XCOM : Enemy Unknown - by Firaxis Games - Thread

MBennett said:
This game is still ok - but that is only due to the sheer greatness of the original that you can take a piece of it and dilute it right down and still have something better than 90% of other games coming out now.
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This. Im enjoying it but I think I may have it a bit too easy on Classic! Only lost two people so far and thats because I rushed them out. Quite interested in that xenonauts game mentioned earlier.
 
After 15 hours I think my interest has fallen off a cliff.

Go to the completely useless world map that you can't interact with (?) click a button, get mission, get annoyed at the seriously limited load-out and customisation, finish mission feeling it was all too familiar.

I think the broad appeal they've gone for has seriously shortened the life of the game [for me]. I'm not suggesting they made it a nightmare to play either, but a few extra 'tactical' and strategic options with regards to your units and on the playing field would have been nice.
 
Ultra_Extreme said:
Most of the 'greatness' in the originals is rose tinted hindsight to be honest. A challenge overcome in formative years. For many of us xcom is a peice of who we are and who we were during the early days of discovery on PC as a platform. Firaxis havent dumbed a game down, they have removed many many barriers to entry whilst maintaining the spirit of the original, at least in my opinion. I think a lot of you are just whiny autistic nerds who need everything 'just so'. As has been said there are much smaller games out there catering to the super hardcore crowd, but they wont need to sell as well as this one.
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Nerd - definitely, autistic - maybe?, whiny I take exception to!

I don't hate this game and some changes were required for stream lining but it has gone too far for my personal taste. It is ok and I will probably complete it once (which is more than most games I have bought) but overall I am disappointed by it. However I am not too upset because Xenonauts looks like it will be the game I really long for so that is good for everyone as everyone gets something with two very different takes.

I actually played XCom in 1997 on a friends PS1 and initially disregarded it (I think he picked it out a bargin bin himself). I really don't think it is rosetinted glasses doing it for me because it was my imagination doing half the work in that game anyway with the atmosphere it created and I thought TFTD was complete rubbish and that came out at similar time.

I am also aware Apocalypse was the third (and best IMHO) of the series.
 
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While I was hoping for a faithful remake of the originals I am quite happy that isn't so as they were painful at times and this game is actually playable as a relaxing game on the right settings but will kick you in the nuts on the harder settings.

Currently playing Normal and once done I'll go back and play classic ironman.

Squad currently consists of (put it in spoiler in case people don't want to know)
2 x Support - Titan Armor, Light plasma rifle, Laser Pistol, Nano Fiber and Med kits
1 x Assault - Titan Armor, Light Plasma, Laser Pistol, Ark Thrower,
1 x Heavy - Titan Armor, Heavy Plasma, Laser Pistol, Ark Thrower
2 x Sniper - Archangel Armor, Plasma sniper, Plasma Pistol, Nano Fiber

1 Support, My Assault and 1 Sniper are Psy units as well :)
Oh and as for those ranting about not being able to shoot walls out... good :) Cant see how a bullet would take out a wall anyway. Explosives yes... a bullet no... so just fire a rocket or throw a grenade at the wall and take it out :) winner winner

Its exactly what I did last night against the first Ethereal I came across, In a room with only 1 door, so 1 support 1 assault 1 heavy up front at the door and kept snipers and a support back, fired a rocket passed the ethereal at the wall behind to open it up so units were flanked by my snipers and support. It didn't last long :) then the power went and I didn't save :(
 
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Woogie said:
Oh and as for those ranting about not being able to shoot walls out... good :) Cant see how a bullet would take out a wall anyway.
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You say that but the weapons take out walls and cover anyway, for example alien weapons destroy full cover boulders in one shot.
 
I do like this game, but I can understand some of the complaints. They've made this more of a game than the original. The original was more like a sim.

This is somewhat disappointing because they have just pared down the original when they could have done so much more. For instance the interceptor view is so pared down its pointless. They should have just got rid of it. If they had looked beyond the concept of the original, to the core idea of you being in charge of a powerful investigative organisation they could have done some really cool stuff.
 
badcompany said:
is it cool to rant about this or what?
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Cool is relative, but I would say that a great deal of the comments made here are well made and justified.

It doesn't stop this game being good fun and brilliant to play; I certainly wouldn't be returning mine, but I can see technically that this game only touches on some of the brilliance of the original.

  • Has it ruined the franchise..............No
  • Is there a great deal of room for improvement......yes
  • Would I buy a sequel to this game......on the condition that some of those improvements are met.......yes
  • Would I buy DLC for this game....as long as it is cheap and offers substantially more gameplay and some more advanced features........Hell yes
 
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As a normally funded commercial product it was never going to come anywhere near the complexity of the original. Hopefully Xeronauts will manage that while retaining the atmosphere of the original.

That's what I like so much about this one though - it captures the tense, we're-so-screwed atmosphere that the original game had, and that all the remakes since don't see to have managed. Well worth it in its own right, you just have to manage your expectations.
 
FoxEye said:
Let me first say I'm enjoying XCom. But it is very dumbed down, I'm afraid.

1. No stats. Original had strength, health, two kinds of accuracy, stamina, reactions, and more...

2. Reactions in the originals were based on a sliding scale of how much you moved in that turn and how many TUs you had left as a % of your total. Reactions in this new one are always on or always off.

3. You always get your Skyranger and *all your squad equipment* back even if your entire squad gets wiped out.

4. You can't pick up stuff on the ground.
5. You soldiers don't have an inventory.
6. Only one base.
7. You can't shoot walls, vehicles or terrain objects except accidentally.
8. There's no incendiary weapons (I don't think)
9. Fire doesn't spread.
10. No electro flares (portable light sources).
11. Smoke doesn't affect line of sight (which is very weird).
12. Grenades never miss ;)
13. Darkness doesn't appear to affect line of sight (my guys can see just as far, I think, at night). Nightime appears to be cosmetic only.

There's probably more.
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14. No say over the type of alien craft shot down.
15. No real difference in alien craft (some of them in the original could take an age to explore).
16. Alien bases are tiny compared to the original... TINY!
17. Skyranger always lands on one side of the map. Only ever one way to move your squad rather than exploring 360 degrees.
18. Mission space for any mission is tiny.
19. World map is cosmetic only. No more tracking 4 - 5 different alien craft and struggling to decide which to target.
20. No alternitive to the Skyranger.
21. Grey market is tiny with silly prices.
22. Not as much to research.

That said it's a brilliant game in it's own right, but doesn't hold a candle to the original.
 
Mind you, towards the end of the original I was definitely suffering mission fatigue. I used to wait until the bigger ships were over water to shoot them down just so I didn't have to go through another protracted alien hunt.

It is a brilliant game in its own right. If it had any name other than XCom on it, nobody would be complaining. It's just difficult to stop yourself saying "If this were UFO, I'd have been able to....<insert mad tactic involving ferrets here>"
 
Reading the comments about what has been left out I can see how people could be a bit disappointed. Having never played the original I've really been enjoying this though, definitely one of the best games I've picked up in a long time.

Unfortunately I think I'm about to have to restart after about 15 hours. Following a couple of wipes I just don't have any decent troops left, and trying to do the current missions with fresh troops doesn't seem possible.

Ah well, I think I've learnt a lot from the first play. Bit embarassing though as I'm only playing on normal. :)
 
32 hours played. :o Game of the year for me, then again the rest of the year has been a relative wasteland as far as I'm concerned.

I just love the tactical combat. A well-timed Run and Gun from the flanks or an overwatch ambush executed flawlessly, is a joy to experience. Playing Classic Ironman probably adds to the immersion, tenison... rage...

A few tweaks and one or two (or more :D) additions and this would could become a top 5 or 10 game for me.
 
Hellsmk2 said:
14. No say over the type of alien craft shot down.
15. No real difference in alien craft (some of them in the original could take an age to explore).
16. Alien bases are tiny compared to the original... TINY!
17. Skyranger always lands on one side of the map. Only ever one way to move your squad rather than exploring 360 degrees.
18. Mission space for any mission is tiny.
19. World map is cosmetic only. No more tracking 4 - 5 different alien craft and struggling to decide which to target.
20. No alternitive to the Skyranger.
21. Grey market is tiny with silly prices.
22. Not as much to research.

That said it's a brilliant game in it's own right, but doesn't hold a candle to the original.
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23. Smoke inhalation never causes unconsciousness.
24. No proximity mines.
25. Aliens don't appear to lose morale when all their mates die. Not seen an alien panic yet.


It's kind of staggering to realise that we took all of the complexity of UFO foregranted. I used to think games would get increasingly complex over the years.

I never anticipated when I was young that games would instead be "streamlined". In other news, I saw Idiocracy the other night ;)
 
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