Little Kitty, Big City
Little Kitty, Big City
Game
Game2010
X: Beyond the Frontier
Developer Egosoft
X: Beyond the Frontier is a video game created by Egosoft for Windows. The first of the X series, it is a space trading and combat simulator game, mostly set in the fictional X-Universe. Upon release, it was frequently compared to the older Elite. An expansion, X-Tension, was released in 2000. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
189 reactions from 1 source (Steam reviews) · newest Jul 28, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
67
Fresh
127 positive · 62 negative
95% range 60–73%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 127 | 62 | 0 |
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
300 of 399 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 189 · most liked firstSo my review will probably end up somewhere and no one will ever read it but here I go nevertheless. I played this game when it came or some time after it was in a gaming magazine as an extra. It's not that easy as a kid but if you actually know what you are doing it's not that hard. The story isn't the best but it's not that bad either. There are 6 races, with 5 of them you can trade and build space stations in their systems. The beginning can be a bit slow but as soon as you have yor own…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →X- Beyond the Frontier. I bought this game origianlly the year it was released. It required the CD-ROM to be inserted due to digital rights management. I lost the original game years and years ago during a move. Today, I found out it was on Steam. How could I resist? I'm not a fanboi. You need to know this. If you're looking for instant gratification and eye candy thrown at you because you rolled your face across the keyboard, this will not be the game for you. If you like to prove…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is a bit difficult to start out as the tutorial was... well useless and the manual wasn't really as helpful as it could be. Once you get into the game though it becomes more interesting as you can set up your own production plants and start getting into the finer aspects of trading. If you like trading games this is a good one to get as there is a lot of product to play around with. The combat system is a bit lacking as it's hard to destroy enemies with lasers in the beginning and the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Yes, there is a learning curve to go over. There is none of that "5 minutes into the game and I roll in the cash or know the controls inside out" Once you tune in, it becomes a second nature. If you don't tune in - you complain about an old game with "inferior" graphics, controls, gameplay. You buy yes?
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a slow game. 2 hours in you're still in the tutorial. The space physics feel like driving a submarine. It from from 1999 and looks like it and many corners feel like it. But there is so much character, style and love put into this, and so much of the design was made specifically because it would make a better game. If you're a patient person who can enjoy the little things, this game is for you.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Sure, the game is a classic, Elite reborn etc. What everybody fails to mention is: Its trading system is surprisingly shallow, and its battle mechanics are almost non-existent. It is uninventively repetitive, time-consuming and requires a lot of grinding, which looks like fun for only a few hours in the beginning. Much of it's downs are so obviously in plain sight it looks more like an alpha than a complete game with lots of fixes. Not a bad game, but to balance out all those "OMG IT'S…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →IMPORTANT: If you end up buying the game, read the manual - as you always should with any game released before 2004. There's two guides at the game's main folder: EN_Manual and EN_Walkthrough. The first is the original manual released in 1999, while the second is a .txt guide released in 2000. X: Beyond the Frontier (X:BtF) is a game released in 1999, and as such it's definitely dated, both in graphics and in it's UX/UI. From a gameplay perspective, although X:BtF was very innovative for it's…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pretty good space trading game, not complicated at all and easy to get in to. I am enjoying it so far. Hopefully the rest of the series will be as appealing to me. It's worth trying if you like space trading games, and the X super box ever goes on sale or is bundled again. Tip: there is a brief text file in the game directory you should look at first before starting. It will tell you exactly what you need to do to get going. e.g trade solar cells and buy a SETA so you can move fast right…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I probably spent two years playing this game over and over. Its a game that literally changed my life and i will always love it despite its many strange eccentricities.If you dont mind old games and lots of learning how to do stuff this game is one that everyone should play just once.I remember the last campaign mission was so impossible i had to try it 60 times before i completed the game thats the only serious flaw.Oh and the ending made me cry.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Unless you're getting this for the sake of nostalgia, don't bother. It's just full of frustrations and inconveniences that you won't find in modern games. Credit is owed to the people who put this package together and I do appreciate the effort - there's even a complete guide in the game folder. It started up on Windows 10 without any problems, and I was able to get it working with my Logitech Extreme3Dpro (thrust control does not work, as with most of these older games you have to bind "A"…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TL,DR: It is a product of its time, feels clunky to play, balance of different upgrades is out of whack, no ingame map with a huge playable area, space station automation feels archaic, spacecraft design is a lot of copy/paste, extremely light story, a tacked on reputation system, some settings issues with modern systems The power level of some utility upgrades are completely out of whack: The Docking Computer lets you dock INSTANTLY to a station as long as you can target that station. I went…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Holds up fairly well despite its age, but I would not recommend it except to fans of Egosoft's X series. Newcomers should probably look at X2 or one of the X3 titles to start with. Those games are of much higher quality, and are a bit less frustratingly cryptic. If you do buy this and get stuck, a walkthrough is included in the game files. For fans of X though, this game is pretty nice. You get to see how it all started. It has a bit more of an atmosphere than the more recent games (X4,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Usually I don't discriminate games because of their age but this one is too old, it really is. The game mechanics are completely outdated and having your own economic empire is absolutely laborious since you have to approach every station to receive your money from it. Back in 1999 when it was released, Xbtf didn't just live from its atmosphere or story telling. The main reason for its success were the advanced trading possibilities that were phenomenal for that time and the fact that you…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you really want to see how the series started, go ahead and play it, it is not a bad game, but my overall experience was a letdown. Future games in the series are better in every way, be it controls, UI or stability, not even mentioning the content and features, so if you want to enjoy what was enjoyable about this game, pick any other game in the series. The only two things that are unique to this installment are its own plot and its difficulty. The plot is very simple and linear and is not…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Simpler than the later games in the series. A great entry point.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Get into trading, get SETA, pay your debt. Get money for a teladianium factory, put one in seizewell, two in family zein, you can put two more deep into split territory, and a couple more in blue profit. Explore all sectors, come back and collect money to become filthy rich. Buy the best gear, tune your engine at pirate bases about 12-13 times. There, you can now finish the story. Great game, only took me 17 years and 4 restarts to finish. 10/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A program of complexity, this game is daunting at first sight, its graphics and mechanics are not of familiarity, and learning anything is severely limited. But with a little patience, this game grows in your favour, as you learn each ship, race, station, and mechanic of this diverse X Universe. Beyond what you think it is, it's a game of occasional trial and error, however with the internet to help, you can be in command. It is the start of a new way to think of this series, to propose a new…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →X: Beyond the Frontier, was a clunky game. It was basically something between Privateer, Elite, Freespace and Freelancer, even although the latter came out quite a few years after X. From today's perspective, don't play this. Going with nostalgia goggles, don't play this. Seriously, under no circumstances, play this. The controls are abysmal, it is buggy as hell, it is extremely repetitive and mindbogglingly grindy and the story is ... well, existing, I guess, but it all comes together in a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A great strategic game. with a great journey.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Beyond the Frontier offers an interesting first look into the X universe, but is really more a proof of concept than it is an enjoyable experience. While the presentation (for a late '90s game) is rather captivating, the gameplay itself is clunky and underdeveloped. Regarding performance. This game will not allow you to play in certain resolutions such as 1440p and has strange UI scaling if you change the resolution beyond the default setting. Performance-wise the game is solid and I managed…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Way too unintuitive and way too slow when compared to modern games or even other space sims. Might have enjoyed it when I was young but I don't have the patience for slow slow exploration in a space game that doesn't mesmerize by todays graphical standards.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't recommend it these days. The game engine is very outdated. I would recommend you just try out X2: The Threat instead and up. X-Tension is suppose to have a good story but still runs on an outdated engine. X3 The Reunion was an okay game but the HUD was a nightmare. I do not recommend X-Rebirth either because it is crap and a disgrace to the community. The main thing I liked about these older X games is that they had great ship and station designs that are lost on the newer X3+ games.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A fabulous early 3d space trading/economy sim, with some combat elements. The combat is not nuanced, enemy ships will happily fly right into you, and large scale management of your factories is impossible. View it as a prototype or an experiment that was heavily refined in coming years, and you'll respect it more. Surpassed in most respects by its successors, I recommend playing it through mostly as an exercise in historical appreciation (i.e., you like vintage gaming), or for hardcore…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Got this on sale for the nostalgia. Fun intro to the X universe. Thanks to developers for making sure this runs on Window 10!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →X: Beyond the Frontier's main flaw is that it's really really fun, until it's suddenly just not. The game is tedious all around, but at the beginning of the game, the tedium is actually pretty engaging. But by the end of the game I found myself just wanting it to be over already. I never bothered to really finish the game, because I learned that the final mission requires waiting for a very slow ship to fly through like 8 sectors, and that was the point were I just got sick of it and quit for…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →For whatever reason controls are not able to be remapped under W10 and the game has proved a complete waste of money as it is unplayable via W10 keyboard and mouse. Getting a refund
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very challenging at the start. Will take a lot of time to get going. Would recommend it, but will require a great deal of patience.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →For its time this was the Elite fix we needed and even now for something nostalgic this is the go to game for Elite like game play along with all the others a great franchise worth getting and giving it a go. Having played both Elite for me is ok but is much more of an experience yes Elite has the whole galaxy and is much larger than X but X has the story etc and by taking time the game will get better just look at X4: foundations and i`m sure at some stage the X universe will get bigger and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So I heard there was this game called... No Man's Sky? Yeah no I'll stick with this thanks.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This was an important game. Do not get my "not recommended" wrong. I enjoyed it back in the day and even when I replayed it. The truth is, though: Every other game in the X Series: X-Tension X² x³ X³-TC X⁴ is better, And even if u want a slow and restricting game with unintuitive input, just go for x-rebirth.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ok, this is the second time I have played this game, Amazing game. Highly recommended... but realize this... X, X-Tension, and X2 are really one game. Play all three to pickup the story. The story: Good if you are forgiving of certain plot holes. Whatever, I liked it. Once you have played XBTF and X-Tension game, then read the fist book Farnham's Legend. Then, not only the story makes total sense, it fills in the bigger plot holes that exist in the story. There are two other books in…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have to give this game a postive rating because when it first came out I enjoyed it for hours and hours (long before Steam existed). In it's day it was the most gorgeous game around, with a beautiful soundtrack and a basic (though compelling) story to push you on (as well as getting MOAR CREDITS!). That day has regretably passed. You may still find some enjoyment here, especially if you haven't played its successors which have successively built up, polished and greatly improved upon…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is the best game that objectively isn't all that good. The story can be written on a napkin, characters are dull and replacable, the UI is a mess and you will probably die randomly due to freighters leaving the station as you do, resulting in a crash and immediate death. But I still spent basically the entire last two week putting over 60h into this game and having a blast. Yes, it definitely has its weaknesses, but that makes it enjoyable. The balancing is weird? That means you can enjoy…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As of 2020, for me, this game is unplayable. Getting the resolution and window to go fullscreen was challenging alone. The next 20 minutes or so was mostly awkward, clumsy, and incredibly dated to the point of feeling abstract in controls and gameplay. I can't recommend this to anyone. Watching some YouTube "let's plays" would provide a better, more fulfilling experience than playing it first hand. I couldn't determine if there was a storyline worth knowing before moving on to the next games…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Excruciatingly bad, quite disappointed at spacedock for recommending this. Not updated for a modern windows 10 computer with a large screen, controls are awful and tedious. Intro tutorial is one of the worse tutorials ever. This game was 9 years after wing commander, so there's really no excuse for how bad it is. Dont' waste your 0.99
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Love this game! I made a mistake and tried to play TENSION first, but that was an xpac apparently. I really like all the X games, (yes even Birth, but that game does not seem to fit into the style of these). While I did try a little X3:TC and Albion, they were overwhelming at first, however, it did make it so I was able to pick up BtF faster. With that said, X:BtF you are really challenged. You start with an accident that puts you in another system bereft of everything. Literally, no shields,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Complex trade/fight/think/build space simulator. I played so many hours X2, X3 TC and X3 AP I have app 1000hrs logged on + this one several years ago. Still this very first game is amazing even today, which is end of 2015. Will buy it again. It has some charm to push you play it again, game created with love. Only true classics can pass test of the time and X: Beyond the Frontier achieve it. BTW this game does get quite bad reviews back than, because nearly non of the reviewers uncover true and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Reviewing this after trying it out during the free weekend. For some the graphics might look dated but look past this and it is a gem. This not a bad game especially if you haven't got any other X series games or you want to play it for the plot. If I didn't already have X2 I would have picked this up.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The lack of subtitles, particularly when voices clash with sound effects and with voices like that of the Teladi who "welcomes" you to not-Earth, make the game really inaccessible to people with sensory issues
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In a future where Chat GPT has had enough of everyone's bullsh!t, a lone pilot must trade to save the fate of the universe.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →it's hard to describe how deeply satisfying X: Beyond the Frontier is to play. the freedom of when and if to pursue the story does a lot for making it into a good comfort game to visit whenever i have the time and the slow pace means most of the time i won't get into stressful situations unless i seek them out. there's a lot of freedom in how to approach the game but naturally making a profit is as satisfying as it's ever been as a space trader just make sure to play in 4:3 so the UI doesn't…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Played this game back in the early 2000's when I found the game at local Big Lots for 5 bucks. Best 5 dollars ever spent by my mom. As a kid I took a long time to get through the story. But you can manage all the way through the story in a couple of days once you figure out what you're doing. Graphics are a little dated, but it brings back plenty of nostalgia.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is really old - but it's still fun to play. Go back to a time when it was incumbent on the gamer to figure out how to play a game (with suitable prompts), and then let them loose to go have fun, build a nation and destroy another (or - heck - destroy all of them; you can do that). The sandbox element of this 4X is very nice, and there's no overwhelming need to advance the story faster than your own pace. You will need to upgrade your equipment and cargo storage, though - otherwise…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →"This is the story of the ultimate dream, man's dream. A dream of escaping from the confines of his own planet. A dream of freedom within his own universe. A dream of reaching the stars..." These words started one of the best, if not THE best space sandbox game franchise. X-Beyond the Frontier is a game that fans old and new can enjoy. Despite being outdated by newer games like X4: Foundations, and the ever-popular X3: Albion Prelude, X-BTF is still fun to play years after its release.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Cool old game but it doesn't play well with modern computers. Sadly felt the need to refund it. If it properly supported modern resolutions (even if it just put black bars on the side of the screen) and supported standard controllers or had proper button mapping, it'd be alright. Will buy it again if there's ever updates to make it play adequately on my computer.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I already owned the X game around `99, have the X-Gold version and now on steam too. Back in the days, I played it for a good amount of hours (meaning hundreds of hours). If you want to play a real classic in this genre, play it. And of course, X-T, X², read the novels of X² (by Helge Kautz) and play X³. If you start with X-btf, you will have a good time while playing through the whole series. Protip: Sell your starter shield, trade Energy Cells, then Nostrop Oil. Trade until you can have a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There is no reason to buy this one over X3: Albion Prelude. Read some back story on gamefaqs and start with X3: Albion Prelude (best X game) if you are new to the series. It's the same game but improved in every possible way. Don't play the same game twice by starting with the worst version.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →WARNING: DO NOT BUY THIS GAME EXPECTING SPACE COMBAT - there is a combat aspect to it but it is first and foremost a space trader game. The first hour can be summed up very easily. Spend 5-10 minutes flying a tutorial Buy thing Find Base Spend 5-10 minutes flying in a straight line Sell thing Buy more things Spend 5-10 minutes flying in a straight line, discover the new base doesn't buy your thing. Spend 5-10 minutes flying in a straight line, discover the other new base doesn't buy your…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The first game of the series hasn't aged well, but if you can handle some of the last-century gaming, it's still a great game to experience. Do look up some guides to learn how to speed up the snail-paced start, though.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ох, ребятушки. Перенесемся в 2000 год, когда мне было лет 12. Батя купил какой-то пиратский диск с тремя играми про полеты в космосе. Первые две игры, естественно, не запустились, как это обычно бывало с пиратскими сборниками, поэтому я даже названий не помню. А вот X пошел, да еще как пошел! С полной локализацией, с полной озвучкой (вот в наше время пираты были! получше нынешних локализаторов)!Помню, как было сложно разбираться с управлением (ОЧЕНЬ СЛОЖНО БЛЭТ!!!), помню какой восторг был…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is one of my long time favorite games. It drops you unexpectedly in the middle of an unknown part of the universe and you have to learn your way around by yourself. It is more than just a shoot up and blow up everything in sight game, which makes it more challenging and fun. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for something different from the usual space adventure games. It can be time consuming, so don't bother if you are impatient. But if you want a challenge, go for it. This…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm llama enough to admit when I'm wrong. This is a good game. If you like trading and building up a business empire, you can have loads of fun with this, though I suggest getting just far enough to learn the game then switching to X-Tension, the expansion for Beyond the Frontier, which is so much better from a UX perspective. There is a story to this game but it can be covered in a small paragraph and there are playthrough videos out there that accelerate to the important parts. The biggest…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →X-BTF was certainly one of the best space-sim/4X games out there. Control a little fighter, upgrade it, trade, buy escorts and capital ships and build your own space stations and factories... a rich modding scene made it even more immersive and amazing! However, this game basically doesn't work under Windows 10. No fullscreen, no hi-res display support at all, it's basically unplayable and needs to be fixed. While the developers have superseded the game, the sequels are not necessarily…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is very buggy and it takes way too much effort to get running. I would probably suggest just watching the story on youtube and skipping to the second game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →High barrier to entry. Best if familiar with keyboard shortcuts. Probably best to start with X2 or later, the come back to this one. Max horizontal resolution 2048 as DX7 game by default. Didn't have any issues running it. Once I found dgVoodoo, and configured it correctly, I could play full screen in >4k .
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is broken on modern systems. PSA test things when you buy them, the refund window closes faster than you would think.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've only played a little, and I've made many mistakes along the way. But, I think I really like this game, there's something brilliantly charming about it even as of 2019, and the universe continues to captivate me the more I learn. This is not to say the game is perfect. It's incredibly slow, and without turbo it's unbearable. (Never mind that I just got Singularity engine which fixes that wholly). The gain from selling items at the start can be negligible, you don't really know where to sell…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →old and has its charm also has a broken widescreen which clips the menu off the screen
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You can just die by boosting without Shields. IGN too much space 8/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I tried, I really tried to play that game, to give it a fair chance but the commands are frustratingly difficult and the fact that you can't rebind the keys is the absolute worst in a game like this, and all of that for a *single* reason, that reason being I'm french and have a french keyboard. Even playing with a joystick is a nightmare because the directions of the joystick are mapped to the keys of the keyboard. I feel sad that I'm missing on the story but I can't play that game in this…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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