[PC/PS3/360] Xcom Enemy unknown
 

Awhile ago Firaxis announced they were making an Xcom remake. No. Not the one set in the 50's where you play a bunch of FBI guys. This is a more legit remake centered around turn based combat and commanding a paramilitary organization on a strategic geoscape. It's a bit late, but there's no time like the present to start a thread.

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Gameinformer exclusive coverage.

Two good articles go over the combat in the game.
-Advanced Tactics: Part 1
-Advanced Tactics: Part 2

General details
-Revamped turn based system: Time Unites are out. Players now have a free movement radius, and an *action point*. This can be used to shoot, perform an action, or move further. Certain weapons (sniper rifle) require no movement to be used
-Special abilities: All soldiers start as rookies, but with XP they can gain experiance and level up to have certain abilities. Like Snipers being able to snipe on the move, and heavy weapon soldiers gaining extra suppression abilities.
-Smaller scale: You have one base, and the number of soldiers at the start of the game in mission seems to only be 4. Larger teams can be used later, but it's not known how large, and you can buy satellite coverage to detect UFO's
-More nuanced interactions with member nations. Will be given missions/tasks to improve relations with them. Example given was providing Japan with laser rifles in exchange for engineers.

Yeah, my first contact with the X Com franchise was Apocalypse, I had fun with naming my soldiers after dead musicians and real life friends, and teachers. I actually started weeping when some of my well trained dudes got killed by a kamikaze alien.

I plan to do the same thing when this game will be out and gonna rename my guys after some of the IRC folks I know.

With the character customization options, you can even make your dudes look like your friends!...kinda.

Man. I gotta do that with my current game of UFO enemy unknown.

Can we have a 100% female squadron to name Strike Witches? :D

I seem to recall this game is related to new XCOM game set in the 1960 with this game taking place after the events of the new XCOM.

...seeing as how you can change gender apparently? Yes. Yes it would seem you can :p

It'd be especially weird if this appearance/name modification could be done at any point in the game. So at a whim you could go from a macho manly commando team to a strike Witches oriented one.

That is what I've heard. But honestly? Given how different the entire aesthetic is, it's probably going to be the bare minimum of marketing mandated lip service, since 2k is still going to be releasing the FPS.

But really. Given the difference in time (over 50 years) between the events of the FPS and this game? They might as well be completley separate.

This is intriguing, and merits continued observation.

I wonder if Firaxis has considered the possibilities of multiplayer modes being added post-release. For instance, a series of 'versus' single-map scenarios where one player controls an XCOM squad and the other commands the alien force. Because this is a turn-based game, asynchronous play would be quite possible (I think Frozen Synapse and many chess games do this). Another possibility would be larger maps intended for co-op missions (each player commands an XCOM squad)...

Versus mode seem the most likely, and honestly not to surprising. Fans created a mod for UFO and Terror from the Deep to allow that kind of gameplay.

Actually I am not asking for too much....just a chance to hire lolis. But won't that make my organisation be criticised for having child soldiers? :p

Besides, is there any political premise like Apocalypse, where the factions supporting you get infested or fight amongst themselves?

Not known at this time, but I'm sure the developers have at the very least considered it. Another wrinkle would be rogue terrestrial organizations (some comic examples include AIM, Cobra, and the Hellfire Club) trying to get in on the action. Imagine responding to an incursion, and finding that you not only have to deal with the EBEs, but make sure those rogue agents don't make off with any of the tech...

Oh My God,the Muton look so dangerous!!!

Is that a ethereal revised version?

Laser Squad Nemesis, Rebelstar: Tactical Command and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars had this, all designed by Julian Gollop btw. So if he was still in charge of the X-Com series it would gone in that direction.
Anyways, I can see it easily being done on the PC version, using different methods, but on console it would be a bit trickier. Of course offline swapping controller after each turn can easily be done, but online you could use a timer or some sort I guess.

Just treat it like online chess. I can imagine there being various options available, like those VS games where they intentionally push you for time like speed chess. And of course, there would be slower options for those willing to wait.

I am against multiplayer on principle, but for X-com I can make an exception if only because I don't see it harming the overall singleplayer game.

Balancing the aliens vs humans might be hard. It would be easier just have humans vs humans, the aliens are suppose to be over-powered.

We've only seen three biological aliens previewed so far.

Hybrids (the slendermen), Sectoids and Mutons.


Considering what a nightmare fest Ethereals and Lids turned out to be...they'll probably have a special feature for them...or if they really wanted to be coy, leave it as a surprise for the players.

They haven't demonstrated the Body Snatching mechanism yet, have they?

Naturally they would have to strike the balance between overpowered UFO/TFTD mind control, and the near useless Apocalypse version. But I full on expect both a mind control enemy, and a Chrysalid enemy.

Awful nice of them. I remember that the reboot was almost universally met with disappointment by the core X-Com fanbase for having like nothing in common with what even drew people to the franchise in the first place. Hopefully this is the end of developers resurrecting old strategy/RPG IPs as FPS game cause so far it seems to backfire every single time. Heck I still remember the soul crushing disappointment when they announced a new Shadowrun game only for it to turn out to have nothing at all to do with the Shadowrun I'd known since the 90's. It was actually so poorly received that it outright bankrupted what was left of the FASA corportation that created the original Shadowrun tabletop game.

The problem now will be a test of faith and reassuring the fans that this time they'll stay more true to X-Com's roots since they stuffed it up so horribly the first time around. For now I'll just ask for a remix of this track be in the game:

^Tell that to the new Syndicate game. Response has been very good for that game.

Critical question : we get to have Stun Rods in their original form again, right? :D

I do enjoy luring aliens into my base with my access lift near the General Stores and harvesting them for research. :p

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This is what I've been waiting for, a proper remake!

Simple fact for me is I still love the original game(and it's sequels) so I'm sold on this one.

Nothing like rolling out your troops from your craft and setting them up into defensive postions:D

This was actually a rather nerve racking game, whether or not you'd run into a pck of aliens around the next corner or what they would on their turn, immense stuff from this game.

Just hoping we can get a big number of troops on the field, I liked having "options" to the tactical side of things.
Unlike today where it's all very small teams and not terribly tactical on the whole.

Thats mainly because while the new Syndicate game is a First Person shooter, it still LOOKS like what you'd get if someone decided to make a first person shooter in the Syndicate universe.


XCOM the FPS ran into the problem that aside from playing government guys fighting aliens there wasn't really any similarity.