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X2: The Threat - First Impressions Preview

Chris Leyton

23/09/2003

Egosoft look likely to deliver the finest space-simulator since Elite, X2: The Threat is breathtaking...

When the charismatic David Blundell PR Manager (or PR dude) from KOCH Media came through the door at the TVG Office with yet another space-simulator itâs likely the groans could be heard from Mars.

Weâve lost count off the number of times that a space-simulator has arrived with the promise of bringing âEliteâ into the modern generation; for those that may have missed out on the game âEliteâ was a classic in every sense of the word, released in 1984 and featuring an open-ended game design that has failed to be beaten to this day.

In recent memory even the likes of Microsoftâs hyped âFreelancerâ failed to deliver the goods, despite initially feeling free flowing and huge, the game constraints and linearity soon became painfully evident after only a few hours of play.

So signs werenât looking good for âX2: The Threatâ, although the game has a rich following and a successful title in the series behind it, if Microsoft canât do it why can somebody else?

Elite set out the rule-book for all other titles to follow; a good space simulator needs fighting sections, it needs trading section and it also needs to capture the feeling of exploration and venturing into the deep confines of space. Every title since âEliteâ has missed the mark by focussing too linearly on these aspects, whereas âEliteâ managed to perfectly balance them creating a videogame whereby you truly felt in command.

As we said before âX2: The Threatâ is funnily enough a sequel to the popular âX: The Beyondâ and currently undergoing the final stages of testing and balancing at Egosoft. Players assume the role of an unnamed hero, who after a failed attempt at stealing a ship finds himself destined to live out his days onboard a penal colony on the cold, prison-mining world of Artur.

Bizarrely (and in a similar plot-twist to Morrowind) your route is stopped under the command of a man named Ban Danna (Xâers will recognise the name), well known and respected throughout the universe. With some choice words, the player finds himself free thanks to the intervention of Ban Danna. Realising the errors of the way our hero decides that a life working for the TerraCorp wouldnât be a bad idea, however it isnât long before his mysterious past catches up with himâ¦

Usually when a company sends a PR guy down itâs usually because the game has obvious misgivings to try and hide or theyâve got something worth shouting about. Despite our earnest questions, Blundell was keen to simply let the game do the talking.

A lot has been made of open-ended gameplay, free-flowing storylines and simulated environments in videogames recently, whilst a handful of games have struck upon the equation, many have floundered by either not giving the player enough direction or in fact being more linear then the game makes out.

To this extent, âX2: The Threatâ features one of the elaborate and detailed simulated systems weâve seen in a videogame to date. Although we werenât able to get any hands-on with the actual game due to issues with combat balancing (and the fact weâd get our arse kicked out of the sky within minutes), what we saw had us entirely convinced.

As with all space-simulators âX2â places âTradingâ as a key component to the game, and features a dynamic economy to further the illusion that youâre taking place in a real-world. In âX2â each race has a hierarchy of goods that it manufactures, some are common across all races others are specific to one particular race. The âTradingâ system works on a pyramid technique, whereby at the bottom are the widely available raw materials and at the tope the luxury goods and technological systems such as weapons.

The universe within âX2: is littered with factories producing these goods; naturally they need to be able to collect resources to produce the goods and as such have set up trade routes to acquire them based on price, distance and quantity. All of these transactions are subject to the laws of supply and demand, allowing you to monitor the profitable trade routes and gaps within the market; whilst itâs entirely possible to swing the supply and demand in your own favour, taking down all supplies of one particular resource will hike the price and leave you a very rich man.

Whilst âX2â surprised us by the level of depth seen in the trading aspect, itâs fair to say that all other games in the genre do it albeit looking less impressive in comparison. However âX2â goes beyond all other competitors by allowing you to create your own factories throughout the universe with no limits on numbers or location; these will then automatically fetch resources and manufacture goods based on parameters you set and monitor from afar. Having your own intergalactic business is just a concept that initially made us gasp; thankfully it doesnât appear to be just a gimmick and shows sufficient depth, although we loved the ability to emblaze your corporate logo across the legion of factories that you can acquire.

Although the true âEliteâ player in me could quite happily spend a life exploring the depths of space and trading my way to fund it, the inner devil sometimes screams out and left us wanting to know more about the games combat and space battles.

As with all the âpartsâ of âX2â itâs entirely possible to focus entirely on one of them, so players are free to trade their way across space or equally build up a name for themselves by becoming the most feared pilot in space. Combat is dependant on the ship that youâre currently in control of and thankfully the guys at EgoSoft were quick to recognise the need for an accessible control system, the resulting comparison to the âX-Wingâ series made us squeal with delight.

Staggeringly itâs entirely possible to fly any of the games 70+ ships, ranging from small cargo ships to 2-Kilometer warships! Itâs also possible to build up a fleet of ships giving commands from the bridge in a manner that will please any Sci-Fi fan.

Because we couldnât actually get any Hands On time with the game we couldnât possible say how the combat works, however rest assured judging by the game so far weâre all in for a treat.

A running story runs throughout âX2â to give the game some structure, although itâs entirely possible to do whatever you want to. Missions are taken by voice-communications within your cockpit or by reading the bulletin-boards that can be found in most stations. Once again how you go about completing these is entirely up to you; for example when trying to smuggle some illegal spice, we could either try to blast through guns blaring or go for the sneaky chance of holding up in a larger shipâs cargo, however itâs not just restrained to these two solutions â“ âX2â joins the elite group of games which make you feel in complete control.

It does seem that EgoSoft have got everything you could possibly wish for in âX2â; our particular favourite involves space-walking which youâll have to do to transport to other ships until you can afford a transporter. Here you can see the view from within your spacesuit and itâs entirely possible to wander out into space for a quick wander, however youâll have to be wary of the 2hr oxygen supply and the threat of debris complete with authentic cracking noises when they hit your visor.

Itâs also got manual docking which in our opinion should be a pre-requisite of any space-simulator, although you can buy a docking computer when youâve got the fundsâ¦

Oh yeah itâs also got the most fantastic visuals weâve seen in a space-simulator to date.

Space simply has never been so beautiful; âX2â makes use of DX9 to deliver stunning results. Everything that you see within the universe is an actual object, so the cloudy nebulas you can see in screens can actually be flown into to try and hide from a pack of space pirates - a feat that Blundell had to demonstrate for us to actually believe.

Each ship within the game features an exquisite level of detail, whilst the use of bump-mapping and specular lighting adds a level of elegance that ushers in the next-generation of PC gaming. Just take one look at the game in motion, the engine trails, the sheer amount of on-screen action, the asteroids; simply seeing this game in action should be enough to convince people, although itâs probably time to upgrade your PC folks, Egosoft recommends a PIII 800Mhz, 256MB RAM and a 64MB DX8 3D graphics card, although to gain the full glory youâll want to be running this with a DX9 3D card and as much RAM as possible.