X4: Timelines is an add-on for X4: Foundations, but it’s different. It’s a separate story with its own missions, not just new stuff for your main game. There are some cool rewards you can unlock for your main game though, like new ships and places to explore.
Story and Gameplay
The narrative starts strong, introducing a captivating mystery for Harper Donel, a risk-taking trader. However, the initial missions suffer from unbalanced difficulty. Expect weak starting ships and overwhelming enemy forces, particularly in Mission 4.
Later missions improve significantly, offering a diverse range of objectives. You’ll engage in races, mining expeditions, trade negotiations, and dogfights. This variety encourages players to explore different playstyles, potentially improving overall X4 skills.
Completing missions unlocks valuable rewards for your main X4 universe, including new ships, systems, and a new faction. However, some players might find certain mission types repetitive, especially escort missions. Fortunately, a basic completion (one star) is sufficient to unlock rewards, allowing players to focus on aspects they enjoy.
Technical Considerations
As with many Egosoft games, X4: Timelines exhibits occasional technical issues. These include minor bugs, quirky cutscenes, and less-than-stellar voice acting in certain languages (Split accents, for instance). The small development team does a commendable job, but the limitations are noticeable. Thankfully, the X4 modding community is renowned for providing additional content and technical fixes.
The Good Stuff:
- Interesting story (after the rough start)
- Missions that make you try new things in X4
- Cool rewards for your main game, like new ships
The Bad Stuff:
- First few missions are too hard
- Some missions can be boring, like protecting other ships
- The game can be buggy sometimes, with funny voices and weird cutscenes (like a small team made it)
Should You Buy It?
If you’ve played X4 for a while and want a challenge to learn new ways to play, Timelines might be fun. You also get neat rewards for your main game. But if you just want more things to do in your existing X4 world, this might not be worth the money right away.
X4: Timelines: X4: Timelines offers a well-designed story campaign with a rough initial hurdle. The diverse missions can be a valuable training ground for new playstyles, and the rewards for the main game are enticing. However, technical shortcomings and repetitive mission types might deter some players. Ultimately, the decision depends on your existing X4 experience and what you seek from the expansion. – Tom Henry
