Requires a Mac with an Intel processor.

Game Media

By Brad Cook

As Julian Brennan, the hero of X3: Reunion, you undertake 14 missions that continue the storyline of the Kha’ak invasion which started in X2: The Threat. While his long-lost father, Kyle, lies in a coma, Julian must fend off Kha’ak attacks as he dives into a mystery that concerns a crystal linked to the Ancients and a strange ship that can engage a cloaking device.

Colin McRae Rally Mac

Or not. Like its predecessor, X3: Reunion allows you to cruise the stars and find other things to do, picking up the storyline again as you see fit. Dock at space stations and peruse the bulletin boards, looking for trading deals or credit-earning jobs where you haul resources or products for traders. Use the universe’s jump gates to travel to other sectors and seek out pirates, Kha’ak ships, or other hostile forces. Shooting down enemies can also earn you credits, if someone hired you do to the job or if you’re able to obtain a police license, which grants you payment for each bad guy you destroy.

Of course, a police license won’t come easily, since it requires you to forge a trustworthy relationship with the Argon, Boron, Paranid, Split, or Teladi races. You can accomplish that by trading with them, eliminating pirates found in their sectors, or performing other tasks that make them happy. Odds are, though, that almost every action you take will please one or more races while annoying one or more others. Whatever you do, stay consistent with your actions, whether you tend toward law-and-order or prefer a life of crime.

As you amass wealth, you can enhance your current ship’s weapons, shields, and engine or upgrade to a more powerful one. Eventually, you’ll be able to build factories and link them into huge production compounds, churning out goods that feed into a dynamic, ever-changing economy. You may even get the opportunity to command your own fleet and lead it into battle, issuing strategic orders as you engage in ferocious dogfights.

Many Ways to Play

When you begin a new game, choose from three levels of difficulty, the hardest one presenting you with a harsh universe where everyone distrusts you and attacks come early and often. Or you can eschew the storyline and select one of three starting positions that put you in the role of a new character: Aspiring Explorer, where you investigate all of the X Universe’s mysteries, which extend beyond those uncovered during the story; Humble Merchant, a version that tasks you with building a trading empire, which shouldn’t be too difficult once you figure out the economy’s ins and outs; and Bankrupt Assassin, a fiendishly hard adventure in which you start with no money and must create wealth any way you can.

Other options include a custom game, where you define your starting parameters, including the chance to play as a member of another race, and the simulator, which lets you test your piloting and combat skills in situations that have no impact on the universe. Experiment with different playing styles to your heart’s content, remembering that there are always new things to discover in the X Universe. Dust and nebula fog may hide objects as large as factories, while locations far away from the oft-traveled traffic lanes could contain abandoned cargo or other treasures.

Achieve success during your various adventures and you’ll unlock a myriad of new starting positions with different levels of difficulty. Play as a commerce-driven Teladi or an aggressive member of the Split race. Or become one of the insect-like Kha’ak, driven to destroy the other races and lay waste to the universe. You won’t be able to play as one of the Xenon, however: while their origins are known, their home world, and other facts, remain a mystery that may be finally unraveled in a future installment of the X saga.

Stay tuned…

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A planet and asteroid field.

Dust in the Solar Wind. Fun fact: The asteroids break into smaller ones when you shoot them, as in that old school classic.

Smaller ship flying.

In Your Sights. Fire at that pirate ship or let him pass; it’s your choice.

A round jump gate.

The Final Frontier. Jump gates link the 161 sectors in the X Universe.

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System Requirements:

X3: Reunion requires an Intel processor because it uses Cider, technology that makes it easier for game publishers to bring their titles to the Mac. However, because it dynamically maps Windows programming instructions to their Mac OS X equivalents, Cider only works with Intel processors. Learn more in the “Brewed with Cider” sidebar that accompanies our coverage of Heroes of Might and Magic V, another game that uses Cider.

 

A Long Time From Now, in a Sector (Possibly) Near Here…

Woman holding pistol.

The history of the X Universe, as it’s known, is a long one, but the incident that defined its current power dynamic occurred 700 years ago, as human beings left Earth to colonize other worlds, using devices called jump gates to travel between star systems. They employed terraformers to turn hostile worlds into habitable ones, but a software error caused the machines to become sentient and turn on their creators.

The terraformers threatened to invade the Earth, but a pilot named Nathan Gunn led the attackers through a jump gate that self-destructed after everyone passed through, cutting off the machines’ access to the planet. Gunn and his crew, also stuck in an unknown sector, eluded the terraformers and eventually crashed on a planet now called Argon Prime. Over the centuries, they established the Argon Federation, which has proven its ability to compete with the X Universe’s other races. Meanwhile, the terraformers evolved into the mechanical race known as the Xenon, who continue to attack any sentient life forms they come across.

However, memories of the Earth eventually faded away too, and most Argon now consider it nothing more than a myth. A religious group known as the Goner are the only ones who still consider it real, and they preach the history of Earth and the battle against the terraformers to anyone who will listen, although many don’t. You’ll meet a few Goner priests during the storyline in X3: Reunion.

Stranded Again

In the year 2912, Captain Kyle Brennan left Earth in a special ship designed to travel great distances without the use of jump gates. An accident left him in the X Universe, with no way to return to Earth. He became a key member of a major battle against the Xenon and was lauded as a hero for his deeds.

Brennan used his newfound fame and fortune to start a company called Terracorp, which has become a major player in the trading business but is also quietly researching a way to find Earth. After more than 20 years, Brennan learned he had a long lost son, Julian Gardna, whose exploits you followed in X2: The Threat. Julian reclaimed his original last name after rescuing his father from the Kha’ak.

Very little is known about the Kha’ak, including their origins and intentions (aside from simply killing all life forms). Even less is known about the Xenon’s current status, such as the location of their home world. X3 introduces new groups to contend with, including the Yaki pirates, a splinter group of pirates whose new technology has the ability to disrupt a ship’s engines and turn it into easy prey. As you investigate them, you may learn more about the Ancients, who built the X Universe’s jump gates but whose identities are now lost in the mists of time.

Since Kyle Brennan wound up in the X Universe not long after leaving Earth, many fans think its 161 sectors could be very close to, or even in, the Milky Way galaxy. You’ll have to play through the storyline to learn more about the role the Earth plays in the changes that are coming to the X Universe.

To learn more about the X Universe’s races, please see our X2: The Threat article. If you’re stumped while playing the X3 storyline, visit GameFAQs for two in-depth walkthroughs.

 
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