X4: Foundations

A fantastic blend of jankiness and strategic brilliance. I recently dove back into the captivating universe of X4 Foundations and I must say, it's now, after decades of dedicated TLC, turning out to be one of the the most unique, epic and immersive experiences I've ever played. X4 Foundations offers a depth of game play that makes Elite Dangerous feel like "Space Invaders". It also, at the same time manages to avoid the hollowness of Star Citizen (which increasingly seems to be drifting towards a fancy Call of Duty in space tech demo). I admit, I did find it a bit of a struggle coping with its steep learning curve but there's tons of really great guides and YouTube content out there. I nearly gave up a couple of times but, eventually, slowly, the game began to open up to me and now and I'm definitely beginning to see its incredible scope and beauty. Yes folks. It feels like there's a really scary and massive, dangerous universe waiting to get you. Let's address the elephant in the room right away. The jankiness can be a bit jarring - sometimes. Yes, X4 Foundations does have its fair share 'Eurojank' and technical hiccups. From occasional AI glitches to minor graphical oddities there are moments where the game's rough edges pop up an it lets itself down. I have the distinct feeling this happens because EgoSoft, the brilliant X4 developers get so fixated on the next impossibly clever thing that they never quite leave enough time to polish it properly. Why fanny about with the odd graphical glitch that when they could be developing a new cool Quantum Disruption Hyper Flange? Having said that, I'm many tens of hours in now and I've personally only seen a couple of immersion-breaking blips. One was when one of my my pilots decided to routinely leave his Space Wharf only to crash headlong into the underneath of some innocent bystander. The two ships helplessly locked into each others geometry, destined to shudder away for all eternity. No matter. I simply nipped out of the Wharf's space sector and returned minutes later to find they'd resolved their entanglement and all was well with the world. I believe that these quirks somehow add to the game's charm. They remind us that we are exploring an expansive and ever-evolving universe that isn't bound by strict rules. The jankiness often brings unexpected surprises and unpredictable moments that keep us players connected and on our toes. But where X4 Foundations truly shines is in its strategic and tactical brilliance. The game offers a vast sandbox environment where you can build your space empire from scratch. You can trade, mine resources, build space stations, and command fleets of ships. The depth of strategic options is truly impressive, allowing you to choose your own path and play style. Whether you prefer to be a peaceful trader, a cunning pirate, or a respected military leader, the game accommodates your choices and rewards you accordingly. Sure, we've heard this promise so many times before but here the game mechanics and systems truly put you in a real unpredictable world where opportunities and threats lurk around every corner. Every game is different and you need your wits about you. The economic system in X4 Foundations is remarkably detailed and intricate. You'll need to carefully analyse market trends, make shrewd business decisions, and seize opportunities to maximise your profits. The sense of satisfaction that comes from successfully managing your own interstellar corporation is truly unmatched. One of the game's standout features is the ability to seamlessly switch between controlling a single ship and commanding an entire fleet. This dynamic shift in perspective adds a layer of depth to combat and exploration. You can take direct control of your flagship to engage in thrilling space battles or delegate tasks to your subordinates while you focus on grand strategic decisions. This fluidity in game play keeps things fresh and exciting, ensuring that no two moments in X4 Foundations are alike. In conclusion, X4 Foundations may have its janky moments, but its strategic brilliance shines through, making it a breathtakingly beautiful, must-play for fans of space simulation and strategy games. The depth of game play, its episodic story lines (you can chose to either embrace or ignore them at your leisure or peril). The immersive universe, and the ability to carve your own path make for an engrossing experience that will keep you captivated for months if not years. Embrace the challenge. When you stick with it you'll slowly begin to see its massive depth and its myriad of systems will start to click into place for you. When this emerges for you you'll want to invest your time and get better. When that happens you'll then be rewarded with a vast and complex world like nothing you've seen before filled with limitless possibilities. That's X4 Foundations.

Rewieving version 5.x with 3 DLC. "Good game with potential to be great". If you want to: build a Galaxy-Wide-Corporate* with your own factories and shipyards that can stand against governments; command whole fleets of various ships; take part in space combats or just to be an adventurer or a space pirate - all from first perspective - this is the game! Overall it looks nice and gives you freedom with a story behind it, and the modding community is great. I like to play this game. But it has its flaws and roughness. Egosoft appears to have taken a Paradoxian** approach, so the base game is very basic.Things from DLCs should be in a base game like in X3/Albion. It still lacks you-would-think-obvious functions or mechanics, and some of them were in the previous game. The GUI - an element you will look at and use most of the time - is not better than in X3 and it's even harder to quickly manage your fleets than in X3. It provides a lot of information, but in a disorganized manner or does not provide the most important information; honestly, Egosoft has had some issues with the GUI for a long time. You can build, you can land on stations and walk around them or walk around your ships, talk to npcs or your crew - but it feels like Egosoft added those things because they had to, not because they wanted us to have a great experience from them (or had an idea for it). At this point, every docking module looks the same, trade shops look the same, offices look the same. NPCs look the same, and they are soulless just like the stations. Those are the main reasons I cannot rate it higher than 7. The modding community helps as much as it can, but it is not their responsibility to make this game great, and there is great potential to be great. *or a Pirate Kingdom in a known sectors at least; their numbers grow with every dlc's ** Paradox Studio took DLC/patch spamming to the skies.

Начал играть с версии 4.0. Из минусов могу отметить отсутствие комфортной игры на геймпаде. Приходится летать на геймпаде, а управлять экономикой на на клава/мыше Игру воспринимаю как гибрид X: Rebirth + X3. за это большое спасибо. Спасибо что взяли лучшее и выбросили худшее.

I've played 3.0 and wonder if they fixed the game in 5.0. 3.0 problems: - bugs, bugs, bugs... - very weak tutorial, steering and not intuitive missions. I hate situations when need to watch Youtube to know how to play and specially know how to complete the mission - should be future ships not old MIGs. Many boring moments (Eurotruck is more fun, more elements moving, more steering). Many parts of flight should be spent in timelapse or some Sims like life or economy or fight, but not oldschool Star Wars/Star Trek style. Automation and searching is bad but much better than Elite Dangerous. Summary: could be best space game, but is worse state than No Mans Sky.

I really wanted X4 to be a better game than Rebirth was unfortunately it is not. The amount of bugs makes it an early beta game and not a full price release. Avoid for now. Maybe in a couple of years and at some discount it will be worth picking up.