Jump to content

XCOM: Enemy Unknown


Mr. GOH!
 Share

Recommended Posts

It's hard to compare it to anything; Tower Defense was the closest thing I could think of. Though FLD is right, alien assaults on bases really only happen late, late game.

 

What I was actually referring to is that throughout the game it's important that you're setting up offensive bases in places with high alien activity and technology focused bases in places with low activity. The ship combat was much more fleshed out in the original. Invasions didn't happen randomly, you could actually spot and destroy alien ships before they invaded, but your own ships were only as fast and as powerful as your research would allow. On top of that, they only had so much fuel and would have to spend a few days refueling if you left them out too long or had them travel too far, so positioning was very important.

 

Bases were like towers; ships their upgrades. It wasn't a great analogy.

 

The remake really only focuses on the tactical section of the original; but the management parts really are really dumbed down in comparison. Might not be a bad thing; X-Com Classic is still the most complicated game I've ever played... though I do love it for that reason.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interview on RPS.

 

Sounds like there's still a bunch of stuff they're adding to the strategic aspect (base management) that they're not talking about just yet. Also, it's not the first time they've been asked about base defense since they announced EW and they basically dodge the question instead of flat out saying no. It's possible they simple don't want to create negative buzz by saying they haven't added it but... one can hope.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now that you mention it; I'm actually confusing the mechanics of the two games. XCom advances by days, but X-Com is minutes/hours; so it probably was something more rational. It was still annoying when you spotted an alien ship when all your interceptors were refueling though.

 

 


When you're in the geoscape, you can have many days go by without anything happening

 

Not so much in the original.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Even if you can't see them, there is always a certain amount of UFO activity around the map. Once you have better radar capabilities you can spot them more easily. Otherwise, you can 'see' alien activity by checking the graphs (and you should send ships to investigate if you don't have radar capabilities on the affected continent).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Yeah, pretty much the same thing for me. It's similar to how I play Civ these days. I can't play nonstop for a month like I did at launch anymore because I'll end up getting sick of it. But every now and then I'll play for a week and have a blast. The only reason I haven't been playing lately is I've got a bunch of midterms coming and big assignments due in the next few weeks. Might do an Ironman Classic run this week-end, though. I'll be rusty as hell so it probably won't last too long but that should scratch the itch until EW comes out.

Edited by FLD
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wooh!! Got to the alien base! Got laser weapons and armour. Wooh! Got killed by the titan things. Wooohhh!!

 

Only took me like over a year to do it.

 

In fact quite a few things have been different in this playthrough. Pretty sure the "taking Canadian traitor with you" is a new mission type (used to be you'd cross the map to meet them, then walk them back. And it was to save not capture them).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pretty sure the "taking Canadian traitor with you" is a new mission type (used to be you'd cross the map to meet them, then walk them back. And it was to save not capture them).

Depends what you mean by new. It wasn't added into the game post-launch, if that's what you're saying. Target escort and target extraction are two different types of Council missions and both have been there from the start. They are awfully of similar compared to the other two types, though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Holy shit, the base defense in Enemy Within is fucking brutal! I played on normal because I figured I'd be rusty and that it would be frustrating to play on classic and keep failing before getting to try the new content. And I still got my ass handed to me. 

 

Main problem is you start with an incomplete squad and don't get to choose or equip them. So considering I only had a single set of laser weapons that I kept passing around to whoever was going on any given mission, most of them were rookies and only had basic armor and guns. That simply won't cut it against 3 cyberdiscs and 2 chryssalids. So yeah, lesson here: anticipate the base defense and prepare for it!

Edited by FLD
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Well, shit. That's not at all what I was expecting. Also, PC exclusivity is a really nice surprise, can't wait to hear more about the logic behind that one (and thank fucking God I upgraded instead of getting a PS4!). I mean, the last game was fairly successful on consoles, so I never expected them to go down that road at all. Hopefully that means they'll be taking full advantage of the platform and designing gameplay features and the UI without having to simplify for gamepads like last time.

The November 2015 release worries me a little, though. I'm glad that it's coming so soon but I really hope it hasn't been rushed or anything. Sounds like Jake Solomon is lead designer once again, so considering he wasn't on Enemy Within, I'm hoping development started shortly after Enemy Unknown's release. One of my biggest hope for a sequel was the return of procedurally-generated maps, so I was kind of hoping they'd rebuild the game from the ground up. edit: Actually, reading that IGN piece, it does mention procedurally-generated maps! Yay!

I'll have to be careful, though. When Enemy Unknown came out, I played so much that my semester went to complete shit. I'm on track to graduate at the end of next year so I absolutely cannot let that happen again. :laugh:

Edited by FLD
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The last one came out 3 years ago, Beyond Earth was Firaxis' last game and that was 7 months ago, and will be over a year once November arrives. First XCOM from them was a relatively quick game too (mainly pumped out to sate XCOM fans that weren't keen on The Bureau (which was taking ages to develop)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First XCOM from them was a relatively quick game too (mainly pumped out to sate XCOM fans that weren't keen on The Bureau (which was taking ages to develop)

That's... not true at all. It's been a while but I'm pretty sure I remember reading that the first XCOM took quite a few years to make. I think it was something like five years or so, all things considered. And Jake Solomon had been trying to get the game made for even longer. So no, it wasn't that quick of a game to make. 

 

Not sure why you bring up Beyond Earth at all, though, as that's clearly a different internal team. And I'm sure most of those guys are working on the expansion for BE, anyway. Also, it's only been 2 years since the Enemy Within expansion, which is a fairly standard development cycle that could indicate minimal iteration. Hence why I'm hoping it's been in the works for that full 3 years.

Edited by FLD
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...