X3: Renuion and Linux - A match made in Heaven.... I Mean Space

Do you like being a space pirate pillaging your way across the universe? Maybe you are more the entrepreneurial type who wants to establish economic dominance instead. Or do you just want to be a space cowboy smuggling contraband from one world to another. If so, X3: Reunion is the game for you. Released in 2005 by Egosoft, X3: Reunion is an open-world space simulation that allows you to play the game your way.

When you start a new game in X3: Reunion, you are presented with several choices. One of which is to play the game's campaign, and the other choices allow you to play the game outside of the campaign.

Whichever choice you make, the ultimate journey you embark upon is entirely up to you. For first time players, I suggest at least starting the main campaign. This will allow you to get comfortable with the game world and controls before you strike out on your own. This is because the main campaign of X3: Reunion feels like one long tutorial. The story slowly unfolds as you complete missions for various factions in the game. You can choose to ignore these missions at anytime, and go off on your own, but you will miss the explanation of the X Universe mythology and story. Even after you complete the campaign, the game world is yours for the taking.

The amount of game play that this game offers is massive. This is also X3: Reunion's biggest weakness. The learning curve to play this game is very steep. The game requires a joystick, mouse, and keyboard to play properly. Some game functions require you to stop free movement of your ship, click on a menu item in your HUD, navigate to a certain sub-menu, and then select the option you want. Sound confusing? It can be very confusing, especially for a new player. This problem can be mitigated if you have a multiple button joystick. You can program the functions you need the most to your joystick's buttons, but rarely used commands will still require you to navigate "menu hell."

Once you learn how to control your ship and property, the game really comes into its own. Each star system in the universe has its own unique economy. Once you have a freighter, you can set it up to conduct trade on its own and let it make you money.

Once you have enough money saved up, you can then build a factory and even your own station. The other races within the game will also trade with you. Making you even more money. While this is all going on, you can explore the rest of the galaxy. Looking for new resources, free ships, or just being a pirate. There are also Bulletin Board missions available from anywhere you can dock. They all carry their own prerequisites and have a cash reward. Be advised that everything you do affects your reputation with each of the races and groups in the game's world. Get a bad reputation with a race or group and they will attack you on sight. Having a high reputation, on the other hand, allows you to purchase more powerful ships and equipment.

The space combat in X3: Reunion is some of the best I have ever played. The controls feel different for each ship. For example, a light fighter feels very nimble and responsive, where as piloting a freighter feels slow and clumsy. This difference in feel forces the player to react to situations differently depending on the ship they are in. Quite often I found myself in a slow lumbering freighter getting jumped by pirates. I would push the throttle to the wall and make a run for it. All the while praying that I could get close to a space station for protection before my ship was blown out of space!

Since its release in 2005, X3: Reunion has been updated multiple times. These updates not only fixed many bugs, but updated support for wide screen monitors. The developers have also released multiple content packs for the game. These content packs have expanded the game play by adding new ships for the players to pilot and systems to visit. All of these updates have been released to the end user for free. While the game originally released on the Windows platform, it has since been ported to Mac and Linux. Originally, the Mac port performed so poorly, that the developer updated it and gave the existing owners of the game for free. The Linux port is very good. The port is not run using emulation but runs natively on Linux. This means that it played very well on my laptop running Ubuntu 17.10. With my laptops nVidia GTX670M, X3: Reunion ran buttery smooth at 1920X1080. X3: Reunion will also run very well on integrated graphics. Just make sure that it supports Mesa 9.0. If you purchased the game on Steam for Windows, you are able to install and play X3: Reunion on Linux for free.

X3: Reunion is one of those games that continues to remain fresh and fun to play despite its age. While its steep learning curve can put some players off, its game play makes it worth it. Since its release in 2005, I have played it on various platforms for almost 1000 hours. If you are looking for a fun game similar to Elite, I highly recommend X3: Reunion.

If you wish to purchase X3: Reunion, it is available on both Steam and GOG.com for around $10. You can find it here: Steam GOG.com

I hope you enjoyed this look at one of my favorite older games. I hope to add more reviews in the future.

Cheers!