So xenonauts, the unofficial xcom sequel, is now largely feature complete and will be released after another 2 months of polish. And what better time is there to compare the unofficial xcom sequel to the official xcom sequel. Well, maybe the actual release, but i want to do this now so i am going to do it now.
Mostly i think that Xenonauts is the better game and i will do my best to explain why i think that. Now: While i will say a couple of bad things about Xcom EU i don't think it's a bad game. In fact i think it is a really good game, but i also think that the developers made a couple of mistakes which kept the game from becoming a great game.
1. Immersion
The first reason why i think that xenonauts is the better game is immersion. One of my biggest problems with Xcom EU is that so much of it just feels so gamey. A few examples:
Your dropship can only carry four soldiers in the beginning and is magically able to carry more soldiers because you spent some money on the officer academy. That makes no sense. - In xenonauts your dropship can also only carry a certain amount of soldiers in the beginning. And that number increases when you research and build better dropships with more space and better engines. That makes sense.
Your soldiers can just carry a specific amount of items in addition to their weapons. It makes sense from a gameplay standpoint, but it's really gamey - In Xenonauts you equip your soldier what you like. Additionaly to your armour and weapons slots, you also have a Belt and a Backpack to carry items as you like. But too much weight and your soldier will be encumbered and loose time units.
Cover. Cover in enemy unknown reduces the enemies accuracy. It's fine from a gameplay standpoint but again makes no sense. - In xenonauts when an object is in the line of fire, the projectile has a chance to hit that object instead of the unit getting shot at. It makes sense, is intuitive and fun. Also your soldiers don't have to cuddle up to cover anymore, as long as it's between you and the enemy, it works.
And now the big one: Activation of Enemies. This is one of the things which made the battles pretty boring pretty quickly for me. I know others enjoy it but i just despise it. Enemies getting activated on sight, just makes no sense. These are really advanced alien races and they can't just call their alies ten meters away to help with those nasty units? - In Xenonauts aliens move freely around the map and engage your units, even if you can't see them. Things are a lot more tense and exciting, because your soldiers are NOT 100% save as long as they don't see the enemies first. It's also much more realistic and immersive. Additionaly the ground battles are a lot more unpredictable and a lot more fun.
Another point in xenonauts favour is the scale. The Scale in EU has been reduced a lot compared to the original. Smaller Maps, fever soldiers. It isn't bad, but doesn't really feel like i am fighting an epic alien invasion. In Xenonauts it feels a lot more like an invasion. While the aliens start by sending single ufos around the globe, they soon start sending their ufos in waves, making it harder for you too shoot all of them down. And after you manage to down quite a few ufos of them, they also start sending in "Air superiority" squads, ufos whose sole purpose is to shoot down your aircraft. It feels a lot more like your fighting a real enemy, that's adapting their strategy to your resistance.
Terror missions also feel a lot bigger. The bigger maps of course help, but the major work is done by the fluff. A single line of text in the debriefing screen: "Nuclear weaponry has been deployed for the worst case." Basically the aliens are rampaging through the city and the local forces can't stop them. In case that the xenonauts fail they nuke the place, saving at least parts of the city and saving a few, but also resulting in thousands of civilian deaths. The scale and importance of the battle just shoots through the roof and it makes a lot more sense, then everyone being upset because 10 - 20 people, in a city inhabitated by thousands, maybe millions, died.
2. Airiel warfare.
The combat in the Air was a lacking part in Enemy Unknown and the original. But in Xenonauts it got a complete overhaul and is not only realy important to fight the alien threat but also really fun. Instead of having 1 on 1 battles with the ufos, you can send out squadrons of up to 3 fighters. The Alien can also have 3 ufos with them, either one larger ufo with an escort or 3 small interceptor ufos to shoot down your fighters.
The air combat itself gets fought on a 2D plane, managing speed and direction of your Interceptors to destroy the enemy ufos, while trying to avoid their shots. This leads to exciting battles, allowing flanking tactics againt larger ufos or tense fights with enemy interceptors.
Flanking and outmanouvering the enemy is supported by Static fire arcs of ships and ufos and ufos being more vulnerable from the sides or behind than from the front.
3. Graphics.
This may sound crazy but i do like the graphics from xenonauts more then the ones from Enemy unknown. Sure xenonauts graphics are a bit dated looking 2D sprites, while Enemy unknown has those shiny new 3D models, but that's exactly what makes xenonauts ones better.
Everything in Enemy unknown just looks too shiny. Xenonauts graphic style delivers a much more dark and oppresive athmosphere. It feels a lot more like fighting a battle against an superiour foe. Additionaly the progression is just visually fantastic. Everything that is an upgrade just looks way cooler then the thing it's replacing. Lasers look way cooler then balistic weapons and plasma looks way cooler then lasers. The same is true for the armour. In Enemy unknown i was quite dissapointed by the look of the psy armor. Really - late game armour, but it doesn't look cool at all. In fact it looks a lot weaker then every other armour.
In the end, xenonauts is a fantastic game. If you liked the original xcom or Enemy unknown i am sure that you will like this one. Additionaly it's only 16,99 on Steam, about half the price of the expansion Enemy Within! And i allready had around double the amount of hours into it compared to Enemy Unknown and Enemy Within.
Mostly i think that Xenonauts is the better game and i will do my best to explain why i think that. Now: While i will say a couple of bad things about Xcom EU i don't think it's a bad game. In fact i think it is a really good game, but i also think that the developers made a couple of mistakes which kept the game from becoming a great game.
1. Immersion
The first reason why i think that xenonauts is the better game is immersion. One of my biggest problems with Xcom EU is that so much of it just feels so gamey. A few examples:
Your dropship can only carry four soldiers in the beginning and is magically able to carry more soldiers because you spent some money on the officer academy. That makes no sense. - In xenonauts your dropship can also only carry a certain amount of soldiers in the beginning. And that number increases when you research and build better dropships with more space and better engines. That makes sense.
Your soldiers can just carry a specific amount of items in addition to their weapons. It makes sense from a gameplay standpoint, but it's really gamey - In Xenonauts you equip your soldier what you like. Additionaly to your armour and weapons slots, you also have a Belt and a Backpack to carry items as you like. But too much weight and your soldier will be encumbered and loose time units.
Cover. Cover in enemy unknown reduces the enemies accuracy. It's fine from a gameplay standpoint but again makes no sense. - In xenonauts when an object is in the line of fire, the projectile has a chance to hit that object instead of the unit getting shot at. It makes sense, is intuitive and fun. Also your soldiers don't have to cuddle up to cover anymore, as long as it's between you and the enemy, it works.
And now the big one: Activation of Enemies. This is one of the things which made the battles pretty boring pretty quickly for me. I know others enjoy it but i just despise it. Enemies getting activated on sight, just makes no sense. These are really advanced alien races and they can't just call their alies ten meters away to help with those nasty units? - In Xenonauts aliens move freely around the map and engage your units, even if you can't see them. Things are a lot more tense and exciting, because your soldiers are NOT 100% save as long as they don't see the enemies first. It's also much more realistic and immersive. Additionaly the ground battles are a lot more unpredictable and a lot more fun.
Another point in xenonauts favour is the scale. The Scale in EU has been reduced a lot compared to the original. Smaller Maps, fever soldiers. It isn't bad, but doesn't really feel like i am fighting an epic alien invasion. In Xenonauts it feels a lot more like an invasion. While the aliens start by sending single ufos around the globe, they soon start sending their ufos in waves, making it harder for you too shoot all of them down. And after you manage to down quite a few ufos of them, they also start sending in "Air superiority" squads, ufos whose sole purpose is to shoot down your aircraft. It feels a lot more like your fighting a real enemy, that's adapting their strategy to your resistance.
Terror missions also feel a lot bigger. The bigger maps of course help, but the major work is done by the fluff. A single line of text in the debriefing screen: "Nuclear weaponry has been deployed for the worst case." Basically the aliens are rampaging through the city and the local forces can't stop them. In case that the xenonauts fail they nuke the place, saving at least parts of the city and saving a few, but also resulting in thousands of civilian deaths. The scale and importance of the battle just shoots through the roof and it makes a lot more sense, then everyone being upset because 10 - 20 people, in a city inhabitated by thousands, maybe millions, died.
2. Airiel warfare.
The combat in the Air was a lacking part in Enemy Unknown and the original. But in Xenonauts it got a complete overhaul and is not only realy important to fight the alien threat but also really fun. Instead of having 1 on 1 battles with the ufos, you can send out squadrons of up to 3 fighters. The Alien can also have 3 ufos with them, either one larger ufo with an escort or 3 small interceptor ufos to shoot down your fighters.
The air combat itself gets fought on a 2D plane, managing speed and direction of your Interceptors to destroy the enemy ufos, while trying to avoid their shots. This leads to exciting battles, allowing flanking tactics againt larger ufos or tense fights with enemy interceptors.
Flanking and outmanouvering the enemy is supported by Static fire arcs of ships and ufos and ufos being more vulnerable from the sides or behind than from the front.
3. Graphics.
This may sound crazy but i do like the graphics from xenonauts more then the ones from Enemy unknown. Sure xenonauts graphics are a bit dated looking 2D sprites, while Enemy unknown has those shiny new 3D models, but that's exactly what makes xenonauts ones better.
Everything in Enemy unknown just looks too shiny. Xenonauts graphic style delivers a much more dark and oppresive athmosphere. It feels a lot more like fighting a battle against an superiour foe. Additionaly the progression is just visually fantastic. Everything that is an upgrade just looks way cooler then the thing it's replacing. Lasers look way cooler then balistic weapons and plasma looks way cooler then lasers. The same is true for the armour. In Enemy unknown i was quite dissapointed by the look of the psy armor. Really - late game armour, but it doesn't look cool at all. In fact it looks a lot weaker then every other armour.
In the end, xenonauts is a fantastic game. If you liked the original xcom or Enemy unknown i am sure that you will like this one. Additionaly it's only 16,99 on Steam, about half the price of the expansion Enemy Within! And i allready had around double the amount of hours into it compared to Enemy Unknown and Enemy Within.
