Newly introduced, looking for where to start

[Electro522]

Hello Everybody!

I apologize if this has been asked several times, but the FAQ doesn't really give a community like recommendation of where to start (not to mention that portion of the FAQ is REALLY old).

Steam just recommended X3: Terran Conflict to me, and after some digging around, I must say, I am interested. However, I also did stumble upon X: Rebirth, though the reviews on it are still in the "Mostly Negative", despite the several updates the game has had, which apparently has made the game much better than it was at launch?

That said, I would still like to buy the game that would, overall, give me the better experience, so I've come to you guys to ask which one that is. Steam says Terran Conflict/Albion Prelude, but would you guys rather recommend Rebirth over them?

Oh, and by the way, I'm only looking to buy one of them right now.....I might buy another in the future if I really like the one I buy.

Anyway, thanks in advance!
Electro

[Santi]

X Rebirth has a demo on Steam, you can even carry on the savegame if you decide to buy the game, so that will be my first stop.

[Sparky Sparkycorp]

Rebirth has been updated to the point it can be played and enjoyed, or not, like any other game. X3AP is quite a different game to Rebirth so you might like one or both.

You could give the demo version of X Rebirth a try for free if you liked. It is available via Steam

[CaptainValdr]

Rebirth is really fun...... for a few hours. When you've seen all the eye-candy so many times that it loses its lustre and you realize that you've bought the few upgrades you can for the one and only ship you're allowed to fly, there's no real motivation to keep playing. In my experience the updates have done nothing to make it more or less playable, they fixed a few things but they didn't actually finish the game so the end result is the same.

[Electro522]

I read somewhere that Egosoft is also dissappointed in the game, right?

[birdtable]

Yes... So disappointed that they give you a FREE demo so you can share in that disappointment ..... Try the demo then you will know for yourself !!!

[Ormac]

I think if after the Demo Rebirth doesn't quite feel like a fit.

Check out some Youtube X3TC Tutorials.

TC might be more satisfying as a first experience.

The Warpack bundle (Terran Conflict / Albion Prelude) might be the way to purchase as Albion Prelude is more like a traditional expansion (that requires the TC Base game) but it a seperate game.

-- Ormac

[marcello639]

XR was my first game in X series, i loved it. Most of negative reviews are from people who expected this to be as previous X games.

[bambikaka]

XR was my first game in X series, i loved it. Most of negative reviews are from people who expected this to be as previous X games.

nope, negative reviews are from people who expected it to be an interesting game its so boring that we are dismissed with this silly flawed explanation... the bad reviews came from the big majority, with this you say the big majority couldnt enjoy a different than x3 game if it was good... quite illogical tbh

[Nanook]

XR was my first game in X series, i loved it. Most of negative reviews are from people who expected this to be as previous X games.

nope, negative reviews are from people who expected it to be an interesting game its so boring that we are dismissed with this silly flawed explanation... the bad reviews came from the big majority, with this you say the big majority couldnt enjoy a different than x3 game if it was good... quite illogical tbh

Nope. Most of the bad reviews were from the horrific initial release, which the devs admitted was broken. Since then it's gradually improved into a playable game. As for being "boring", that's a highly subjective term, and is, frankly, your opinion, not a fact.

[bambikaka]

XR was my first game in X series, i loved it. Most of negative reviews are from people who expected this to be as previous X games.

nope, negative reviews are from people who expected it to be an interesting game its so boring that we are dismissed with this silly flawed explanation... the bad reviews came from the big majority, with this you say the big majority couldnt enjoy a different than x3 game if it was good... quite illogical tbh

Nope. Most of the bad reviews were from the horrific initial release, which the devs admitted was broken. Since then it's gradually improved into a playable game. As for being "boring", that's a highly subjective term, and is, frankly, your opinion, not a fact.

"its so boring that we are dismissed with..." oO, it wasnt about the game. i just know if its boring for me to be dismissed by false statements

some of the negative reviews:

"Overall the gamplay is really clunky, full of needless time-wasting, and very difficult to figure out how to do anything. It seems like they wanted to streamline the gameplay to make it more accessible, but really they just made it more frustrating to play. The previous games were pretty good, but this one just isn't worth it"

"This game was poorly thought out, poorly executed and excellently maintained after its release, but a polished turd is still a turd."

"A boring overcomplicated game, gifted with an unintuitive interface made of lists and lists of menus flooding the game with often useless information."

"I gave it a shot and it's just not that much fun. X3 is way better. Go get that. Requested refund."

"For someone like me who has several hundreds hours on a true and solid space game like Elite dangerous, going into X rebirth is a trauma. Clunky, convulluted, chaotic menus, terrible TERRIBLE voice acting, infinite exposition, poor optimizations, very guided six degrees of movement. Loved X2, X3 and AP but this one is just horrible.
It will probably be a little better in a few hours but I won't stick around to find out, there are way better space game to spend time with. Refund."

Wow, not a single word about bugs, its all about poor gameplay, crap menus and that its not fun... and i didnt cherry pick just copied the first ones in order. i understand that you want to defend it, you are giving your free time to help out the team and probably wishing it to be good but it sadly isnt. not even after 4.1. sry as one of these reviewers pointed out, a polished turd is still a turd

[bambikaka]

now a cherry picked one but this is one of the most talkative (still no bugs):

"I can see where Egosoft was trying to go with this game, and I was willing to give them time to work on and improve this game, but now, after 2 expansions, 4 major versions, and 3 years, the game still has horrible UI, optimization, characters, cutscenes, dialogue, and interaction. Trading is a convoluted mess, combat is boring, exploration feels tedious, and in general, this is not a fun game to play."

[Alan Phipps]

If the OP wanted to read the Steam reviews, he could do so for himself without them being repeated here. Once again, a simple request for advice is turned into an extended argument. Just state your opinion relative to the OP's question (just once preferably) and move on please.

[ZaphodBeeblebrox]

Played 1000's of hours of X2 and X3. I have now played 1000's of hours of Rebirth.

The game is very different from earlier games.

This for me was the BEST BIT. It was different.

Try it for yourself.

In my opinion, space is represented way better in rebirth, maked you feel like you are in solar systems rather than just boxes in space.

I also prefer the trading and station building in Rebirth.

Not everything is perfect, but there is a lot that is enjoyable and fun.

[Southern Terrier]

I started with X3-Reunion and loved the X-Tended mod/patch.

I would also say if you did want to start with X Rebirth, imo it is very playable now and i have personally had many hours of enjoyment out of it.

[spankahontis]

I read somewhere that Egosoft is also dissappointed in the game, right?

It's not a bad game and there is a ton of stuff to explore in X:Rebirth and plenty to do. The Story Plot is allot better than previous X Games.
The Mostly Negative reviews is down mostly to a terrible buggy release (90% straightened out) more than anything else.

Negativity after release is partly a nostalgia driven thing IMHO.. If you're new to X Games you will love Rebirth, if you're an old player you will feel Rebirth lacks the content of a more polished Albion Prelude.
Rebirth is an excellent attempt at a new game engine. As Zap touched on, the way it represents a solar system is allot better than just a wallpaper background of another system you can't explore like in previous.
But does lack features that time would not allow Egosoft to add, hopefully X4 with the Rebirth engine and 2 years of time to improve on it will be enough to give us the game that puts Albion Prelude to bed..

My opinion is try both Prelude and Rebirth, see which one you like more?