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

[Par'Gellen]

I thought I was going to hate Skyrim after watching some videos of it because it looked kind of dumbed-down but I bought it anyway and wound up really liking it a lot. I had to get that SkyUI mod so that the inventory system wasn't virtually unusable (whoever designed that one that came with the game obviously had no idea what they were doing) but after that I've played the crap out of it! I still haven't beat it

Edited October 15, 2012 by Par'Gellen
I can't spell.

[Monkeyboyen]

First of all, sorry for my bad english.

Played the new X-com game this weekend for about 14 hours or so.

The graphics are good, the variation to to custom your soldiers is nice. It looks like a x-com game in how it is set up. It has some nice features in base with foundry and officer school. There is also some nice features to the combat, like cover, shooting from corner of a wall, opening doors without standing infront of them.

Now, the problem I have with this game are many,but I will only take a few points here

The problem I have with this game is that I feel that im forced trough a story and not making my own story.other annoyance are the repeatable maps, the way aliens go around the map. They don't move until you find them and when you find them they get a bonus movment! !? They are always togheter meaning you don't have to worry about stray aliens coming from behind or from the side. Many of the maps are so narrow it forces you to move a long a path directly to them. The whole point of entering a site is not knowing where the aliens are. After a few missions I could guess almost exactly where they would be.

When I discover them, only the ones that have "alient target" is allowed to shoot at them. If my SNIPER is 1 block away from "target in sight" he can't shoot, wtf!!? he is a sniper, the maps arn't that big , why can't he shoot? yes I knwo there is a option to get shared vision later. This shoudn't be a option for a sniper, he shouldn't have to choice to have shared vision or that other bullshit ability you might choice, as they say these are suppose to be the best of the best soldiers. That brings me to another point. They creators make the game hard by adding constraints for you. Like you can only have a medikit or a grenade...why? Why can't my soldier have both, I would like to see the soldier who goes into combat in real life and says " oooh, I can only carry 1 grenade or a medikit". and why can you run and fire, but you can't fire and run......

I want to play games which is hard because the opponent is good, not because the game only allows me to run into combat with my arms tied and eyes blindfolded. I saw angry joes review where he said "this isn't a dumbed down game", but that is excactly what it is. Its a dumbed down game made for the general gamer audience like many of the other games out there and im sick of it. I can understand why people like the game, because it has some good parts. But its not the x.com game for me.

[Aleksi]

But (and this is a BIG BUT): the game lacks the general atmosphere of the old games. Take the music* for instance, it's got nowhere near the suspenceful air of the music you had playing on the Geomap as well as on the menues and in building the base/ministering the XCOM soldiers. And the classic "burp" when you change the screens is important!

The problem with these big AAA games, is that most compositions always sound the same. I listened to the OST of UE and i see no difference with the movie Batman: The Dark Night. Apart from a couple synths added to make it more "X-COM". Don't get me wrong, the composer is very talented and the production is flawless, but it lacks personality. I would much prefer games that take more of a risk regarding music (hum, and the rest as well). That's why Indies are just great, total freedom.

[Shuichi Niwa]

First of all, sorry for my bad english.

Played the new X-com game this weekend for about 14 hours or so.

The graphics are good, the variation to to custom your soldiers is nice. It looks like a x-com game in how it is set up. It has some nice features in base with foundry and officer school. There is also some nice features to the combat, like cover, shooting from corner of a wall, opening doors without standing infront of them.

Now, the problem I have with this game are many,but I will only take a few points here

The problem I have with this game is that I feel that im forced trough a story and not making my own story.other annoyance are the repeatable maps, the way aliens go around the map. They don't move until you find them and when you find them they get a bonus movment! !? They are always togheter meaning you don't have to worry about stray aliens coming from behind or from the side. Many of the maps are so narrow it forces you to move a long a path directly to them. The whole point of entering a site is not knowing where the aliens are. After a few missions I could guess almost exactly where they would be.

When I discover them, only the ones that have "alient target" is allowed to shoot at them. If my SNIPER is 1 block away from "target in sight" he can't shoot, wtf!!? he is a sniper, the maps arn't that big , why can't he shoot? yes I knwo there is a option to get shared vision later. This shoudn't be a option for a sniper, he shouldn't have to choice to have shared vision or that other bullshit ability you might choice, as they say these are suppose to be the best of the best soldiers. That brings me to another point. They creators make the game hard by adding constraints for you. Like you can only have a medikit or a grenade...why? Why can't my soldier have both, I would like to see the soldier who goes into combat in real life and says " oooh, I can only carry 1 grenade or a medikit". and why can you run and fire, but you can't fire and run......

I want to play games which is hard because the opponent is good, not because the game only allows me to run into combat with my arms tied and eyes blindfolded. I saw angry joes review where he said "this isn't a dumbed down game", but that is excactly what it is. Its a dumbed down game made for the general gamer audience like many of the other games out there and im sick of it. I can understand why people like the game, because it has some good parts. But its not the x.com game for me.

Welcome to the "People who think the new XCOM combat system sucks" boat ^^

[sectoid]

When I discover them, only the ones that have "alient target" is allowed to shoot at them. If my SNIPER is 1 block away from "target in sight" he can't shoot, wtf!!? he is a sniper, the maps arn't that big , why can't he shoot? yes I knwo there is a option to get shared vision later. This shoudn't be a option for a sniper, he shouldn't have to choice to have shared vision or that other bullshit ability you might choice, as they say these are suppose to be the best of the best soldiers. That brings me to another point. They creators make the game hard by adding constraints for you. Like you can only have a medikit or a grenade...why? Why can't my soldier have both, I would like to see the soldier who goes into combat in real life and says " oooh, I can only carry 1 grenade or a medikit". and why can you run and fire, but you can't fire and run......

a slipper-wearing Taliban or Afghan-guerilla even could carry a RPG, an AK, few nades, and a slingbag of RPG munition.

but our so-called world's elite xcom-eu soldiers are so sissy and picky that only carry a nade or a kit.

it makes me laugh in despair.

[sectoid]

The problem with these big AAA games, is that most compositions always sound the same. I listened to the OST of UE and i see no difference with the movie Batman: The Dark Night. Apart from a couple synths added to make it more "X-COM". Don't get me wrong, the composer is very talented and the production is flawless, but it lacks personality. I would much prefer games that take more of a risk regarding music (hum, and the rest as well). That's why Indies are just great, total freedom.

hello, your creation in xenonauts is appealing, i even looking forward to see how you going to compose in Goldhawk's Terror From The Deep --- well, thats only my imagination, Chris said not going to develop that title.

thank you for bring in soul to the xenonauts.

[Shuichi Niwa]

Actually, I have find an explanation for all of those things and posted on the XCOM forums. No need to mention the results...

It's like this. There is a Combat Specialist or Supreme Supervisor [which should have an even higher ranking than a Colonel, I supposed someone with a higher rank than you - the Commander, but lower than Bradford]. His job is to inspect all XCOM soldiers before they go out for mission to make sure they comply with the regulation of Firaxis - the main and largest contributor to the XCOM Organization. According to the Firaxis regulation, XCOM elite precious soldier can only bring with them to the battlefield only one of their favourite items. "Hey dude/dudette, I see you have a scope on your Rifle. Now give me that grenade or I will throw you into the brig for disobedient !" Also, pistols are important for a soldier's image so "Where's your pistol, soldier ? What, you will never use it so don't want to bring it with you to save space for one more grenade ??? Ridiculous, you're responsible for the safety of the Earth and must obey our regulations even if you think they are stupid. Got that ???"

The only exception maybe are the Supports, since at high rank they have the ability to sucks up to him and is allowed another favourite item [damn those suckers].

Oh and he won't let you bring more than 4 soldier into combat. But he WILL, with enough bribe he take from you while calling it "Academy Fees for Officer Combat Training".

I think that is the most logical explanation I can imagine...

[Dix]

They don't move until you find them and when you find them they get a bonus movment!

This has been the biggest annoyance. I wouldn't mind it sometimes, but when 90% plus of tactical alien encounters wind up like that, it ends up feeling like a cheap shot on the part of the developers.

I have been flanked a few times by the AI when it moves units in from the side or behind me, so it obviously has the capability - it just seems to be locked down from using that ability more often. (Maybe to allow for lower resources for AI on console? Just a guess).

That said, I have been finding the game just as addictive as I hoped it would be.

[Gribbstar]

I just registered here today after discovering Xenonauts only last night.

Being a person who is quite careful where I throw my money as far as games are concerned I was hesitant to put any in Firaxis' direction after hearing of all the changes they made to the game.

XCOM:EU is a step in the right direction but it's strategy has suffered gravely at the hands of the mainstream games consumers. I wont point fingers in the consoles direction, I'll just give them a bit of an evil stare.

Fortunately a friend already bought it and after visiting him yesterday and watching a lengthy play session, I can safely say there is too much gone from the classic 1994 XCOM. All the bad points have been mentioned in other posts in this thread so I won't elaborate.

Suffice to say if Xenonauts continues on its current path, I know what I'll be spending that £20 on. This opinion is only from the demo too.

Keep up the great work Goldhawk.

Edited October 15, 2012 by Gribbstar

[flyingdisc]

I had/have great hopes for UFO:EU. Not because I intend to play it (my AMD E350 laptop would bulk at that task) but because I had hoped that if it succeeds, that UFO:EU would populize the tactical turn based genre for the masses - thus marking more likely, studio originated tbs games in the future.

So, it sounds like on some levels it hasn't lived up to everyone's hopes for a UFO: enemy unknown successor - but do you think it will succeed in populizing Turn Based Strategy with a new/wider audience?

[Dowly]

but do you think it will succeed in populizing Turn Based Strategy with a new/wider audience?

I bloody hope not! Halo popularized online FPS, now look what we got: Modern Warfare and it's two billion clones.

Thanks, but no thanks.

[HWP]

So, it sounds like on some levels it hasn't lived up to everyone's hopes for a UFO: enemy unknown successor - but do you think it will succeed in populizing Turn Based Strategy with a new/wider audience?

I doubt it.

EU is not going to become a mass hit. Also, this dumb label "AAA" is really dumb and self-important (any AA title out there?). Pretty sure its budget could only hold a candle to one of the real biggies. EU is targeted at people who have a vague memory of XCOM or heard about it or already like TBT (it's turn-based tactics). While it only sports artificial difficulty and has been heavily simplified, it's still too difficult and complex for a genre-introduction game.

Also, it's XCOM:EU, not UFO:EU. The original game was called UFO: Enemy Unknown or X-COM: UFO Defense.

[Gorzahg]

Maybe. Even if it does popularize TBS we'll just get more "streamlined" games.

Edited October 15, 2012 by Gorzahg
Everyone beat me to it. I'm so slow.

[GonzoGonzalez]

Hello all:

I have purchaed and already finished X-Com: Enemy Unknown. Finishing the game left me extremely disappointed. Seeing the high game rating (8/10 average) all over gaming sites left me thinking that there is something wrong with me. I wouldn't give the game more than 6 or 7 out of 10- even if I try to approach game from the point of view of someone who never played original X-COm series ( I finished all 3).

To say that X-Com: E.U. is "dumbed down" would be an understatement. Despite updated graphics (which are not much of an improvement over Silent Storm, by the way), the whole game feels like a...board game! You move unit certain number of squares, roll the dice, repeat. Gone are the elements that made the original game so great:

1) Physics system. Yes, this 2012 game has a much worse physics system that a 20 year old game ! Your bullets do not actually interact with environment. Whether you hit the target or not is basically decided by a random number generator, not whether the bullet actually connects! Environmental damage is all pre-determined and does not have any effect on the game other that occasionally remove a cover from unit. You can only hit one unit at a time (unless you fire a rocket or throw grenade). Your bullet spray can never hit a random target- only the one you selected. In conclusion- fighting is basically "rolling dice" and watching visual representation on screen! Often this leads to "disconnect with reality" when random number generator decides that apparently a wall is not there and Alien shots and your grenades pass through walls without actually penetrating them.

2) AI is basically absent. Aliens sit around and wait for player to find them. Then they get "activated", a little cutscene is played EVERY TIME of the aliens pounding their chests, roaring or otherwise acting annoyed.

3) Equipment management is GONE. You cant pick thing up, pass them along, modify your loadout during mission. You have infinite ammo.

4) The whole tactical system is oversimplified to basically a "rock-paper-scissors" type of game. You cant use different types or shots (aimed, snap, auto), cannot sprint, walk, crawl, kneel. Cannot move a certain number of time units. Player can basically move TWICE during the turn. If by accident player moves one square- it will count as one move even if your moving range is 10 squares. Soldier attitude cannot be set to cautious, normal or hostile. Looking direction of units cannot be set... I could go on...

5) Base management and alien craft interception are oversimplified to the point of becoming a boring chore.

Overall, playing this game made me join this community. I'm now looking forward to Xenonauts coming out.

[Dowly]

Overall, playing this game made me join this community. I'm now looking forward to Xenonauts coming out.

This is one of the rare things I like about XCOM:EU (may its name be forever cursed).

[soullogik]

i'm with gonzo

the letdown of xcom:eu led me here.

will probably wait till its out of alpha to get involved tho.

patiently waiting

also i seen an article stating xcom:eu will be getting mod tools, maybe in a year or so.

someone will turn it into the game we were waiting for.

Edited October 15, 2012 by soullogik

[sectoid]

has anyone complaint about the autopsy graphics of the xcom-eu?

they only show a bunch of texts with 3-D model outline...

this is seriously dissapointed, the UFO-pedia of xcom-eu has no review value.

[HWP]

1) Physics system. Whether you hit the target or not is basically decided by a random number generator, not whether the bullet actually connects! Your bullet spray can never hit a random target- only the one you selected.

2) AI is basically absent. Aliens sit around and wait for player to find them. Then they get "activated", a little cutscene is played EVERY TIME of the aliens pounding their chests, roaring or otherwise acting annoyed.

That's some very serious and substantial criticism. Not just general feeling, but serious flaws of the game.

I only played EU a little, first the demo, then with a friend, so didn't get to catch all these flaws. If it ever goes in some pack real cheap, I guess I might buy it for a quick run. About $5 would be a fair price for that game. It's not even worth pirating, that would still feel like a $50 title, and it belongs in the bargain bin, maybe that could lower my expectations enough that the game could fulfill them.

[GonzoGonzalez]

"has anyone complaint about the autopsy graphics of the xcom-eu?"

There are so many things to complain about in X-Com: E.U. that I could write an essay. I totally agree with you- one of the things that were so cool in original X-Com was dying of curiosity while waiting for research to complete. In the new game research is a boring formality on the way to getting a new gun. I have noticed that I haven't went back to Ufo-pedia once throughout the game- it is just not that interesting to look at.

Ok, some more points:

6) Game graphics. By 2012 the graphics already feel dated. "Silent Storm" which was released in 2003 has better graphics (in my opinion) and far better tactical gameplay. In S.S., your view is not locked in isometric perspective- you can zoom in and rotate around freely. There is no need for isometric perspective in 3D. X-Com: E.U. designers claimed that keeping isometric perspective was to "keep true to original gameplay". That's the funniest line I read! They'd better "keep true to original" through all the other things they cut out- like the actual enjoyable gameplay!

7) Replay value. There is none. Once you play this game once you will not want to do it again. Maps are all pre-made and not randomly generated. Even throughout single pass-through you will fight on repeating maps- without any justification for coming back. All maps look like generic urban or forest locations. There is no geographic feel. Choose Egypt or UK for your next mission will result in same generic urban map with no differences other than letters on ads.

8) Character development. In this game, there are no character stats like bravery, precision, speed, stamina, etc,etc,etc. Everything is decided by "perks" which are granted to character after a certain number of kills. You cannot select your squad on the basis of who is braver, can carry more stuff or is less susceptible to psionic attacks. Characters are assigned classed after the first mission- and they are locked to particular types or weapons after that. This makes the game feel even more like a primitive board game.

9) Tons of game-destroying bugs. I played in Classic mode with "Ironman" enabled- meaning you cannot reload previous saves. Due to tutorial bugs, some saves left game in such a state it was impossible to proceed. For example, I started building "Alient Containment" and exited the game. Upon reloading, tutorial asked me to start building it again. But, building the containment was already in progress and I could not select the same action again! Thus, tutorial locked me in that position- requiring me to perform action that I couldn't. 1 hour of gameplay down the drain just like that. This happened to me twice in various spots in the tutorial, until I have given up and turned Ironman mode off to be able to reload previous save in case I got stuck.

Action system is also bugged. As I mentioned, sometimes the action system decides that it is okay to shoot through walls, ignoring "full cover" status of the obstacle entirely. No, this is not the good old shoot-alien-through-window or destroy-a-wall to kill alien behind it. The shot just passes through the wall without damaging it and kills character taking cover behind it.

Sometimes characters shoot in one direction and hit targets to the side or even behind them (the opposite of the direction they are shooting). Just one more example of disconnect of "roll the dice" system and 3D sequences that are supposed to represent it.

10) Cheap attempt at pop-culture appeal. Apparently, wearing a helmet is a purely a fashion statement. It is basically like selecting an alternative haircut. The brave X-com soldiers go into battle bare-headed without any protection. I guess they wouldn't look cool otherwise. Well, in this game there is no body-part-specific damage since everything is decided by random number generator anyway.

11) Price. $50 for this mediocre game (even if all bugs are fixed) is way overboard. I wouldn't pay more than $10 for this game, even if my initial expectations weren't as high as they were.

Pheeew. Letting those things out makes me feel better already. I can't believe I've been had for $50.

Edited October 15, 2012 by GonzoGonzalez

[GoodGuyEddy]

Want to know the sad part? If XCOM draws in less money than CoD(or some other modern military style shooter 64) most publishers will say that's because TBS is a dead genre, not because XCOM had some legitimate problems.

[GonzoGonzalez]

Actually, what is sadder is the rave reviews people are giving this game. Is the modern public so dumbed down to not be able to enjoy anything of complexity this days? Pretty soon whack-a-mole will be the height of gaming sophistication... Or maybe the game distributors are posting fake reviews all over the place. The amount of coverage they got in the media and magazines like GameSpot indicates they are spending millions on advertisement. If only they spent as much on development.

I'm surprised that I sound like an old fart here. I'm not- turning 31 this year. I just think that the gaming industry is insulting my intelligence as of lately...

[HWP]

The public IS still able to enjoy complexity.

But, simple as that, a dumber game gets both the gamers who want complexity, because there aren't any complex competitors, and the gamers who just want 5 minutes of eye candy between lunch break and lunch.

Lowest common denominator. It sells. It especially sells to people who can't find the lowest common denominator of the game's price and the IQ required to complete it.

[flashman]

I think the most hilarious bug is getting my troops to shoot someone the wrong way backwards. Works a treat if firing at someone just below the, they don't aim the gun down, they just shoot in whatever direction they are facing.

[Par'Gellen]

Actually, what is sadder is the rave reviews people are giving this game. Is the modern public so dumbed down to not be able to enjoy anything of complexity this days? Pretty soon whack-a-mole will be the height of gaming sophistication... Or maybe the game distributors are posting fake reviews all over the place. The amount of coverage they got in the media and magazines like GameSpot indicates they are spending millions on advertisement. If only they spent as much on development.

I'm surprised that I sound like an old fart here. I'm not- turning 31 this year. I just think that the gaming industry is insulting my intelligence as of lately...

If they pay me a million dollars I'll give it a great review too!

[JustinKace]

Hello everyone. I'm new here, and another very sad puppy at the state of the new game that lays claim to the XCOM title. Unfortunately I am a victim of my own enthusiasm. I'm a huge fan of the original and still re-play it every year or two. I intentionally deprived myself of nitty gritty info re the new XCOM because I didn't want spoilers, so I went in to it on a great high, expecting it to be like XCOM and was massively disappointed. So much so that I actually was angry at myself for getting so worked up about it.

Anyway, on the plus side, it pushed me here. I had heard of Xenonauts. I was unfortunately too late to join the kickstarter, which was quite disappointing as I love supporting promising games on KS, but it did at least put Xenonauts on my radar. However, when I heard about the Firaxis remake I though 'Oh man, I feel for the poor Xenonauts guys! Well in to their own awesome project and then a big dollar studio annouces this and stomps them into the dirt'.

I can see now that that sentiment wasn't entirely justified, but it is what I was thinking at the time. Now though, I am thanking the gods for Xenonauts and thinking that this project is going to be the saving grace for all the hardened XCOM vets that feel let down by Firaxis's version.

I could list all the disappointing points, but I'm actually just trying to get over it. I spent my money on the game, and to be fair it does look like it is probably a good game in it's own right, but after playing for three hours, all I could see was the flaws. I need to let my poor emo, XCOM fanboy wounds scab over before I'll be able to enjoy it as something that isn't really an XCOM game.