The campaign is not as bad as some people make out. Its "average". It serves as the gateway into the X series, which was important for me after failing to get into X3. The story is like slow burning tutorial on each of the game's elements with some voice acting and guidance for those of us who need it. I really appreciate it despite the negative comments which follow. The campaign was smooth sailing for the first 20 hours (longer than many other games) until the mission to create a station (which was holding up the entire campaign). Then things took a turn for the worst. I was forced to understand the economy and in doing so discovered a lot of what X fans have been complaining about. The economy is broken and filled with annoying gameplay decisions. When creating the station I ordered the architect to buy all the resources needed herself. I was not notified by the game that apparently she could not travel to the next system to get the final resources needed. I had to do it myself. So where are they? The trade computer does not show you out of stock resources (but is happy to show you ones available at hostile stations?) I spent over 6 hours flying through Albion getting attacked by PMC fighters while trying to get past them to the few neutral stations that would still sell to me. Then you need to find NPCs on the station who cannot be hired (don't ask) wait for them to randomly speak and start a repetitive talking mini game. When you win you can ask the NPC for "trade updates" on that station. Does the station have it in stock? Nope. Does it produce the resource? No idea. On to the next one while I wait for it to randomly show up on the trade computer. Station after station for 6 or so hours. There are things to love about this game. The sound track, the atmosphere, the dog fighting, the majority of the campaign and the graphics. It's just that the game has some gaping flaws. After completing the campaign I plan to fix the game with mods or give X3 another try.
