Firaxis Reveals a "Real" X-Com Remake

[Callate]

you are aware that there are loads of turn based strategy games on consoles right hell even x-com got a release on the psx and it worked fairly well

also what is it with all these old strategy games getting ,remade this is what the third game based on x-com jagged alliance is coming back and we have the cartel as well which is the syndicate remake

Just throwing this out there, but Final Fantasy Tactics and the Disgaea series are actually console exclusive turn based strategy games and are some of the most beloved (and well playing) turn based strategy games ever created. They may not have the menu minutia that XCom has, but there's no reason why the genre can't work on console. RTS, sure I get that, but TBS?

Well, here's the thing. What I've seen of Final Fantasy Tactics and Disgaea are both, as far as I've seen, "three-quarter view" games- much like the original X-Com and Jagged Alliance. If the new XCom sticks with that, fine and dandy, though it may prove difficult to draw customers to something that looks like a board game in its screen shots based on a long-dormant franchise.

If, however, they decide to go the "full 3D" route, suddenly we have to deal with cameras as well as lines-of-sight and multiple "planes"/floors. These things still remain a bane in many action games, where the player is generally responsible for only one character, never mind a strategy title where the player has to track one soldier on the second floor looking out a window and another crouched behind a hay bale and another taking fire in a chamber composed of opaque alien alloys.

If anyone has devised a good way of dealing with that problem, please, enlighten me.

 

[Penguin_Factory]

Awesome! Maybe no people can stop whining about the FPS.

Seriously though, this was a smart move. The reaction to FPSCOM showed there's obviously demand for the older style. I'll be eagerly awaiting both.

 

[VoidWanderer]

Having never played any of the original XCom games, I am more concerned about a friendly console Strategy game, than the "FPS games are good" frankenstein monsters of Syndicate and XCom.

 

[Warachia]

I'm sorry, I have a bad feeling about this.

Now, I loved X-Com. I still even play it occasionally; despite what are quite low-resolution graphics by today's standards, it's still an amazingly deep and compelling experience.

But I'm finding it hard to envision a genuinely turn-based game selling on consoles. I'm having a difficult time imagining a console-controller based interface that would work well with turn-based mechanics; it's a problem that the "real-time strategy" genre has struggled hard to overcome on console systems as well.

I'm also wondering if some bright person might not try to "update" the series in ways that will dilute what made the originals so enjoyable, much as happened with the original series the first time around.

And I'm wondering if, despite all the uproar about the FPS XCom and everyone who professes their undying love for the originals, a new game might come out and, well, simply not get bought. It certainly wouldn't be the first time fan noise didn't translate to sales.

Believe me, I hope I'm wrong on every count.

you are aware that there are loads of turn based strategy games on consoles right hell even x-com got a release on the psx and it worked fairly well

also what is it with all these old strategy games getting, remade this is what the third game based on x-com jagged alliance is coming back and we have the cartel as well which is the syndicate remake

I imagine they are getting remade because any game with a similar style inevitably gets compared to them anyway, to me it just seems odd remaking a game that wasn't very good, but if they can improve the controls and fix the broken combat I'll be looking forward to it.

Just please, CHANGE THE NAME. Remakes don't have to have the exact same name as the original.

 

[Souplex]

...said Firaxis Games President Steve Martin...

Steve Martin?!

That Steve Martin? Probably not, but it would be funny.

 

[theonecookie]

you are aware that there are loads of turn based strategy games on consoles right hell even x-com got a release on the psx and it worked fairly well

also what is it with all these old strategy games getting ,remade this is what the third game based on x-com jagged alliance is coming back and we have the cartel as well which is the syndicate remake

Just throwing this out there, but Final Fantasy Tactics and the Disgaea series are actually console exclusive turn based strategy games and are some of the most beloved (and well playing) turn based strategy games ever created. They may not have the menu minutia that XCom has, but there's no reason why the genre can't work on console. RTS, sure I get that, but TBS?

Well, here's the thing. What I've seen of Final Fantasy Tactics and Disgaea are both, as far as I've seen, "three-quarter view" games- much like the original X-Com and Jagged Alliance. If the new XCom sticks with that, fine and dandy, though it may prove difficult to draw customers to something that looks like a board game in its screen shots based on a long-dormant franchise.

If, however, they decide to go the "full 3D" route, suddenly we have to deal with cameras as well as lines-of-sight and multiple "planes"/floors. These things still remain a bane in many action games, where the player is generally responsible for only one character, never mind a strategy title where the player has to track one soldier on the second floor looking out a window and another crouched behind a hay bale and another taking fire in a chamber composed of opaque alien alloys.

If anyone has devised a good way of dealing with that problem, please, enlighten me.

It wouldn't be that hard to get the cameras to work in a full 3d game basically the left stick would be in charge of moving the screen and the right stick would deal with cameras then add in the ability to switch squaddies with the left and right bumper and you have the workings of a control scheme for a controller,the real issue is going to be issuing orders it works fine if your using a grid but if not its going to be a bit of a pain

 

[Varanfan9]

I'm sorry, I have a bad feeling about this.

Now, I loved X-Com. I still even play it occasionally; despite what are quite low-resolution graphics by today's standards, it's still an amazingly deep and compelling experience.

But I'm finding it hard to envision a genuinely turn-based game selling on consoles. I'm having a difficult time imagining a console-controller based interface that would work well with turn-based mechanics; it's a problem that the "real-time strategy" genre has struggled hard to overcome on console systems as well.

There are plenty of great turn based strategy games on consoles. Fire Emblem, Disgaea, and Final Fantasy tactics to name a few.
Anyways I may have to check this one out. I missed out on X-com the first time around and I have been lately getting into Turn based strategy board games like Warhammer 40,000 so this sounds like fun. I still want the FPS one though cause I like B-movie style games.

 

[wyrmslayer1991]

Dude. Yes. Firaxis is amazing. They could remake Cooking Mama into a world-building strategy game and I'd still buy it.

 

[Blackpapa]

1:NO! NOT A WIDER AUDIENCE!!!!!!!!! NOW ITS RUINED FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!
GIVE US A TRUE XCOM GAME!!!!!!!WITH A UI YOU NEED A SPREADSHEET TO OPERATE!!!!!! NOT SOMETHING STREAMLINED SO EVERYONE CAN ENJOY IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did you ever think why number-crunching is done with spreadsheets instead of, say, radial menus and xbox controllers? Have you ever thought that maybe it's actually more convenient that way? Has it occurred to you that maybe, just maybe, spreadsheets are actually the most streamlined, user-friendly and most convenient way of building a data-heavy UI?

or some "hardcore" pc gamers(the annoying type of harcore gamers who think of console gaming and gamers as inferior to pc gaming

Don't worry, they're superior in terms of mass-market appeal and being narrow-purpose devices for exclusively consuming content - any businessman would agree with you.

2:NO!!!!!!!!!!!! NOT A CONSOLE RELEASE MAKE IT PC EXCLUSIVE FOR REAL GAMERS!!!!!!
NOT FOR CONSOLE GAMING RETARDS!!!!!!!
NOW ITS RUINED FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!! IM GONNA PIRATE IT OUT OF PROTEST!!!!!! DERP
SERVES THEM RIGHT FOR ALSO TRYING TO GIVE GAMERS ON THE CONSOLES A CHANCE TO PLAY A GREAT GAME!!!!!

The problem isn't with the developer as much as it is with the publishers. The reason Stalker 2 is uncertain is because publishers demanded it be turned into a Modern Warfare 3 clone - the developer declined. This is also the reason Crysis 2 retail differs significantly from the leaked beta - note we're talking about FPSes here, a genre endemic to consoles.

PC exclusives don't have to deal with the obnoxious publisher crap, digital distribution empowering developers to do what they want without outrageous demands from stupid people in suits who don't play games at all. They are the reason console gamers aren't able to experience the richness and diversity of PC gaming. Thus it's no wonder dedicated gamers want to play games that are developed for the PC and then ported to consoles instead of simultaneous multiplatform releases - the former are usually better.

That said I'm curious as to what they do with the IP. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Here's a quote from an article about the bastardized action game

Last year 2K announced cult turn-based strategy series Xcom was to return ? but this time as a first-person shooter. Fans recoiled at the apparent bastardisation of their beloved series, but Hartmann says there?s good reason for the change of direction.

He [Christoph Hartmann] explains: ?The ?90s generation of gamers all love Xcom and we own the IP, so we thought OK, what do we do with it? Every studio we had wanted to do it and each one had its own spin on it. But the problem was that turn-based strategy games were no longer the hottest thing on planet Earth. But this is not just a commercial thing ? strategy games are just not contemporary.

[http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/interview-christophhartmann-2kgames/082216]

Not contemporary. Not a commercial thing. That sounded insulting, as if gamers were getting too dumb to play strategy games anymore. Joke's on Christoph, the guy is so full of shit.

 

[Zulnam]

While this is is interesting news, I remain skeptical. Why?

1. This press release is the same bullshit by the book release that every company ever does when making a remake or continuing a series not done by their company. "ZOMG HUGE FANS! IT WILL BE SO TR00 AND NEW AND AWESOME!". 2K said the exact same thing when announcing XCom.

2. I find it hard to believe that people think that Firaxis will make XCom right, when they dumbed down Civ5, a game from a series also very complex. And while Civ5 did have a fun combat system... That's about all it did right. Everything else was way better in the previous game.

But it looks like we'll have TWO classic X-Com remakes. And no, I don't mean the shooter. I mean: http://www.xenonauts.com/

Hey, at least one of them has to end up right.

 

[Robert Ewing]

Hmm, very good, didn't see this coming.

Although Firaxis tend to have a history of not doing what people expect. That isn't always a good thing.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

He [Christoph Hartmann] explains: ?The ?90s generation of gamers all love Xcom and we own the IP, so we thought OK, what do we do with it? Every studio we had wanted to do it and each one had its own spin on it. But the problem was that turn-based strategy games were no longer the hottest thing on planet Earth. But this is not just a commercial thing ? strategy games are just not contemporary.

[http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/interview-christophhartmann-2kgames/082216]

Not contemporary. Not a commercial thing. That sounded insulting, as if gamers were getting too dumb to play strategy games anymore. Joke's on Christoph, the guy is so full of shit.

As I said when I first heard that, it's a pretty fucking moronic thing for the publisher of Civilization IV and V to say.

 

[BarbaricGoose]

You know what I have to say to this?

I think you know.

<youtube=P3ALwKeSEYs>

 

[80Maxwell08]

This is good news indeed. Now Firaxis, when you've finished with X-Com could you please take a look at Syndicate? Cheers.

Look to Paradox and their game called Cartel for that. Apparently it's supposed to be very similar to Syndicate from what I heard.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Son, Rebelstar Raiders was the beginning of X-Com, and that was on the Speccy

That you soldered together yourself uphill both ways in the snow without shoes.

...

I always wanted one of the ZX-81 DIY kits but they were rare as rocking horse shit in Oz.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Son, Rebelstar Raiders was the beginning of X-Com, and that was on the Speccy

That you soldered together yourself uphill both ways in the snow without shoes.

...

I always wanted one of the ZX-81 DIY kits but they were rare as rocking horse shit in Oz.

I had one. Possibly the most frustrating door-stop that I ever used. If you nudged the table it was on, the entire machine would reset.

Not pleasant when you'd just spent seven hours programming and got up to save it.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Dude. Yes. Firaxis is amazing. They could remake Cooking Mama into a world-building strategy game and I'd still buy it.

...

Gentlemen? We have a new challenge...

 

[imperialus]

The thing is I'm not in the least bit concerned about it getting dumbed down... Why? because if it is, then I've still got Xenonauts to fall back on.

http://www.xenonauts.com/category/screenshot-gallery/#!prettyPhoto[Gallery]/2/
http://www.xenonauts.com/category/screenshot-gallery/#!prettyPhoto[Gallery]/12/
http://www.xenonauts.com/category/screenshot-gallery/#!prettyPhoto[Gallery]/7/

 

[sniddy_v1legacy]

This is awesome news....I really, really want this to work....please.

Heck just put pretty graphics on Xcom - jazz up some elements (interception of UFO's) and

JUST TAKE MY MONEY

 

[kingmob]

I love civ5, but it has so much more potential. Tbh I feel that it is a good game because the basics are there, but nothing else. Therefore I am cautiously optimistic about this one. I expect a game that has the core gameplay in order, horrible AI and even worse optimization. And a weird, not really working interface.
And then I will play it until the early morning, just like civ5