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

[felipepepe]

But you'll never be ambushed, flanked or even hunted.

 

[Gord]

Floaters flank a lot, but it won't usually happen that a group of mutons flank you, true.

 

[Gozma]

There is no way the game could work anything like it does if aliens didn't have the activate->setup move thing. The original X-Com had the "you pick where to move, if the character sees an alien during his move he stops before triggering a reaction shot" which can only work with a full TU system. If you didn't have the mid-turn stop and reaction shots were unavoidable X-Com would be a completely stupid human wave clusterfuck. With the two-move system you really can't just have the aliens sit somewhere and random walk and overwatch (which is basically what the AI in X-Com did), particularly with the non-disposable RPG characters they have in Enemy Unknown instead of $20,000 plasma sponges of X-Com that are hunting $150k plasma rifles.

It would be fine if the activate-> setup move system was just a way to set up multiturn fights in random spots on a level, which is pretty much how it works during the first couple of months of EU. But later on when your firepower gets overwhelming activate->free move doesn't set up shit, you just blow the aliens away from anywhere.

 

[Infinitron]

which can only work with a full TU system.

Why? Because it would be less fair?

Your character can still be stopped and lose his movement. Tough cookies.

 

[Stereotypical Villain]

Where the fuck is my Threat from the Deep expansion?

 

[Gozma]

Hmm.

Fuck, maybe it could be done. But in any event there has to be a fair way to scout without just having to absorb reaction fire. It's much more important to have it be robust than in X-Com because of the RPGish mechanics. In X-Com, if I were being completely anal about keeping individual guys alive, I would be counting out the 27 or whatever squares of sight radius every time I walked past a blind spot, and the UI gives you very little help here (and isometric tile-based makes it more disorienting than it could be). But it's not really that important to keep everyone alive in X-Com, so I don't and just horror game wince when someone gets melted.

I don't really know if constant anal vigiliance to never step into a reaction shot, which would necessitate a lot of UI like sight bubbles, would be any better as a game than a properly balanced activation->setup concept. I think the first months of EU work really well.

 

[Disgruntled]

And more info:

• The overall thrust of the campaign will be similar to Enemy Unknown. Most of the details Gupta was talking about involved the ground game, and enhancements to the troops in the game's turn-based combat. Gupta did say that there would be changes to the larger global war-game, but didn't elaborate on them.
• The endgame will remain largely unchanged, though the new alien units will now appear aboard the alien ship. Generally speaking, the "arc" of the story will remain about the same, provided you get to the endgame.

Thats disappointing. Id probably take a more traditional expansion with a separate campaign over this.

 

[felipepepe]

They should also bring back the Skyranger being on the map. They clearly didn't like the whole "lol got shot going out of the skyranger"... except that WAS part of the game, because its a real-world problem militaries have too. There's nothing that says "WELCOME TO X-COM BITCH YOU IS GONNA BE RAPED" more than getting your squad out of the Skyranger and then being blaster-bombed on turn 2. Happened on my second X-COM mission ever, nevar forget.

True, I was playing the Xenonauts beta the other day and was surprised by how dumb & reckless nuXCOM made me. Skyranger lands, I send my squad out to the right, 3 aliens appear on my back and kill half of my squad, as I dumbly stare at the screen and wonder why I didn't check check my surrounding before sending everyone out...

 

[moraes]

They should also bring back the Skyranger being on the map. They clearly didn't like the whole "lol got shot going out of the skyranger"... except that WAS part of the game, because its a real-world problem militaries have too. There's nothing that says "WELCOME TO X-COM BITCH YOU IS GONNA BE RAPED" more than getting your squad out of the Skyranger and then being blaster-bombed on turn 2. Happened on my second X-COM mission ever, nevar forget.

 

[Gozma]

The problem is that eventually you learn to use smoke grenades and get out of the skyranger in 100% safety. You then have to repeat that dozens-of-clicks rote procedure like thirty times over the course of a game.

 

[Gord]

Even in the original, the tactics part became a bit boring after the 30th mission or so.
Eventually I always tried to shoot down UFOs over the sea, so there wouldn't be a wreck (unless I needed Elerium).

 

[Grunker]

No random maps [...] I'm gonna be replaying a hell of a lot of the same goddamn maps in a new campaign. Ugh.

My thoughts exactly. Everything else is just sugarcoating. The core thing this game needed to be functional was random maps, and without it, the game is as toothless as a granny after everything but the first playthrough. Shoot the guys in charge, please.

 

[Gozma]

If enemies are looking at you on turn 1, have one of the guys at the exit prime a smoke grenade and then drop it from inventory. That doesn't trigger reaction fire and the grenade explodes after you end turn and blocks LOS from anything but extreme close range. You can have both guys drop smokes if you want to block all ranges. Aliens don't have the AI to grenade units they can't see or to rush the Skyranger to re-establish sight range and don't start in the Skyranger tile, so it's as close to 100% safe as anything in a vidyo

To deal with alien psy you just leave everyone with their gun dropped on the ground at the end of the turn until the AI has shown which characters (with shitty psi strength) they want to pick on. Or use tanks if you don't want to do something that stupid.

 

[Zeriel]

To deal with alien psy you just leave everyone with their gun dropped on the ground at the end of the turn until the AI has shown which characters (with shitty psi strength) they want to pick on.

Imagining this in a cutscene/movie is endlessly entertaining.

 

[Haba]

Original UFO would make an awesome movie, if you took the game mechanics (and their successful abuse) literally.

 

[Average Manatee]

Best part about TFTD is that the shitty skyranger with its open ramp and blind spots everywhere is replaced by the awesome sub, with a door that can be opened and closed, hard 180 degree cover, and no overhanging bullshit to prevent throwing grenades. I swear that one change alone makes TFTD easier than X-Com for me.

 

[Stereotypical Villain]

I can't wait to pay 30 euro for an expansion pack which adds two new things! Firaxis at its finest.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

My thoughts exactly. Everything else is just sugarcoating. The core thing this game needed to be functional was random maps, and without it, the game is as toothless as a granny after everything but the first playthrough. Shoot the guys in charge, please.

Is it worth purchasing though...for a single play-through? Lets say, not compared to the original games, but compared to a decent tactics game like FO:T, how would you rate it?

 

[felipepepe]

I think it's worth it, but since the expansion will be stand-alone and with the same main campaign, just wait for it.

 

[Grunker]

My thoughts exactly. Everything else is just sugarcoating. The core thing this game needed to be functional was random maps, and without it, the game is as toothless as a granny after everything but the first playthrough. Shoot the guys in charge, please.

Is it worth purchasing though...for a single play-through? Lets say, not compared to the original games, but compared to a decent tactics game like FO:T, how would you rate it?

I would say yes, but wait for expansion.

 

[Galdred]

My thoughts exactly. Everything else is just sugarcoating. The core thing this game needed to be functional was random maps, and without it, the game is as toothless as a granny after everything but the first playthrough. Shoot the guys in charge, please.

Is it worth purchasing though...for a single play-through? Lets say, not compared to the original games, but compared to a decent tactics game like FO:T, how would you rate it?

I would say yes, but wait for expansion.

Indeed, the game is good by itself, it just doesn't feel "real" as the original did, as the geoscape (strategic section) has been badly dumbed down (thus reducing the impression you are in charge as opposed to undertaking scripted missions), and the "aliens on a picnic" effect really detracts both from the tactics and the atmosphere. But otherwise, the tactical combat is pretty nice, and the first playthrough will probably be fun. The game will probably go on sale when the expansion launches (I thought it was stand alone only on consoles), so you should definitely wait.

 

[Space Satan]

Uhm...
http://store.steampowered.com/app/225340/

 

[felipepepe]

80 reais? Fucking 40 dollars? For a DLC?

 

[Jaedar]

80 reais? Fucking 40 dollars? For a DLC?

And only 30 euro. Steam learning how to do conversions?

They're calling it an expansion though, not DLC. There was talk earlier of base invasions, but not sure if that was just the devs trying to generate hype or something that would actually happen.

 

[Morgoth]

Day 75% off purchase.