. Best, best, best. Am I making this clear enough?

It completely blows you away – you’ll be convinced there’s actually a micro-universe living within your PC! The only concern we have with this game is that there is no real learning curve to speak of and the lack of any meaningful tutorial certainly makes it a hard game to approach.

This is what space games should be about: lush scenery, freedom, and room to roam. "Elite" is dead. Long live X2.

If you are looking for a cross between a 3D spreadsheet and "Battlestar Galactica," with a side of patience and a twist of plot, then X2 lands right in your space station.

Tremendously realistic graphics and audio bring the world of space travel to brilliant life. While the story serves as a driving force for the single player campaign, it never fully develops into anything worthwhile.

Though its not a masterpiece and falls in the growing crowd of space simulators like "FreeLancer," it’s a game that almost everyone will appreciate.

Those who don't go beyond the first few hours of play will probably call the game mediocre, possibly even amateurish. But give it time, avoid the story and I'll bet half my fleet you'll enjoy X2: The Threat.

One of the most involving space sims released for a while and it's only let down by a complex and rough interface design and the dodgy voice acting.

Its non-linear gameplay will occupy you for quite some time, until you become an expert pilot, professional trader or whatever. The sheer quantity of missions, challenges, and star systems is almost unbelievable, so there's no question that you'll have your hands full throughout the whole game.

Gets bogged down in a few of the traps created by its ambitious, free-form design, but an invigorating game emerges anyway. It's certainly in the same constellation as "Freelancer," if a lot more challenging.

Loaded with enough features to keep a serious space simulation nut busy for a long time, however, its steep learning curve and surface dust can cause many a casual gamer to shy away from it, opting out for something along the lines of Freelancer instead.

If you'd enjoy a solid trade sim set in outer space, then check out X2, but don't forget to bring as much patience as possible.

X2 does offer some highly satisfying gameplay--if you're willing to stick with it. It's not a game that has any reasonable prospect of revitalizing the space sim genre, since it's from a small developer and isn't particularly accessible, but it's a game that highlights why the genre was once much more popular.

It’s astoundingly beautiful, too – by contrast, "Freelancer’s" visuals are like watching a brick float around a bucket of custard. But, needless to say, X² isn’t for everyone – but if it’s immersive liberty rather than fast thrills you’re after, it offers an almost incomparably satisfying experience, just so long as the really bad stuff doesn’t stop you from putting the hours in.

What still stands out is the sluggish flight model that makes it nearly impossible to continuously target and hit an enemy vessel; the corrupted save games (which is supposed to fixed in the patch), and the general slowness of the design that feels like it was designed to pad length.

A bold experiment that ultimately fails under the weight of its own ambition. There is nothing here that hasn’t been done in other games and done better, and while X2 might combine these elements, it fails to improve on any of them.

A deep game worthy of exploration and discovery - you'll just have to exhibit nigh-infinite patience with its glacially slow build-up and general unfriendliness.

With the depth of everything and overall graphical sophistication in X2, it could have been a much better title.

Like its predecessor, X2 is still lacking in cohesion. Its scope has vastly improved and this is a very immersive title, but it doesn’t invite you in. You have to work for its love and get past its many ugly points – just how can you willingly subject a player to those cut scenes?

Please God, afford Egosoft the time needed to rework the game via some sort of expansion, patch or Gold Edition so that I may finally be content with existence. As is, this bizarre flip-flop of "Freelancer" that features no interface or enjoyable action but a ton of diversity and extended appeal just isn't any better than all right.