Julian Brennan … age 21 … attitude? Yes. … fighter pilot and privateer. There is a whole lot of space out there and Julian wants his piece of it … and then some.

But do not mistake this for merely a let’s hop around the galaxy-type of game. X3 – Reunion, from Egosoft and Enlight, is not the type of game that can be easily placed into a comfortable niche and then forgotten. This is a game that has many facets – almost as many as the size of the maps you will find yourself exploring.

And space is incredibly three-dimensional, so the direction you think you may be heading may not be what it, logically, should seem to be. Take, for example, the opening story-driven mission of the game. The fleet is down to 30% and Julian is asked to take a squad of mostly rookies out on a patrol. Your commands are seemingly simple – take the West jump gate to the Red Light area, then the South jump gate to Cloudbase South West. Check for Kha’ak activity and destroy any of the ships you find.

Ok, so that West gate is handily nearby the starting area, and you jump through that to Red Light. The East Gate is now to your back so, using the three-dimensional display, you head off to your left, hoping that south lies in that direction. Nope, that’s north. And not only do you have to look horizontally from your location, but vertically as well as on angles. This is full-on three-dimensional space, and not only will it visually impress anyone picking up the game, but it can also be extremely confusing. This is not a game flaw, rather it is a tribute to the development team that not only created an incredible gaming environment, but packed it with so much eye candy that you will find yourself groping for the engines stop commands, just so you can look around.

And better break out the joystick for this one. While the keyboard/mouse combo works just fine, when you do find the Kha’ak, the action is fast and furious, with leading shots, using the yaw commands to roll, and varying speeds to stay on the tail of your opponent. You want a great space dogfight, this game has it.

Those who have not had a great space combat game since the days of Wing Commander (when we all thought how incredible it was when that the first roll in deep space brought glare from the nearest star that almost blinded you as it reflected off your ship), or looked to Freelancer for the economic side of life in deep space, need look no further than X3 – Reunion. Sure, there is a big learning curve with this game, but who cares if the gameplay is compelling, and X3 certainly provides that. Not only does this provide excellent space combat, but the game is also one that encourages you to explore, take in goods found, transport, market and generally try to gain an economic upper hand.

(It needs to be mentioned that the build GameZone.com received for this review was not quite final, and there were a few – very few – framerate stutters and the occasional crash. These will likely be cleared up by the time the game ships to retailers.)

Pop up the new game menu and the choices are Normal, quickstart, X-Treme, Aspiring Explorer, Humble Merchant, Bankrupt Assassin, and Custom Game. The story mode is disabled in the latter three. X-Treme is the hard difficulty setting with the story mode while Quickstart is the storyline in the easy setting. Normal is medium difficulty against the backdrop of the story. But if you want to create your own story, then pop into the custom area and muck around – you will like what you find.

But more than just game modes, X3 strives to and succeeds at plopping gamers into a universe that is alive. You can buy and transport, but doing so may result in having pirates show up to try to intercept your cargo. The fights are not merely decoration to lure shooter fans into this universe; they are a viable part of the storyline. And while there is a storyline, the game feels much more sandbox in that you can go anywhere, deviate from the course at any moment and truly set your own pacing. Each decision you make feels like it affects the direction of the game.

As you take on jobs, and expand your sphere of influence, you will also gain negative faction standing some of the races in the game.

X3 challenges on many levels. Not only do you have to fight well – and trust this – using a solid controller like the Saitek Cyborg USB stick used for this review, is essentially. Switching off targets is accomplished easily on the mouse, and the keyboard hands pitch and rolls well, but with the right joystick, all this becomes second nature and much simpler to pull off. You will still have to use the keyboard and mouse to utilize the entire control scheme. The copy of the game received did not come with a manual, so the learning curve was a bit higher through experimentation, but still this game has some intuitive elements and they are seated in the spots they need to be.

The game uses sliders that you can open to access a variety of menu options, and while the maps, at first, look daunting, once you understand the three-dimensional nature of them, they become invaluable.

Graphically, the X3 universe is jaw-dropping, eye-popping visual candy that you can’t wait to gobble up. One word to describe them? Ok, here it is – incredible! The shading and dynamic light sources bring the universe to life in a manner that has not really been seen before. There are a few minor drawbacks, involving lip synch in cutscenes and such, but when it comes to the gameplay itself, this game has reset the standard for space-set titles. The musical score is brooding New Age material, interspersed with the sounds one would think would be involved in a space combat scenario. The voice acting is solid and services the storyline well.

X3 – Reunion is bigger, and visually more impressive than any of the X titles that preceded it. Lost in Space? Only the players will be as they explore this rich universe. The game itself is a bona fide winner.

Gameplay: 8.5
There are quick load times when you jump through gates into other areas of the game, and you will find there is a learning curve here as well.

Graphics: 9.5
Simply stunning.

Sound: 8.8
The musical score fits the game’s mood very well, the space combat sounds are generally what was expected (not a bad thing at all), and the voice acting is solid.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
Navigating is a challenge, the combat can be challenging as you ramp up the difficulty and the game presents so much you can accomplish that gamers looking for a light, uninvolved gaming experience need look elsewhere.

Concept: 8.8
The game builds off the formula of previous X titles, but the graphics have been improved tremendously and the interface has been streamlined. The economic system has also been given a bit of a facelift.

Overall: 9.0
The eye candy will lure you in, the gameplay will keep you intrigued and the free-roaming feel will keep you occupied for hours. X3 – Reunion takes the X franchise to new heights.