$0.99 (−80%)X2: The Threat Build a trading empire in space
Fly one small ship across a huge open universe, trade, mine and build factories, and grow it into an empire of your own.
Is X2: The Threat worth it?
X2: The Threat is worth it if…
- you have patience for a steep learning curve and like figuring systems out yourself
- you enjoy building trade networks and factories more than dogfights
- you like games where you set your own goals, from pirate to industrialist
- you want a space sim you can sink hundreds of hours into
- you don't mind dated visuals when the systems underneath run deep
Screenshots
One small ship and a whole universe
You start with a barely equipped ship, a little cargo space and even less money, in a universe of more than 130 sectors. Nebulas affect your ships and stations, asteroids drift waiting to be mined and sold, and every sector holds something worth the trip. Nobody tells you what to do with it all. Be a trader, a miner, a pirate or a bounty hunter: the game simply wants you to do, and the open universe is the point. The story of Julian Gardna, continuing from X: Beyond The Frontier, is there if you want it, and just as easy to ignore if you don't.
From scout to battleship
Over 60 ships are yours to fly, from small scout fighters to carrier class battleships, each with its own design and role. Upgrade their systems, fit new weapons like the Ion Disruptor and Mass Driver, and jump whole sectors with the jump drive. The cockpit view is a highlight: you sit inside your ship, look around, and the soundtrack makes the void feel like home. There is even a capable autopilot, which matters more than it sounds once you own several ships and cannot be everywhere at once. Getting from a scout to a battleship takes hours. That climb is the game.
Build an empire, one factory at a time
This is where the tycoon itch gets scratched, in space. Build factories that produce weapons and goods, set up supply chains from raw energy and ore to finished products, and watch your trade network grow across the sectors. You decide what to build, where, and what it sells for, and the universe's economy answers back: a neighbouring station can buy up the energy cells your plans depended on. Missions from station bulletin boards fund the early days, defending convoys and driving off Xenon fleets, until your own stations earn for you while you fly something else.
What should you know before starting?
Can you play it solo?
Yes, it is a singleplayer game through and through. Everything in it, from the story of Julian Gardna to running a fleet of trade ships, happens in your own universe with no one else in it.
Is the combat any good, or is it all trading?
Both are there, and they feed each other. Missions have you defending convoys and destroying Xenon fleets, and the Khaak threat hangs over the universe. But fighting in a fragile early ship can cost you more than it earns, so most pilots trade and mine first and pick their battles later, from the bridge of something much bigger.
How hard is it to learn?
Honestly, the first few hours are rough. The controls take getting used to, the tutorial helps little, and the menus take practice. Several pilots bounce off it once before it clicks. Once it does, the depth is the reward: this is a game people keep returning to for hundreds of hours. Give it that patience and it gives it back.
Do you need to play the earlier games first?
No. The story continues from X: Beyond The Frontier, but the story is optional anyway, and the universe stands on its own. If anything, X2 is a good place to learn the series' ways before its bigger successors.
