XCOM

[DasBouf]

How does everyone here feel about the X-COM (or XCOM series when referring to the remakes) series? Personally I love them, I bought Enemy Unknown at the recommendation of a friend, and it quickly became one of my favorite games, and I went and bought the older games when they went on sale. The older games are a lot harder to get into, I've played for a while and still have trouble with the combat, but the base building and resource management is so much fun. I'd like to play them more, but I'm still really bad. My friend gifted me the XCOM 2 Deluxe edition, but unfortunately I haven't been able to play it as my laptop can't run it. I'm saving up to build a PC though, for that and Dark Souls 3.

 

[buttonmasher]

Same exact experience for me! Loved the gameplay and base building of the remake. I have all the titles on Steam and just can't get into any of them besides the remake. I have such a gigantic backlog of games, so little time to play, and with so many different titles vying for my attention that if a game doesn't grab me within a few hours im off to the next title. I actually finished the story mode several times on different settings because I found it so addictive.

I spent sooo much time playing Enemy Unknown that I avoided the sequel as it has itterated on everything and is eve better (dangerously addictive).

Best part about building a new PC - by the time you've saved the money and built the machine, all the games you want to play will be $10!

 

[asic]

I think both of the "re-imaginings" are excellent games but I would hardly call them XCOM, they stand on their own just fine.

The problem for me is that so many features that made the original XCOM great are missing in the new ones. A lot of the features are still there but they have been dumped down or simplified to the point where it no longer resembles those features as much anymore.

I am mostly talking about the features in the Geoscape/Management side of things. I really enjoyed having to buy/sell/manufacture and research all the things for my soldiers and base, also being able to allocate scientists and engineers to different projects and not just being limited to one research at a time. There are a lot of other things missing from the new games but I do not wanna list every feature that's missing or that was simplified, it seems a lot like nitpicking to people and I often get the response "you are just seeing the Original with rose tinted nostalgic glasses" a response I absolutely fucking hate.

I get why they did it and I even remember an interview where the game designers stated that they tried out the old method but ultimately went with the "simplified" version because people thought it was too confusing. The original XCOM was really hard to figure out but that was before proper tutorials and introductions, something that is standard in games today.

That being said I enjoy the new games and Firaxes makes amazing games most of the time.

I will be looking forward to Jullian Gollops (original XCOM creator) next game http://www.phoenixpoint.info/

 

[DasBouf]

I get why they did it and I even remember an interview where the game designers stated that they tried out the old method but ultimately went with the "simplified" version because people thought it was too confusing. The original XCOM was really hard to figure out but that was before proper tutorials and introductions, something that is standard in games today.

Have you played the spiritual sequel Xenonauts? It's very similar to the original games, much more so than the official remakes I thought it was fun, but I'm still figuring out the controls, the Time Units are a bit tough for me to figure out.

 

[asic]

@DasBouf

Yeah I have been following the game during it's development and now that it's out maybe I should take another look. Normally I do not care much about graphics but Xenonauts is just so unappealing/uncharming to look at that it has so far kept me from trying anything more than the demo. Will probably buy it though just to support the developers and maybe try and see past it's graphical shortcomings, it's not like the Original XCOM is a beauty anymore, although it still has some charm to it (who doesn't love all those colors ).

 

[Walter]

I loved the original (X-COM), though I could never get very far into it. Game's brutal, but I just eat up that atmosphere. The newer XCOM didn't hold my attention for very long, maybe 5 hours?