X2: The Threat

About

In X2: The Threat, play as Julian Gardna and experience a new generation of space simulator games. Explore 130+ sectors with improved graphics, discover new ships, and upgrade your systems with a scripting engine designed for X². Engage in combat with new weapons, mine asteroids, and expand your empire through trade and factories.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

79%

Audience ScoreBased on 483 reviews

story30 positive mentions

grinding16 negative mentions

X2: The Threat offers a vast, open-world experience where players can choose their own path, whether it be trading, combat, or exploration.
The game features a complex economy system that allows players to build their own trading empires and engage in various activities, providing a rewarding gameplay experience.
Despite its age, the game still has a unique atmosphere and depth that many players find immersive and enjoyable, making it a nostalgic favorite for fans of the series.

The game has a steep learning curve, with complicated controls and a confusing interface that can be overwhelming for new players.
Graphics and cutscenes are dated, which may detract from the experience for players accustomed to modern visuals.
The combat system can be tedious and unengaging, with many players finding it less rewarding compared to the trading and economic aspects of the game.

story
218 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
83%
3%
The game's story is present but largely optional, allowing players to engage with it at their discretion while focusing on the expansive sandbox gameplay. While some find the narrative straightforward and improved from its predecessor, others criticize it for being unengaging and poorly executed, with frustrating mission designs and lackluster character development. Overall, the story serves more as a backdrop to the game's core mechanics of trading and exploration rather than a primary draw.
- “The game does have a story line but it does not get in the way of the sandbox elements to the game; you can return to the story line at any point.”
- “The storyline is interesting to say the least, but don't expect a happy end...”
- “The x universe has a rich and deep backstory with game mechanics which make you feel like you are in a living universe.”
- “Characters suck, storyline sucks, but the fun of flying the ships... trading... building your own stations are fun as hell.”
- “Plot mission scripting is frustrating though, there's one mission where you have to kill most of the enemies near a gate under a time limit so that a convoy can pass through, well the game was also counting the enemies randomly spawned at the opposite end of the system, no way I could reach there in time, so I was failing the mission again and again.”
- “The storyline for this game isn't that long, or particularly enthralling, but X's real draw is its sandbox style outlook to economic empire-building in space.”
graphics
82 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
76%
7%
The graphics of the game are generally considered outdated and blocky by modern standards, with many users noting that they detract from the overall experience. While some appreciate the nostalgic charm of the visuals, others find them unappealing, particularly in cutscenes and character animations. Despite these criticisms, the game's expansive world and engaging gameplay often overshadow the graphical shortcomings, making it a beloved title for many players.
- “The graphics are unreal, big world very hard to get the hang of the game but once you do it's amazing worlds with all kinds of things to do, you can just build an empire, or you can fly around trading and fighting pirates, you decide, very awesome game, hardly has an end game at all, it just keeps going.”
- “Graphically, it is naturally an upgrade over what we had in x-tension - greater poly counts, better texture resolutions, bump mapping, stencil shadows for whatever reason.”
- “The best visuals are the nebulas by far.”
- “Graphics, sounds, animations and general overall presentations are pathetic, especially for the year of release.”
- “By today's standards the graphics are blocky and tired, but to me it still holds a place in my heart as one of the more enjoyable ways of wiling away my life behind a computer screen.”
- “- I usually don't mind older graphics that much and with some games I even find it charming, but in here it just looks bad.”
gameplay
56 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
82%
7%
The gameplay of the game is characterized by its complexity and depth, offering a vast space trading simulator experience that can engage players for hundreds of hours. While the core mechanics are solid and rewarding, particularly in capturing ships and building an empire, the steep learning curve and complicated controls can deter new players. Despite some criticisms regarding the story and initial tedium, many players appreciate the sandbox style and the immersive atmosphere of the game, making it a unique experience in the genre.
- “After playing it all these years later, I actually played it far better and understood a lot of mechanics. It's a very complicated and vast space trading simulator with so much to do, and you can spend hundreds of hours building your space empire.”
- “The gameplay is solid; there are some clever mechanics (capturing Xenon ships is both a challenge and very rewarding), and there is enough to keep you occupied after the main story if you want to become a production mogul.”
- “Although it has a steep learning curve, half the game is played in the menu screens, and certain gameplay elements could use extra depth; it still delivers an overall atmosphere and style of sandbox gameplay that I keep coming back to and haven't found anywhere else.”
- “While perhaps this game may have decent gameplay, the controls are very complicated which makes it very unplayable.”
- “While this is often excusable with decent gameplay, I couldn't even get into the gameplay because the controls are difficult as hell to understand.”
- “Outside of common exploits, that all the guides point you to, the gameplay at the beginning seems tedious at best - you make close to nothing, and everything you can do requires hundreds of thousands of credits invested.”
grinding
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, particularly in the early stages where earning credits is slow and requires significant investment. While ship capturing has improved slightly from previous iterations, the manual equipping of ships and managing large fleets can become overwhelming and frustrating. Overall, the grinding experience is marred by flawed design and bugs, leading some to recommend skipping this game in favor of its predecessor, X3.
- “Outside of common exploits that all the guides point you to, the gameplay at the beginning seems tedious at best - you make close to nothing, and everything you can do requires hundreds of thousands of credits invested.”
- “And to equip your fleet, you will need to build your own production chains, since you will not be able to get sufficient quantities of weapons and shields from the existing economy, which is quite a fun feedback loop, if only it was not so tedious to equip each ship manually.”
- “Micro-managing a fleet of just 50 ships and like 2 dozen factories is super tedious.”
atmosphere
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
71%
15%
14%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its unique and immersive qualities, with many players noting that it surpasses that of newer titles in the series. The transition to hand-drawn backgrounds and the overall aesthetic contribute significantly to the game's charm, creating a captivating sandbox experience that keeps players returning despite its steep learning curve and lack of multiplayer options. Overall, the game's atmosphere is considered a standout feature, making it a beloved entry in the series.
- “The x3 games (Reunion, Terran Conflict & Albion Prelude) may have more polish to them, and arguably a bit more content & options - but, and I cannot explain why, I feel like x2 has more 'atmosphere'.”
- “Although I have newer x games, I often get back to this one, because it has its unique and remarkable atmosphere that no other x game has.”
- “The later games may be larger and have better combat, but I really miss the aesthetics of x2, and it easily has the most immersive atmosphere of the series.”
- “The x3-games (Reunion, Terran Conflict & Albion Prelude) may have more polish to them, and arguably a bit more content & options - but, and I cannot explain why, I feel like x2 has more 'atmosphere'.”
- “Although it has a steep learning curve, half the game is played in the menu screens, and certain gameplay elements could use extra depth; it still delivers an overall atmosphere and style of sandbox gameplay that I keep coming back to and haven't found anywhere else.”
music
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
36%
21%
The music in the game is widely praised for its beauty and ability to enhance the overall atmosphere, with a mix of peaceful ambient tracks and humorous soundscapes that add depth to the experience. Players appreciate the evolution of the soundtrack across different installments, noting the darker, moodier tones in X2 and the incorporation of elements from X3. Overall, the sound design is considered excellent, contributing significantly to the game's immersive qualities.
- “It was so beautiful and peaceful, and the music was great.”
- “Station design is great, and overall, while X-Tension was cozy and glowy, X2 is darker and moodier with strong cyberpunk vibes, even more accentuated by dark gray UI and new additions to the soundtrack.”
- “You have to play the game to hear the humorous soundtracks in the background while docked at space stations.”
- “I can spend hours just floating around space listening to the ambient music and running away from a massive fleet of kick-ass Borg-type aliens.”
- “X3 takes some of the soundtrack as well.”
humor
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized by its classic, absurd dialogue that consistently elicits laughter, such as the memorable line "prepare a disco immediately!" Players also appreciate the amusing soundtracks that play while docked at space stations, adding to the overall comedic experience. Despite some frustrations with gameplay, the humor remains a standout feature.
- “This ancient game is hilarious! It has the classic unbelievably stupid dialogue that Egosoft is famous for, such as 'Prepare a disco immediately!'”
- “You have to play the game to hear the humorous soundtracks in the background while docked at space stations.”
- “That one still makes me fall off my chair laughing every time I hear it! The game itself is in fact very good, but the last mission is dreadful. I have only ever completed it once, and it took me sixty attempts to do it. Really not cool.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users report significant stability issues with older games, primarily due to their reliance on DirectDraw, which is no longer natively supported by Windows. This has led to frequent graphical glitches during emulation, and many players have noted that the games are quite buggy, with poorly executed cinematics.
- “The main problem with these older games is that they require DirectDraw, which isn't natively supported by Windows anymore, and emulation can cause graphical glitches.”
- “A very buggy game; the cinematics were amusingly poor.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
The monetization aspect of the game is positively received, with multiple users noting the absence of microtransactions. This approach contributes to a more straightforward and enjoyable gaming experience.
- “No microtransactions.”
- “No microtransactions.”
- “No microtransactions.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express a sense of nostalgia and reflection regarding their initial purchase of the game, highlighting a delayed engagement that suggests an emotional connection that developed over time. This sentiment indicates that the game may evoke feelings of anticipation and eventual appreciation once played.
- “I remember buying this game for $5 and having it sit around in my library for a while without touching it.”

50%Critics’ scoreBased on 1 critic reviews

X2: The Threat
Eurogamer.net
50%

Buy X2: The Threat

20h Median play time

29h Average play time

2-66h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 6 analyzed playthroughs

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