XCom: Enemy Unknown Gets Screens and Details

[csoloist]

3 - Nothing could be as awesome as Xcom, to the Xcom fans.

3-take of the nostalgia goggles they are bad for you.

I replay Enemy Unknown (and TFTD, dunno why) every few years. What the original XCOM tries no game since has done better. Rather than improving on the formula they always try to mess with things - always works out for the worse. Same reason Master of Orion is still my go-to single player 4x (and bloody hell does MoO have some problems). GalCiv, Space Empires, SotS even the MoO sequels - devs never seem to learn from and improve on the 'gold standard', they always throw too much of their own shit into the mix.

This new game has zero chance of being better than the original. That's just how it goes. With a little luck it'll be decent - hopefully better at least than the more recent UFO titles - but that's about the most we can hope for.

 

[jedizero]

This new game has zero chance of being better than the original. That's just how it goes. With a little luck it'll be decent - hopefully better at least than the more recent UFO titles - but that's about the most we can hope for.

Wrong, its has zero chance of being better than our nostalgic memories of it. We already have the baseline set to 'perfect', in our head.

But to a new generation, it might be the game that is remembered in their nostalgic memories forever, like the original is for us.

 

[csoloist]

Wrong, its has zero chance of being better than our nostalgic memories of it. We already have the baseline set to 'perfect', in our head.

But to a new generation, it might be the game that is remembered in their nostalgic memories forever, like the original is for us.

"Nostalgic memories"? The hell are you talking about? I last replayed it two years ago. Also, the original XCOM had a crapton of issues, what is this "perfect" you're on about?


The new Enemy Unknown will not be as good as the old, end of. It's like predicting that the next Bayformers movie will be shit - it's not difficult.

 

[spacewalker]

Any word on destructible terrain or destructible walls? The rocket launcher was my favorie way of removing enemy cover. You could even use the plasma weapons to tunnel through hills if you wanted to.

 

[kingmob]

This new game has zero chance of being better than the original. That's just how it goes. With a little luck it'll be decent - hopefully better at least than the more recent UFO titles - but that's about the most we can hope for.

Wrong, its has zero chance of being better than our nostalgic memories of it. We already have the baseline set to 'perfect', in our head.

But to a new generation, it might be the game that is remembered in their nostalgic memories forever, like the original is for us.

You mistake this for a game people only have memories of. This is a game that is still played now and then by most enthusiasts. There are even mods out there...

 

[Alan Sigus]

I remain cautiously optimistic.

...and I'm a huge fan of the play type- originals, Extraterrestials, Altar's "UFO" series, I've played them all.

So, sadly, it will be really easy to piss me off if they don't get some aspects right
It will still be must buy, so they'll get my money, will I be happy later or not.

 

[Souplex]

Check that third screenshot, is that an Xbox 'Y' icon? Is this Console instead of PC?

Probably both, but it's good that they're making it console available so those of us who cut our strategy teeth on the games by Intelligent Systems and the like can play it without having to spend stupid amounts of money on a PC that can run it.
There hasn't been a real strategy game in quite a while (It's real time, or strategy; not both.) and I am very enthused.

 

[Squickster]

First off, I remember buying Xcom : TFTD when it was brand spanking new and i enjoyed Apoc. and beating the crap out of it. Although, i hated how it basically forced you into playing the RTS side instead of turn based but ya take the pros with cons if you truly love a series.

I was REALLY excited about this game when the idea of it came about 4 years ago and they had a video about it. I was REALLY happy to see that it had a demo of the game play at E3 (if i'm not mistaken) but now that they have waited THIS long to release "new" pictures and whatnot it seems to me that this will disappear just like StarCraft Ghost did. Blizzard isn't some small name and yet they screwed themselves over SOMEHOW and the game never became a reality.

IF it gets released i hope they choose to keep it a FPS kind of thing and if the problems they are experiencing now is the changes that must be made to alter it from being a PC only game to a multiplatform game - then some Dev. should get a spine and admit they HAD a solid PC version, screw the console aspect and make money while they make the alterations needed to make it multiplatform.

Trying to make every gamer happy sometimes isn't worth the risk of losing a long waited sequel.

 

[Atmos Duality]

What was your second hint, 2k Games?
That someone else was already going out of their way to make a more modern version of the *actual* X-COM? Y'know? The strategy game?

I mean, the FIRST hint was only the incredible fan-backlash of turning X-COM into another dime-a-dozen shooter.

If that game actually gets off the ground, and is available for PC (without its interface being neglected during the porting) I might be interested.

 

[Zulnam]

It's a bit early to say anything, but I am not impressed by the screenshots. I HOPE for the love of God that that is not the maximum camera angle in height or direction as shown in picture3. I hate it when strategies have that 3rd person feeling to them.

Still, I'm a bit skeptical. I think they should make it as hard as humanly possible. The original X-Com games are nothing short of ruthless and it takes a lot of failures in the beginning to figure out what you're doing wrong.

They should make that of the game. X-Com could be the strategy version of Dark Souls (and Demon's Souls). It could have difficulty as a main feature, along with ALL THE micromanagement. Just an idea.

 

[Avae]

You guys aren't going to be too angry that you aren't forced to research armaments and their power sources separately, right?

i mean seriously how do you make a gun without figuring out what you put in the gun to make it shoot

aside from just "we have to research unobtainium in order to unlock the tech tree"

I think it made sense in the original x-com because you would find say a plasma rifle and plasma clip and you would have to research those objects individually. It was probably the result of the management game mechanics, x rifles and y clips in storage.

 

[Arcane Azmadi]

Ooh, now this looks like the kind of update I could really APPRECIATE! Changes like being able to design bases vertically as well as horizontally (they're UNDERGROUND bases after all!), combat moving off the standard square grid onto something a bit more organic and easier to track stats (much as I love the original Xcom, soldier development was just a bit TOO hard to track). I'm liking the look of this.

 

[Rad Party God]

Dev 1&2: "That... that's actually not a bad idea."

It's actually a brilliant idea, and I'm really happy to see they're tying the two together as I hoped they would - using the shooter as a prequel to set up the strategy game. There's no reason the two can't co-exist happily.

Indeed. And while I can't speak for all the fans of the old XCOM games who were pissed about the whole FPS thing, I know that I'm no longer pissed. I'm getting the remake I wanted and assuming it's any good, I'll be free to enjoy the FPS if I choose to do so. It's a win-win.

I'm officially interested in both games.

Look, I didn't played X-Com "back in the day", or any PC game for that matter, because "back in the day", I was too busy playing with my Commodore Amiga (arcadey games no less), my SNES and dreaming with what the Ultra 64 could do (ah, the memories).

I recently bought X-Com: UFO Defense and Terror From The Deep in a Steam sale and belive me, as hard as I've tried, I just can't get into both games. I know UFO Defense is way easier than TFD, but I just can't get past the clunky interface, I can whitstand the graphics, they're pretty neat for their time actually, but not the interface.

You call it "dumbing it down", I call it a blessing. Call me stupid or anything you want for not having an extra couple of neurons to understand it's "complexity", but I'd be happy if they first introduce me to their game, heck, I don't care if they hold my hand for a bit and then tell the game when I'm ready, they could add more difficulty to the game and finally understand this whole "complexity" that you call.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

So many people are going to rage that this game uses hexes and not squares. They will also rage if this turns out to arrive on consoles as well (I doubt it'll be a console exclusive). Even if the PC version is absolutely STELLAR, people are still going to get mad because it's not a PC exclusive, the cunts. Oh, and not to mention the radar and what I can only assume is a "numbers of hostiles left" counter, people will get so mad because of those things as well. PC elitists really are the worst kind of people.

Projecting much? Try to calm down kiddo. I would say you are far worse than any 'Pc Elitists' as you jump straight to calling people cunts and judging whole groups of people based on your preconceptions. And it IS on consoles as well, if you had payed much attention to the screenshots you coulda seen that.

How am I projecting? I'm just speaking from experience. I am personally really looking forward to this, and to a lesser extent, the FPS. The thing is, "people" are idiots, this will almost certainly happen. And I know that there are Xbox X and Y buttons in the third screenshot, but it's too early in development to say if this is final, that's why I said "if". And for the whole "juging whole groups of people" bit, and calling them cunts, I am predicting the behaviour of a relatively small group of "PC elitists", the guys who look down upon anyone who even as much as LIKES a console game. A group who has a history of getting riled up and angry over nothing. I don't know what kind of emotion you think I tried to convey with this post, but I can guarantee you it wasn't anger, if anything it's excitement or morbid curiosity.

It's really sad if they ***** about the hexes, though. Game designers have known that moving diagonally through hexes is easily exploitable since Battletech (which was designed for hexes, but came with rules for squares that basically said "if you're using squares, moving diagonally takes up more of your movement than moving horizontally or vertically," because you move faster when you do that. Changing to hexes in Civ V was closing an (frankly annoying, since if you accidentally move in something other than diagonal when it's an option, you use two moves when you only needed one) exploit that people noticed in the first game, and should have been fixed in the second, but wasn't until the fifth. There's plenty of pre-Civ V 4X games that use hexes, but the people making the Civilization games were stubborn for some weird reason.

 

[Squickster]

actually the newest Game Informer has a nice bit about the remake of the very first xcom - enemy unknown. It LOOKS like they just updated the game and added a few new aliens but kept the turn based idea alive and basically will be singing to us fanatics.

 

[Inkidu]

Full disclosure: I never played X-Com. I still haven't. I'm cheap, I began playing UFO: Alien Invasion, which is mechanically almost identical. I have to say, if they want to clean up the freaking interface be my guest. I have two gripes with the game. A bulky, hard to use interface, and way too much micro-management. I'm all for management. Believe me. I loved the aircraft, the research, the transferring of base supplies and personnel to another, but when it gets to the buying of individual clips of ammo... I draw my line. I'm probably going to get a lot of internet bile for this, but in keeping with how big most of your purchases are couldn't it just be crates of ammo? You know? Like how the world actually works. I hate it. I feel more like a bean counter than humanity's last great general. If I wanted to track the incoming and outgoing of individual clips of ammo I would just created a spreadsheet and look at it. It would be just as much fun.

I've got no problem researching things like improved ammo types (I speak hypothetically) and paying to apply them to individual weapons, but if I wanted to track each bullet expended by my sometimes horrendously inaccurate troops I'd get it as a real job.

I'm looking forward to this new game. I love sci-fi strategy and turn-based tactical combat.

Oh, and for you fans. If you want the real X-Com experience from this new game. All you have to do is set it to its hardest difficulty which is simply referred to as classic.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Oh, and for you fans. If you want the real X-Com experience from this new game. All you have to do is set it to its hardest difficulty which is simply referred to as classic.

It's funny: games used to call themselves "realistic" on the highest level, now they call themselves "classic". Shows how far we've come, don't it?

OT: I'm officially interested. Come hell or harsh reviews, I'll probably get this game - just not on launch day. I'm not much of an XCOM fan, after all, and the only XCOM knockoff I've played I was pretty crap at.

 

[Ninjat_126]

OT: well it looks like They've used some one of the dreaded words "streamlined" with any luck this just means they've fixed up the interface (because lets face it any one who thinks xcom had a good UI has a screw loose)and not that they got rid of the fun bits

I can't play X-Com, I'm used to games designed to be played by people without hands like these:

It looks fun, but streamlining the UI would make it way more accessible. And I'm sure any real fan of the game would be happy for it to be less frustrating,even if it meant that "n00bs" could join the series and also have fun.

Plus, it's a turn-based strategy, so the speed of a mouse/keyboard isn't as essential, so a controller could be fine.

They should make that of the game. X-Com could be the strategy version of Dark Souls (and Demon's Souls). It could have difficulty as a main feature, along with ALL THE micromanagement. Just an idea.

Maybe, but still explain it all via manual or tutorial. Dark Souls doesn't even tell you how to upgrade your gear, I wasted a ton of Titanite putting magic on my weapons before I realised it reduced the DEX scaling.

I must admit I am a bit worried about what the devs call streamlining as well...

I enjoyed being able to shift through my inventory to outfit each soldier with a loadout I felt suited to thier strengths, the need to put sidearms and grenades in the belt and holsters for quick access and other stuff in the backpack that can be pulled out when needed but took more time units.

I like the inventory and loadout, but giving each soldier their ammo seems a little bit too much for me. Make it harder to use guns, make the guns heavier, but don't make us waste a turn having our Heavy Weapons Guy look for a spare ammo belt in his bag.

I liked how you needed to check each soldiers stats to get rid of the cowardly ones, pick up the ones with good accuracy for ranged weapons, the ones with high strength to carry the heavy weapons...the fast movers for medics and/or nade throwers/ stunners... etc. etc.
How the UI allowed you to save up time units for various shots, so you dont run to a spot hit crouch and find you cant shoot.

That's more the sort of depth I like.

I didnt enjoy the manner a single alien could completely wreck a co ordinated assualt with one alien class grenade...and there was no way to counter it, the ones that just came from a corner and suicide nade explosioned the tiny entries to the space craft... boom half the assualt force down and half the spaceship blown up.
I wasnt too keen on the overly random nature of the shooting either, my highest skilled sniper using an aimed shot and misses an Alien in open at less than 20m, and the alien turns and pops the sniper one shot through the cover the sniper was using.

Bloody hell. I played for 5 minutes and was already pissed off by the stupid accuracy. I get they're untrained, but an aimed shot from a crouch across 10m of open field should not go so wide that you almost kill your buddy standing behind you.

The game was about management, managing your resources and personel, managing your battles... taking out the management aspect would reduce it to a pretty looking tactics style game.

I dont care if its on the consoles and PC, as long as the streamlining is used with extreme care, no good saving the patiant if you surgically remove half of what makes up the patiant patient.

Still, despite my issues with the game, I agree with you here.

Also, the justification for the new aliens isn't bad: you know the old ones, there's no surprises. I'm looking forward to seeing people freak out about things other than Chryssalids(?).

 

[Casey Bowen]

I am one of those long time Xcom geeks. Sure this one has some changes, but so far from what I have seen it looks like they'll work. I am hoping for more reports and videos over the next couple of months but I'm excited. More than any of the other titles I knew were coming this year.

I've got faith that they'll pull it off.