I am an XCOM veteran and have now played XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

Fraxis XCOM Enemy Unknown

What I could be arsed to say before:

Love the graphics it looks realy pretty, not everybodies taste but I like it alot

The ant farm base is brilliant I love zooming in and seeing that nothing is actually going on but you can see great detail and watch Alien interigation well the start, I like the way the Aliens stay in the chamber looking all glum n stuff.

I like the perks that you get when choosing your base location etc etc.

I did not like the limited base locations.

I realy did not like only having one base.

I did not like the small squad limited to a maximum of six.

I did not like the soldier equipment screen, very limited and the addition of a fixed class for each soldier is a bust.

I loved playing it but once finished it has little return appeal, I have started another game becasue I didn't get enough downed UFO missions.

I did not like the way you can complete the game in two days/sittings (probably one if my wife would have let me).

As mentioned above I also did not like not being able to pick up stuff in mission.

I realy didn't like the way aliens were handled when you uncovered them, they tend to run off out of sight or take cover etc.

I realy did not like the way the missions came up, three abductions and you choose one

I did not like the slow motion actions it messes with the turns flow.

I did not like the way you heard aliens so you could tell where to go, spoils the tension (not all of them do this I know) it was a good idea but I didn't like it.

The dificulty level is a bit odd too it starts of quite difficult and gets easier?

Where are the base attacks, alien and allied?

The last mission is also a bust, a big disapointment in my opinion.

No UFO pedia. (Erm yes ther is its just call something different, soz)

Limited research, no research for alien entertainment of surgery etc.

I did not like the way the game handles multi level ufos often meaning you have to spin your view point round to move a soldier on an upper level if the view had a lower level behind it (If you get what I mean), when you have to do this with almost each soldier in a number of turns it get frustrating.

All in all I liked the game but it was a serious disapointment because it didn't fill the gap to the release of Xenonauts.

According to steam I played the new game for 88 hours and was well bored of it by the end (some of wich was spent idle while I was else where). I played the original for 241 hours and have never finished it (I finished it on the Amiga but that time spend is not logged with steam)

I would be interested in what you guys liked and disliked about the game being original xcom fans n all.

Btw, since I had to sign up for Desura to buy Xenonauts, I just came across UFO: Alien Invasion. What do people think of it?

Is good.

Has some nice ideas and improvements. Unfortunately no destructable terrain, but that's a a engine limitation I can live with.

Is good.

Has some nice ideas and improvements. Unfortunately no destructable terrain, but that's a a engine limitation I can live with.

Its free, which is reason enough to give it a try.

Also, I worked on it...made a few models and art pieces.

I loved playing it but once finished it has little return appeal, I have started another game becasue I didn't get enough downed UFO missions.

I read from somewhere that it gets frustrating when later in the game there are no "training" missions for rookies and you start running out of vets as they occationally drop dead (unless you are one of those save-sh*tHitTheFan-load-type of players). Game often just offers those 3 abduction/whatever missions and there's no sense in selecting easy low panic level missions as ignoring high panic level missions will cause countries to withdraw their funding. And ofc high panic missions are "very difficult" with crazy OP aliens like mutons/chryssalids/cyberdiscs where rookies don't have a chance.

As mentioned above I also did not like not being able to pick up stuff in mission.

Yeah what kind of brainfart is that, I can imagine missions going to hell because the only guy carrying medikit gets killed and rest bleed to death because they are too dumb to pick up the medikit from corpse(s).

I realy didn't like the way aliens were handled when you uncovered them, they tend to run off out of sight or take cover etc.

Pretty much the only way to "surprise" them is to have your guy(s) in overlook mode and react firing when alien gang happens to walk by. Also the cover system seemed screwed up, even if units are perfectly behind cover enemy shoots through the wall and hits them. And I mean through the wall, like glitching/cheating or something without even breaking the wall. Sucks.

Difficulty only affects the number of aliens. I think it also affects the number of alien patrols. Alien type is determined by time progress for some aliens and mission progress for others. But yeah, if you lose a bunch of vets, rookies are going to have a hard time.

Not picking up items really doesn't make sense from a realistic standpoint, but I would imagine they did it on purpose from a gameplay standpoint(limiting your use of resources) and not because of a brainfart. Justify it by saying your Heavy doesn't have the training to use the medkit and the Support doesn't have the training to use Shredder Rockets. This kind of thing really isn't uncommon in Strategy games, you usually can't pick up a dead unit's items and use it. Also, running for a dead guy's medkit would probably get that unit killed too.

Cover just adds a defense modifier which affects the chance-to-hit. It works both ways, the enemies aren't glitching/cheating. You can also surprise units with Ghost Armor, from higher ground, or with the battle Scanner + Rockets.

Difficulty only affects the number of aliens. I think it also affects the number of alien patrols. Alien type is determined by time progress for some aliens and mission progress for others. But yeah, if you lose a bunch of vets, rookies are going to have a hard time.

I don't see what that has to do with the quote, but yeah, enemies have much higer stats than you on impossible.

Actually I saw the aliens making much more accurate shots (hit me almost every time on impossible) and from much longer range (sometimes I can't even see them).

That's how difficulty settings usually work, AI starts to cheat and it's units are given some ridiculous attribute boosts to make them super accurate etc. etc.

Just like in original X-com on higher difficulty it was mostly ridiculous unbalanced mind-control spamming as game started to shovel ethereals and psi-sectoids with elite stats on your face from the start. I always hated it how AI blatantly cheated and psi-attacked my soldiers without line of sight.

Why... why can't I just have greater number of aliens alone, always these cheats...

Yeah, even so the later combat didn't seem all that bad. The extra HP on the sectoids etc right at the start, the extra panic level the world starts with, and the lowered HP of the starting rookies are mostly what I noticed. Just made the rush to full satellite coverage more painful.

Sorry... I must have missed something. I was under the impression (by the quote) that he meant the only difference between higher and lower difficulties was the number of aliens and their patrols. That is not the case.

Obviously I missed something.

Having played both XCOM:EU and the last build of Xenonaughts that they released, the differences are big but they don't cause one game to "win" over the other.

From the look and feel of it Xenonaughts is going to be a much truer remake of the original X-Com, both in look and feel. However, I'm not going to judge it as an "amazing remake" until it's out (I still preordered though). I still remember how UFO: Extraterrestrials turned out at the end.

In sharp contrast to Xenonaughts, XCOM is an action game. It's fast, smooth and a bit more action-y. The research and engineering systems are toned down to speed things up, but still interesting and they provide a certain necessary amount of X-Com flavor to the game. Combat is the same way. Soldier classes, inventory and the like are all toned down in their complexity. Is that a bad thing? No. It's not a great throwback to X-Com, but they work great for the way that combat now works in XCOM.

My only real complaint about XCOM is that it's less aimed at the long, marathon style games I loved when playing X-Com. A result of this is that ufo interceptions are fewer and abduction missions are more aimed at balancing terror levels across the world. Both of those can be (and have been) modded to shift them back to the old school values.

I'm glad I bought XCOM and I'll enjoy it for a long time now. But its different enough from the old X-Com style of gameplay that I'm still awaiting the release of Xenonaughts with great anticipation.

I read from somewhere that it gets frustrating when later in the game there are no "training" missions for rookies and you start running out of vets as they occationally drop dead (unless you are one of those save-sh*tHitTheFan-load-type of players). Game often just offers those 3 abduction/whatever missions and there's no sense in selecting easy low panic level missions as ignoring high panic level missions will cause countries to withdraw their funding. And ofc high panic missions are "very difficult" with crazy OP aliens like mutons/chryssalids/cyberdiscs where rookies don't have a chance.

I find it difficult to save in ironman mode so I go with the flow, I noticed a couple of times while training greens if you send a couple of greens with the rest not quite so green the mission is easier, I noticed this as to make my second run through more interesting I only trained up my UK guys, I have a full squad of 15 uk soldiers including two psi phreaks, this took about 200-300 recruits sacking all others, if I was a scott I would only have scottish soldiers and if US only US soldiers etc etc, it was just to make it a little more fun oh and my vets almost always make back alive, havent played on higher level than normal so far and I doubt I will, hard and insane difficulties are for racing games and fps's in my book.

Just had a memory return from playing the original game on CD32, used to make a cuppa while the aliens were having their turn it took so long, or watch a bit of telly or roll a j anything to pass the time till my next turn.

Sorry... I must have missed something. I was under the impression (by the quote) that he meant the only difference between higher and lower difficulties was the number of aliens and their patrols. That is not the case.

Obviously I missed something.

Ah, yeah, I meant individual mission difficulty ratings, not difficulty levels. I can see where that can be confusing.

I do actually have one big gripe about XCOM EU. You can't equip Snipers and Heavies with Assault Rifles. That really annoys me.

That's very easy to mod - for snipers at least.

Heavies have little reason to be using AR. Instead I attached suppression as an item ability to all MG so even a squaddie heavy can suppress.

Once I'm starting to delve into the game's scripts (which are moddable!), I'll attach some sort of "better suppression" to the heavy's actual "suppression" skill. Enough to make it worthwhile to choose over Shredder Rocket.

Maybe make suppression a ground-targeted area effect 3 tiles across so it's less powerful than the +2 diameter upgrade later in the skill tree. Ah, more tinkering required. =)

Now let's be honest. X-Com UD has very few difficult decisions to make, and any difficulty on the Strategic layer is due to lack of information, and when you figure out the information and priorities, decisions become a no-brainer. Basically, the only decision you make where you have to weigh the consequences is whether to rely on default interceptors or Firestorms, maybe whether or not to take out supply ships and alien bases(although, eventually you get to the point where there is very little reason not to). Every other decision on the strategic layer is very easy to make. And on the tactical layer, it's an absolute joke. It basically boils down to a scorched earth policy. Hunt down each individual unit and overwhelm it with the most powerful weapon from your focused force. There are very few consequences for making a poor decision, since your soldiers are so absurdly expendable.

Yeh, but all the clickies you do have create the illusion of greater depth - to anyone who doesn't think about what they actually do.

Crouching is kinda my favourite. When is it tactically desirable to not crouch a soldier?

Never? Oh, so the entire mechanic is completely pointless fluff?

How about timing grenades? How often was that feature used for anything but abusing the turn-based mechanics and letting a soldier throw more grenades than he could arm in a turn? Which army trains soldiers to form a chain for the purpose of passing live grenades halfway across the battlefield to the one soldier at the front?

The whole equipment production layer was incredibly abuseable and since the game showered you in alien weapons, ammo, and explosives, it wasn't even needed a lot of the time.

The much-harped-upon weapon reloading wasn't even a game mechanic. Due to the magazine sizes it just didn't happen more than once every few missions. In XCOM you really have to plan ahead and possibly even fall back because you can't afford being caught with empty magazines! Sure, late in the game you can buy a mag increase but even then things like suppressive fire eat through ammo in a real hurry. And it's an expensive upgrade. An expense you actually have to think about because there are other things you might need more...

UD generally had lots and lots of micromanagement for no gameplay reason but that wasn't any special failure of UD.

Games back then (especially strategy games) often skimped on game design and trimming pointless features. It was a great game in it's time! Time hasn't stopped in 1994 though.

Nothing wrong with nostalgia but using it as justification for blaming a current game for not using mechanics that hadn't even been good 2 decades ago...?

I find new XCOM just as addicting as the old X-Com was. No, it's not the same game. Why should it be?

I personally find it bit annoying that some complains about game being shallow are basically "Its different from original game". I mean really, its understandable complain that gameplay is basically completely different, but not that its "shallow because original game was deeper IMO" as they wouldn't think of that at all if game was named differently.

Well that's what they get for naming it XCOM They knew what they were doing. They fooled me and that's not easy to do (when I'm sober).

I don't mind people calling it (relatively) shallow, but what annoys me is when people call it dumbed down.

If it's dumbed down, why do I have to think a lot more to beat it than the original?

I would like it if it had proper action points based combat, no RETARDED free alien moves on being spotted, better inventory management, less forced geoscape campaign progression, more soldiers, multiple bases & better interceptor combat.

So to summarise: Xenonauts.

So, you wanted it to be really easy? Because all of those put together would have made the game a faceroll.

Any developer worth their salt would tweak the difficulty to accommodate the above changes. That list is by no means complete either, I could go on and on about what needs to change to make it worthy of the XCOM name (imo).

It already is faceroll by the way. Don't throw 'impossible' setting at me either, that isn't difficulty. That's rigging dice rolls in the enemies favour and removing anything remotely like strategy from the game in the wake of blind chance.

Well that's what they get for naming it XCOM They knew what they were doing. They fooled me and that's not easy to do (when I'm sober).

To be fair, you got fooled because you didn't check stuff. I mean demo is sucky but it still should give enough details that basic gameplay is different plus term "Reimagining" differs from remake in that "Reimagined game" doesn't need to be in any way similar to original besides basic concept really.

@Gribbstar: I would like to point out that Impossible wasn't balanced to be beatable by devs so while it can be beat it wasn't made to be beatable Though some people on 2K are already complaining about it being too easy for them so apparently its beatable with skill too.*shrugs* Thats why its impossible to create truly difficult difficulty, if you can beat it, too easy, if you can't beat it, too hard.

I've heard that it has been beaten on Impossible Ironman already. Not sure if that's so. But regular imposiburu has definitely been beaten repeatedly. I'm halfway through the game there too, by this point it's actually getting easier, and I didn't even go through "Classic" training wheels first.

You just need to separate what matters from what doesn't.

And as for the game... This is the fate of any game which only has difficulty as its redeeming point.

I was quite suprised to find out that I got to shoot down only six, maybe seven UFO:s during the whole game on classic difficulty... it just felt like the game was feeding me landed UFO and terror missions following some premade plan. It was so bad that the whole geoscape sreen started to feel strategically useless and more like a "next mission" -button. The world map on the situation room screen was much more useful as the satellites were sent thru it.

I quite liked the tactical combat, the missing action points were not nearly as bothersome as I had feared... though I would have liked if there would have been two proper actions to choose from for each soldiers turn: move+move, move+attack, attack+move, attack+attack and lastly no move+special attack. Also it would have been nice to be able to change the pistol (only useful for sniper or weakening aliens for capture) to heal kit or stun gun... item management was quite overly limited.

Beating it on impossible is all down to the randomness of the council missions etc. You could theoretically breeze through it if lady luck is on your side.

I'd be impressed to see a non-modded playthrough of impossible ironman mode.