Potential VS Delivery
It's difficult to write a fully encompassing review for a game like X3: Terran Conflict, since it provides the player with a plethora of ways to explore, and interact with, the game world. Maybe you want to be a trade mogul, an "xtreme" pilot, or an opportunistic pirate; regardless of which avenue you decide to go down, it is generally helpful to the player if the game works - "out of the box", as they say.
With X3:TC, as the player, you may find yourself torn between what does work, what does not work, and how far you are willing to go to make things work. Shipped with a number of what can only be described as the "Weapons of Mass Destruction" of game bugs, entire parts of the plot (and many of the corporate side missions) were either completely broken, completely broken for some people, or completely broken unless you decided to cheat. This is unfortunate, least of all because it is the final installment of the X series.
You are now forced to face an ugly reality: tailor your game experience to those parts of the game which function properly, or scrutinize your path through the game with a microscope, to make sure you don't step on any landmines (hereafter referred to as "bugs"). A brief overview is in order here.
When you start a new game, you are allowed to choose from a few different starting scenarios - you can play as Terran, Argon, etc. I chose the Terran. I was deposited, after a fairly interesting intro, into a ship, with a basic game play tutorial starting up shortly afterwards. The tutorial was pretty basic (it took me a little getting used to, since I was comfortable with the X3: Reunion controls - although, once familiar with them, I had/have no complaints) - but informative enough that I wasn't left groping for fundamental concepts.
Once this tutorial was complete, I was basically set free into the world ... err ... universe, of Terran Conflict. After a bit of exploring, an easy mission here or there, I decided to get into the "guts" of the plot. I found some of the missions to be slightly better than what I, personally, had regarded as bland-and-boring missions of X3 (with the exception of a few from X3).
Everything went fairly smooth, until I got several missions in, and, after careful consideration, I came to the conclusion that, as academics put it, I was "boned". I usually don't like visiting forums, but I felt I had no choice at this particular point. Upon visiting the forums, I quickly realized many people were having the same problem I was, and a tentative workaround had been cooked up. I employed this, and was able to continue my game.
Fast forward a mission or two, and I am on the forums again. Another problem. It seems I dumped/sold a ship I shouldn't have ... the solution? Backtrack many sectors I've been through, searching for an astronaut who may, or may not have, suffocated by now (as it turns out, you can't breathe in space); Cheat with scripting commands; Or restart. I chose to restart.
I could continue on how that journey went, but that is not really the point. The overwhelming issue here is that large parts of the Terran campaign (can't speak for the others, but judging from the forums - usually a bad idea, so I do so at my own risk - they are mostly experiencing similar problems) are broken. Corporate (side)missions are broken. An unacceptable number of script commands (trade commands, satellite commands, navigation commands) are broken.
Why not just trash the game and troll the forums? Quite simply, the potential. Having been a big fan of X3 (and the mod's out there), I could not let this game go. I had to play it ... now. Sadly, there comes a point in almost every gamers career that they realize they are not fighting difficulty, but they are thrashing around with the actual game itself. And, I can't speak for others, but every time I have that realization, I drink some beer and cry in a corner until I feel better.
Let's look at some of the positives, though. Using X3 as a benchmark, we are provided with new ships (missile frigates, light cruisers/carriers, etc), new tactics (boarding parties, in particular), a good amount of new weapons, and a host of other goodies. Plus, in my opinion, the Terran's (and corporations) provide a great addition to the faction list.
The bottom line here is, I *want* to enjoy all these new things, but I can't because I know, in the back of my mind, that parts of the game are broken and I can't go near them without ruining my immersion. Simply knowing this, the immersion is obliterated.
I really wanted to enjoy this game, and I was anticipating its release. And the sheer scope/breadth of this game equals nothing but possibilities (and the mod community is very active around X). But, again, if you are fighting against a game with broken campaigns, it is hard to find immersion.
On the technical side, many people complained of texture loading issues, FPS problems, and a few others. A patch has just been released which addressed some of these concerns (FPS, specifically), but if you are considering buying this game, I would wait for the next patch or two, and keep an eye on the forums to see when the campaign/scripting (not just Terran campaign) issues are resolved.