a space game of a bit different kind. you not only equip you ship but you can (and should) also build an economy empire with space factories producing goods and earning you money. this should be defended by a fleet of good ships as there are evil forces trying to rip you off. so you build and manage a small "empire" what can be a challenging task. with great freedom comes also great boredom sometimes when you are not sure what to do next. you can follow the plot or do your own stuff but sometimes i felt lost in the huge universe. so many to discover (albeit quite similar) and so many chances to miss. thats why i read many guides etc to get a better start and dont do "stupid" mistakes.

graphics are good but mostly useless as things are too far away to see details. controls are ok. story is a bit lame for my taste and highly incorporated into the x-universe so when you have missed some of the earlier games you may be lost storywise.

so a good game for people enyoing free roaming space games and hardcore economy. for anyone else it may be a bit too challenging imo.

This is the better of the two games in the gold pack. It features more upgrades and a slightly easier start for new players to the series. Undeniably worth your time. Get into it and be ready for a massive learning curve followed by hours upon hours of entertainment. Run a space trading empire. Run a pirate gang. Run a mercenary force. Save the universe from its next major threat. Mine asteroids for hours on end. Do what you want, how you want. Just realize you won't be doing anything outside the game while you're at it.

Pros : Biiiiiiiig universe. Mega. VERY easy to use interface, easy controls. Gorgeous, detailed graphics, visuals. VERY deep trade, production systems. Varied missions of all sorts. Possibility of pirate career. A lot of races with different characters, ships, products. A lot of ships to use. A lot of upgrades to use with ships. Can set up manufacturing complexes with your stations while creating your corporate/manufacturing/trading empire. Nice music playing in background. Gorgeous ship models. Tramples all the previous space sim/trading games, bar elite for its universe size, and bar star wars for their backstory. Games like freelancer etc are obsolete in all respects. A lot of big mods already out for the game made by community.

Cons : You will spend hours of your life on this, and come back for more and you will enjoy it. But, it may cause addiction. Also, in general tradition of X games, there isnt any indoor scenes, environments, most of stuff happens in space. Dont expect a bar environment like it was in the every station/planet you landed in Privateer.

In short : You wont regret buying this, if you are into space sims by any measure.

To be honest, I knew nothing of this game before purchasing it, but boy was I lucky that day. This is, by far, the most enthralling and complex space simulation game I have ever played or even imagined. So if you ever wanted to trade across the stars, have hair raising battles in space, or create a galactic empire... X3 Terran Conflict is the best game out there to provide you with such immersion and experience.

Wow. Wow. Wow. How many hours of your life you do want to spend in this game? The manual tells you straight up that you will lose sleep over this game. Basically think of the old Escape Velocity games turned into a massive 3D universe (with the ability to build your own corporation and stations). You can build your own trading empire, amass a huge warfleet and terrorize the galaxy, hunt pirates, mine asteroids, etc. And yes, this is all single player, which I find refreshing. It's like EvE, but with no monthly fee, no lag issues, no 9 year olds with massive fleets of battleships, etc. Also, there's a ton of fan mods out there to add whatever spaceships you want; Babylon 5, Star Trek, Star Wars, etc.

If there is a problem with this game, it's that the learning curve is very, very steep. Brick wall even. If you put the time into this game, it'll reward you handsomely. Anyone looking for instant gratification should look elsewhere.