Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[wrwr]

Just watched a "let's play" on Youtube and no, I'm not impressed by this product. This is not Xcom, this is a crippled, dumbed down clone for casual console players. The UI feels like Xbox, the maps are tiny corridors and full of cover, the squad size is limited for four! men who can suck up plasma burn damage and fully heal in 3 seconds like an fps protagonist. At least they have no self regenerating health yet in this version. No inventory, no customability, less stats than Diablo, no complex time unit management anymore, instead a primitive run&shoot system which allows no tactical flexibility and forces the player to wait for enemy fire wherever he used a weapon last. Very disappointing.

Can't imagine truly epic fights in this game. Too simple, too linear, the engine just sets too many limits. Without the brand name it would be just another generic squad strategy title no one will remember in half a year. Even the UFO:Afterbla line allowed the player way more freedom.

Yes, I expected an accurate remake which uses the game design developments of the last 20 years to improve and fine polish the underdeveloped parts of the original, like the equipment handling, the base troop organization and the geopolitics. Instead I got a cheap, dumbed down clone with far worse UI and gameplay. No, not impressed. And no, I don't care about the pretty graphics and action sequences.

[Anvilfolk]

Not sure if troll or just ignoring this entire thread...

[Neonivek]

Not sure if troll or just ignoring this entire thread...

Look there is more then enough in this game for someone to legitimately dislike it or find it somewhat unfaithful to the source material.

Just suck it up and move on.

One thing I really didn't like about Xcom apocolips for example was just how absolutely HUGE the maps could be. If an alien was hiding, it could add a lot of extra time onto a mission.

[Urist McSpike]

I'm not convinced the RNG is quite as R as it'd like us to believe, being that it basically decides what actions will work and what won't on a given turn right at the beginning of said turn.

I saw the same thing, and was confused by it as well.  The 2K forums has a lot of comments about the RNG as well, and here's a pretty understandable explanation I saw:

The computer generates the random number using the exact same seed each time so it generates THE EXACT SAME random numbers even if you reload.

In what you're saying, basically it generated a 41 and then a 98. The first shot taken by ANYONE will "roll" that 41, the NEXT shot taken rolls "98". When everyone misses, you've hit a streak in the generator - 97, 99, 96, 97, 04. So the first 4 dice rolls are going to be bad for whoever gets them - then #5 is going to roll a 4 and hit.

It's how computers generate random numbers. Some games use a random seed with each load so the results change each time. XCOM is using a constant seed so reloading has no effect on the generated sequence.

[Ivefan]

-snip-

Yup. Generally true

[Kagus]

The important thing to remember is that, when there's a 99% chance of something happening, there's about a 50% chance of that last 1% taking effect.

(Modified from a phrase my dad used to torment one of his less mathematically-inclined friends with.  Seems oddly appropriate here)

[Virtz]

-snip-

Yup. Generally true

+1

To me it's basically an example of how cinematics and streamlining can horribly ruin a game.

[Myroc]

Alright, so you brought the VIP back to the aircraft. Right, we got what we came for, no need to stick around the site and take unneccesary casualties, right? We should just be able to get back to base, right?

Nope! Aborting the mission still results in a failure, and you get condemned for leaving the VIP to die, you heartless bastard.

What the fuck.

[Kagus]

-snip-

Yup. Generally true

+1

To me it's basically an example of how cinematics and streamlining can horribly ruin a game.

Seems to be a modern trend to place more and more emphasis on the "video" part of "video game".  It's gaming for the moviegoer generation.

Personally, while I do kind of suspect I'll be agreeing with these sentiments, I'm still going to reserve judgement until I've seen a few proper videos myself, or the price goes down to the point where I might actually consider picking it up.  Who knows, it's still early on in the running, they might release some major game-changing patches.

[Metalax]

Played for 15 of the 20 hours I was awake yesterday. This has definetely kept the ability of the original to make you lose track of time. The only really annoying change that I've found so far is the nonsensical artificial limitation to a single skyranger. I was hoping that it would only be the initial state of affairs and that you would later be able to upgrade your hangar to hold more to enable you to respond to multiple sites, but that seems to not be the case.

Current squad heading off to a terror mission

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

All with Skeleton armour except the assaults who are modeling the first suits of Titan armour. Sledge has a heavy laser that I'd forgotten to equip for this photo, as he's the backup to Doomsday, the original survivor of the first mission and the man single handedly responsible for every successful alien capture, who is back in the hospital once again.

Just starting to make the transition to plasma weaponry, with the supports carrying light plasmas and everyone would have plasma pistols but I miscounted how many I would have left when China offered a large sum of money for several a little while ago, leaving me with only four.

Do aliens not always leave a corpse? I know that I've killed enough that I should have enough to make a second chitin plating, but I'm still one short. This next teror mission will hopefully have a load of 'lids. Wait... should not be hopeing for lots of 'lids, that way lies dead squad.

Assuming you have sufficient income already, do you think it is better to deploy a satalite on a country that is at alarm level one and get the increased detection/funding/engineer/scientist immediately or wait for it to hit alarm level 3 to take advantage of the alarm reduction that launching a satelite causes?

[dogstile]

Just watched a "let's play" on Youtube and no, I'm not impressed by this product. This is not Xcom, this is a crippled, dumbed down clone for casual console players. The UI feels like Xbox, the maps are tiny corridors and full of cover, the squad size is limited for four! men who can suck up plasma burn damage and fully heal in 3 seconds like an fps protagonist. At least they have no self regenerating health yet in this version. No inventory, no customability, less stats than Diablo, no complex time unit management anymore, instead a primitive run&shoot system which allows no tactical flexibility and forces the player to wait for enemy fire wherever he used a weapon last. Very disappointing.

Can't imagine truly epic fights in this game. Too simple, too linear, the engine just sets too many limits. Without the brand name it would be just another generic squad strategy title no one will remember in half a year. Even the UFO:Afterbla line allowed the player way more freedom.

Yes, I expected an accurate remake which uses the game design developments of the last 20 years to improve and fine polish the underdeveloped parts of the original, like the equipment handling, the base troop organization and the geopolitics. Instead I got a cheap, dumbed down clone with far worse UI and gameplay. No, not impressed. And no, I don't care about the pretty graphics and action sequences.

Fuck it, i'll give it a go arguing this from shit i've just seen in the 30 or so hours of gameplay i've watched in the last couple of months. Aside from UI, that's personal taste and honestly, when you know the keyboard shortcuts it really doesn't feel like that. But fuck it, learning is for noobs right? Lets just jump in!

OHWAIT

http://www.gophoto.it/view.php?i=http://www.wikinoticia.com/images2//ecetia.com/files/2011/06/x-com-ufo-defense.jpg#.UHlVacXA_cw

Is that 14 unlabeled UI buttons? That you had to take the time to learn before you could use them effectively? Well hot damn, I guess it is. In case you can't be bothered to google it, here you go.

http://i.imgur.com/A9841.png

The maps are tiny and full of cover

You've clearly only seen the maps at the beginning of the game, small ships and the like. Later on there are maps that do take about 30-40 minutes to play though. The preview's didn't want to spoil anything for everyone though, so they stuck to a small selection of maps that offer condensed gameplay for demo purposes. Anyone familiar with how marketing works should understand why they do this.

Other than that, have you seen gameplay videos? Full of cover at the start, sure. By the end of a match the battlefield is using a smoking crater where you have to dash to the next piece of cover if you don't want to stand in the open waiting to get shot (Which, the original xcom had you doing a lot. Positioning really didn't matter aside from "Can he see me? Yes? Move after I shoot")

Squad is limited to four men who can suck up damage

Are you serious? You start with four, you can go up to six and even when you get to the end of the game, with a fully pimped out squad using fuck you guns and armour, you can still get one shot if you play like an idiot. Sucking up damage? Please. If you played the original xcom you would know that even jumpsuited rookies can survive plasma shots.

Can heal plasma burns in 3 seconds like an fps protagonist

Nope. If they're burned, they're burned. The medikit gives them the ability to keep fighting even though they're wounded, they still have to sit out in the medbay after the mission. Another mechanic is that if only your hp that was added by armour gets damaged, they don't go to medbay (At least, they said that during the preview, has anyone got a confirmation on that?). If anything, complain that the medkit can seemingly fix armour.

No inventory, no customization

They have a system in place that sped everything up because equipping your soldiers with ammo and other such stuff took forever and was a pain to do for 14 or so guys every mission. They have tradeoffs so you can't buff the crap out of your soldiers to the point where they do become neigh unkillable.

Primitive run and shoot system that leaves you open to enemy fire

Time units is a personal thing, but you're wrong about leaving you open to enemy fire. Play smart and you won't have to take return fire if you place your units right. It also feels less "gamey" than walking a guy out, shooting and running back out of sight for the 6 or so rookies you have stacked up against a door.

[Johnfalcon99977]

-Snip-

I have to disagree with a lot of the stuff in your post. I'm not going to explain why, because it would likely just be a repeat of the above post.

However, I have to point out that you are just taking your advice from an unprofessional and (Most likely) shitty Lets Player and not an actually professional Reviewer.

[Metalax]

Fairly sure I can confirm that you only get hospitalized if you take damage that cuts into your base health. My assault with titan armour and chitin plating took two full bursts of plasma to the face in their last mission and still not been hospitalized.

I'm not entirely sure but I believe that healing during a mission does effect how long a soldier will be hospitalized, I've had two soldiers both knocked down to the same health, one of which was healed by a support before the mission ended. The healed one ended up being hospitalized for 5 days, the one who wasn't for 10 days.

[Kagus]

However, I have to point out that you are just taking your advice from an unprofessional and (Most likely) shitty Lets Player and not an actually professional Reviewer.

And I just have to point out that, in a number of cases, the shitty Let's Player will have a better understanding of the game's mechanics and deeper workings than a professional reviewer...

But I don't think he's even basing his opinions on what the person making the LP had to say, just what he himself has observed and gleaned from it.  So the argument is effectively moot either way.


And everyone's getting just a bit too heated up.  Discussion is great, arguing less so.  Let's all just kick uo our chill factors a bit, a'ight?  We're all X-COM fans here, one way or the other.

[LoSboccacc]

Evein if it feels different the game looks like it lets me making decisions, so it works for me.

Stunning for example requires preparation, good positioning, an opportunity and careful planning

So you have to decide you want it, not just let it happen.