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X3: Terran Conflict (PC DVD-ROM) | 
 enlarge | From: Deep Silver
Category: Video Games
List Price: £29.99
Buy New: £14.99
You Save: £15.00 (50%)
New (4) Used (2) from £12.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 391
Platforms: Windows Xp, Windows Vista
Media: DVD-ROM
Operating System: Windows Vista
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.4 x 0.9
EAN: 4020628503147
ASIN: B001E43MGA
Release Date: October 17, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...
Absorbing December 24, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I couldn't get to grips with X2. The 2.0 version of X3: Reunion, on the other hand, absorbed days of play time. Easily a couple of hundred hours before I had to quit to free up some time for other things.
Terran Conflict looks like it's going to be the same.
Be prepared for a steep learning curve. Having not played X3 for a good while it took me half a dozen hours and three restarts to get back in the mode.
I was lucky enough to avoid the worst of the initial bugs and by the 1.4 patch a lot has been fixed by the look of things. There are already a mass of mods and scripts out there to make the game "better". In fact, a little like Oblivion, what you get with an X game is just a starting point, a lump of clay for the dedicated modders to mould into something better and more complete than the original. TC is actually largely based off a popular X3: reunion mod and Egosoft hired the modders to help them with the game.
When you're thirty or forty hours into the game and looking at your first complex turning out wares you'll be hooked. Of course you'll use the Complex Cleaner mod to turn the complex into something manageable, rather than something that looks like an intergalactic game of spillikins.
The DRM has me confused at this stage. During my installation I wasn't even asked for a registration code but people on other forums are complaining about limited activations. Possibly the European edition doesn't have the more extreme DRM and the US/Steam installations do. The Tages drivers are definitely installed but maybe like with Fallout 3 this is just for the disk check.
 So much untapped potential December 22, 2008
As I played through Terran Conflict, I found myself recalling why the previous X games sit gathering dust on my shelf after a few months of play. Somehow I don't seem to learn, and continue to get sucked in.
X3 is a game that could be superb. A vast universe for you to explore and dominate, economically, militarily; the world is your oyster. Unfortunately, the tagline for X3TC really ought to read 'X3 Reunion, with a new race badly tacked on, recurring characters deleted, some new ships, and some user interface polish'.
The first problem is bugs. Lots of bugs. As with previous Egosoft games, you'll probably want to wait at least six months after release for the major game-breaking bugs to be fixed. The current 1.3 patch has resolved a fair few. You can probably expect a whole series of ones you can work around to remain unfixed - this ignores that your workarounds will leave you wondering 'why did I buy item Z again, if I can only use it in this way?'.
The second problem is that they really have learnt nothing from previous games. It has the same static user interface problems, badly thought-through plots and missions, same dumb AI, and above all, the same pretty awful starting experience. The sheer number of commands to remember shows when you try and map some that aren't even mapped by default, and find you've already begun to run low on keyboard combinations. The new mouse & toolbar user interface is a great improvement, but is in dire need of the ability to customise according to circumstance. It also makes for a confusing and RSI-inducing experience when you're forced to use keyboard, mouse, and joystick just to get everything done.
The new race, the Terrans, is very sparsely implemented for a full new game, featuring them in the name no less! You can't buy their stations. They're split into two forces, one of which you can never buy ships from, and influencing their economy and thus making friends with them is made all the more difficult by their very different goods, which brings me onto the next major problem.
Trade always featured heavily in previous games and was the prime source of money for many a budding X player that didn't fancy heavy combat all the time. Trade seems to have taken a back seat in this version. Getting into the economy is much more difficult; additionally none of the great ideas that external scripters had to add a year later for Reunion were added this time around by default. I have no doubt that in a few years' time when the modding community has finished adding decent scripts and fixing the bugs for the developers, Terran Conflict will be approaching the level of quality I'd expect at release.
Had this been a cheap expansion to Reunion, I'd have probably viewed it in a different light. Priced and pitched as a full new game (although at least they didn't try and call it X4) my recommendation would be to buy a cheap copy of Reunion, get the Xtended mod and any others that really give polish to it, and enjoy a far superior experience. Longer term, this game will become worth the wait after the scripts are redone to fix it this time around.
The worst of it is, I can't help but love the game and want it to fulfil its potential; there is no other game quite like it. I just wish they'd actually make that potential accessible for once.
 The Best Space Simulator/ RPG game on the market December 1, 2008
As a big fan of the X series and many days worth of gameplay on X3 reunion; i can say that X3 terran conflict has the following pros and cons (i have currently played X3TC v1.2.1 for 1day or 24hrs total gameplay):
Pros:
Incredibly diverse and Huge universe (reunions universe was big this is even bigger!)
Graphics have improved but not immensly
The freedom this game provides is unmatched by any other game
The interface and ability to manage your own fleet has been imporved GREATLY!
There is a silly amount (200-300+) of ships u can choose from that are all incredible!
Storyline is good
The work done on the new Terran race is very well done and designed and they have very accuratley and nicely portrayed our own solar system!
Egosoft is the best at redeveloping and reworking its products; it releases patches promptly and they continously enhance gameplay.
Cons:
If your one of those people that wants a multiplayer look elsewere, but for most ppl and fans the singleplayer is why you buy this game because this game provides the most hrs gameplay. X3TC and its predecessors have entertained me more than any other game (including crysis, bioshock, freelancer etc)
The missions are slightly buggy because when its says really hard they can be either incredibly difficult or impossible or very easy and missions stated as very easy can be incredibly hard. Egosoft have said they are working on the issue. This doesnt affect gameplay to much if anything it makes the game more challenging.
The game requires alot out of your RAM, and Graphics. In every sector of this game there are literally hundreds of ships and many stations in particular in heavily populated sectors, not to mention big battles. I currently have : Core 2 duo 6420 @3.41, 2gb(1066mhz), asus commando and a Nvidia 7950GT (512mb,550,1500) I can run it well on high at 1240 by 768 but wen i turn on AA it startes to lag and as a result, id recommend 3gb ram and a 8 series or 9series Gcard.
Not for those who aren't paitent. November 27, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I'm an elite veteran, & have also played X-BTF & various flight sims. So in this respect I am not a novice gamer.
So, lets start with my first impressions of X3:TC.
The learning curve is like a brick wall. I played for three hours & felt like I was going nowhere in the game I got to a point in the plot line where I could go no further. I almost gave up.
I then decided to explore & try different things. I discovered capturing ships (woooo) & loads of different mission types. After some head scratching - I've sorted an independent trader to run about making money while I explore & blow things up. Jump-drives help enormously with the wait time between sectors & travelling. . . .
The game is massive, there is so much to do. I'm glad I persevered through the learning curve and now feel as if I'm actually progressing.
Good points:
- Very immersive
- Massive Game play potential- although you probabily won't want to replay from scratch.
- Pretty
- Guns, big guns.
Bad points:
- Vertical learning curve.
- Bugged missions
- Random deaths by autopilot errors.
- Slow (at times)
On the whole I'm really enjoying the game.
If you, like some of the other reviewers have given up - I suggest you give it another shot. Pop into the official game forums for hints, tips & maps.
 This is a BORING Elite November 21, 2008
1 out of 8 found this review helpful
I really wanted to like this game but it is the single dullest one I have ever played. You go from gate to gate to gate to gate dock undock, go speak to commander this or Lt this ... sigh...its very difficult to get into. I could not for the life of me work out how to trade and because there is no LIVE economy (playing against other players) its anyone guess if your getting a good deal or not. I havent been able to trade as yet and I have been playing for 3 hours.
I spent more time staring out of the living room window waiting for my ship to hyperdrive though gates than I did actually interacting with the game. Honestly if you liked elite this is PANTS compared to it. Waste of cash.
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