X-COM Firaxis - XCOM: Enemy Unknown + Enemy Within Expansion

[Heresiarch]

It's confirmed that this is coming to iOS too. Hahahaha can't wait to use my awesome elite-only iPad to play it. Fuck you android losers

 

[Zewp]

It's not coming to android? Oh no, what a shame.

Guess I'll just have to keep playing the infinitely better original Xcom on my android tablet.

 

[bonescraper]

Expansion or a sequel?

 

[Brinko]

They are remaking Terror from the Deep. God help us all.

 

[bonescraper]

No, they're not. It would be really challenging to make underwater combat work, look and feel ok in 3D environment.

 

[Hellraiser]

No, they're not. It would be really challenging to make underwater combat work, look and feel ok in 3D environment.

As if that ever stopped any game developer.

 

[Tommers]

It's not coming to android? Oh no, what a shame.

Guess I'll just have to keep playing the infinitely better original Xcom on my android tablet.

um... how do you do that?

 

[Zewp]

um... how do you do that?

You have several options, though the easiest is using Dosbox Turbo or finding a PS1 emulator and just using the ROM for the game.

 

[Tommers]

You have several options, though the easiest is using Dosbox Turbo or finding a PS1 emulator and just using the ROM for the game.

Cool. Thanks, I'll look into it. Will ufogold work? I think I still have that on an external HD.

 

[EG]

You have several options, though the easiest is using Dosbox Turbo or finding a PS1 emulator and just using the ROM for the game.

Cool. Thanks, I'll look into it. Will ufogold work? I think I still have that on an external HD.

Gold (assuming it's the Windows 95 version) should work straight out on Windows XP forward.

I think include the DOS files, as well.

 

[Lorica]

More than one playthrough and you're either shortbus material or the kind of guy who gets a kick out of watching paint dry. My earlier criticism stands: there's a very little bit of shit to do, but with solid if simple mechanics on normal & easier difficulties. Higher difficulties are just two puzzles, each with a single solution. And you're going to be solving one of those puzzles some 30 times or so. It really is the very damn definition of grind.

This is a good way of describing the game. Solid, but rather shallow. By the halfway mark, I was doing LARPy or OCD things to keep entertained, e.g. using teams of all demolitions specialists to level UFOs entirely, speed runs, tazers only runs, getting a squad of genetically perfect psionic supersoldiers, seeing how many chyrsalids you could get to spawn at one time on terror missions (a disappointing amount, it seems). I did 1.5 playthroughs (shortbus, ho!) before arriving at Missconnected's conclusion about higher difficulties.

 

[Captain Shrek]

No, they're not. It would be really challenging to make underwater combat work, look and feel ok in 3D environment.

I would rather have them try and fail than afraid to actually make changes. My only real gripes is the complexity of the mechanics like the original should be brought back

 

[knightley]

Nah, would rather have someone try honestly and succeed.
Half assed failure has never been proven to be that useful.
And we have enough of these anyway.

 

[Lorica]

If you can forget for a second it has the xcom name and if you can look past some questionable design decisions it's a decent squad based tbs actually.

no it isn't. it went full retard under every aspect. every single aspect.

I can actually appreciate the idea behind the implementation of the class system. For one, UFO Defence's soldiers were a bit interchangeable. You might have a few soldiers with very good skills, but for the most part anyone could pick up a weapon/equipment from a fallen comrade and fulfill the same function. Morale penalties suck, but with 20 some fieldable units by mid-game, you can spare a rear commander to mitigate that. In XCOM, losing a guy means reduced fighting capability in some area: sniper overwatch, supression fire, medical aid, etc. It forces you to be adaptable and it can really hurt to lose a guy--what a difference from using rooks as expendable probes (or suicide bombers). I suppose my ideal game would fall between the two on that scale.

Besides that, I can see how the abilities added to the game were a concious decision to add some variety to the game by introducing new mechanics and subverting existing ones. The problem with this is that it's generally poorly balanced (or perhaps over-balanced--there isn't an enemy or situation in XCOM that can't be struck down in a round with a prepared, levelled squad--the worst for me is the effect the assault class has on breaches and entries) so difficulty declines and you fall into kind of a rut, as has been noted. It also fails to keep adding that variety--by halfway through one playthrough, you've seen it all. Earlier if you really commit to levelling your soldiers.

I will laud the decision to stick to mostly game mechanic changing upgrades instead of using filler +5% to nose picking type skills, but the railroading and the limited skill selection for classes (A or B? No, there's no branching) mean that there are very few 'builds.' Robot killer or rain of fire heavy? Double tap sniper or finisher sniper? Basically there are only two significant builds for each class.

Higher fatality, more dearly won experience, more flexibility and depth in the upgrade system, and a better eye towards difficulty would have made this decision a good one, in my book. In short, non-retarded change but shoddy (streamlined, dare I say?) design and execution.

The biggest loss between UFO Defence and Enemy Unknown was the difficulty. You feel on your back foot for most of the original (definitely the first game, but even in replays; superhumans may experience different mileage). I don't remember being really shaken by anything in the remake.

 

[EventHorizon]

Coming to iPad. Fully bro.

 

[Admiral jimbob]

Looks like some Codexers are still playing this one:

 

[Comrade Goby]

He knows the truth

 

[cvv]

Soo how many of you are still playing this game?

For me it was one of the biggest disappointments of 2012. Doubly so because it was not a complete disaster I could just laught off and forget. It had potential. But the art style, the UI, the dumbed down movement, the art style, the stupid RNG system, the art style, the wonky production values, the cutscenes, the art syle and the generally lobotomized nature of the thing was just too much.

Played it once, uninstalled, will never go back, unless Firaxis fixes it the same way they fixed Civ5 with Gods and Kings. Fat chance though.

 

[Zewp]

Stopped after my first playthrough. Already seen everything the game has to offer.

 

[Gord]

I liked it enough for two playthroughs, but it has lost most of its appeal after that.
Too little replayability. Typical "Good for what it is" game, but could easily have been much more.

 

[felipepepe]

Yeah, I played it once on normal, then again on classic ironman with second wave options... have no reason for a third time, the flaws of the game are prety clear once you replay it, especially how linear the progression is and how retareded the difficulty is, getting easier and easier as the game goes on...

 

[Zed]

maybe something for TC, Trash?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8zZsecTRfM

 

[Lorica]

That man looks like a schoolboy who's waiting to be scolded for the pornographic scribbles he accidentally turned in instead of his book report.

 

[cvv]

maybe something for TC, Trash?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8zZsecTRfM

Solomon is blabbering, he know he fucked up and Julian is clearly diplomatic.

 

[cvv]

maybe something for TC, Trash?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8zZsecTRfM

"We played turn-based games because the technology couldn't handle stuff happening in a real time."

Yeah, no.