XCOM 2 to launch in November

[Highlord Laan]

http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/06/01/ ... -ign-first

My body is ready

[orbitingpluto]

I didn't like XCOM: The Remake, and this being a continuation of that, I'm not too interested. Honestly, what I want is something like a better Terror From the Deep, which the closest thing I've found yet is UFO: Alien Invasion. Though that game is really a better Enemy Unknown/UFO Defense.


Vital bit of info: I got my copy of XCOM:Terror From the Deep from a yard sale in the early 2000s, it was also my first XCOM and one of the first video games I bought that I actually remember well. All that misspent youth and I never actually defeated the head alien.

[Nephtys]

So looking forward to this.

And honestly, XCOM 2012 was a great game. It gutted the strategic layer, but did make for a better tactical layer. TU counting is obsolete compared to two action systems, which do the same job but easier. Same with actual board-game reverse engineerable d20 combat, and class powers/abilities. It was certainly less 'raw' than the classics, but evolved with the times.

Very much wanting to see what they do with XCOM2, and those new mechanics regarding mobile bases and field item recovery.

[Highlord Laan]

I didn't like XCOM: The Remake

[GuppyShark]

I didn't like the hitpoints system, but I felt like the story hit all the right notes and it certainly managed to capture the spirit of X-Com.

[Nephtys]

I didn't like the hitpoints system, but I felt like the story hit all the right notes and it certainly managed to capture the spirit of X-Com.

The first tine in EW when I played the Cryssalid mission... that was the true spirit of XCOM. Of course, once you know 'how to play' you can game things.

Not to mention the shock of first hitting Mutons in EU unprepared. Much like the original and TFTD when you saw the heavy aliens there.

Plus, I admire their tutorial mission wiping out 3/4ths of your team. That was EVERYONE'S first terror mission experience.

[Grumman]

I have plans for this game.

While it is dependent on how good the modding tools are, hopefully they are adequate to support my old idea of a Terror From The Deep Lite expansion for the previous game. Shooting down UFOs and occasionally having them crash in water instead of on land would add some more variety to that mission type.

[Vendetta]

I dunno how many UFOs you'll be shooting down in this one, since the premise is that the world surrendered and X-Com fought on as a terrorist insurgent force fighting against the new alien overlords.

[Coaan]

I'm really looking forward to this.

I'm hoping they take the feedback of not enough strategic shenanigens onboard and bring back decisions you need to make off the field to survive as well as on the battlefield. I imagine they will be playing up the idea of a mobile hidden rebel base from the likes of Supremacy where you had to keep relocating your headquarters to avoid horrible murder - this also gives rise to the possibility of epic desperate attempts to defend your relocations, which tickle my inner gamer.

Always did want to see the gameplay from Exalt's side.

[White Haven]

While I'm excited overall, I really, really hope they tweak the cover system somewhat. The only real stumbling-block I had on extreme difficulty games was the fact that being in heavy cover and NOT PEEKING OUT TO FIRE still gave enemy fire at least a 5% chance to miraculously teleport through six feet of concrete to hit you. If the soldier is taking a shot around cover? Fine, they're fair game, although I'd like it if the animation reflected that rather than the shot just clipping through their cover. Hell, tie it into using Cower if you like, to represent someone who's absolutely bunkered the fuck down. At some point, though, 'I am absolutely fucking behind an armored bulkhead, motherfucker' needs to be an absolute, not a fond hope.

[Grumman]

Hell, tie it into using Cower if you like, to represent someone who's absolutely bunkered the fuck down.

I've made the same suggestion in the past. The sidestep mechanic is a good idea, but it really shouldn't apply (1) when you're hunkered down, or (2) for the purpose of alerting aliens.

[TheFeniX]

I like X-Com but that game was extremely hampered with it's "by the numbers" gameplay and other contrivances that annoyed the hell out of me. Aliens are invading, what do we do? Easy, do X, get a cutscene, then do Y, get another cutscene. Why are the aliens invading? Dunno. Oh wait, last mission alien says something about breeding us to fight An Ancient Evil.™ Then you kill him, because there is no other option, and his death causes the mothership to explode which will wipe out all life on earth...... THANK GOD The Chosen One™ is there to perform the Heroic Sacrifice™ to save us all from aliens whose plan was to not wipe us out... by trying to wipe us all out.

The game has no mystery or subtlety which was pretty damn disappointing. And the difficulty ramping was dumb what with "hit Y cutscene, now 4-man UFOs spawn Ethereals." It's a perfect example of leveled gameplay. You won't ever run into anything you aren't prepared for due to the way the story progression works, unlike old UFO. Sure, the hardcore difficulty ups the ante.... by increasing enemy health and accuracy and just pounding you over and over. Original.

And whoever came up with free enemy moves was an asshole. Not because it's hard to deal with (outside RNGG), but because it's not a fun mechanic in any way.

[Highlord Laan]

And whoever came up with free enemy moves was an asshole. Not because it's hard to deal with (outside RNGG), but because it's not a fun mechanic in any way.

The Powers That Be are actually aware of how much cheese went into that decision, but decided it was needed. It was discovered very early on that players that were on op of things could easily encircle and destroy whole groups of enemies in a couple rounds of combat with near total impunity, even on high difficulty settings. To counter that and make sure the game din't turn into a series of "I Win" buttons and cookie cutters, there were two choices. One, free moves. The other was to add in more enemies, juice their health to absurdity, and just generally make everything a grinding slog.

They went with the lesser evil.

[Grumman]

To counter that and make sure the game din't turn into a series of "I Win" buttons and cookie cutters, there were two choices. One, free moves. The other was to add in more enemies, juice their health to absurdity, and just generally make everything a grinding slog.

They did have a third option: skip the intermediate "walk/stand out in the open" step. Even if it is functionally the same, it would look better to stumble upon a pod of aliens in cover than to have them scamper away on your turn, or to have an alien pod run into your LOS and head straight for cover, the same way you do.

Even better would be to distinguish between partially aware pods - that use the above mechanic - and unaware pods, who you can catch out in the open and they won't scamper away.

[Eleas]

One wonders if the game could be modded to take your suggestions into account, Grumman.

[Coaan]

The Long War mod did add some second wave options that tried to correct this, where the aliens would have an option to go into overwatch/fire off a snapshot when you ran into them. It's not quite the same as 'Surprise Motherfucker!' , but it's at least a step in the right direction where the aliens would be left standing out in the open like lemons.

[Irbis]

Seriously thinking about preordering >_<

[Flagg]

Yeah, the only reason the whole "waaa, bad guys get free moves" thing didn't bother me all that much is because the enemy A.I. was so fucking stupid a 3 year old chimp could have figured out the exact way to win every mission and the aliens wouldn't stand a chance.

I really hope that's why they made the stupid decision for it to be PC only, because even current gen consoles can't handle the massive amounts of RAM needed for the A.I. Then I wake up.

I just hope that being terrorists, units have a "suicide bomb" option if they are in a "definitely going to die" situation like being totally surrounded. I also hope that there is some negative modifier per mission for every civilian killed, like if there was a mission in Brisbane and some guy named Dan were to accidentally get exploded while cowering behind a cop car on the way to return a shit game to Gamestop in exchange for another shit game, the Australian PM would be cross, very cross indeed.

[Darmalus]

That trailer confused me, did X-COM canonically lose to the aliens?

I really hope that's why they made the stupid decision for it to be PC only, because even current gen consoles can't handle the massive amounts of RAM needed for the A.I. Then I wake up.

Rumor is that console sales were so bad they lost money on the port, so they aren't going to bother trying again.

[bilateralrope]

That trailer confused me, did X-COM canonically lose to the aliens?

They lost to a group of aliens. I think it's a different group to the aliens that invaded in EU/EW because every alien shown in the trailer looks very different to those from EU/EW. Probably a group of aliens that showed up in enough numbers to invade or took over through political subterfuge while pretending to be peaceful.

[TheFeniX]

I just hope that being terrorists, units have a "suicide bomb" option if they are in a "definitely going to die" situation like being totally surrounded. I also hope that there is some negative modifier per mission for every civilian killed, like if there was a mission in Brisbane and some guy named Dan were to accidentally get exploded while cowering behind a cop car on the way to return a shit game to Gamestop in exchange for another shit game, the Australian PM would be cross, very cross indeed.

You know what I miss? Giving the poor bastard leading the charge into the downed UFO a primed grenade. Though.... sometimes they'd shoot him down before he got through the doorway.... those were bad times....

But huge boons on Chrysalid missions... because fuck them.

[Vendetta]

That trailer confused me, did X-COM canonically lose to the aliens?

Yes. The world surrendered, X-Com carried on fighting.

I really hope that's why they made the stupid decision for it to be PC only, because even current gen consoles can't handle the massive amounts of RAM needed for the A.I. Then I wake up.

From the IGN interview it's just that they're not familiar enough with console development and the team's not really big enough to do all three platforms at once, so they're just doing it for PC because that's their comfort zone.

[Flagg]

That trailer confused me, did X-COM canonically lose to the aliens?

Yes. The world surrendered, X-Com carried on fighting.

I really hope that's why they made the stupid decision for it to be PC only, because even current gen consoles can't handle the massive amounts of RAM needed for the A.I. Then I wake up.

From the IGN interview it's just that they're not familiar enough with console development and the team's not really big enough to do all three platforms at once, so they're just doing it for PC because that's their comfort zone.

Well yeah, I'm not saying I care because I can run it fine. But I knew a lot of people who played on console. But if they lose money on porting, which actually wouldn't surprise me, then whatever get's them the most cash is the way to go. Duh.

[Coaan]

Honestly, I'm going to assume that the menace we faced in the first XCOM was just a scouting group of benevolent aliens by comparison and that the actual invasion force came after the events of XCOM. With the spiel that the head Ethereal gives you at the end, I can only assume that this was a mission to determine whether or not the humans were ready to harvest as stock and as a result of them 'proving themselves' through gene therapy and the willingness to modify themselves through any means, that they were ready/ripe for an actual invasion force that took control.

At least, that is my guess without knowing more of the story.

[Nephtys]

Not really sure why the reset button had to be so extreme. You easily could have beaten XCOM and destroyed the templeship, thus proving humanity as a good investment (as opposed to a quick resource to be harvested), then the main wave of aliens comes. XCOM's budget was reduced since the invasion was 'beaten', and then the aliens really wreck HQ, driving the group underground and destroying much of the research and materials required to make advanced gear.

Earth makes peace, XCOM goes underground, and then the friendly/benevolent occupation begins now that Governments have been cowed by force.

It doesn't HAVE to be 'You got crushed in April 2015'.