Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Hands up who likes complex space sims? Okay. Now hands up who likes complex German space sims? I thought that would thin you out a bit. The complexiest and Germaniest space sim of them all is the X series. It is a series that’s evolved over time into something that actually feels like a place of work, but in an admirable way. Every game I’ve ever started of X has lulled me into watching the universe trundle along. The Kha’ak might be invading, but if you watched me playing it you’d think the point of the game was to stalk low-level transport ships as they go about their everyday business. Which is why the development diary below had me completely hooked: it shows the game’s pathing in action.
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Hang on. I just need to move all this space to one side to make space for more space. X3: Albion Prelude is a just released expansion pack for X3, bridging the gap to X: Rebirth, which should be with us early next year. The storyline of clashing corporations leads into Rebirth and there are new stations and ships to play around with. That’s why I’m posting this, to be honest, to share pictures of all the glorious new stuff that’s floating about up there. X3 is a beautiful game, one that it’s easy to admire both in motion and stasis. So sit back and feast your eyes.

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The many skywalking fans of the X series of spaceship shooty-tradey epics are waiting impatiently for X: Rebirth, a full-on sequel/reboot due next year, but now we unexpectedly hear another game will startjump into our orbit before 2011 is done and dusted. X3: Albion Prelude is an expandalandalandalone for X3, and plans to tell the tale of how the X universe transitioned into the state it’s in come Rebirth.
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When X Rebirth was announced back in April, there wasn’t a huge amount of information to ponder so it seemed natural to expect something similar to previous games in the series. Turns out that while there will still be a great deal of piloting and trading, some things have indeed changed. The most significant shift is the focus to one ship, The Pride of Albion, which is upgradeable and customisable but cannot be switched out for a different vessel. In a forum post outlining some details about the game, Bernd Lehahn pre-empted the horror of the fanbase: “But before you get upset and complain about the lack of freedom to steer other ships, WAIT”. Are you waiting? Because that command was capitalised. OK, now click.

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Fans of the X series? Awake from your comas – the series is back with the freshly announced X: Rebirth. There’s four images, too. And a trailer!

I know there are mixed opinions of the space shopping X games (no skateboarding jokes, please), but really no one is in any position to disagree with their having named the first game’s expansion pack, “X-Tension”. Really, let’s all stop and just clap at our monitors for a moment.

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