XCom: Enemy Unknown Designer Hopes to "Honor" the Original

[F-I-D-O]

Sorry, but this game has been in development so long, and back to the drawing board more than once, I have no faith that it will hold up to the original.

The only thing it has in common is in name only.

I'm afraid it's just gonna suck.

You do realize that the FPS Xcom is still in development as a prequel, right?
This is a separate game that was only recently announced (note the subtitle Enemy Unknown).
It hasn't gone back to the drawing board, it's just 2K making the most out of their license. They sate the hardcore fans with the strategy title, use the FPS to build name recognition (people will end up buying this because they recognize the name from the FPS trailers), then release the FPS as purely a prequel story.

Am I the only one who is interested to try the new movement system? The different classes will probably have enough variance in the movement to seem different. Having my scout sprint across open cover, then keep my heavy stationary for the reflex shoot, as my soldier uses a suppression ability, all while my sniper lines up a headshot to kill that muton. I could do all that in the original game (just minus classes), but now I can focus on the movement and squad maneuvers, and not necessarily the individual time units.

It feels to me like the way a reboot should be. The original Xcom is still playable, especially with XcomExetender/Util mods. But this reboot, rather than stay EXACTLY the same as the original, uses new technologies and gaming trends to create a similar experience while remaining true to the original. There is still hardcore base building. There is still permadeath for soldiers, and real time research and manufacturing.

Plus, there is still panic/berserk.

 

[weirdee]

Also, I was referring to how Sid Meier has burrowed into Solomon's brain. Nothing good ever happens after that.

Seriously, when you quote somebody, at least have some sort of related remark instead of jacking my words for your own agenda.

 

[Joe Deadman]

It all still sounds somewhat good and everything but I'm still dissapointed about the removal of time units.

Some of my finest moments in the x-com games came about because I screwed up and didn't have enough TU's to do something. To give an example:

Spoiler: Example

In apocalypse I found one of my soldiers who was weilding a rocket launcher that needed to be reloaded face to face with one of the brainsuckers, there was no way he could reload get to a safe distance and fire the rocket launcher at all. To top it all off the only other person in the area ran a risk of shooting him due to the close quarters of the corridoor they were in.

So what did I do?

I had him drop his rocket launcher pull out a grenade and set it to 0... only to realise he didn't have enough TU's left to throw it. Then I had an idea, he would fly upwards by one (he was in the flying armour) and DROP the grenade, worked perfectly (well the rocket launcher was destroyed and he still got a little damage from the grenade but it was nothing serious).

I'm not sure if that would be possible in the new system at all, I mean that sounds like an action a move and an action to me, is that allowed?

Ah well hopefully it will still be good in it's own right and if not well there is always that indie x-com inspired thing.

 

[LorienvArden]

this isn't the 50s X-COM FPS, its another game. Developed by Firaxis, the guys behind Civilization.

Have you seen Civilisation V ? It is a horrible bastardisation of a once great game. I shudder when I have the wild urge to re-install it again to see if any of the myriade problems it had have been fixed by now.
It was unplayable at release.
It's design was horribad.
It was absolutly unworthy of the proud games before it.


I seriously hope that Firaxis can make a decent Xcom game out of this, but completly throwing out the TU system because it required the player to think (in a turn based strategy game!!!) does not bode well.
A simple example how TUs could have worked:

Every soldier has 50 TUs.
A perk can raise that to 75 TUs.
Moving one square: 5 Tus.
Firing a gun: 25Tus
Firing a heavy gun: 50Tus
etc.

Whats the change to old Xcom ?
Every soldier has the same TU rating, unless granted Perks. Firing weapons is always a fixed value instead of a percentage of total TUs.
The benefits?
After your first couple of missions you figured out that you can move about 5 tiles on open ground and fire once per turn. You get a feeling for what a soldier should be able to do. The decision weither to shoot twice and not move or make a run and not move is not a choice between two presets (move and shoot or shoot and shoot)but a deliberate design (exactly that far - then a shot - then run like hell)
More room for effects encountered in previous games, like beeing fatigued, shaken or injured.
The Drawbacks?
People have to think about their turn and how they spend their resources.
Those that can't figure out 50/5=10 without asking their Cellphones would be absolutly bamboozled by the system.

 

[Mayhemski]

@Ultratwinkie - thanks for the links to the articles/screenies

Ohh god the first picture on this link makes me want this game (http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=458283). Terror mission and a garage....

Please don't let this be a screw up - please

 

[Wuvlycuddles]

I think this game is going to be the "Fallout 3" of the franchise. It'll be a good game and it's going to be hugely popular. The changes are great for all the new people playing it. But the hardcore fans will be disappointed to say the least.

I can't speak for other fans of the series but for me personally, my expectations are so low thanks all the crappy wannabe Xcom games over the years Firaxis will have to try pretty damn hard to disappoint me further. So I guess this might be "Batman Begins" of the series?

 

[otakon17]

Really? Damn, I sure as hell can't remember X-Com coming out for the consoles.....

 

[incal11]

Oh god, please don't mess it up. Please.

My thoughts.

Albeit it is weird to hear the people who made Civilization saying they don't want folks "thinking too much".

>_>.

10 bucks says I'll like it. I have an incredibly low threshold for being entertained. Which is probably why I'm so harsh when a game bores me.

Me too, I don't feel good about the not thinking too much part and the cover system...

(btw could you please check out those messages I sent you some time ago or just treat me like a human being and say your not interested)

 

[Inkidu]

As a new X-Com fan, and one not blinded by nostalgia and its magical saccharine-sweet ability to make things seem better than they are in reality, I thinks this is what they mean when they say about thinking too much.

Operative "Cornbread" has 100 TUs
Okay I can take five steps (30 used)
Great, now crouch (34)

Great now throw the electro-flar (for the sake of argument lets say 40 left)

Alien sighted. Eh... I need to take one step and crouch to really get a shot at him.

30 left

Okay (again for the sake of argument lets say the auto shot takes up the remaining thirty)

!No Time Units Remaining!

What? How... He had to fucking turn! Jesus! God in Heaven! All that dodged fire, all the math!

"Cornbread" is blown to bits next turn.

Then you repeat the process for at least fourteen other people. Factor in weight limit and different people having odd TUs (58 or something) that's hard to calculate and it borders on the ridiculous for even the most avid gamer.

As for what they're trying to implement I like it a lot more. I like classes, abilities, and perks over the random, near-abstract stats of several basically identical people. Sure a guy with lots of TUs and reaction time might be considered a scout. Doubly so if he's a rookie. However, I'll take five highly flexible people over fourteen where any portion of them are fodder to eat up overwatch and mind control.

I actually think it'll make me care more. Seeing as Rookies in the new game don't divulge their class until their first level up. It makes losing Jane Smith the sniper all that more impacting because there's no guarantee that I'll get another sniper. This forces me to come up with a new game plan instead of rolling the medieval style officers in the back fodder up front.

At first it might seem shallow, with just a move-action/move-move system, but when you realize that a rifleman has a "run and gun" perk that lets them double move and then shoot, it changes things up.

Also officers are a lot more precious. The officer's school allows you to send off (I'm not quite sure if it's non-coms to make them officers or just any unit with sufficient rank) men and women so that their experience actually becomes a universal boost for all the troops. Or you could focus on the Super Heavy Infantry Vehicles (new games HWPs, and a better acronym).

Also I think they're making autopsies more effective. I still don't know if they do fuck all in the original, but it's heavily implied that they will provide bonuses to fighting aliens in this game.

I'll gladly give up fourteen not so specialized people for four highly specialized people. I think nothing of losing half my squad say on a battleship or base assault, but each lose should matter. I'm more upset if I lose equipment than if I lose people.

 

[Casey Bowen]

Really? Damn, I sure as hell can't remember X-Com coming out for the consoles.....

Came out on the original PSX. Don't think it did for anything else console-wise.
http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps/572590-x-com-ufo-defense


While I don't recall a lot of griping about it at the time, I don't know that it sold extremely well either. I didn't really care since I was playing the PC version. This time round I'll likely get the PS3 since I no longer keep up with PC upgrades like I used to and my machine is 4 years old.