Pardon my ignorance, but do we officially know how missions will work, specifically whether/how random they'll be? I remember that they'll be split into Story and UFO missions, but I don't recall how the UFO side works, if they've said.
Most missions are still fully randomized. Story missions are still few and far between and are supposed to give some idea as how far the invasion has progressed. I can't give you a number, but missions are still as a rule randomized, be they UFO, Terror or something in between.
I don't like how they have used the name.
This seems like a a perfectly fine game but it's not an XCOM game, it's lack of complexity and combat system makes it more arcade like, I'm not saying it's not going to be a fun game or a good game or a game I will never play, it just doesn't seem like an XCOM game.
Only one base, only 4-6 max on squad, infinite ammo, limited equipment management, no stat improvement (don't quote me on this but just looks like solider's level up and you can choose abilities for them), story driven gameplay, choice dilema's rather then elegant solution (or disastrous expensive fuck up) and I am guessing limited randomness, it looks like pre-made maps.
Fun game perhaps, not an XCOM game though.
I can understand your reasoning. Even I was firmly on the sceptical side, seeing how there first was a shooter being developped that didn't even remotely look like XCOM. Bar the name, ofcourse. However, XCOM Enemy Unknown seems to be a lot more fateful to the original. Allow me to add a few things to your points:
- 6 man squads max. This has been one of the biggest issues I had. I always liked to have my 12 men squads. At first. I frequently caught myself just moving soldiers willy-nilly because I wanted to end my damn turn. Having 6 people max allows for faster turns, which means more fun. To me, at least. This concession does cater to younger twitch-gamers / older people with less time / casual gamers / whatever.
- One base. Yeah, sucks. But I only had one main base and several listener / interceptor posts anyhow, so I'll live. You're bummed if you preferred to split research and manufactoring though. But then again, base defense missions are out. Which was met by a huge 'boo hiss' by yours truly.
- Infinite ammo. This still irks me. Granted, you never ever ran out of ammo if you equipped your soldiers well. But I liked producing my magazines and piling them on my troopers.
- Limited Inventory. Yes, I don't understand this either. But since ammo is out and you only need so many piles of medikits, I can understand the reasoning.
- No stat improvement. Actually, stats are still in. Moreover, soldiers who get really blasted to swiss-cheese and somehow manage to survive, take penalties to their bravery (here called Will, I believe) stat. Meaning faster panicking.
- Story-driven. Story missions are still in the minority. All the talking heads stuff seemed to imply a more linear approach. Yet most of those things were promotion material. You'll have your 'briefings' with story missions and your scientists will do a lot more talking about their recent discovery, but that's it.
- Choice dilemma's. We (and I) have no idea how frequent those are gonna be. They do make your choices a bit more meaningful, but it seems a bit too forced for my taste.
- Pre-made maps. Yes, they are. But it seems there quite a bunch of them. It has been stated several times that you'll see the same map twice in one playthrough. I would have used the term 'highly unlikely' because of the unpredictable nature of the RNG. In any case, there should be plenty of maps and since spawn points are randomised, they do provide some replayability.
In the end, we all have to wait and see. I'm quite convinced that this will be a worthy successor to the venerate XCOM. Things have been streamlined and I don't agree with everything. In fact, I still have my doubts about certain changes. But there are some good things as well. Extensive cosmetic character customization, RPG influences, more tactical approach (smaller maps and smaller squads force you to), less clunky approach, cutting down on some tedious micro-management, kick-ass graphics, meaningful research (since you have limited resources and unless you drag out the game, you won't get all your toys in one sitting), more immersion (memorial wall for instance), ...
In the end, this is not the old XCOM with a new face. Your mileage may vary, but I won't mind the changes as long as the game feels like XCOM. It's a bit like meeting an old friend after an extreme make-over. Sure, he looks odd. Hair all funny, clothes all different. He might even dropped his glasses and decided to adopt a different swagger in his step. But deep down, he is still your friend. Unless he also had a personality-change and became a dick.
XCOM Enemy Unknown better not be a dick, or I'll be trolling the official forums.
That would be really cool. I'm interested to see where it goes from here, now that the IP is being activily developed again.
It could just be a temporary revival and then fade into obscurity once more.
Like Supreme Commander.
Could be, yes. Unless the game sells on a truly massive scale. Then you can bet that everyone and EA will be all over it, to get some piece of the TBS action. It's more probable that it will sell well enough, get good reviews and perhaps another iteration. After that, it'll take another two decades till someone revives it.
Doesn't matter to me, I'll play the game if it's good.
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Topic: XCOM: Enemy Unknown (New by Firaxis) (Read 971368 times)