X Rebirth. First look overview

A couple of days ago X Rebirth from Egosoft was released.

Author: Sergey Taraban

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X Rebirth - continuation of a series of games about X universe. The game is a “sandbox” where player can realize himself as captain of a huge fleet, merchant, adventurer, warrior, architect of space stations, or all together. The game also has an interesting storyline.

Gameplay

Gameplay since the X3 series has been redesigned. The game got rid of a large number of sophisticated menus and an overloaded interface. Now, all the control was transferred to the quick menu by pressing Enter button. From this, the game has really become easier.

Docking

Ship control was not changed so match, but the automatic docking via computer was gone. Now you need to search for docking station and dock to it through a quick menu docking.

For dock to the station you need to get close to the desired module and double-click the icon of this module. Fast menu will appear as shown in screen shot.

All stations are now modular and can have a many extra docks outside, which can offer a variety of services.

After landing at the stations you can hire staff and communicate with NPC. Staff available for hire :

• engineers - repairing the ship if it is damaged
• captains
• pilots - need for fighters
• marines - for boarding an enemy ship
• architects - for the stations building
• managers
• security managers, etc.

NPC talking minigame

After hiring, you can take a person to the right ship or station.

Talk to the NPC allows you to get bonuses and discounts at the stations. They can also give you something or give a side job. Some NPC drones or sell a variety of goods. With NPC can talk about different topics, to make compliments, persuade or threaten.

Also, in the stations you can steal withdraw items from the boxes for personal use.

 

Sector map

Navigating in the universe has changed dramatically. The universe is now seamless . You travel using  special hyperspace tunnels . There are two types of tunnels - internal ( green ) and interstellar  (blue) . Each tunnel only works in one direction and has 6 highways. Interstellar tunnel has 25 highway. When you are flying through highway occupied by another ship you will move much faster than in the empty way . You can enter or exit tunnel at any places. This mechanic is very similar to tunnels in the Freelancer game, but match better.

From the menu was disappeared time accelerator . Since now the ships are moving much faster and the stations are closer so you don’t need it anymore.

Ships AI better. Instead of extension modules from X3, all work perform hired personal and drones.

 

Trade module

The player can not sit in the cockpit of the other ship and change their basic ship. It can directly control only his ship, which is given at the beginning of the game.You can only give orders to your ships. The developers did it to simplify the mechanics of the game. In the original X3 ships were all equal, and player could be in andockyardy vehicle he want.

Station modules

Club

Stations consist of a large number of different modules. These modules are marked with different icons. If the icon is not painted over - it means the module has not been explored. To explore the module you should fly up close to it as the icon was at the center of the white circle on the screen. Be sure to explore the modules marked with ‘i’ later. This will allow you to open a remote operation with adjacent modules. And you no longer have to approach close to the module as before.

Type of modules:

 

• space dock - looks like as corresponding group of goods: food, minerals, energy, weapon etc. For example, if the space station produces batteries one can be purchased through the following modules at this station.
• dockyard - here you can buy a ship
• club ("tavern") - entertainment senter. Here you can find a staff of all kinds, traders, etc.
• market (trade module) - module with a bunch of blue graphs. There are very many different traders.
• jail - icon in the form of an elongated capsule. There are many staff on the military theme - marines, captains, pilots etc. Don't forget to visit the hall in a room with prison wards.
• repair dock - module marked with a wrench. It full of engineers who can repair your ship.

Information about modules are also shown as a banner above the hyperspace tunnel.

How to earn money

Air shaft

At the first stage of the game there are not very match ways to earn money.

Looking for goods in boxes

There are many boxes with goods in the station. Goods can be sold to traders. Also you should look for hidden boxes in ventilation systems. There are illegal cargo like chips or space flies. Such products can be sold to traders named speculators. They often live in the taverns.

Perform tasks

Tasks are marked with a skull. For them, good pay and you get a reputation. Keep in mind that the job support are very time consuming. It is better to take a job to protect station from assault, for example, to "protect the station from pirates attack."

Trading

Trading of large goods using cargo ship

There are two types of goods in the game. The first group - a small-sized goods that are placed in the usual holds . The second group - are goods for large cargo ships.

The first group of goods are purchased from vendors at the stations . Every trader specializing in certain product groups - the farmer, the speculator, junk dealer, equipment dealer, arms dealer, etc. These products you can find in the boxes at stations or select from the destroyed ships.

The second group of products can be bought in special docks station. These are special compartments , which can fit large cargo ships. In order to buy this product in your group of ships must be cargo ship . You can buy a product using dock or via the Trade menu. To buy a product select it, then click the button in the lower right corner. In the new window that appears, you must choose the amount of goods you want to purchased .

 

Story

People of the station

The game story starts in about 40 years after the events of the last X3. We play in the X universe sector called the Albion, isolated from the rest of the X world. This happened after the event known as the “Great shutdown” when all the gates of Albion were off. This was committed by mining corporation, which decided to become independence from Argon.

The game begins with tutorial, which is very tightly woven into the story line. Our first task is staffed trade ship. It should be noted that the tutorial done match better than in previous games. But sometimes you have situation when it is not clear what to do.

 

Pros

• New incredibly detailed world. In dozens of times more objects, ships and stations
• Modular structure of stations and ships. There you can walk around, explore and interact with the residents
• Recruitment and staff management
• Seamless universe
• A simpler, less "hardcore" control
• Beautiful detailed worlds. Great modern graphics

Cons

• No auto-save, and no save in stations (don't forget to press F5 during the game)
• Lighting sometimes is too contrasting
• Fonts in the quick menu small and blurry
• Game sometimes looks unfinished
• Hight system requirements

Conclusions

Game is not finished. It has a lot of unrealized or unfinished ideas. It should be with Early Access, because for now it has not release quality.

Game is interesting and fun. It has various gameplay, good storyline, nice graphic and unique ambience, but not finished.  It is the one of the best space simulator now with huge number of things player can do. This game is completely different than X3, so if you a fan of previous X games X Rebirth may disappoint you. You should play a lot of time to understand this game.

Game rate: 6/10