I played a lot of X3 before, and on the recommendations of others, today I finally got around to checking out Evochron Mercenary.  It’s a similar style of game in that it’s a space sim where you can fight other ships, trade, build stuff, explore, go on missions, etc., but Evochron has a somewhat more ‘direct’ feel to it in that you feel more like you’re actually piloting the ship, while the X3 series often feels more like you’re the captain managing a ship.

Evochron also has some features that X3 doesn’t, like being able to fly down to the surface of planets, easier mining of resources, and sudden on-the-fly rescue missions, but it also feels more limited in other ways.  The potential ships you can upgrade to don’t seem to come close to the wide variety and large scale you see in X3, and it probably won’t have the same sense of managing a whole fleet like some rich trade magnate (though it’s still early to say for certain).  And Evochron definitely can’t compete in the graphics department, though they’re functional enough.

They’re still both good in their own ways, but I think I will definitely set aside Evochron Mercenary for more in-depth exploration later on.