The Lonely Void...
In 1999, Egosoft unleashed X:Beyond The Frontier on the world and went someway to filling a void in the gaming market that was oh so gaping. X:Beyond the Frontier was a deep and engrossing, unashamedly Elite styled space / trading / combat sim. It sported a universe of some 40-50 sectors and kept many a bleary-eyed player (yours truly included) up all night.
At last X2:The Threat is nearly with us and, after a visit to the offices of Koch Media (X2's publisher) to view the game's current build, it's my pleasure to inform you that it's looking bigger, badder, meaner, leaner and sexier than its older brother.
X2 has at its heart a story-driven space trading sim but anyone familiar with the prequel will not be surprised to learn that you don't have to stick to the plot when playing, as the whole thing is essentially one huge sandbox to mess about in and the game universe (a dynamic free-flowing place) goes about its merry business regardless of the players' presence.
Whilst other space-sims may be content to let you hold onto just one flyable ship at a time, X2 has no such delusions about its players ownership aspirations. Of the 70 ships in the build that we saw, 53 of them were flyable by the player (yes 53) and there was no upper limit on the number of ships that you can own. You can fly each one of those ships if you so choose or you can command the A.I. to fly it for you while you watch (one of the flyable ships is even 2 kilometres long and can hold 130 fighters in its own internal bay, all of which are, once again, flyable).
You Want Fries With that?
As long as you've earned, stolen or "found" the currency to pay for all of your ship, it's no issue. Want a fleet of three, four, five hundred? No problem, what colour would you like those in?
Like it's predecessor you're once again not limited to just ships either. Fancy owning a space station? To get along in the X2 universe you're going to need loads of them.
With all those ships kicking about you're going to need more room to cruise in and X2 comes up trumps there as well. As mentioned, the original game had in the region of 40 to 50 sectors, the developers are staying tight lipped about the exact number of sectors in the final X2 game but it's over 130, and while we're on the subject of scary numbers; at the start of the game the X2 universe has some 16,000 objects in it. That number immediately starts changing however as the A.I. players get on with the serious business of building their own stuff up and knocking other A.I. players stuff over.
Again, as with the original, choice is the order of the day with X2. If you want to roam the universe blatting all and sundry with your honking great space guns™ then you can, if you fancy just trading and building a massive corporate empire (evil or otherwise) then you can it's really all up to you.
Fans of the original game will be pleased to know that the hallmark X universe look and feel, whilst being heavily enhanced, has remained true to its roots. All the same ship design features are there and the gorgeous music that punctuated the universe so well in the previous title is still very much evident.
Whilst the game will be instantly familiar to the X hardcore the developers haven't ignored new players to the franchise. One of the criticisms levelled at the previous X title was the lack of guidance – such a huge universe can be somewhat daunting and a few people felt that they needed more of a helping hand to get started. This issue has been addressed in X2 with the introduction of training missions. These training missions are repeatable at anytime during the game and will show off a number of the game's features as well as teaching you the basics.
The developers have also ensured that the default ship at the start of the game has a few more standard features (alongside the slide and tilt sunroof and electric windows) that will significantly lower any potential barriers into the game that may have existed previously, whilst not making the title too lightweight for the hardcore players.
From what we've seen of X2: The Threat, any perceived contenders to the X and space-sim crown are about to be dealt a massive and decisive deathblow. X2 is as uncompromising in its scope and depth as it is in its beauty and attention to detail.
X2: The Threat is due to launch in late October and I for one can't wait to see the final game. Sort yourself out with a liquid food drip, cancel any serious personal relationships and be prepared to use the remainder of your annual holiday and sick leave allowances up - X2 is far more important, gorgeous and engrossing than any of that "life" nonsense.
ZWAME Jogos: Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth já se encontra disponível para a PlayStation 5. Podem ler a nossa análise no Portal Jogos.
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