You will also have to use the keys to fly your ship as well, and let's not be thinking any rashly independent thought such as remapping the keys so the dead-stop key is less than six inches away form the go forward key. As my joystick is long dead, and the mouse controls are even worse than playing X-Wing with a pointer, you will have to resort to the keys. While they are just fine for getting your ship from one system or base to another, they are not very good for flying a spaceship in combat. Which isn't that big of a deal because the combat in this game has to be some of the most un-enjoyable of any space game I have played over the years, and I have played just about every one. The pirates in the game are hard as nails, and they will waste you every time until you have amassed enough money to upgrade your ship. Now there are plenty of options to upgrade the weapons and actual model of your ship, with plenty of far-away bases and hideouts offering rare and powerful equipment. But the combat model is so amateurish that you'd have to be really into the game to bother with them.

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That's the thing about X2. If you can get past the abominable interface and risible combat, there is a massive galaxy out there to explore and appropriate. X2 has been wrongly billed as an Elite-type game when it really is closer in spirit to in space. It's all about trading empires, keeping an eye on the prices of commodities and transferring your cargo to the right place, all the while keeping your eye on the bigger picture and your goals within that picture. The universe is highly dynamic, so your actions will have a noticeable affect. The economy model in the game has the potential to be robust but is all too often frustrating. You can buy trading software so you can program routes for your fleet of transports to take the tedium out of being a merchant, but the tools you need to run a larger empire reduce your input down to selecting destinations. Now if you like that kind of stuff you will probably be able to get past the dodgy interface, and the story will be irrelevant, allowing you to concentrate on forging your empire in the manner you choose. There are a lot of people out there who love this game, and they seem to be the ones who really enjoy building up empires. Now I don't dislike that kind of game myself - the amount of time I have spent playing Civilisation should be criminal - but X2 is still weak when it comes to delivering entertainment in this genre. Your ship will take ages to traverse each of the sectors, and it will be aeons before you can afford a jump drive which allows you to go wherever you want from wherever you are. This is a game of patience. You have to put a lot of time into it before you even begin to get anything back in return.

The wait for X2 itself was similarly lengthy, but to be frank, the only real tangible difference between this and X-Tensions are in the graphics department. It really does look lush, so lush it can cripple all but the strongest of beasts. It is also frustratingly prone to crashes and buggy glitches. But those ships, bases and environments really do utilise all the power of the latest hardware. I've never seen so much bump-mapping in a game before.

X2 reminds me of Hidden & Dangerous 2. Both are successors to well loved, engaging but hideously flawed originals. Both are not that different from their predecessors except in their looks. And both have a fanatical following which sees past all the faults and stupidity to a game that they cannot help but love. If you are similarly forgiving then you may manage to bleed some fun out of X2. Otherwise, I can only recommend that you give it a miss and resign yourself to another few years before the crown of Elite can be passed onto to a truly worthy successor.

69%

By Sam Gibson