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FINAL FANTASY TACTICS - The Ivalice Chronicles
Game
Game2006
X2: The Threat
Developer Egosoft
X2: The Threat is a space simulation video game developed by Egosoft for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. It is part of the X series. It was released in 2003 and is a sequel to X: Beyond the Frontier. Freeverse Software ported the game to Mac OS X in 2004/2005, while Linux Game Publishing produced their Linux port in 2005/2006. An expansion pack, X2: The Return, was cancelled. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
183 reactions from 1 source (Steam reviews) · newest Oct 2, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
77
LovedLoved
141 positive · 42 negative
95% range 70–83%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 141 | 42 | 0 |
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
444 of 534 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 183 · most liked firstBefore getting into the review, this game is good and can be entertaining to a select audience out there. I personally am a huge fan of ship games, be it space, modern, or age of sail. It is hard not to draw parallels with this game to others in the genre that I really enjoy like any of the Escape Velocity, Freelancer/Starlancer, or Freespace series. In fact my first experience in the X universe was hoping to relive some of these fond memories. If you are looking for an experience like any…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →First Impression Only. After trying for weeks to get comfortable with X3, I thought I would step back and try X2. Much better pace! I would highly suggest anyone trying to get the hang of X3 to do X2: The Threat first. It is not so much the story line, but the overall feel of the game. While the controls differ sleightly from game to game, as they are approached differently, what you NEED to do is still the same. With that said, the game is VERY reminisance of FREELANCER in many ways, and not…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →X2: The Threat was my entry into the X Universe and Egosoft. This game kept me sane on a long business trip 20 years ago. Thank you.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You can not change many of the controls. Skip this and pick up one of the x3's imo. It is absolutely rediculous to not be able to customize controls in a game made in the 21st century.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I played this game in my childhood back in 2005, I had no idea how to play it back in the day and tried again and again but thanks to lack of internet and any type of tutorial also being too young this game was impossible to learn but I really liked it and it remains memorable. It's better to play the new titles if you are new to the franchise rather than this old one, it's great for people who want to go on a nostalgia trip. After playing it all these years later I actually played it far…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This plays like a graphically and games wise liked a souped up version of Elite 2. Your starting ship starts off with a few more items such as auto pilot compared to the starting ship in Beyond the Frontier which I have also played for a few hours ship. There you have to do some trade before you have enough money to buy these upgrades such as an auto pilot, weapon and such like. This is where the immediate comparison comes to my mind with Elite 2 compared to Elite 1 which I have never…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While the character graphics in the cut scenes aren't great and the dialogue is a bit, er, wooden by today's modern standards, X2: The Threat is a great introduction to trading-based games, and the space shooter elements are pretty fun. The plotline is pretty simple and if you're not interested in that it can be safely ignored from quite early in the game, and the player can then focus on the open-world, building an empire and blowing up bad guys. I'd recommend it as an intro to the genre of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A huge step forward from X: Beyond the Frontier.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A straight-up upgraded version of the original X games. There is a plot that is easy to follow, unlike the first game, and there is a sense of progression. After that, the main core of the game is better, in terms of graphics, ships, mechanics, and especially the interface, which was painstaking to go through in previous games. Although it is still as complex and frustrating as its predecessors, it certainly is more new player-friendly, with less confusing graphics, and some text-based…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wouold like to preface this by saying that I am a picky person when it comes to PC gaming. If I can't customise it to play the way that suits me, I wont play it. That's partly why I became a PC gamer, because most games give you that freedom. This is not one of those games. You can only rebind about eight actions in this game, and in particular the throttle and joystick axis are not rebindable. So far, the awkward controls have kept me from enjoying the game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've only played for a short amount of time, can't give a solid opinion yet
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good, 'professional' (steep learning curve, needs to invest many hours on learning/ playing) space sim. Always singleplayer franchise under a massive sandbox universe, with sure sequels to come. That is: a game you can play for maybe a lifetime :-0, since familiarizing with one of them will get you into the other franchise games, each with hundred of gameplay hours. So for the ones which are fans of the genre interested on endless singleplayer gaming where you can do pretty much anything…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I bought this game about a decade ago along with the rest of the X games up to X3 Albion Prelude. When i first tried them i found them overwhelming and fairly intimidating. Flash forward to this year, i tried X2 again. As you can tell by the hours i put into it i finally got into it. to be honest it's not as complicated as i first thought. Even the weird economic management stuff is more or less about finding the right places to build and then setting up a network of ships to handle everything…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Played this in order to experience the story and to see how far the X series has evolved. Very fun, didn't experience any bugs or crashes. Works very well.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If this is your first entry into the series, play X1 first. The interface is pretty much the same, just a bit more pleasing visually (still quite old looking though. if you can't stomach that, X3 has had a bigger graphical overhaul, so just power through X1 and 2). The main problem with these older games is that they require DirectDraw which isn't natively supported by Windows anymore and emulation can cause graphical glitches. Another issue is that the game was not designed for widescreen…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →X2 was the first game that taught me to like the X series for the ability to do a lot more than in my personal all time favourite, FreeSpace. X2 was also the game that made me absolutely hate the very wonky controls of most ships and the abysmal control layout for everything. X2 was a mixed bag back then and should probably only be played for nostalgia nowadays. Didn't stop me, but anyone new to the X franchise might want to skip out on the earlier installments entirely. The X series is an…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hard to get into, cheesy dialog, dated as hell...everything. I know I only scratched the surface, but I just couldn't play anymore. Not my kind of space game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game has aged not so great. It sees all attached joysticks, including gamepads, but it can't read any of them. No axis, no buttons. The final reason why I think you should not get the game is the fact that it is broken. If you play the campaign you will eventually be tasked to go to the sector "Brennan's Triumph". Once you enter the sector you are forced into a cut scene where your ship just bonks its nose into the rim of the jumpgate repeatedly and after a few bumps the game just crashes.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not bad for an old game. Very slow pace game not suitable for people who prefer a faster than light action. The AI sometimes will jam his ship into the entrance of a station and ram you to death and said it is your fault. AI got no traffic situation awareness. Trading is sort of fun for me at least. Will be better if the keys can be rebind.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm sure X2 was a great space simulator in it's day. However, with no mouse cursor, a tutorial that doesn't tell you what key to use Example "Use your OPTION key to bring up options, use your MENU key to access the menu" But the game doesn't tell you what these keys are. Under settings the only 2 options are VIDEO and SOUND. Couldn't even find the keybindings menu so I could find said keys. I'm sure some fan boys of the series could tell me how to access said information, but when a game…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a good game but mouse stutters make it unplayable on Win 10.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Can't customize controls.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Its a great game, really good fun. The story doesn't take a huge amount of time to complete, but the map is about as open world as you want it. You start in a small, fast scout ship with a handful of credits, but its entirely possible, by playing your own way, to become a warlord with a fleet of destroyers. And if you feel like it, you can do that before finishing the story. Not as shiny and complex as some of the later X games, but its about as complex as I want it! Definitely a favourite…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Controls are a bit messy but thats okay!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →10/10 ahead of its time X2 is a bit old now , but if you can get the resolution right on these newer set ups , its still a great space trucking adventure . the intelegence of the UI was a little wonky but easerly managed and the storey line could have been longer but that aside i spent countless hours/years have'n AWESOME fun with this . a real golden oldie . edit 2024 looking back now this is were egosoft lost there way after X2 there games are not good and just a universe full of broken…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's, when X series had cockpits and somewhat of a story line and depth. X3 and everything after was more like a spreadheet application . X REbirth - massive failure to return to its roots, with 1 spaceship to fly and bad ideas upon bad ideas about the entire game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Terrible interface, Terrible combat, just a complete mess. I really liked the concept but it is so fatally flawed i am sorry i wasted time and money on this total POS.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The tutorial should explain the controls rather than saying you have to fly your ship trough rings etc. The graphics are average, and I didn't like the intro movie. It's a space simulator, but there are better out there in the galaxy, perhaps even one from the same X franchise...
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My favorite spaceship simulator, amazing dogfights and the economy system is superb.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a somewhat ancient entry in the "X" series of space combat sims. Featuring not just space combat and trading ala Privateer/Elite, you can also buy and automate ships and even space factories, and have them running trade and supply routes, making you credits while you play. There's a short span of single player missions nestled into the vast open world. Amazingly, despite being 18 years old, there's full 4K support and the game plays smoothly. The developers even scaled the UI…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A no-frills space-themed economic simulator! At least, the way I play it. There is combat involved, too, but I'm more for the trading side of it. Let me run my stations in peace! Okay, for reals; the sheer variety of spaceship and economic trading is fascinating, and while I haven't delved too deeply into the combat aspect I can already see it has plenty of potential. Turrets, missiles, lasers and the ability to decide the function of all of these for oneself. Not to mention the different…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →X Franchise best. Forever
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →X-2 The Threat shows a lot of how far the x- games have come. Been player these games for 20 years. X-Rebirth, clearly and experiement that that had to take place for the X Series to move truly foward was a interesting game with many cool features. Now, six days away, x-4 Foundations will launch. I see a lot of hints in x-4 Foundaions that it will be a lot like all of the previous x-titles, including X-Rebirth. I cannot stress that x2 really started the building of the x-universe as we have…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Dailog, and cutscene sequences are very poorly executed for starters. Right into the intro, I tried my best to not acknowledge it, but it just wasn't possible. While this is often excuseable with decent gameplay, I couldn't even get into the gameplay because the controls are difficult as hell to understand. They don't even give you a proper tutorial, they just throw you right into the game. It took me at least 15 minutes to find the right button just to pull up the instructions menu, and even…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The tutorial is confusing, and the controls are not customizable.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's on sale again. Get it now before you'll regret missing the chance like I did last sale. Beautiful game, nice atmosphere, good economy, everything good, except it doesn't have multiplayer. But it's still good to play until Elite:Dangerous becomes cheaper/adds more features. I could write more but I'm lazy today, but just believe me if I said the game is great, and totally worth it for the pathetic 2.50€ it costs right now. Minimum 20 hours of fun. -Edited: Btw this and X-tension are…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →would not recommend. confusing game without configurations, no idea what to do.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very steep learning curve, but overall a really good game!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just a great game . PLAY IT !
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Still my favourite X game. I've spent hundreds of hours in this universe, some before steam, many after and the size of the universe still astounds me. There are palpable differences between races and their ships, ensuring variety, there's pirates, an overarching story that keeps you interested and gives your character purpose and then there's the trading. Trading is fantastic, there's a real impact on your trading on the rest of the X universe and I found it highly addictive making the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Spent a ton of time building up trade and buying new ships and stations before going through the story. Honestly, I love this series, but there's a bug in this game in the third mission that causes the game to crash before playing a movie. I tried to fix it for a few hours, but couldn't find a solution. Now I can't finish the game or cross through that sector.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →By 2019, is barely playable.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Wow, best space game I've every played. #1 Best Part No online BS! No 12 year olds getting in the way and crashing your ships! Just get in and play! Build stations, find resources, upgrade your ships and explore!!! Way to go Egosoft!!!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →X2: The Threat, this is the first full sequel in the X series. while visually it looks much better it still has the basic gameplay of an X game. If you are into slow paced space trading/ combat sims you should check this out.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I enjoyed this one much more than X3. Totally recommened...
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →well an uppdate i hsve done v well a tip be caerfull !!!!!!!!!!keep aWAY FROM BRENANS TRIUMPH !!!! IF U GO NTEAR IT U GET A MESSAGE FROM TOUR FARHER TO BE CAREFULL THERE HAS BEEN AN INCREASE IN NUMBER UF ATACKS FROMN UNKNOWN ENERMYS IE THE KARK SO DO THE PLOT UP TO THE PART WERE U HEAD OVER TO BRENANS TRIUM,PH INSTEAED HEAD TO TEADI SECTOR SEIIZEWELL U WILL FIND RICH PICKINS FOR SHURE AND GET A TELARDY VULTURE AND FIT A MINING LASER AND START WITH LOW YIELD ASTERIODS SAVE ANY…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is my 1st time with a space sim and the X series and I love it. I was able to do the first 2 or 3 missions without guidance so the general controls are not terribly complex, but might be a bit confusing for a few. The simulation tutorials are quite helpful, but the pilot license training is extremely difficult...didnt finish those. The graphics are okay. The storyline and plot so far are decent enough. Combat is fun and challenging. The economy and trading aspects are deep and complex but…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game doesn't even tell you how to fly. You literally just sit in a spaceship with nothing to do. Also, every voice in the game was done by microsoft sam.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is basically Star Citizen but with worse graphics. Or maybe Star Citizen is this game with better graphics. Anyway, I don't even care! This game is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ awesome!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Recommended for anyone who wants a great blend of story, sandbox, and classic X-Universe empire building. I am playing through all the X-Universe games and finished my playthrough of X2: The Threat. It's a large leap forward from X-Tension. The graphics and overall style feel like a big jump in quality, and the presentation holds up surprisingly well for its age. It also combines a proper storyline with the open-ended sandbox in a way that works naturally. The story itself is decent, and the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Best game in the series (IMO)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Back in the day I played this game and all the games in the series but this one is one I love the best. I did miss the the option from the previous game, buying ships using the station you own to order from shipyard. Easy enough to figure out what races need and make profit.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Oh the menus... the menus. So many menus, so little idea what's going on. I have tried on several occasions to like this dinosaur but I can't even get the basics down. Mostly because they just hand you the keys to the rocket ship and are literally like, "M'may, you're an experienced pilot so your don't need lessons, try not to explode now," Spent 20 minutes pushing buttons and bringing up one menu after another, none with any useful information like, how do I fly my rocket ship or, how do I…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Some say it's the best X series game. I don't have the nostalgic connection with this one, but I definitely liked it in 2021. Feels as something between X-Tension and X3, closer to X3. With an interesting stuff such as 3D cockpits, and character models in cutscenes - something that was dropped in X3.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm pretty sure the control layout was designed by a rabid monkey slamming a weasel into a keyboard and then someone saved the settings. "WASD"....FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WASD!!!! And right click on the mouse brings up a menu?! I know, some of these can be changed. If you completely exit the game. And then only SOME of them can be changed. Shame on the devs for this. The only game I have ever seen this bad was X1.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Anyone who likes building a business. A whole economy, economy, buying and selling. Plus you get to fly around in space. You can leave it run in the background as you earn money. Fighting evil aliens is cool. You upgrade your ships and equipment with more money. I've stopped on the game missions and now focus solely on building my business empire.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Permanently shows as running in Steam after initial launch - no processes to kill, or any published fix. Very irritating. Played for less than 2 hours - Steam thinks I've played for 27Hrs.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An old favourite. Trade, fight and explore space sectors. The second in the X series, it built upon the original story with the ability to choose which ships you want to fly and where you want to build your space empire.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This ancient game is hilarious it has the classic unbelievably stupid dialog that Egosoft are famous for such as PREPARE A DISCO IMMEDIATELY! That one still makes me fall off my chair laughing every time i hear it the game itself is in fact very good but the last mission is dreadful i have only ever completed it once and it took me sixty attempts to do it really not cool. It is worth playing this game but ONLY if you really are an ace pilot the difficulty is insane.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great fun ! A Iconic Space Sim, that has a somewhat simpler universe structure than the X3 series, but still a very fun experience... Presently I play X: REBIRTH with many MODS added on, to add all sorts of interesting twists into it... Don't miss out on this older classic !
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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