An in depth single player space simulation that has hundreds of hours of playability. As a sandbox the game is great and there is a lot to it. However there is a large downside that is an unavoidable price of this immersion -- the learning curve is precipitously steep.

As with many things in life, "good things come to those who wait":

The patient should be prepared to spend a lot of time researching on the Egosoft forums for advice and assistance on how to perform what should be simple tasks. Alternatively masochists such as myself can dive in and work things out themselves the hard way, which is rewarding, but painfully slow. Those seeking instant gratification or pew-pew action need not apply.

I have been playing this game on and off for nearly a decade now, and probably would have spent more time playing it were it not for Eve. To be fair Eve and X are not directly comparable genres, but both fit the mould of a space-themed game that will yield large economic rewards to those that are prepared to invest a large amount of time. I would describe X as the more 'casual' of the two games as it is single player and therefore the economy does not respond to human factors, which makes it somewhat more predictable.

One final thought. The plot and missions are weak, and almost a sideshow. This potentially poses the question, "what is the goal of the game?" To answer that I would simply borrow the answer that the explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes gave to a journalist when asked, "Why explore?" ... "For every person that needs to ask that question, I am glad that there others who feel the answer and never need to ask".