This feeling is heightened by the ability to start a new game with the storyline deactivated. With no goal, no overarching purpose to their adventures, the player becomes just another someone trying to make ends meet. A variety of professions are available, including that of an explorer, a merchant, or an assassin. And it's a huge testament to the scope of the game that players are able to base an entire career off of just one of the game's many aspects.

Unfortunately, this grand scope ends up being one of X3's major downfalls. But whereas most games of this nature fail because the main aspect is polished while the others remain incomplete or ignored, that isn't the case here. For a quick example, just look at Grand Theft Auto. However open-ended the game may be, playing as gangster is certainly more polished than playing as a taxi driver.

Rather, the downfall would be X3's ridiculously steep learning curve. After a brief combat tutorial at the beginning of the game, that's it - everything else is left for the player to figure out on their own. While that may not sound so bad, in a game where combat is only a small portion of the overall experience, that's a problem. Even worse is the recommended tutorial for new players, which begins with the game suggesting the activation of the rear turret and then throwing out a few waves of enemies without any further instructions. It doesn't even tell the player how to activate the rear turret, just that it would be recommended to do so.

Given the scope of the X3 universe, given the intricacies of its economy, given the various career choices the player has to choose from, it seems rather ridiculous the game is missing an in-depth tutorial to properly explain everything.

The manual included with the game doesn't help much either, referencing features and options that aren't even in the final version. A revised manual, available after registering at developer Egosoft's website, does provide some help, but given its only available in electronic form, it certainly isn't as easy to pick up and flip through in the midst of the game. And while printing is an option, it seems rather ridiculous that one should have to download and print their own manual for a forty dollar game.

While obtaining the manual, it's also recommended that players download the latest patch and peruse the X3 message board, which features a large thread on how to avoid or workaround numerous bugs in the game. It's refreshing to see developer Egosoft so upfront about these bugs, but some of the workarounds, such as waiting an hour for a particular object to respawn or flying off into another sector for a while, seem ridiculous, especially given that these bugs affect missions that must be completed to advance the storyline. To their credit, Egosoft is currently hard at work on the next patch, which will address more bugs and also add new content. It's also worth noting the latest patch fixed what was perhaps the most critical of all the bugs, a glitch that prevented all players from actually finishing the game.

Across the past few paragraphs, the word ridiculous has seen use multiple times. It’s an intentional choice, meant to highlight just how ridiculous the entire situation with X3 is. Despite the vastness of its universe, despite how open-ended the game may be, it doesn't change the fact that the effort and time required to properly enjoy X3 is ridiculous. It's ridiculous that the game requires a patch issued more than a month after release just to have an ending. It's ridiculous that it's up to the player to figure most of the game out for themselves. It's ridiculous that months after release, the story mode is still riddled with bugs, and it's even more ridiculous that the workarounds to some literally involve killing a bunch of bad guys and waiting an hour, in-game, for the object to hopefully respawn.

And ultimately, I think it's ridiculous players are expected to play $40 for this. Again, it's not that X3 is a bad game, or that it isn't fun - it just isn't done. Though this sort of thing isn't anything new to the PC gaming world, X3 takes it to a ridiculous degree. If developer Egosoft ever resolves the problems with X3, it could be one of the best space simulators to hit the market in years. Until then, X3: Reunion is only recommended for those who know exactly what they're getting into and have the time and energy required to make it all work.