XCom E3 Trailer Brings the Disappointment

[Andy Chalk]

It's interesting to see how many people think this trailer looks hot. (And to note, again, the very clear divide between those who have played X-Com and those who haven't.)

For the record, as much of a fan as I was of X-Com, I have no problems with taking a different approach. I thought Fallout 3 was a great twist on the franchise. Hell, I liked Command & Conquer: Renegade.

The problem with this trailer isn't so much the fact that it's raping the corpse as it is simply that there's nothing to it that's given value by the X-Com name. In fact, quite the opposite is true; whatever X-Com x-pectations we had (you see what I did there?) are pretty much shot to shit. If this isn't really going to be a first-person X-Com, why bill it as such?

That said, I'm mainly dumping on the trailer, not the game. The game is a long way off and there's no point in judging it now. But as a marketing tool, I think this trailer is a pretty big misstep. It has people talking, which is always good, but as for actually showing off the game? Not so much.

 

[Kilo24]

X-Com's story and setting were hardly strong points in the first place. "Aliens invade earth to kill everything" is rather dull, even though the aliens were fairly diverse. Even if it was decent, an FPS based on that doesn't interest me in any way.

The trailer is not connected to X-Com in any way; no-one would compare it to X-Com if it wasn't for the name. It's less than just a cheap exploitation of X-Com - it's a name change of a generic shooter set in the 50's with one type of enemy.

I could really foresee an excellent X-Com shooter though. Keep it squad-based (and pretty lethal to the soldiers) while letting you jump from one soldier's view to another soldier's view, have the non-base environments be randomly generated, keep the base building and research aspects in an overworld map outside of the missions, and maintain diverse enemies. That, assuming the AI was competent and everything worked well, would be a good successor to X-Com. But I'm pretty sure that's too much to hope for, especially after seeing this trailer.

 

[Xerosch]

Wow, that was very... meh.

Doesn't look good, there's the black slime that's featured in apparently every second game I see and it feels like a bad version of BioShock.

Why don't they stick to the established universe/look? Stupid relaunches...

 

[Atmos Duality]

I've never played X-Com, but am I wrong in thinking that looks pretty awesome?

No. Your opinion is valid. It's all about perspective.

But this trailer is quickly reminding me why reboots of old successes are destined to fail in some manner; the successful reboots and remakes keep to the original's premise without outright copying it.

THIS...this sin against my child hood...misses the point completely...and that has more to do with me rather than them, I admit.

But here's what this trailer says to me...

The trailer looks cheap. The game looks like it was run through the FPS-O'-Matic. A reskin of UT3 with lots of bling effects and none of the haunting, panicky atmosphere that the original game had.

You didn't know what was around the corner. The game's difficulty revolved around what risks you took, and when. Do I capture the telepathic alien commander? Or do I lob rockets into his command center just to ensure he won't brainjack someone else? Especially the guy with the rocket launcher.

No such decision is necessary here. Just jump in with your shotgun to help Commander Mulder unravel the mystery of what the G-man isn't telling us. You could bet money that what I just said is probably the plot.

But what really bothers me is that after 2K games makes its pile of money (because that's what FPS translates into now, as long as you stuff it full of techno-goodies like bloom lighting and a physics engine.) they will pat themselves on the back about "taking a risk" like they did with Borderlands; while the few of us who care stand around the violated body of our beloved X-COM, knowing that it was raped for no other reason than to spite us.

I can just see what the executive/producer of this shit is really thinking: "Thanks for the free money assholes! If you had not loved the game in the past, we wouldn't have been able to convince corporate to green light this shit!"

I mean, think about what is really going on here. They get approval to use the license for a successful game...and use it to make a game that has nothing to do with why the original game was great. This is a bait and switch gag, and it's insulting to me, and probably anyone who enjoyed the original games.

That's why some of us are arguing that it should have been a new franchise; not X-COM.
Because all they did was use the name to get their Bioshock clone approved.

Sorry about the long post, but that's what sort of difference perspective can make.
Remember; every video game could be someone else's first. That's why such opinions are valid.

 

[SomeBoredGuy]

Snip

I think I could definitely agree that they should have just made this a new franchise. Again, I have not played the original X-COM (and barely heard about it at that) but it is a very bad idea to do a completely different game and name it after an entirely unrelated series. Now almost every fan of the original will not even consider buying the game, no matter how good it might turn out to be, simply because they hate what it did to the X-COM name. And probably about at least a few hundred, maybe even a thousand or so, sales they will have lost for the name alone with probably only half that number (or even less) buying it because of that name.

And that's assuming the game actually is good, it may look like it from the trailers to someone who hasn't played X-COM but trailers shouldn't be your primary source of info.

 

[Cpt. Red]

Links to Print Media are rather hard to do given that they are Print Media and not online. That said, I found someone who's posted up the bulk of the text here [http://uk.gamespot.com/pages/forums/show_msgs.php?topic_id=27311384].

After opening that link and reading I now forgive them again. Still cautious but also interested.

 

[NamesAreHardToPick]

The original XCom's appeal, to me, was in the opening missions... deploying my crappy new recruits against something shuffling about at night in a farm field. First person shooters do that kind of tension really well.

The other cool-ass part of XCom, doing research tasks and using the resulting tech, could be really great in first-person.

I think the "2K MARIN IS RAPING MY CHILDHOOD" crowd should lighten up. It's not like the original games were perfect. Remember spending dozens of boring turns trying to track down the last baddie on some huge and complicated map? Remember the game-rage induced by whiffing important high-probability shots and losing a good character as a result? Yeah, not a thing in first person shooters.

Who says you can't deploy as a squad? There might be some interesting multiplayer game modes. Can't do that (well) in a turnbased.

 

[Atmos Duality]

THIS...this sin against my child hood...misses the point completely...and that has more to do with me rather than them, I admit.

I asked this elsewhere and all I got was a lot of flaming in return, but I'll try again in the mildest way I can:

Are you telling me that your childhood had not already been thoroughly raped by this?

http://www.mobygames.com/game/x-com-apocalypse

Or this?

http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/x-com-interceptor

Or, for the love of everything that is beautiful and good in the universe, by THIS turd?

http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/x-com-enforcer


Why are we getting all riled up by the one X-Com labeled property that has nothing to do with the two original games that have been relentlessly bastardized for two decades that actually looks interesting?

Enforcer and Interceptor were piss awful, but I admit that I actually loved Apocalypse.
That's because I was fortunate enough to play Apocalypse first before finding a working copy of the original, and loved it even more. Terror of the Deep...eh, not so much. It was just a cheap reskin of the original. Still a pretty good game on its own merits.

But to answer your question: Uh, yeah. Those games largely sucked, but NONE of that excuses what I saw in that trailer.
So yes, I am going to keep getting riled up until I see some evidence (official, no less. Like actual gameplay footage) to prove the contrary.

 

[OrenjiJusu]

Are you telling me that your childhood had not already been thoroughly raped by this?

http://www.mobygames.com/game/x-com-apocalypse

Hey! Apocalypse wasn't that bad. at least it still felt(-ish) and was playable like X-COM, it was a small departure, not an outright genre change.

 

[ZephrC]

I think that was an awful trailer. The game I will reserve judgment on. After all, it's possible that they just don't have the interesting bits ready to show yet. It's still quite a long time until the game is supposed to be released. So yeah, maybe there's still hope that the game might not suck. That transcript of a print article linked earlier kept that hope alive.

But that trailer was awful. There was absolutely nothing in there that held any interest for anybody that ever cared about XCom. Why? Just why?

 

[300lb. Samoan]

I never played XCom, so I'm not getting the 'disappointment' aspect. But this just looks like fried butt cheeks. Absolutely nothing of interest, a rehash of Resistance with new oily aliens and Bioshock 2 graphics. Didn't think it would be this bland...

 

[WaysideMaze]

Oh look, it's Bioshock 3.

I've never played Xcom and know next to nothing about it, so can't really comment on how different this is from the original.

However I have to agree with Wordslinger. That entire video just felt like a reskinned bioshock to me.

 

[GrinningManiac]

So I just looked up the original XCom - UFO defence

...

[HEADING=1]WHY HAS NOONE TOLD ME ABOUT THIS F*CKING AWESOME GAME BEFORE!?

GODDAMNIT I WANT IT![/HEADING]

 

[Doug]

That ain't so bad. But then again, I've never played X-com.

It has nothing to do with the original X-Com, frankly. That said, I dunno, it looks like it might be an interesting game, though it wrinks me that they used the name for something wholly unconnected.

As long as it's a good FPS.

It's a shooter, but is it Generic?

Good question - I dunno, it looks like a cross between Bioshock's gameplay and the 50's....

Gah, I might just try it.

 

[Chaos Marine]

I screamed no in such absolute fear and panic that my housemate charged into my room to see if I was okay. I still consider my action remarkably reserved and conservative.

 

[teh_gunslinger]

Even if we look past the fact that it's clearly not X-Com, I still don't think it's an impressive trailer.

It looks like Redneck Rampage 2.

And I very much agree with Nightfish. The number of people who haven't played X-Com is disturbing indeed.

Review [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/5379-Review-X-Com-Revival-Package]
A brilliant "Let's Play" by @GloatingSwine that shows how wonderful it is [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/362.82574]


Where to buy 2 excellent and 3 good games for only £9 [http://store.steampowered.com/sub/964/]

I can, sort of, think it could be a Destroy All Humans: Humanity Strikes Back or even Zombies Ate My Neighbours: 20 years on, but X-Com? No.

Though this thread is very depressing for a multitude of reasons I have to thank you for reminding me of the Let's Play. I may read it through again as it was awesome. It really stands out for me as one of the best experiences I've had here on the site. Gloating Swine really did a great job.

 

[Treblaine]

That ain't so bad. But then again, I've never played X-com.

It has nothing to do with the original X-Com, frankly. That said, I dunno, it looks like it might be an interesting game, though it wrinks me that they used the name for something wholly unconnected.

As long as it's a good FPS.

It's a shooter, but is it Generic?

Good question - I dunno, it looks like a cross between Bioshock's gameplay and the 50's....

Gah, I might just try it.

Hmm, there has been a big exodus from 2k since Bioshock 1 was made, and it kinda showed in how Bioshock 2 wasn't as good.

I think we will just have to wait and see... strange, Bioshock was a "spiritual sequel" to System Shock, now we have an XCOM sequel that is not... spiritual. It just takes the IP in a completely different (almost TF2 inspired art) direction.

Who knows, could be good, at points it looks like dumb shooter, at other times the Space: 2001-ish obelisk promises something deeper and more significant. But what the hell, it's hard to screw up a shooter, I may get it anyway (I got Wolfenstein 2009 against my better judgement)

Ultimately, because of the musical chairs with 2K Marin's staff they are in the same boat as Infinity Ward, they will have to prove themselves all over again and win back their reputation.