First Xcom Dev Diary Sounds Vaguely Familiar

[Andy Chalk]

First Xcom Dev Diary Sounds Vaguely Familiar

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Xcom is a first-person shooter but the new dev diary from 2K Games suggest that it might be a lot closer to the original X-Com games that we thought.

In the minds of many fans, turning the great X-Com [http://www.amazon.com/X-COM-UFO-Defense-PC/dp/B00069WBKM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1316790660&sr=8-3] franchise into a first-person shooter is rather akin to turning fine French wine into crap. Bit of a rough analogy there maybe, but the point is this: putting the X-Com name on a wholly different and entirely unrelated game does not make it X-Com. But it might be enough to make it Xcom, which according to Lead Designer Jonathan Pelling "adheres to the tenets of what made the original game so special."

"Our telling of Xcom is an origin story," he explained in the newly-released Xcom dev diary. "It's about experiencing the origins of this organization from a really zoomed-in and boots-on-the-ground perspective."

"This organization" is a precursor to the global agency that battled alien invaders in the original games, established to fight a more localized infiltration of the United States. But while the new title is built on more personalized, up-front close encounters, there will still be numerous strategic elements which may, if all goes well, give old-time X-Com fans a reason to show up. Players will recruit and manage agents, upgrading and improving their abilities as the game progresses, and a "research economy" will provide opportunities to even the odds against the enemy but also force players to make choices about what to focus on and what to let slide.

The map room, which should sound familiar to anyone who played the earlier games, will display emergency situations as the occur across the U.S., and these too will force players to make choices. "There are backbone missions that drive the plot forward and there are dozens of other kind of strategic opportunities that pop up," said Narrative Director Jordan Thomas. "If you take one, you may lose the other."

It's still not the X-Com I was hoping for and all this X-Com/Xcom business is getting tiresome, but it sounds like the game might be worth a fair shake in its own right. At the very least, it's something worth keeping an eye on. Xcom is scheduled to come out on March 6, 2012, for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.


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[GiantRaven]

I know next to nothing about X-Com, and I think this game looks pretty neat.

Also, if lots of older isometric-view games do well in their first-person reboots, an Arcanum reboot could be right around the corner...

How could I not want that?!

 

[No_Remainders]

Inb4 "IT'S STILL NOT X-COM SO IT CAN GO DIE".

Yeah, I think it looks pretty cool.

Looking forward to more news.

 

[Iridul]

I have to say this is looking better every time I see it. UFO: Enemy Unknown (as XCOM was known in the UK) was one of the first PC games I ever owned. It really frustrates me that people seem to just want a remake of that with modern technology. The biggest problem with the gaming industry is publishers spamming out the same product over and over, besides there is no way anyone could do a remake of a classic like XCOM and do it justice.

They seem to be promising a lot with this new one, often promises are broken so I'll reserve judgement until it's released. If you slam them for the name or the 'remake' though just ask yourself how good you think an actual remake would turn out; rose tinted glasses are very powerful.... I'll keep my memories thank you very much.

 

[Woodsey]

Alright, colour me interested.

 

[mattaui]

I'm open to giving the game a chance. I'd rather they do a real reboot and give me an updated version of the original game.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Even if they made a game similiar to the original, people would still ***** about. lol. I love the original but this game also looks awesome. Cant wait till its released.

For those that want a game like the original check here. http://www.xenonauts.com/ No idea when it will be released but it should be good.

 

[Andy Chalk]

It is starting to look more interesting, and the fact is that people who was "real" Xcom have numerous other options. The UFO series of games were a pretty decent knock-off, the aforementioned Xenonauts looks groovy and there are others. So I still feel a little disappointed about the decision to change it up so completely (although not as disappointed as I am about the Syndicate thing) but if the studio can live up to these promises, it might turn out to be a pretty damn good game.

 

[The3rdEye]

Spoiler: I have no problem with someone giving me a delicious orange, but

Same enemies? No sectoids, no floaters, etc. ME Husks and geomentric shapes.
Same setting? Nope, it takes place 30 years earlier and exclusively in America.
Same UI? Calling your recharge meter TU's?... no. It's a recharge meter. Period.
Same mechanics? Squad from 1-24 human troops? Well, 1-3. Armored weapons platforms? Nope.
There is nothing left of X-Com IN XCOM that doesn't apply to any other sci-fi action-RPG or FPS game aside from occasional naming conventions.

They've changed the genre, setting, characters, set pieces for those of their own series and lifted elements from other games where they themselves have no experience (squad based combat). Interestingly enough, it's being released on the same day as Mass Effect 3, the game whom they're borrowing so liberally from.Whether that's suicide or an attempt at "Mass Effect was awesome, but it left me wanting even MORE. Hey, this 'Xcom' game looks like it has a similar feel to it" time will tell. Borrow a treasured IP, gut it and stuff it with you old graphical assets while pulling the combat from the(?) #1 squad-based sci-fi action RPG game on the market.

2K Marin only has 2 other titles under their belt, both of which are based in the 1960's, so if there's any suggestion that this "Xcom" taking place in the 60's has some kind of deep hidden meaning, they are patently full of shit. They're playing it safe by recycling and have a renowned license to back everything up. Someone more malicious than I might imply that they are recycling talents AND assets in the process.

Yeah it looks good, and I won't burn the efforts of the artists and programmers just because I feel there were some poor development decisions. Unless the game gets a unanamous "flop" rating at release I'll give it a shot but...

I will punch them square in the face if they start making videos and presentations in an attempt to convince me that the orange is really an apple.

 

[dough]

Gamers wanting a taste of the ol' good stuff should check out UFO:Alien Invasion. It's purdy darn good (that's a bit of an understatement)

http://ufoai.ninex.info/wiki/index.php/News

 

[Suomimaster]

XCOM is basically Mass Effect in the 1950s, and not in the good way. Just compare these two and you'll see they are almost the same game. Just listening to that Dev Diary made feel sad, because they could have made it so much better even as a FPS. But no. They decided to completely ignore EVERYTHING and make it "their own story" about X-COM.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

"Our telling of Xcom is an origin story,"

Which it had, in 1999.

"It's about experiencing the origins of this organization from a really zoomed-in and boots-on-the-ground perspective."

By starting it in 1950's America rather than with the new countries introduced in X-Com.

"This organization" is a precursor to the global agency that battled alien invaders in the original games, established to fight a more localized infiltration of the United States.

But had no lasting impact on it whatsoever...or that was mentioned...or that took the GLOBAL idea.

But while the new title is built on more personalized, up-front close encounters, there will still be numerous strategic elements which may, if all goes well, give old-time X-Com fans a reason to show up.

Oh, we have a reason to show up now?

Players will recruit and manage agents, upgrading and improving their abilities as the game progresses, and a "research economy" will provide opportunities to even the odds against the enemy but also force players to make choices about what to focus on and what to let slide.

So ignoring the "grow by combat" of the original. And adding in a few flowcharts.

The map room, which should sound familiar to anyone who played the earlier games, will display emergency situations as the occur across the U.S., and these too will force players to make choices. "There are backbone missions that drive the plot forward and there are dozens of other kind of strategic opportunities that pop up," said Narrative Director Jordan Thomas. "If you take one, you may lose the other."

So, like any other game with time-sensitive missions.

How about you give us a view of what you mean, Jordan? How about a demo that we can show up for? How about...showing us X-Com instead of XCOM.

Just a thought.

 

[Chaos Marine]

If it was a beloved franchise then you'd be making and actual X-Com game, not some shitty 1960s Mass Effect rip off trying to score attention by sticking a far superior game's name to your crap.

Invigorating nothing. Being a squaddie means knowing you could be dead at any given second. At best you have power armour which isn't a guarantee of survival.

What made the original game so special was that it was fucking X-Com! A tactical turned based stratagy game. You're turning it into a shooter because the majority of today's kids are fuckwits who don't care about anything unless it's a shooter. Fuck, just about all of them know nothing X-Com! Using the original's name for attention has only pissed people off and nothing else! You'd do better to just change the name and call it The human race (Comprising of only America) vs aliensd Mass Effect Style.

The feeling of being a squaddie in the original game would entail not knowing if any second you were going to be reduced to mush by a lucky plasma bolt. With your game, you pretty much shrug off enemy fire CoD style, resuscitate downed team members and carry on like everything is peachy!

The only thing you've thing you've done with the mythos is defenestrated it.

Your alien designs are unique. I'll grant you that. But so was X-Com Apocalypse. Their aliens were all about genetic engineering and the like.

Demographic? WTF? Who let the marketing hack in?

Look. 2K Marin, anyone played and loved the original hates your remake. It's nothing to do with X-Com. It's like giving me flat coke and telling me it's orange juice.

 

[Hyakunin Isshu]

How is this like X-COM?

There will be no Base Building or Base Control.

No Research (they have something called "Research points", which is just another way of saying "experience points") which was the whole point of X-COM in the first place.

No Manufacturing.
No Random Missions.
No UFO to shoot down.
No more then two men/NPCs to command, but they can never die.
No Nations/City to protect.
No Micromanaging of any kind.
No real Strategy of any kind.
Nothing, and I mean *NOTHING* from the first 3 games to connect it to X-COM.
NO homage beyond ONE or TWO names.

Again, how is this like X-COM? All we get is a gay guy:
http://gaygamer.net/2011/06/e3_11_interview_jordan_thomas.html

 

[Hydrus]

The interesting thing here is that there was absolutely no FPS gameplay footage shown. Lots of shots inside the home base, but nothing showing you actually fighting the aliens.

I can't help but get the feeling Movie Bob gets when they don't schedule a film for reviewers.

 

[Ayay]

Meeting started with ..Mass Effect is making a buttload of money and we want it. So they cobbled together a game and then put a old title on it. Hey it will cause a storm on forums Free publicity and the huge number of people that never played the original will buy the game.They most likely allready have dlc for it and a sequal in the works. For me the trailer only showed a game i allready played oh like 50 times the last 8-10 years.