The metacritic review score, in this case, I would personally say is innaccurate. This game is immense, with a small price tag for the hours you can get out of it.

If I had to describe the game to someone, I would call it a singleplayer EVE online. But not only that, its a game where at the beginning you can scratch out a living as a trader in a universe with a living economy, or you can take part in skirmishes to fight your way to the top. Thing that I love about this game is the fact that say a pilot bails from a target ship, or you purchase a new ship. You can actually issue orders via a command console to any of your ships, including your current ship. Now of course you can fly them all yourself as well and take part in dog fights, launch boarding parties at vessels, or even later in the game take part in capital vs. capital ship battles. You could start a trading empire and purchase software for trade ships under your command where they act autonomously, seeking deals across the galaxy in your name. My point here is, the ability to loadout ships and amass fleets essentially means that if you choose so, you can turn the game into an RTS. The game can be as hands on as you make it, basically.

Not to mention, you can purchase and construct space stations and factories yourself, impacting the economy. Prices rise and fall across sectors, a stock market exists impacted by station construction or destruction, and various races have different products. You have reputation with these factions as well, and there are randomly generated missions that appear constantly at stations during play. You can pick sides in a large scale conflict between two of the factions, or go after a specific race yourself in a bid to become a pirate lord.

As I mentioned above, the game has immense potential for fun here. Being a sandbox game however, I will say the storyline missions for this game are poor. Sometimes bugs occur, your auto pilot can run you into things, etc. However, the flaws i've seen are vastly outshined by the positives, IMO. The graphics arent extremely good, as can be expected from a title getting a few years older now. No performance problems to mention except for occasional slow down during large battles, particle effect apocalypses, and certain nebulous sectors. The game IS also running calculations for an immense number of things in the background though!

One other large thing to mention is there was quite a large modding community for this game. I personally run the X Rebalance Mod, and it has made my game much better, fixing and filling out features. Recommend it as well, though there are plenty of other mods out there worth checking out too. I will say modding here is not quite as easy as say, skyrim, using the workshop to place the new files automatically.

+ Combat is thoroughly enjoyable, dogfights with fighter class ships a favorite, ducking in and out of capital ship fire
+ Diversity in styles and types of ships, i enjoy diversifying my fleet
+ Nonviolent methods to amass wealth and power as well, using trade to satisfy requirements for sectors
+ Large number of mods out there
+ RTS style commands for your ships

~ Graphics are looking dated
~ Sandbox haters, steer cleer!

- Bugs are occasional, but often when it rains it pours: autopilot & asteroids dont mix!
- Collisions: Your ships can seem magnetized. you will become frustrated, trust me. Theres a mod for that though!
- Poor plot missions
- Randomly generated missions can become repetitive
- Difficult learning curve -- There are tutorials and guides!

Plenty of people steer towards a certain type of 'space sandbox' but I for one have found my favorite game in the genre. No telling how many hours I'll end up with.

DISCLAIMER: Haven't played X3:Terran Conflict, or any other X3 game, ONLY X3: Albion Prelude! I've heard X Rebirth was shoddy, don't buy that thinking "its the next game, must be better!"

This game has claimed many an hour from me, and rightfully so. It brings to the table a world that you interact WITH not in, and does so in ways that has meaningfull impact to both the world, and yourself. You have to be patient, like most things in life, it takes time... it's not easy, but it it is rewarding. There is no instant gratification here, but if you want to test yourself, if your tired of the simple shooter and want to emerse yourself in a world that will test you.... you will enjoy this game.

I spent more time on this game than any other since becoming an adult with a job and bills to pay.

It's a great game--but not for newcomers to the series.

For those unfamilliar with the series, There have been three main editioons of X3: Reunion, Terran Conflict, and Albion Prelude. Reunion and Terran conflict surround a core story of the game, with TC (in terms of gameplay) being an improvement on Reunion in virtually every way. This game (AP) is the most polished installment of X3; but it has little in the way of plot, vs the other games. It has little in the way of ttorial and everything else. Which means, any user is basically going to find themselves completely at a loss for what they should be doing. I only mention this by way of saying, if you haven't played any of the X games, start with X3: Terran Conflict. It is much more acessible (though this game's learning curve is almost vertical) than AP. Once you feel comfortable with the game, and have a sense of the Universe you're in, then you may want to give this a shot.

AP improves in several ways on TC, with improved AI, improved long-distance (OOS) combat results, and better balance for ship strengths (hull plating is no longer made of paper mache). So for veterans of the series, this ogame is top. It lacks virtually any story, really...but that was never the most interesting part of these games anyway, was it?

I've been with the X universe for years. It's one the greatest space games out there next to Homeworld. The ability to go off on your own to build an empire is always great. I recommend this game to anyone who's looking to control massive space fleets including logistics and combat support and build huge factory compex's to support said fleet and make millions of credits in the process. The learning curve isn't as steep as KSP, but any beginner can get the hang of it within a couple hours (and with a little help from roguey).

Ask your self this , what do you want to do today.

Cammand a large trade empire with fleets of freighters at your disposal , Sit in your cozy little ship and play the stocks n shares , Plunder the shipping lanes and have every merchant fear your name , Own a vast manufacturing empire and countless factories , Take the skick of a starfighter and fly by the seat of your pants as you turn n burn around large capitol ships avoiding missile and battery fire , Train and elite squad to capure and board enemy ships for glory and profit ,Command your own epic fleets lay waist your enemies , Explore the universe flying a vast array of different ships or all the forementioned.

In this game you can do all the above .

Peerless.

This really isn't a game for the faint-of-heart or players without patience. If you want to fly a fighter and dogfight waves of bogeys...this isn't the game for you.

If you want to start small and build an empire of stations and ships from interceptors to mighty carriers, then you've come to the right place. But you still are going to need perserverence. This is a clunkily-designed game with a frustrating interface where commands you will need are buried in menus buried under menus with no explanation of how to find them or how to use them once they do. And it will sometimes not be clear if they even did. Features that seem obvious will sometimes be missing and next to nothing will be intuitive.

Get a friend who has played the game to help you a long. Get lots of friends -- the game does have a strong, if small, following. The X3TC subreddit is a great place to go, as is Roguey's site (google him).

So for all the game's flaws, what's right? Combat is satisfying, customization is satisfying, and even the most mundane tasks like trading can be strangely rewarding. The slow and steady drive of your hauler as you travel from gate to gate, monitoring for trade opportunities on the way while watching your radar for hostiles -- very immersive. You're also not going to have many other opportunities to captain a capital ship in first person, and this game offers a lot of that.

It's also got a huge and very thorough mod community. If you see an issue with the game, there is likely a mod that will help. Many are available to simplify actions without reducing complexity.

This game is a very deep sandbox. It will reward you, I guess, if you just want to fly around ahd shoot other fighters. But you'd be digging a small hole in a big beach.

With X3AP, the size of it and the time it consumes, I won't need another space sim anytime soon.

There is a good chance you will not play X3 for a few months after you buy it. You might open it a few times, mess around a bit and realize "Whoa, this is gonna take some time to learn". At least thats what i did. Then one day i set away some time to play X3 and what i found was one of the most engrossing games i have ever played. If you immerse yourself in the X3 universe, this could be the only game you play for months and months.

Best 4X Space Sim bar none! Excellent in almost every way. You can really lose quite a lot of hours playing X3 and the Albion Prelude is a great continuation of both the plot as well as what I would consider the main open-ended game. Albion Prelude features just about every fix or tweak you could ask for and as a result is extremely polished.

Do keep in mind how this game rewards spending time. It's not grindy in an MMO style, but one can easily imagine how 'trading from bottom to top, earning millions' will simply take time. People who want an easier start should definitely start with the Humble Merchant setting and perhaps try their hand as the stock exchange market to get their first millions. Then after that you can essentially do whatever you like. The game allows for multiple save games, so there's definitely room for experimentation. Some things, like setting up an automatic trade route do often require specific space ship software systems, same goes for managing space stations you can buy and run. There's a slight learning curve to expect there, certain sectors in the game are easier / more difficult to get profitable stations going.

Exploring the X universe in X3: Albion Prelude is awesome. If I actually had more time to play, I'd probably easily spend hundreds of hours in this game. The open-ended nature and the freedom of choice is great.

(Also, do not buy X: Rebirth. So far X3: Albion Prelude is superior in every single way imaginable, except for perhaps the graphical fidelty. X3: Albion Prelude still is a great looking game though.)

Imagine Eve Online without all the MMO...

I do love sandbox games and this is one of the best out thier. If you can think it up you can do it.

Even 4 years old this game is amazing. It has phenomenal breadth, combat both fighter and capital ship level, trading at an individual level and (with the free bonus content) across the universe with trained merchants doing your bidding and complex factory and entire physical space factory complexes that feed the economy. There is a stock market that is a reflection of product and resource availability. As others have suggested the learning curve can be intimidating. Starting with just a handful of credits and a humble ship you can find the universe a very unforgiving place with massive ships and brutal pirates who won't think twice about crushing you. This does make the achievement of your first million something you really feel proud when you remember how you were scrapping for 500-1500 credit profit on your earliest of trading runs. The graphics have held up well, good use of shadows, nice textures and the different races ships have their own specific sense of style. There is no mistaking the organic influences of the Boron ships or the utilitarian blocky Split constructs. Asside from the challenge of learning the game (not necessarily a criticism) there are a few minor gameplay issues that can annoy (autopilot AI will sometimes freakout and plow you into an asteroid or station) and the layout of complexes of factories can sometimes yield a nearly undockable (by AI controlled ships) end result. Some careful planning and spending some time on youtube watching videos on how to avoid this helps a lot. I bought this game on launch and keep coming back to it over the years. Note that the latest iteration of the series is a nearly complete reboot and not at all comparable, in my view, of the previous X games. Each of them had gotten better up til the Reunion game. and X3 Albion Prelude is a must have space (near) simulation of commerce, combat and industry.

Steep learning curve, but once you get in to it, it is very satisfying.

X3: Albion Prelude is the only X game you should play that has been made in the last 10 years after X Rebirth i had to come back to X3: Albion Prelude as it is Done right.
It does have it's share of problems however you will be hard pressed to find a Better Space game of it type.

Best Space Sandbox since Freelancer

Still one of the best 4x Space games out there.

If you get bored with vanilla, go get some mods, there are many well developed ones to choose from.

Love it

One of the best games ever made and a Singleplayer version of EVE.

Great right up until the moment that a bug makes it impossible to complete a mission even when you resort to a save a day prior completely invalidating all your progress.