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

[Voidfoam]

Here is my X-com mini review!

OG and Firaxis X-com has 3 things in common!

1) The name

2) Its turn based.

3) You are fighting aliens.

But my beef with Firaxis is not so much game play as it is with the "vision" or lack of it.

My biggest letdowns with this game are. In order of "letdowness"

1) The lore! aaaa aaaa cmon! "Why are they taking people?" Well first of all Firaxis, you presented it in such a lame ass way, that actually I don't care! There you have it- i don't care one bit why they are taking people! In the original they came at night. In scary ships to our towns and farms and fetched us. They stringed us, our cows and poultry up and cut us open with huge cutters. Why? I don't know exactly. But it made my imagination run wild and you have done shit to my imagination.

They made us into liquid and drank us that's one thing i know. Not so strange when half of your army is enslaved carnivores from distant worlds. I don't need all answers JAKE! I need inspiration. The discoveries i make in the "remake" i barely care for. The "art" and walls of text is almost insultingly boring in a game whose predecessor made the fight inspiring and mysterious with it. And i know exactly everything about the Snakemen and Muton. Cause the OG showed me an inspiring picture with some facts, of a live one, and a cut up one. Then based on that i figured out all about their home world, culture, history and fate. Simply because i cared. I need to be inspired Jake and Sid, if you are to make a great game. You failed.

You could of course argue that i was younger and had a more vivid imagination. But that would be horseshit, cause its wrong!

2)Well the geoscape and my possibilities there are so obviously made for the consoles and its locked ufo fights and three combo abductions is just repetitive and boring. No surprises there! I really wonder for my next playtrough. Will i go for cash or scientists? Exiting. Will there perhaps be a small scout to shot down after the first two other missons? Cant wait!

3) The escalation of the early game is a bit too much action. I liked the first month in OG hunting the single scout.

4 Interception left me the first time with a feeling of .......huh!? It was actually the only area were i thought it would be impossible to not outdo OG! Shame on me. Jake proved me wrong. Very inspiring TY Jake. I guess Xenonauts have spoiled me!

On the other side!

Its hard and unforgiving as hell! It was ages ago i played a game i could loose. And i care about my best guys. At least early game.

Have had some real nail biters! Thanks Firaxis for providing a challenge!

I like the fighting. Its a nice and challenging form of chess. Although the predictability of the alien behavior "squads of three, sitting waiting" makes it very flawed and predictable when you get the hang of it. The occasional single flanker, or more movement from the aliens would have been a game changer. But mostly on the AI side i like X-com. Aliens working in squads feels very nice. Actually id rather have both the strangler and the squad military style to be honest.

I liked the screams of panic, gunfights, choppers and sirens in the terror missions! Made a lot for immersion (Hint Chris!)

Good flow in animations and soldiers interact nice with surroundings. Overall a very well worked and consistent style in graphics. I thought i would hate it before. But i actually kinda like it know. Even the silly infiltration unit "thinman." Nice infiltration btw. Seems the aliens should do more anatomy studies of us, instead of planning for that epic Hollywood evil alien thing i don't care about anyways.

Solid and fun game in many parts! Horrible in others. Glad i bought it, but i wont play it much longer unless modders make wonders.

Now i am eager to hear what Chris thought of it! Since this was his biggest chance of playing a remake himself, and of course if he got any nice ideas from it. Chris?

Edited October 16, 2012 by Voidfoam

[Par'Gellen]

I made a list and I'm posting it here... doo daaaaa doo daaa (for some reason Old McDonald Had a Farm started going through my head as I typed that)

Things that disappointed me with XCOM: EU. In no particular order:

1. Aliens get free cheat moves during my turn.

2. Most aliens appear to be idle until I walk up on them at which point they do #1

3. Raining aliens from the sky is a blazingly silly way to add tension. It's almost like it was suggested as a joke and then someone didn't get the memo and coded it.

4. Dr. Mommy yelling at me on the radio not to kill Outsiders when she already has a captured shard in the base. Derp much you crazy lady?

5. Can't select what I want my soldiers to be. That is facepalmingly (it's a word!) dumb.

6. Soldier inventories (or lack thereof). Ridiculous!

7. Can't pick anything up from the battlefield. Unbelievably ridiculous!

8. Can't shoot anything except aliens.

9. Can't stop moving when my soldier spots an alien. "Derrr... I'm tooa stoopid to make my feets be still!"

10. Borked LOS. Aliens can shoot you through entire hills even when you can't even target them back! WHAT THE HELL!?!?!

11. Alien abduction mission mechanic. "Choose A, B, or C! You can only do one! The rest of the world has to suffer!" Thank god there is already a mod that lets you intercept the UFOs that do that.

12. Panic in general. It's a lame mechanic that does nothing but impose a timer on the player. Lazy way to push the game forward.

13. No base defense missions. Makes even having an ant-farm style base to design myself seem pointless. I'd be happier with a list that just tells me I have 4 workshops, 3 generators, 2 labs, etc.

14. Only one player base. Really? Really Firaxis? *facepalm*

15. Can't sell things I make. Lame lame lame lame lame lame lame!

16. Maps seem very small and repetitive. Land at a UFO crash and just run forward. BAM! UFO every time. You don't even have to look for it and can often see it when you step out of the ship. Did we just land in a shoebox?

17. Moving hotkeys. When selecting a new soldier the hotkeys rearrange themselves. Extremely annoying. Thank god there are shortcut keys too that you can bind. Seems redundant though when it could have been easily fixed with standard key layouts for the basic skills that all soliders have like Overwatch and Reload.

18. Some annoying twit constantly telling me and my soldiers what to do. Shut the hell up! I'm the commander and I'm not senile or an idiot damnit!

19. You can move and then shoot but not shoot and then move. Why the hell not?!?!

20. Some foundry upgrades don't seem to do anything like SCOPE and Arcthrower upgrades. Where can I see the stats details for those things? The only stat page I see tells me +10 to aim for SCOPE but does that include the upgrade? IT NEVER CHANGED! Arcthrower stats never change either unless I'm just not finding the correct stat page.

21 . Scan For Activity button on the Geoscape might as well just say "Click For Next Mission". The passage of time has been rendered meaningless and seems to only be there as a weak throwback to the original. Also why are my only two options "STOP" or "LUDICROUS SPEED"?

22. Aliens jump up and dance for you when you spot them. "Oh look at me! I'm a scary alien!! RAWR!! HISS!!". Very silly and conveys none of the tension you felt on the original when all you got was a tiny red blinky square and a faint outline in the dark. Now THAT was creepy!

[JustinKace]

I could list all the disappointing points...

Thanks Par'Gellen, you pretty much summed up my exact feelings.

[GooberCat]

XCOM EU is an awesome game! The combat is by far the most intense experience ever for XCOM. Ive just recently beat the game on Classic Ironman and I had to actually restart several times before learning how to overcome those nasty aliens and keep my panic levels down. The class system actually makes you think about how to make your squad rather then "heavy plasma, heavy plasma... med kit, med kit... etc". Each soldier had a role and I did get attached to them and was sad when some of my favorites died.... especially when it was to a cryssilid (sp?)... those zombie making bastards! There was some VERY tense battles where it could have gone either way.... I LOVED having a chance to loose... even near the end game.

What XCOM EU does lack is depth.... I felt way more involved in the original XCOM and I had alot more freedom to defend the earth my way. The overall feel wasn't too dark and the story was set out before you and you pretty much just get to follow it. I want more choice period. I don't think it will have the same replay ability as Xenonauts though!

Overall... XCOM EU is worth a try if your on the fence its a great game.

[Shuichi Niwa]

Chryssalids in this game didn't scare me, not in the least. First, they looks boring. Second, they are less deadly. Third, they are easier to kill. And fourth, their zombies isn't scary at all, just your average house of the dead dude waiting to be shoot. Seriously, the zombie thing in the old XCOM left me with a terrified feeling "now WTF is that, what have they turn my soldier into ???"

The only thing lame about Chryssalid in the old XCOM that I find is their ability to make even my HWP into zombie...

However, Ethereal just become super epic for some reason. Even tougher than Cyberdisc and almost at the same level as Sectopod...

[Citizen844]

Where are you guys finding mods for this XCOM EU?

[DaCruise]

@Par´Gellen

1/3 of you complaints are valid.

1/3 of your complaints are invalid or I simply disagree. An example would be aliens moving when spotted. It would break the balance and make it a faceroll if they wouldn´t take cover.

1/3 of your complaints are just retarded whining such as nr 4 and 18.

How about posting what you like about the game instead of nitpicking every little detail. Sure the game has bugs and questionable design choices but its not all bad......not at all.

[Shuichi Niwa]

An example would be aliens moving when spotted. It would break the balance and make it a faceroll if they wouldn´t take cover.

So they can't do anything else beside sitting there playing cards waiting for us ? Have you played the old XCOM ?

And even when they are going around patrolling in this game, they still use the same mechanic. For me that using that mechanic is already breaking the game, lol.

[Par'Gellen]

@Par´Gellen

1/3 of you complaints are valid.

1/3 of your complaints are invalid or I simply disagree. An example would be aliens moving when spotted. It would break the balance and make it a faceroll if they wouldn´t take cover.

1/3 of your complaints are just retarded whining such as nr 4 and 18.

How about posting what you like about the game instead of nitpicking every little detail. Sure the game has bugs and questionable design choices but its not all bad......not at all.

Well seeing as how I didn't feel the need to bash anyone for their opinion by calling it "retarded whining" I only found 1/3 of your response to be worth committing to memory. Thanks BTW

Edit: Oh I like the graphics and sound...

Edited October 16, 2012 by Par'Gellen

[Par'Gellen]

Where are you guys finding mods for this XCOM EU?

XCOM Nexus. Here is the link to the one I mentioned: http://xcom.nexusmods.com/mods/10

[relkin43]

I gotta say, I was also pretty disappointed in the XCOM:EU demake. The thing is, I was far more disappointing in how many complained about the difficulty, I beat the game on classic in under 15 hours. It's incredibly simple and the AI is terrible, the AI doesn't even communicate nor take shots at you or prepare in any way shape or form. I understand the three abductions choose one mechanic to put you on the clock but as a mechanic it feels kinda cheap and doesn't do that great a job. Mixed unit tactics are limited to mutons and berserkers which is a joke and each unit type has a very predictable behavior type which is easily countered by the time you run into them. I mean, by the time you run into sectopods, lightning reflexes+run n' gun+rapid fire with two assualts and they're dead. No challenge, no depth, and the thing that really kills me, I started a second playthrough on ironman classic and got halfway through and just stopped playing, the game is so linear that there is no real replay style. The maps? 80% of the maps feel the same in a bad way. Oh hey I'm in that forest with a path of broken trees that leads me one and a half turns to the UFO with aliens on the right or left side and inside as well. Battleship mission was a bust too, alloy cannons, titan/arachangel kit and full plasma sorta turned it into a meat grinder for the aliens.

Anyways, it finally pushed me over the edge to preorder this game which I've had my eye on for a long time, please don't let me down!

tldr: xcom:eu-->e-z-p-z wash/rinse/repeat & no replay value, please do a good job on xenonauts!

[Commissar Pancakes]

Don't expect too much map variety for Xenonauts just yet relkin, since they've just recently hired their permanent mapper.

That being said, think of it as XCOM: EU (original) except with updated graphics, a MUCH better UI, and some improvements. (Please bear in mind that I'm going from memory of build 14 since Desura doesn't want me to download or update).

[Par'Gellen]

I watched the Xenonauts Lets Play Youtube video someone linked on this forum not too long ago and it looks awesome so far! So true to the original with new features that are going to be terrific! I'm very excited about it!

[HWP]

That being said, think of it as XCOM: EU (original) except with updated graphics, a MUCH better UI, and some improvements.

The original was called UFO:EU or XCOM:UD (UFO Defense). It was not called XCOM:EU.

They tried their best to snuff out the distinction - but, predictably, if their best was good enough for anything, they wouldn't have to in the first place.

[GoodGuyEddy]

In scary ships to our towns and farms and fetched us.

Grey boxes are scary?

[Shuichi Niwa]

Grey boxes are not scary. Flying grey boxes are.

[GoodGuyEddy]

@Par´Gellen

1/3 of you complaints are valid.

1/3 of your complaints are invalid or I simply disagree. An example would be aliens moving when spotted. It would break the balance and make it a faceroll if they wouldn´t take cover.

1/3 of your complaints are just retarded whining such as nr 4 and 18.

How about posting what you like about the game instead of nitpicking every little detail. Sure the game has bugs and questionable design choices but its not all bad......not at all.

He has above 18 points. 1/3 of that is not two. While his fourth point is just silly the 18 one is pretty legit. You don't want to have your hand held every step of the way, and if you do you should probably not get into TBS. I'd say that at LEAST half of his point are fairly legit(probably more but i didn't bother to read all of them, i read about 2/3). But i must say that he definetly should have elaborated on his points. I mean

15. Can't sell things I make. Lame lame lame lame lame lame lame!

really! Unless i stopped to think about the implications of his points i would say: "Stop whining you bloody moron!" So yeah,elaboration Wan'Gellen or whatever your name is, write a sentence or two explaining why that's bad.

I find it's funny that always when someone with a limited vocabulary on the internet automatically uses words like"whining" or an iteration on a word "retard" in a desperate attempt to discredit someone when they have run out of things to say.

An example would be aliens moving when spotted. It would break the balance and make it a faceroll if they wouldn´t take cover.

Want to know why the original wasn't a faceroll? Because it had something of an A.I. (begin sarcasm)We wouldn't want the player to outmanuver the opponent in a TGS(end sarcasm). it is just a gimmick to help the poor A.I. , the A.I is completely inept if it doesn't detect any enemies. Looks like the coders mostly concentrated on the battle portion of the A.I. and desided that it's better to have the gimmick cover the lackluster "movement" part.

You might not want his complaints to be valid, but even nitpicks can pile up enough to hurt the game. While your fanboyism might not allow to accept that XCOM is not a perfect game, XCOM still has problems that will not go away if you pretend they're not there.

Do you feel like your intellegence is under attack if you like something that is getting critized? If so, then don't be like that. The game is fun i'll give you that, but that's it. The tons of flaws make it a berely good game. Like a juicy little stake. It's good while you're sinking your teeth in it, but since it's tiny it dissapears from the plate quicly and moments later you realize that the flavor barely makes up for the lack of meat. It's good just to have a bit of fun and watching pretty sci-fi guns blow up aliens, but tactically the game is quite shallow. And a lot of people don't think that a barely good game is woth a full AAA price.A lot of poor design desicions knock it down from what could have been a great game easily.

Edited October 16, 2012 by GoodGuyEddy

[Voidfoam]

Grey boxes are scary?

I don't think that you thought of them as flying grey boxes when you played it many years ago,

i think that's something you call them afterwards because of recent discussions on shape and form.

Yes UFOs in Ufo:EU were very scaled down. But they were in no sense any more ugly or boxy than the rest of the game.

The abductor is actually star shaped, remember?

[Par'Gellen]

But i must say that he definetly should have elaborated on his points. I mean really! Unless i stopped to think about the implications of his points i would say: "Stop whining you bloody moron!" So yeah,elaboration Wan'Gellen or whatever your name is, write a sentence or two explaining why that's bad.

Not sure who Wan'Gellen is but I can answer your question

Not being able to sell the things you make like you could in the original places an artificial limit on the player in an attempt to make his decisions "more important". In other words, they wanted to make it feel like you have to make big important choices with your money because all you get is what they give you. Oddly though they then give you things that you can sell which is counter to that whole mechanic. It's like they want both and effectively do neither.

I understand their reasoning behind the limit on what you can sell but the implementation was completely borked. Heck the whole design of that mechanic was borked and feels rushed. Like at the last minute Jake can't figure out what he wants to do and just panics and tries to do both before the game ships.

In the original you could augment and even completely replace the government funding with your own "factories". It wasn't perfect but it was at least an option. In the new one you don't even get the option, and sitting on 40 plasma rifles you've taken the time to stun the enemy for just feels (as I said in the list) extremely lame.

I never said I wasn't a "bloody moron". In fact I'll be the first to admit it! If you don't agree with my list that's fine and I won't hold it against you. It's your opinion after all and I fully support your right to express it.

[flashman]

The finance system dampened my enthusiasm for the global strategy. I actually found it irritating especially when Germany asks for 5 plasma rifles and I cannot afford to build them before it expires. I only build half an ant farm because there was no point doing more. I didnt need more hangers, or training facilities or improved med bay or base defenses etc.

In apocalypse I would have 10 rookies sat all day training so that if they were ever needed they were actually useful. Then again I used to carry 3 shields on every person, 1 in hand 2 in pack, so when it did go wrong it was a serious fubar moment.

[dracopticon]

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. [...]

First of all, you write a very spirited and free form of English that I like, and I'm not even English-bred myself, but Swedish! So you don't have to apologize for your language because you write it good! I understand all things you write, and that's all I need!

Anyway, your points are great, and I agree most vehemently about them all. Especially that thing about "one grenade or one medikit"-thing. Ok, the game progresses and the soldiers get more stuff from higher ranks, but still, noone is as stupid as the game limits suggest. The "knowing-where-the-aliens-are" after a while is also very much a problem. Most of the assignments are very much of a tedious transport to the "front" where you always meet the same types of aliens atleast in the first third of the game.

And the Cryssalids... are definately a HUGE dissapointment. I remember being absolutely terrified of these things in the old games. What they make these days of humans isn't even scary. I'm sorry but Firaxis you need to make things more SCARY! Go read an H.P. Lovecraft story of some such horror saga, and make things more Cthulhoid! THEN XCOM will be really hairraising and creepy!

[dracopticon]

Having played the original xcom enemy unknown, I went into the new xcom game without expecting too much. It seems that developers always mistake streamlining with over simplification. I want things to be complex, with many systems. I realised that some of my most revered PC games of all times have something in common.

I can list some of these games, although it does show my age. Sid Miers' Pirates, Sword of the Samurai (Microprose), Ancient Art of War, Star Control 2 and Jagged Alliance. Lately I've been playing total war quite a bit.

All these games have layered systems, where you often have a strategy layer combined with a tactical layer. The tactics effect the strategy and vice versa. I'm motivated to build strategy and then test it out in a tactical battlefield. The intertwining of these two systems can turn a boring grindfest into something more than just the sum of its parts. [...]

A very good reply! I just don't have the energy to respond, I'm sorry about that. But I really enjoyed reading you thought on this.

[dracopticon]

You can find out if the xenonauts kind of music fits your criteria by:

/Folder where you installed desura/Desura/Common/xenonauts/assets/sound(or just /xenonauts/assets/sound if you installed without desura) And playing :

aircombatmusic

Ground Combat 1

mainmenumusic

Night Combat 1

.ogg files. That's pretty much the tone you're gonna get.

Aha! Many thanks for your tip! I haven't installed anything yet from Desura, quite frankly I don't even know exactly what it is...? Is it the much talked about Beta for Xenonauts...? Because I want that one asap!! But it haven't been released yet, right? Otherwise I'm both blind and deaf and have been quite adept at writing these messages in spite of that! I'll look for ways to get the files you mention!

[dracopticon]

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...

HAHAHA!! That made my day! Eh... evening!

[dracopticon]

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).

[...]

A super good reply! I agree with all your assumptions. Thanks!

Edited October 16, 2012 by dracopticon