X Rebirth Demo

There are certain video game franchises out there that are regarded as trendsetters, which means that the developers keep improving the series with every episode, and everyone else borrows elements from them. Whether it’s Call of Duty, World of Warcraft or Need for Speed, each genre has one or more defining series that everyone knows and against which everything else is measured, at least in certain regards.

X Rebirth is part of the legendary X franchise, which means that people have great expectations from it. This may be a bit stressful for the developers, but they’ve managed to do quite well with the first three episodes, plus the expansions that followed later on. Unfortunately, Rebirth was a bit too unfinished even for the fans to enjoy, or at least that was the case three years ago when the game was released. However, the developers kept at it and managed to bring major improvements since then, which is why this fourth iteration of the game comes with a demo as well.

In case you are not familiar with the franchise, you need to be prepared to deal with a pretty steep learning curve, because “simple” is not the proper word to describe X. The game is a space sim with an emphasis on trading and exploration, but combat is possible as well, and it’s quite the fun endeavor. On the other hand, it even takes you a while to learn how to fly the ship straight, so there’s plenty to learn before you can engage in dogfights.

Rebirth’s goal was to expand on the previous episodes and start anew at the same time, given the fact that the story is set in the future. There are many gameplay changes and additions, especially when it comes to the trading simulation and the fleet building aspect, but returning fans should have an easy time adjusting to the new features. High-speed exploration is possible as well, in case you want to cover large distances without getting bored in the process.

As always, the graphics are simply jaw-dropping, but it’s not just because of the textures and the special effects. The landscapes you stumble upon are incredible, and each city, planet or space station is modeled in great detail. The same is true for the ships, especially since you have the option to switch between the cockpit and the outside camera in order to admire every inch of them.

In the end, X Rebirth is finally about as refined as it should have been back when it was first released. The additional content is great as well, and every fan of the franchise should give the game another try if they were disappointed with it three years ago.