Information XCOM: Enemy Unknown Has a Demo

[EG]

It also looks stupid when your goons jump out of cover to take a shot and then jump back.

Just like the original! Always had to keep enough ticks to hustle back behind something after taking the shot.

 

[tuluse]

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/01/06/why-firaxis-loves-xcom.aspx

The original XCOM was the perfect game

Isn't the obvious question from this, why are you making a sequel?


Or at the very least, why did you change so much?

 

[Outlander]

If I can't romance a sectoid then it's NOT AN RPG.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

It will never live up to your expectations because the game mostly operated in your imaginations, and all those cutscenes, voices and animation spoil that atmosphere.

Torchlight 2 is a recent game that mostly leaves you alone for hours at a time, and the music is low key. I was surprised at how strong its atmosphere was.

Compare this with Diablo 3 and the awkward BioWare style companions, and the monk voice actor who fakes a pseudo Russian accent. See which of the two looks stupid.

 

[Gord]

Well, that demo was awfully short. Considering I had to wait 3 hours for the download to then finish the actual demo in like 30 minutes...

Anyway, first impressions aren't completely bad, but it's just much too short to say much, imho.
Tutorial is completely scripted/layed out for you, but at least not very long.

The "real" mission (actually there are 2, you get to choose, nope it's one mission with different decals (chinese vs english text and rewards, completely identical map, though) lets you do what you want after the 2nd turn or so. It can get somewhat interesting when you face 2 aliens and have only one soldier in a bad position, but the aliens you meet there are relatively easy push-overs. Hopefully that changes later in the game.
The cover system isn't so bad, it makes sense to take cover in a game like this and it doesn't play too bad. You can't always reach a perfect position when advancing and a soldier caught out in the open might very well be a dead soldier (if more dangerous aliens will turn up - hopefully).

Graphics are ok, if entirely different in style form the old games. If the original borrowed heavy from 90s comic-book aesthetics, this one borrows from post-2000 action-flics.
Interface could use some tweaking. It's not completely unusable, but far from perfect. Choosing and then confirming an action like shooting should be much more convenient when using a mouse. Also I'm not sure if I can even shoot at random things (to e.g. destroy walls or cover) or only at enemies (edit: it seems I can with grenades, but not with weapons?).

Ultimately it depends a lot on how much scripting they will do in the missions (hard to judge as the demo consists of 50% tutorial) , how random they are/appear and of course, how the difficulty will be.
The relatively small teams might serve to give the missions more tension, but of course, if you used to play the originals with big teams (I didn't), you might be let down.
I'm also a bit torn about how you have to decide between missions, instead of possibly doing them all. Sure, you can't be everywhere at once, but surely earth has more than just 4 elite-soldiers ready? It mostly seems to serve as an excuse to limit the amount of rewards the player recieves through the missions, probably to enhance replayability. (edit: also probably to mask the fact that many missions might be identical)

If they really wanted to convince me of the game, the demo should have been much longer, though (and not just for the fucking huge download size). As it stands, I might as well have not played it.

 

[Average Manatee]

Is this even an open ended game? Or just a succession of pre-determined missions?

 

[kris]

Also I'm not sure if I can even shoot at random things (to e.g. destroy walls or cover) or only at enemies.

Right. This was the best part. You can blow walls and cover. I was actually hesitant about taking cover behind what looked like oil drums.

What really is missing is stances and shooting around corners. More natural cover, instead of those cluttered small maps I seen. I can come up with loads of more things to make it more into a interesting tactical game, because right now it frankly isn't.

Is this even an open ended game? Or just a succession of pre-determined missions?

Feels like the latter, but I don't really know.

 

[Jashiin]

 

[Seboss]

A PC turn-based strategy game that requires a pad to be played comfortably. Yep, definitely true to the original Firaxis.

 

[Gord]

but I don't really know.

Right, that's exactly my biggest issue with the "demo".
It's so short and limited, we get almost no info from it.

If the whole game is like the mission you get to play in the demo, I'd say it's pretty bad. But if they expand it, with big maps, deadly (and not completely passive) aliens, etc., it might turn out to be good enough. Maybe not 50 bucks good, but I could justify buying it when it's on sale.

 

[kris]

but I don't really know.

Right, that's exactly my biggest issue with the "demo".
It's so short and limited, we get almost no info from it.

If the whole game is like the mission you get to play in the demo, I'd say it's pretty bad. But if they expand it, with big maps, deadly (and not completely passive) aliens, etc., it might turn out to be good enough. Maybe not 50 bucks good, but I could justify buying it when it's on sale.

Agreed.

And different objectives to missions, to make some variation, as the battles otherwise lack some things...

 

[Humanity has risen!]

Wow, it's a lot dumber than I thought. This is basically XCom, Jerry Bruckheimer edition.

The interface is so horrid. PC-optimized interface? I can't fathom what the console one actually looks like.

Scale indeed feels much too small, and I can't stand the constant dramatic close-ups just for opening a door and leaving cover.

Most of all I hate the stupid dramatic introductions and animations, and the cheap thriller music. Why must everything be overstated, instead of subtle and understated? Also there's much less feel of danger, and overall much fewer options for combat. If these and all the other Bruckheimer garbage were out, it could be a decent game. Potentially.

I only have the desire never to play that abomination ever again, and I am glad I pre-ordered Xenonauts.

Things like these really make me want to become a classics and Kickstarter-only gamer.

 

[UnknownBro]

Xbox: generic alien invasion

 

[sea]

Let's see what we've got...

5 minutes of cutscenes vs. 0 seconds of actual gameplay during the first mission (unless you count clicking exactly what the game tells you to be "gameplay").

Cutscenes every 30 seconds which completely and utterly fail to elicit any emotional reaction.

Ugly graphics with low-res textures and 90s cartoon art style.

The "best of the best" X-COM team needs to be babied across a 20 meter street by HQ, and then half the squad gets taken out by a single alien (funny how that doesn't happen when it isn't scripted).

Only 2 moves every turn for every unit because console gamers are too dumb to understand action points.

3D graphics which obstruct the camera and constantly pop in and out of existence as you move it around.

Camera movement that is so slow and awkward it feels like moving through molasses.

A big, clunky UI with oversized fonts and too many transparent/etc. elements that is hard to read at a glance despite being designed with the utmost simplicity in mind.

A separate "fire mode" because apparently simply pointing and clicking at enemies is too difficult for people to understand.

Tactical map where you select your base location from pre-defined continents on a list rather than just pointing and clicking the exact spot you want.

Select rooms in your base by clicking on the rooms? Of course not! Why would I ever think to do something like that?

First-tier upgrade only has one choice. Why is this even an upgrade at all if you are basically going to automatically get it no matter what?

HOLY SHIT WHY DO NONE OF THESE STUDIOS USE A GODDAMN POP SHIELD AND DE-ESSER WHEN RECORDING THEIR VOICE-OVERS

Watching stiff, boring NPCs describe game mechanics is a billion times less interesting than just... playing the game and letting me imagine what's going on myself.

Gee, thanks for showing me the squad selection screen when I can't choose anything myself.

Maybe the final version will be okay (as others said, the gameplay itself has some potential) but I will not be holding my breath. Simplified game mechanics crushed down to basics, poor visuals that would look dated in a 2006 release, utterly horrendous UI that was obviously designed by someone who has never played a PC game in his life before, and let's not forget the delightful "I can't believe we're not getting sued" soundtrack that was 95% stolen from Deus Ex: Human Revolution. I cannot believe this is a Firaxis game. Fuck them and their turning a classic PC game into a shitty dumbed down console release that has none of the depth or charm of the original.

 

[Jaesun]

Holy hell sea. I guess I shall avoid. Hopefully you will be doing a review. Did you play the original's by chance?

 

[Thane Solus]

If they received a lot of bad feedback and low pre-orders, i bet you will never ever see them make a demo for a game again, hahaha. Fucking retards. Take the best game ever made for PC and turn it into console trash.

 

[Average Manatee]

An Xcom remake should really be one of the easiest cash-ins ever and yet they still fuck it up. Amazing.

 

[Tel Prydain]

Am still interested to see how it turns out – it was tactically unwise to do a ‘demo’ that was just the tutorial, but I’m not going to automatically write off the whole thing for one stupid mistake. Particularly as the actual game is (allegedly) primarily random missions on random battlefields with scripted missions only for a few plot related ones.
Having said that, this is still an insult to the original, and the six-person limit is just a retarded move.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

You realise that all this criticism and resulting failure of the game will lead developers to conclude that "turn-based strategy games don't sell".

 

[GhostBadger]

Wow, it's a lot dumber than I thought. This is basically XCom, Jerry Bruckheimer edition.

:brofist:

 

[WhiskeyWolf]

You realise that all this criticism and resulting failure of the game will lead publishers to conclude that "turn-based strategy games don't sell".

Fix. No surprise there.

 

[Black]

You realise that all this criticism and resulting failure of the game will lead publishers to conclude that "turn-based strategy games don't sell".

Fix. No surprise there.

Publishers gonna publish
But you know what? If it fails, that's good. Maybe it will stop retarded publishers from buying old cult classics only to rape them. If their own franchises don't sell, why buy old stuff that, for some unknown reasons, doesn't sell as well.

EDIT: love those quotes from the steam page

“The most engaging and visually stimulating take on turn-based strategy I've ever seen.”
– IGN
“I can easily see losing hundreds (yes, hundreds) of hours in XCOM: Enemy Unknown when it comes out on October 9.”
– Game Informer
“XCOM really is something spectacular.”
– Rock Paper Shotgun

 

[MicoSelva]

{cut to save precious internet space}

Agreed with all these, sea, but You forgot to mention that rocket launcher is a (single-use?) skill and not an equipment piece anymore. o_O

Also, cutscenes are not only frequent. They are also really bad and retarded. 'We can only go to one mission, Commander, so You have to decide if You want to help America and get +4 scientists or help China and get +$200. The nation we help will like us, while other one will not like us. Choose wisely.'

I'm not even sure if it is worth to mention all the cliches like the scientist chick (today's special offer: two cliches at the price of one! Hot scientist and German scientist!), who basically promises to suck your dick if you bring her more alien artifacts. Romance plot anyone? :facepalm:

 

[Black]

Even casuals on 4chan found the demo pathetic.

 

[Haba]

If I take a shit, photograph it and then make a website for my shit, calling it a "real-time strategy turn-based tactics role-playing video game", I expect Codex to make a newspost for every update I make on that site.