X-COM: Enemy Unknown

[SCI-kick]

Anyone playing it? Looks fun, but I'm on the fence with spending the money. I've bought too many games that looked really cool and played them for only 2 weeks.

[I-KP]

I was looking forward to this one but a number of things worry me thus prevent me from buying it until I get reliable reports:-

- "Over 70 missions!" This to me, plus playing the demo, suggest that the game missions are now largely scripted and not dynamic. If that's true then I'm not interested.
- I played the demo and even tho it was only with starting guys the gameplay was very simplistic. I read that the devs said they'd remade the originals but their 'test group' found it too difficult to get into. He used words like streamlined and accessible, words that worry me when levelled at games like X-Com.
- Even a token German science bint could not save the demo from feeling so very, very USA! USA! USA! Gah. I'm sick to my molars with playing Americanised games.

A couple of my mates, also X-Com fans of old, have it. I'm awaiting their opinions before I part with my hard earned.

[Swift]

http://penny-arcade.com/report/editoria ... its-succes

Not a review but a good write up.

If you are concerned about difficulty, just toss it onto Classic mode (bumps the difficulty) and Ironman (one save only, when all your men die, the save is automatically deleted). I have not played the game, but that writeup makes it pretty clear cut that if you are interested in the more hardcore, unforgiving style of play, its certainly provided, while also offering less hardcore players with an enjoyable game. A choice quote:

Turn on the right settings, and the game is willing to break your nose for your mistakes, and even on normal difficulty you don’t win the missions easily. The game may bump you in the right direction to move the story forward, but that’s it. Success or failure is up to you. In many ways this is an incredibly hardcore product, but it’s wrapped in enough modern trappings that a wide audience may try it, and fall in love with this style of play.

[t-ice]

Difficulty isn't the same as complexity. Otherwise the old XCOM would have nothing on Space Invaders. And complexity isn't the same as being interesting and captivating. But just the right mix of complexity, strategy and "get them!" action, all affecting each other, is what the old XCOM got right in my book.

[Xanthea]

The old X-Com was full of artificial complexity. A bunch of options and features that were pointless and didn't add anything to the actual game experience.

The new one stripped most of the extraneous complexity and poor interface out and gave a game that maintained the spirit of the original while removing most of the tedious and annoying parts.

[Rumple C]

I have read the revies, and despite a few niggles about the staticness of the base and the lack of diversity in the accent, it sounds and looks awesome.

I could see myself playing this game on hardcore, and crying like a little girl when my favorite soldier dies.

[Magile]

I have played and enjoyed the original.

I am playing and enjoying the current version. My only real nitpick is that the camera can be very, very tedious to work with in certain areas; however, it is something easily patched.

[Grand Fromage]

XCOM rules. The demo was scripted because it was the shitty tutorial. Go get XCOM.

[I-KP]

Nah, it's too basic on the tactical combat front and it is heavily scripted with binary mission branches; definitely a big step back from Apocalypse in this regard. It really doesn't reward any kind of tactical strategy and the maps are too small, too similar and too few in number. I understand why they've made it so simplistic, they wanted it to sell, and if in some small way X-Com injects a bit of life into TBS games, i.e., investment becomes more likely, then I'm all for it but I, personally, won't benefit from it until such games re-evolve more complexity. In addition, Firaxis won't release any modding tools until they've milked it with the inevitable minimal content (three missions and a character) pay-for DLC for a year or more.

[kid]

They first 4 levels give the feeling you're being spoon fed and are not challanging.
It was a disapointment.

However the game does develop nicly from that point onwards. if you've not seen the rest of the missions i'd reccomand trying them out before judging.

[Blindhamsterman]

play the game with tutorial switched off, in classic difficulty and in ironman.

the above creates a challenging and rewarding experience. There are no restrictions or hand holding if the tutorial is switched off, in classic or impossible difficulties most of the odd limitations put on the enemy (max number of 'active' enemies etc) are removed, and it can become downright brutal.

All in all, I felt it was rather different from the older games, in some ways worse (the lack of base defense missions for example) while in other ways it was better (love the whole perk system, and I prefer the action system too, though a little more freedom in how those two actions are spent might have been nice). It certainly managed to maintain that 'feel' of being XCom and also managed to maintain the old tension of the originals... that being said, I've not played on any difficulty below casual and I only did the tutorial first mission, so it might be that those facts have ensured the game was more enjoyable.

Regardless, definitely worth a look in for anyone that hasn't.

(p.s. yeah I do very rarely still take a look in on these forums, but between Final Year at Uni, the Development job and married life, I prefer to play games I can drop in when I feel like it rather than on a schedule. Hope everyone is well though )

[Rumple C]

Played. Finished.

Iron man, classic difficulty.

Was quite fun, but i found it escalated very quickly in the later stages.

Plasma weapons, armor, psionics, end game?

I found the ending a bit of a let down, but very tense since you have to keep the *spoiler* alive.

She took two plasma shots while already wounded and behind partial cover. the first knocked her down to 3 health remaining, the second missed!

Whew!

Then a close up alloy cannon blast to the face of the *spolier* and game over!

Glad i finished it, it demanded to much of my attention.

[Swift]

http://xcom.nexusmods.com/mods/18

Called Warspace Extension. It consists of a huge list of tweaks to the game to try and re-balance things a little, with a focus on classic difficulty. Could be worth a look. One of the main ones I picked out is it takes some of the AI cheating out of the game so that if you play as good as can be played, bad things are less likely to happen to you. On the flip side, if bad things happen, you will know without doubt that it happened because you fucked something up, not because of randomness in the AI.

Edit: Some other random tweaks I pulled out for those that do not visit the link:

- Carapace reduces mobility by 1 square, Titan and Archangel by 2. Light armors increase mobility by 3 squares.
- Heavy armors increase Will a lot. Light armors increase Will a bit less. Secondary armors (the ones that go in the item slot) also provide a Will boost.
- Light armors increase the chances of evading incoming fire.

- Game balance doesn't resolve around your soldiers getting killed, but instead around your soldiers recovering for a much longer time.
- Soldiers who take damage during missions will be recovering for a MUCH longer time, especially if they are "gravely injured".

- Facility maintainance costs have been increased, so that you won't be swimming in cash later in the game.
- Items aren't build instantly anymore. It takes a few days to create something.

- Enemies have been changed in such a way that combat becomes more logical, resulting in more fluid battles.
- Enemies won't cheat as much. If something bad happens, you'll know it's probably because you screwed up or because the enemy AI made a good decision.
- Smaller enemies are a bit harder to hit and large enemies a bit easier. This is balanced by accuracy and/or movement speed advantages/disadvantages.
- When a Chryssalid kills a civilian offscreen, the civilian will now always turn into a zombie.
- The AI will now always use more than 5 NPCs in combat, instead of hiding when the NPC limit is reached.
- The AI is a tiny bit more aggressive at long distance. They are more likely to fire when their accuracy is low.

- Conventional weapons are now average. Nothing special about them. They are good allround. You could theoretically play the entire game using them.
- Lasers do a bit more damage, are more accurate and don't need to reload. But sometimes they do low damage. Their damage output can be unreliable.
- Plasma weapons do a lot of damage and have very high critical damage. But they are less accurate, which makes them hard to use, especially by rookies.

- Increased research time of plasma weapons to make it harder to unlock them and make lasers a bit more attractive.