X3 Reunion: New Rolling Demo Tested

Final Words

Overall, X3 Reunion looks like a decent game, but more importantly for our purposes, it looks to make a pretty good performance benchmark. The new graphics look is significantly better than the previous X2 graphics, thanks to a new engine. Whether or not this is your type of game, it looks very impressive, and with the latest graphics technology, including SM 3.0 support, it will definitely put your graphics card to the test.



At AnandTech, it is important for us to have a wide variety of games to test when looking at hardware performance, and games like these are always a welcome addition to our benchmarks. The X2: The Threat rolling demo was a benchmark that we routinely used for our card roundups in the past (before it became technologically out of date), and now, it will be replaced by the graphically superior X3 rolling demo. We will definitely be using this as a benchmark for future testing, as it represents the next generation of game graphics suitable for testing the higher-end cards and systems.

We've also seen how the processor speed factors in to the X3 benchmark. With graphics cards capable of moderately high framerates, you will get the best performance in X3 on a system with a good processor. Because of the CPU limitation, the X3 demo would make a good CPU benchmark as well as a graphics card benchmark, further adding to the usefulness of the game as part of our test suite.



It's refreshing to see the level of quality graphics for a game like this, especially given the scarcity of good space simulation games. While X3: Reunion might not be the best game of its type, it is definitely one of the best looking, and is a welcome addition to the genre.