X4: Timelines

This DLC may be set in the X4 universe, but it has nothing to do with the game. Disjointed missions with hordes of enemies that are almost impossible to master. Absolutely overwhelming for "inexperienced" pilots like me and it is incomprehensible why you should do THIS of all things before the main game after the not very explanatory tutorial. I´ve been replaying Mission 2+3 each more then 5 times to only get the "necesary" 3 star to complete them. I didn't even manage the fourth. Pure frustration, compairing to X1-3. My recommendation: if you don't have this from a bundle, don't buy it.

This dlc adds a new game section separate from the usual sandbox playthroughs. It runs you through a new set of missions that are apparently playthroughs of events from the previous X games in the series. The characters and setting of this new dlc are also a mystery but eventually ties through to your sandbox playthrough upon completion. The missions are depicted as simulations that can be replayed without limit, with your performance graded according to certain factors like number of enemies killed and clear time. Your grade can be uploaded to an online leaderboard. Some of these scenarios are very challenging, although you can progress the story even with poor performance. If I'm not wrong, you only need 1 star out of the possible 5 for each stage of a set to unlock the last stage of that set, which, upon completion, unlocks the next set. Look out for little story events happening around the map after clearing each mission too. You can reset the whole timelines scenario to try again if you feel you missed something. It can get a little janky, with some npc convos getting skipped. As you progress, story events take place that unveil the circumstances of the characters in this scenario. New sectors and ships also get unlocked in sandbox mode as well. Do not expect a lot from them as they seem to be nostalgia ships from previous games and eras, with correspondingly lower performance but with some gimmicks like the H with a unique turret with a slight AOE effect or the Sapporo destroyer with no main batteries but a unique missile turret. As of version 7.00 their balance appears to have not been finalized. Well, new toys are always welcome. I do hope this is just a taste of things to come, with more stories and secrets to be added on further down the road.

The timelines missions themselves are good for the most part, but some I found exasperating, annoying and obtuse. I laughed when I met the 'mission director' - I never expected to meet the guy who cost me so much time in the past when I tried making mods for x3. What timelines does though more than anything for me is highlight X4's basic problems. Targetting being for me the worst problem that X4 has; if it worked as it did in the likes of X3 I'd be happy, but in X4 targettnig is jittery - skipping to useless targets - and often unhelpful when it refuses to target what I want. Then there is the problem of being forced to use weapons and ships I don't enjoy. I don't think timelines is very new player friendly either - a lot of the timelines missions are quite advanced. The story for timelines is as janky as previous x games, but I enjoyed it nontheless - it reminded me of a dead is dead playthrough I did on the egosoft forums many years ago. Some lore buffs I think will enjoy this DLC as there is some exansion of the x lore. So timelines is a mixed bag - for some there won't be enough added to the sandbox to make this DLC worth it.

Most of the timelines quest are boring and repetitive, because you do the same quest over and over again every chapter but in a bit advanced way. The main quest are good, so I don't understand why they went with this concept. The last quests are also hard because you have to manage fleets and the AI is jerky... which makes it hard to manage in time limited scenarios. The promise of this DLC was so good but the execution fell short. Buy only if you are a big fan, and you already own every other DLCs.

The design is nice, the idea is nice, but the missions are too frustrating and too difficult for casual players. Egosoft seems to concentrate on hardcore players only in this DLC, which drives all other players away from enjoying X4. This DLC is not for me, hopefully the developers learn from bad reviews and adjust the DLC soon.