X3: Terran Conflict

About

"X3: Terran Conflict" is a space-themed simulation game set in the year 2938, where players can experience the final chapter of the X-Trilogy. The game features the largest X Universe, with the addition of a new faction, the Terrans, and over 100 new spaceships and weapon systems. It boasts more jobs, non-linear missions, and a re-designed user interface for a comfortable control experience. Players can also engage in large-scale battleship boarding.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

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

84%

Audience ScoreBased on 2,105 reviews

story64 positive mentions

grinding64 negative mentions

X3: Terran Conflict offers a vast, immersive universe with countless hours of gameplay and a variety of ways to play, including trading, combat, and building an empire.
The game features a complex economy and a dynamic universe where player actions have real consequences, making it feel alive and engaging.
The graphics and sound design are impressive for a game of its age, and the modding community adds even more depth and replayability.

The steep learning curve and lack of tutorials can be overwhelming for new players, making it difficult to get started without external help.
The user interface is clunky and can be confusing, requiring players to navigate through multiple menus to perform simple tasks.
The autopilot feature is often unreliable, leading to frustrating crashes and loss of progress, especially when managing larger fleets.

story
641 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
83%
7%
The game's story is described as vast and intricate, offering hundreds of hours of content through multiple plotlines and missions, but many players find the execution lacking. Critiques highlight issues such as unclear mission objectives, repetitive tasks, and a cumbersome interface that detracts from the narrative experience. While some appreciate the depth and potential for exploration, others feel the story is secondary to the sandbox gameplay, leading to a mixed reception regarding its overall impact.
- “The story is fantastic and deep with hundreds of hours required to finish the main storylines.”
- “The story missions (called plots) make a huge impact on the universe and offer epic rewards, which are so fulfilling.”
- “Engaging story and background will have you wanting to find out more.”
- “The missions are repetitive, the story is nonexistent, and the whole thing just feels like a chore.”
- “Game designers messed up the introduction to the game where I spent well over the first hour even at max time compression following a series of the most mind-numbing missions I've ever encountered in a game.”
- “The story line is almost non-existent.”
graphics
192 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
56%
38%
6%
The graphics of the game are generally considered decent for its age, with many reviewers noting that they still hold up well compared to contemporary titles, especially given the game's release in 2008. While some players find the visuals dated and lacking in modern standards, others appreciate the beautiful space environments and the game's ability to run smoothly on lower-end hardware. Overall, the graphics are seen as a strong point, particularly when enhanced by community mods.
- “The graphics are superb considering its age.”
- “The graphics still look great for a 10-year-old game; you don't run into a lot of things where you notice the polygons, and even then since it's all spaceships, the polygons don't look objectively bad.”
- “Stunning graphics that still amaze me to this day with the ability to start out flying a single small fighter or transport and working my way up to owning a fleet of merchants, space stations, battleships leads to incredible replay value as you literally have an entire universe as your playground.”
- “Let's start with the graphics, or lack thereof.”
- “Graphics are horrible.”
- “Graphics very dated.”
gameplay
166 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
28%
65%
7%
The gameplay of X3: Terran Conflict is characterized by its deep and complex mechanics, offering a vast open-world sandbox experience that allows for extensive exploration, trading, and fleet management. However, players often face a steep learning curve due to a lack of tutorials and clunky interfaces, which can make initial gameplay feel slow and tedious. Despite these challenges, many find the gameplay rewarding and immersive, especially for those willing to invest significant time to master its intricacies.
- “Despite all its flaws, the game has deep and fun gameplay.”
- “The learning curve of this game is steep, but if you can get past the first initial challenges, the gameplay is extremely rewarding.”
- “X3's logistics, economy, and trading mechanics are as complex as they are fun, and a wonderful reward for those willing to brave the learning curve.”
- “The gameplay is a little boring... that's all there is to it, it takes forever to do anything and the missions (when you finally find one you can do) are repetitive.”
- “Beautiful and expansive but the core gameplay is too damn tedious for this game to be fun.”
- “My biggest complaint about the gameplay, however, is that (aside from combat) it is incredibly slow paced.”
music
78 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
54%
42%
4%
The music in the game is widely praised for its beauty and ability to enhance the immersive experience, with many reviewers noting its unique themes for various sectors and its fitting, ambient quality. While some players find the soundtrack captivating and integral to the atmosphere, a few express that it can become repetitive over time. Overall, the music is considered a standout feature that complements the game's stunning visuals and expansive universe.
- “Despite its age, the graphics are still good and the music is phenomenal!”
- “This is a beautiful game with a beautiful soundtrack.”
- “The atmosphere is stunningly fantastic and with the right background soundtrack absolutely breathtaking.”
- “I was rather unimpressed with the music of x3:tc.”
- “The soundtrack can often make or break a game (or salvage it from a gruesome end) but the music felt uninspired and pumped full of space-y noises.”
- “The immersion is excellent, although the music can get a little boring after a while.”
grinding
64 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The grinding aspect of the game is widely criticized for being tedious and repetitive, detracting from the overall enjoyment and core gameplay experience. Players find the early and late game missions laborious, with a steep learning curve that makes initial progress frustrating. While some appreciate the potential for automation to alleviate the grind, many feel that the extensive grinding required for trading and mission completion overshadows the game's otherwise engaging elements.
- “A boring, tedious job that takes away from the very core of what this was supposed to be.”
- “It's like the developers went out of their way to make everything as tedious and convoluted as possible.”
- “The amount of painful, repetitive, boring grinding you have to do to get anywhere or do anything is worse than some MMOs.”
stability
40 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
15%
85%
The game's stability is frequently criticized, with many users reporting numerous bugs and glitches that can hinder gameplay, particularly in campaign missions and AI behavior. While some players note that the game runs well overall and can be enjoyable despite these issues, the prevalence of bugs remains a significant concern for many, impacting their overall experience.
- “It actually runs great!”
- “Other than that, it's pretty much bug free!”
- “Great combat, smooth transitions, and generally bug free.”
- “And unfortunately, I'd put way too many hours into the early part of the game before realizing how buggy it becomes later on.”
- “But with the buggy and sometimes just plain stupid campaign missions (which also fail to tell a cohesive story, oh wow some sort of giant gate hub... but um... who built it, why is it here, why aren't the xenon more interested in it, what happened to the two people who originally discovered it... who knows, none of this is explained.), and the very glitchy autopilot, the game can become very frustrating.”
- “Sadly though the game has some buggy bits that undermine its brilliance.”
replayability
34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
47%
44%
9%
The game boasts exceptional replayability, with users highlighting its vast world, diverse playstyles, and numerous factions that allow for organic interactions and strategies. Even after 12 years, it remains engaging due to its depth, stunning visuals, and extensive mod support, which further enhances the gameplay experience. While the learning curve may be steep and the start slow, the overall freedom and variety ensure nearly infinite replay value.
- “Not only is there a huge range of playstyles to be had, there are a number of factions to start from, so the replayability is endless as you form, break, and manipulate trust with the different factions organically and naturally.”
- “Stunning graphics that still amaze me to this day with the ability to start out flying a single small fighter or transport and working my way up to owning a fleet of merchants, space stations, and battleships leads to incredible replay value as you literally have an entire universe as your playground.”
- “Do yourself a favor and download the amazing XRM mod; it adds so much depth and replayability, not that the game didn't already have this... but who doesn't like even more weapons, ships, customization, strategy, and battles?”
- “Do yourself a favor and download the amazing XRM mod; it adds so much depth and replayability. Not that the game didn't already have this, but who doesn't like even more weapons, ships, customization, strategy, and battles?”
- “Stunning graphics that still amaze me to this day, with the ability to start out flying a single small fighter or transport and working my way up to owning a fleet of merchants, space stations, and battleships. This leads to incredible replay value as you literally have an entire universe as your playground.”
- “It has lots of replay value due to its massive world and the freedom to play the way you want.”
atmosphere
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
25%
15%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its unique beauty and immersive qualities, enhanced by stunning graphics and a captivating soundtrack. Players appreciate the animated planetary atmospheres, particularly on gas giants, which add to the visual appeal and overall immersion. Despite some imperfections, the game's atmosphere remains a standout feature that continues to engage players over the years.
- “I can't find a space sim that is more immersive and atmospheric than this gem by Egosoft!”
- “The atmosphere is stunningly fantastic and with the right background soundtrack absolutely breathtaking.”
- “Years in, it still looks gorgeous, the sound and music still do not grate on your nerves, and the atmosphere is still one to thoroughly immerse oneself in again and again.”
- “The planets have an animated atmosphere, so with gas planets, you really see the toxic atmosphere moving around from space, which looks cool.”
- “The planets have an animated atmosphere, so with gas planets, you really see the toxic atmosphere moving around from space, which looks cool.”
optimization
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
72%
17%
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with users reporting significant performance issues, especially on lower-end PCs, leading to sluggish gameplay as the number of objects increases. While some players are willing to overlook these shortcomings due to their enjoyment of the game, the lack of multi-threading and reliance on mods for performance improvements highlight its optimization flaws. Overall, many recommend caution for those with less powerful hardware.
- “There are lots of mods available to improve performance or to modify game elements!”
- “The features introduced in the newer entries into the X-Universe are tempting, but performance is a factor.”
- “This game is somewhat similar to Freelancer... except not as optimized. The autopilot couldn't find its way out of a wet paper bag, and considering how much you will rely on it, I don't recommend it.”
- “Its major shortcoming is, in my opinion, performance-related.”
- “Once there are enough objects in the world, the game becomes very sluggish, far beyond what I expected the performance drop to be on a machine with my specs.”
humor
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized by its quirky situations and amusing moments, such as the absurdity of managing multiple ships on autopilot while engaging in everyday tasks like cooking. Players find humor in the game's depth and unexpected scenarios, like being asked to smuggle space fuel for a hefty sum, which adds to the overall enjoyment and replay value. Despite a slow start, the game offers a lighthearted experience that resonates well with fans of space simulation.
- “It's funny, I look at my playtime in this game and I wonder how much of that was actually spent cooking dinner while my ship flew around on autopilot.”
- “Funny moment I remember is that some race HQ building asked me to smuggle some space fuel for 500k.”
- “Slow start and some getting used to, but it never ceases to amaze with its depth, stunning views, funny moments, and huge replay value.”
emotional
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express a mix of confusion and discomfort regarding the emotional experience of the game, likening it to an awkward and unsettling date. The sandbox nature allows for extensive gameplay without engaging in a traditional narrative, which may contribute to a sense of emotional detachment or unease. Overall, the emotional impact is described as complex and often disconcerting.