Overview Following the success of its previous games, Egosoft has announced the newest game to the series. X Rebirth promised to be a fresh start to the series, bringing with it gameplay changes, a new universe, and many more changes.
X Rebirth is set to retain the same aspects that made the previous games popular, which includes free roam exploration, missions, trading, and fighting. As a result of community feedback gathered in years past, X Rebirth is designed to be easier to pick up and enjoy right from the start when compared to its predecessors. The depth and complexity provided in the game overall is at a level which the loyal fans have come to expect from the series.
Gameplay In previous X-games you were able to purchase or by other means get hold of, and fly, a big varied selection of spaceships. This is no longer the case for X-Rebirth. Instead you're given control over one single ship, The Albion Skunk , formerly known as The Pride of Albion. This is a relatively large ship and you're not the only person aboard.
A farm consisting of many different modules You're able to move around the interior decks through different rooms and modules, and as you do, you can approach the various members of your crew and speak to them face to face. Some of these crewmen and women are hirelings while some join you throughout the course of the game. The female co-pilot who accompanies you will be able to assist you by for example controlling many of the game's more complex aspects.
Your main ship, that is the Albion Skunk, is a highly customizable ship, and it pays off to upgrade its weapon systems, engines, shields and drones as you play. You will start out relatively stock, as per usual, and gradually improve your ship throughout the story as well as through sandbox play. Some upgrades will only be discovered as a result of progressing through story content. The story will have a meaningful impact on the player, the ship itself, and the entire galaxy. The Albion Skunk will never become a Capital class ship in the game. It can be regarded as a versatile command and control unit, capable of coordinating the efforts of others. Though useful in combat it is not designed to be able to take on Capital ships alone, but rather serve as a deciding factor by for example disabling sub-systems of larger enemy vessels. As an indicator of the potential within the Albion Skunk, with appropriate upgrades, it can become around 50 times more powerful than what is the case for the ship in the beginning of the game.
Drones will be your tools for bringing back plenty of memories from past games in addition to the freedom of roaming free in space. These drones are unmanned vessels that can either operate automatically or directly by the player. When you control a drone manually, it feels as if you're actually sitting in a cockpit. While you're operating the drone, your co-pilot will assume control over the Albion Skunk, so that you can focus on the job at hand. You'll be able to tailor your drones to perform specific functions and tasks. Drones can move through tight environments that your main ship cannot, corridors like the ventilation ducts on space stations and similar.
Size matters It is possible to purchase very large ships. These larger ships will be controlled by the crew aboard those larger ships or from the Albion remotely and not directly by the player. One single ship of this kind can have over a hundred different systems tied to its hull, from missile systems to shield generators.
If you happen to be engaged in combat with one of these larger type ships, it requires you to consider which of these important systems to disable first in order to tilt the fight in your favor.
The Albion Skunk will be able to land on even bigger ships, for repairs, trade and other types of interaction.
[external image] A singular refinery production module viewed up close Besides controlling your immediate ship and drone fleet, you'll be busy managing your own space factories and stations. Finding ways to earn credits is never a bad idea.
In previous games you simply had to place factories as they were transported by mammoth transports to your desired sector. Now these transports won't carry the whole factory in one go. A transport will carry a Builder Platform. These platforms serve as the hub for smaller worker-ships and the actual construction will be built on-site once you've selected what you'd like to build. You give your workers the work-order by landing on the platform and discussing your plans. Plans can be altered as your men are building. Supply, Production, Storage, Hull Protection and Military capabilities will be among the aspects to consider. If you'd like to leave all of this to the NPCs, you can do that. You'll also be able to search for NPC individuals best suited to manage your station for you once its completed.
Some additonal notable changes:
The most important NPC in the game is your female co-pilot It is no longer possible to pilot a capital ship from the cockpit Less complicated to play Once the main story is over, the player is allowed to do whatever he likes, the game and universe won't just end Stations are to have a bigger impact on the economy No longer need to land on stations to see its info Transportation through space will now rely more on interaction and proximity with other ships. There seems to be "ship lanes" In combat it is now possible to identify and target the critical systems of a ship You can see what is going inside of factories by physically looking at them Improved graphics Space highways for trivial travel although portals do still exist Reworked AI system Brand new engine which will take advantage of modern hardware Plot In the beginning of the game you start off as a bright young adventurer, and together with your female ally, you'll travel around in an old and battered cargo ship. As with most games in the X series, the universe will be facing many large conflicts, and the players will soon find themselves drawn into a spiral of events that could change the future of the universe forever. This game is set after the events of Terran Conflict and the Albion Prelude. A major difference now is that the Ancient's gate network that binds the population of the X Universe together have shut down entirely. This means that some regions of the universe find themselves cut off and stranded from the rest.
System Requirements Minimum OS: Windows 7 SP1 (64-bit), Vista SP2 (64-bit), XP SP3 (64-bit) Processor: Intel i-Series at 2GHz or AMD equivalent Memory: 4 GB RAM Graphics: NVidia GT400 series with 512MB RAM or better, ATI 4870HD with 512MB RAM or better DirectX: Version 9.0c Hard Drive: 6 GB available space Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c Compatible Sound Card Additional Notes: These specs are still being determinedRecommended OS: Windows 7 SP1 (64-bit) Processor: Intel i5 (Quad) or i7 at 2.5GHz or AMD equivalent Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: NVidia GT500 series with 1GB RAM or better, ATI 5870HD with 1GB RAM or better DirectX: Version 9.0c Hard Drive: 10 GB available space Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c Compatible Sound Card Additional Notes: These specs are still being determined.