So there seems to be a more hardcore version of Xcom that’s about to come out. Having played the demo, it really did remind me of the original Xcom to a greater extent than Xcom: Enemy Unknown, as much as I like that game.
I can see how the graphics could be seen as lacking although others will like the retro look. Both the strategic and tactical gameplay seems to have much more potential than the consolified Xcom: EU.
The game appears to make it easy to add mods which should boost its value further.
The demo is available now and those who pre-order get access to the latest build right away.
This is using some super-liberal definition of “about to come out”. They have a “plan” to be in “beta” by… a date that has already passed.
While I’m going to stop short of accusing this project of vaporware, I’ve been following it off and on, literally for years, and they’re really good at talking up their progress and not so good at actually producing progress.
So far so good! This is definitely more old X-Com feel graphics-wise and play style, but plays pretty darn good. A good mix of tactical turn-based combat with the standard X-com balancing with research, base building, and funding. Air combat seems to be more emphasized with a kind of tactical mini-game where you can fly your planes from a top-down view and engage with different ranged weapons against fighters and battleships with different defensive weapons, speeds, and turning radii.
My main mini-gripe is like most games, it doesn’t feel like they did a final pass through on the keyboard/mouse interface to say, “hey, how can we reduce the number of clicks to get things done?” Some tasks take 3-4 clicks when they should only take 1-2 and there should be more hotkeys to cycle through menus.
Other than that though, very satisfying. Just have a lot of patience and don’t get too attached to your troops, especially as they peak around those corners:(
How is it? I liked the recent xcom games, but they feel like x-com lite. The character customization is too simple, and the simple 2 moves/firings per turn was just not granular or detailed enough. Is this game basically the original x-com with a better UI? Lots more gear and stat customization, action points tied to every action, etc? If so, I’m definitely interested.
Yes, it’s basically the old X-Com. It definitely uses action points rather the console-friendly 2 actions. It’s not a casual game. I don’t think they have a demo but it’s easy to try it before you buy, just make sure the version you find isn’t some old alpha version.
So I forgot this existed and bought it last week. Figured I’d bump this instead of creating a new thread.
Jesus, this is a great game. It’s MUCH better than the “modern” X-Coms, which are more puzzle games.
It is, however, brutally hard, which of course all X-Com games have been - however, it’s FAIR, which many of them have not been. Patience and experience will bring rewards.
I’m still learning, but it’s a hell of a well balanced game.
Soldier accuracy is still insanely bad, but the terrible marksmanship is reflected in the percentages now.
The game does a better job with the concept of suppression and reaction, so spraying enemies with fire can actually be beneficial even if you don’t kill them. The game also makes ALL weapons useful; everything has pros and cons. It’s a good idea to have at least two soldiers in your squad to be armed with rocket launchers.
I don’t remember the original X-Com being brutally hard, at least once you figured out a few helpful tips (e.g. if you’re fighting mind-controlling aliens, only load your bomb launchers if you’re immediately going to use them). The fact that (almost?) all cover was destroyable meant that you could uncover practically every alien on the map just by destroying every building in sight.
