XCOM EU Comparing XCOM to UFO: The Good, the Bad, and the AWESOME!

[PrivateJoker]

Ufo: Enemy Unknown revolutionized my life. When I was a kid, long before I knew how to speak English, I sat in the basement watching my big brother play, asking him about Every Single Detail in the game. Every Single Detail. It did of course drive him nuts, having a kid sitting there asking "Whats that? What does that do? What happens if you press that button? Why did that happen?" and inevitably his answers got increasingly loud, short and full of suppressed anger. But I paid very little attention to that. My focus was on having a clear understanding of this incredible entertaining, scary piece of entertainment. And my focus paid off, as before long I knew how to complete Ufo: Enemy Unknown.

 

So when Firaxis decides to revisit this pillar in the game industry (and my childhood), its almost like when George Lucas wanted to give us the backstory to Darth Vader after 30 years of suspense, waiting and hype. How he did is another discussion, Firaxis has given us a decent interpretation of a modern day XCOM. It does not live up to the impact of the original, but since UFO: Enemy Unknown, this interpretation is probably the best XCOM game out right now.

 

If you havent finished XCOM yet, you should probably wait with reading this until you do.

 

The Good:

 

Good Graphics

Tactical maps give plenty of opportunities to set up ambushes\use tactics.

Classes: Heavy, sniper, assault, medic

The Advisor gives a good introduction to the major game mechanics. Sets a good tone for the geoscape.

One major base built around one skyranger and one squad. This is usually how you play the original with the other bases holding radars and interceptors. This system works well.

Very good music (except where it should be scarier).

Small cinematic when discovering aliens.

 

The Bad:

 

Pace of the game in the geoscape\base building is too fast, you dont get a relationship to your base and your team. (Not the troops but the research officer & engineer)

Too story driven.

Not scary enough.

Ufopaedia almost non-present

Maps can be repetitive

Interceptor battles feel unfinished and unpolished.

Aliens mostly stationary until discovered.

Ending. To have an über ethereal speak to you about how all of his creations are failures was just uninspired.

 

The Awesome:

 

Sectoid easter egg

Illuminati council

NASA clap when you shoot down your first UFO.

When you press launch mission, your squad line up before the skyranger and you kit them out and you have the heroic music playing in the background, and you see the Skyranger launching and flying to the mission; that is probably the best micro managing sequence in the history of video games. It really really creates the feeling of heroes gearing up to save the earth. Game designers please take notes.

Ethereals - Coolest and most badass enemy in the game

Smoke Grenades - Useless in the original - Here Firaxis nailed it

 

How to fix the bad:

 

Repetitive maps: Release a map editor. With the option to import custom 3d models. The problem would vanish as the community would create so many maps, where bad maps would get bad ratings and good maps would be collected into map packs. If the option to import 3d models would be implemented, then we would also see country specific maps, for example a new dehli map with very very crowded buildings and tuc tucs, etc.

 

Not scary enough: The original did this perfectly. Really relaxed music in the geoscape but still full of tension. During the tactical missions you hear doors opening, footsteps, a plasma blast suddenly goes across the screen taking you by surprise. And the music during tactical missions is heavy and full of tension.

 

Pace: Introduce more things to do in the geoscape. Having to buy weapons and ammo would be a good start.

 

Ufopedia: Learn from the original. Large pictures of dead aliens with intestants visible. The disgusting feeling as I read about the snakeman with the tail full of eggs. Here theres only a very small icon showing the autopsy. This was probably most dissapointing to me in XCOM. In the original I could sit and study f.ex. "The Interceptor: Most advanced fighter available to man." and get really aquainted with the items in the game. You could also talk a bit about the situation of Earth at the time of the invasion.

 

 

 

But, most of these issues would iron themselves out if the game got Mod support. As the game stands now I would give the game a solid 8/10. Thank you to FIRAXIS for bringing such a beloved classic to the mainstream again!

 

If you have played the original, how would you rate it compared to this?

 

 

 

(If you found this post on steam, that is my steam profile so dont shoot me ;)

[NephilimNexus]

Looks nicer, but lacks depth.

 

Original X-COM was a merciless pit into the abyss of getting curb stomped until you finally managed to struggle your way to the top, and it felt great to finally reach that pinnacle

 

New X-COM is a kiddie pool filled with glitter and a disco ball. It looks awesome, but depth? They took out the challenge curve and replaced it with 90% hand-holding and 10% scripted instant death, then called that "Classic X-COM"

 

The problem is that they went the same route that Lucas did with Star Wars 1 thru 3: Rather than cater to the fans, they went with trying to bring in new fans via taking advice from the idiots in marketing. There they said "We need to sell it to the kiddies!" and the result was Jar-Jar Binks. Here, they said "We need to sell it to the console kids!" and the result was "X-COM Lite"

 

Seriously, X-COM Lite. That's what we've got. A new, shinier can but half the flavor is gone and the core has been stripped to just one calorie.

[Perraine]

^ Also known as (to me at least) ... "Consolitis" ... And I pretty much agree with everything posted her so far ...

 

Especially the UFOpedia ... That's a complete joke really ... Where are the weapon stat comparisons? Is a found/recovered Light Plasma Rifle better than a Plasma Rifle? Is Titan Armor better than Archangel Armor for an "Assault" Class? or does Psi Armor have more or less damage resistance? (because the description says that it's the best armor ever made, but the stats would suggest otherwise) WHERE are they stats for these items? (I know the differences from poking around in the .ini file, but this information should actually be in the game!)

 

WHAT exactly are the actual strengths/weaknesses of the various ship weapons? (i.e damage vs range?) Because there is no info anywhere within the game so that you can make an intelligent or considered decision on what to equip interceptors with until you've sent one up and it's destroyed instantly ... Oh well, that was a mistake, ho hum, I guess I'll buy anther one ...

 

Also, WHY can't my scientists work on more than one project at a time, like the engineers?

 

 

WHY, WHY ... WHY ... Can't I choose what specialty my soldier should be and where to spend the experience points? (i.e AIM for my sniper or HP for my assault troops, OR strategically, in the original X-Com, I could increase the AIM of my support soldiers to make them more useful with snap/reaction shots ... )

 

And life seems to be too cheap with regards to soldiers ... Basically ATM you just send out rookie after rookie and if they don't get turned into green tinted dog food, they might be useful, but then again maybe not, with the way the game assigns classes, I've had squaddie with 80 AIM assigned "Support" class and in the same group of volunteers (read: victims) a soldier with AIM of 65 assigned "Sniper" ... WTF! But that's OK apparently, just keep sending out the meat shields until you get one good one ...

 

Why can't I browse the soldiers BEFORE having to hire them? Currently I end up firing most for being useless ... And why are they useless? These guys are "supposed" to be the best of the best ?!?!?!?

Why do I have to go through each soldier 1 at a time to edit their inventory/locker? It's a communal "locker" so why isn't it a communal loadout screen?

 

The list goes on ...

 

It's still a great fun game to play, and it would be perfect if they'd actually done what the devs said the were going to do ...

Developer interview = "... We asked ourselves what we loved about, and wanted to keep, from the original game ... And the answer was .. everything!" (not a verbatim quote but close) ... Hate to break it to ya guys, but you stuffed up with that one ...

 

Consolitis strikes another game ...

[1elvis]

Especially the UFOpedia ... That's a complete joke really ... Where are the weapon stat comparisons? Is a found/recovered Light Plasma Rifle better than a Plasma Rifle? Is Titan Armor better than Archangel Armor for an "Assault" Class? or does Psi Armor have more or less damage resistance? (because the description says that it's the best armor ever made, but the stats would suggest otherwise) WHERE are they stats for these items? (I know the differences from poking around in the .ini file, but this information should actually be in the game!)

 

Couldn't agree more. There's a serious lack of information going on in the game - both on and off the battlefield. Maybe they should've skipped on one or two of those fancy HD-videos and invested more in actual "depth". As in, for example, more weapons. Where are upgrades/Tier two versions of standard projectile-weapons? I want my Heavy to run around, mowing down aliens with a friggin Minigun à la Blain/Jesse Ventura in Predator.

 

The more I play it and think about it, XCOM seems pretty rushed. The fact that "Second Wave" is in there but not running by default is a clear indication that the developers were running out of time and had to finish the product with various features unfinished and/or underdeveloped. The lackluster final mission is another indication for this. After all this build-up, all those questions raised by my staff during the story ("what do they want?", "why do they attack us?", "why are there several species attacking us, not one?", etc.), I'm getting *this* as a final mission and plot resolve? I'm sorry, but running through a tube of a level with every species encountered thus far attacking me in order of their danger-level isn't my idea of a grand finale.

 

If they hadn't insisted on making this game so story-driven and more about actual managment, fighting *and* finding stuff out yourself via research and an extensive UFOpedia, I think the game would've been a lot better - and last but certainly not least - a lot more replayable. After one playthrough I skip all the videos/story-sequences anyway. Maybe the solution to this would've been a second game-mode (besides "Story"), which would work without all the video-crap thrown in and would've relied more heavily on micromanagement, research and development.

Edited October 21, 2012 by 1elvis

[Farlington]

My first ever play of the original game was on a mates pirated copy on the Amiga. As it had no manual or box, I had no idea what the game was about, so when the first UFO contact I had was with a landed scout, I sent unarmed men to the door of the UFO, hoping not to antagonise them. Needless to say, that mission didn't go well and everyone died.

 

My first ever mission on this new game (classic difficulty) also didn't go well and everyone died.

 

So in that respect, they've managed to capture the heart and soul of the original perfectly!

[Perraine]

I DO like the new combat system from a tactical point of view ... DO I reload this turn or put my soldiers on overwatch for a turn? Do I reload by Sniper and use my Support troops as cover or do I do the reverse? Damn there's no cover within one move in a straight line to the ufo ... but if I circle around a little I can come in from the side using cover ... do i rush in with the 3 guys at the door and hope there isn't more than 2 enemies or wait until I have more men up close? ...

 

The "Tactical" side of the battles is great, and on the Classic or Impossible difficulties, where the aliens use slightly better AI (more flanking, more guys on overwatch, MORE GRENADES! arrghh) the missions are damn exciting ...

 

Although they did usual quick and nasty "difficulty" changes, instead of making the AI a LOT smarter, they just did what most companies do and cheat ... make all the aliens in to gods and send out vast numbers of them, then nerf all the PC controlled players in to useless wet paper bags ... It's a cheap copout from the devs.

[Rhodryn]

Especially the UFOpedia ... That's a complete joke really ... Where are the weapon stat comparisons? Is a found/recovered Light Plasma Rifle better than a Plasma Rifle? Is Titan Armor better than Archangel Armor for an "Assault" Class? or does Psi Armor have more or less damage resistance? (because the description says that it's the best armor ever made, but the stats would suggest otherwise) WHERE are they stats for these items? (I know the differences from poking around in the .ini file, but this information should actually be in the game!)

 

WHAT exactly are the actual strengths/weaknesses of the various ship weapons? (i.e damage vs range?) Because there is no info anywhere within the game so that you can make an intelligent or considered decision on what to equip interceptors with until you've sent one up and it's destroyed instantly ... Oh well, that was a mistake, ho hum, I guess I'll buy anther one ...

Ehm... they are... all this info your asking for, are actually visible in the game. Maybe not in the "ufopedia"... and maybe not in all locations... but they are in there.

 

It baffles me that someone who knows how to look through a .ini file to find this info... somehow is unable to figure out how to see them in the game it's self. :blink: If anything that should be A LOT easier, then rummaging through an .ini file. :teehee:

 

For weapons, armor, and basicly any other item that you put on a soldier... you can find that info in the loadout screen for the soldier. If you click on an item there will be a little recangular box on the bottom left of the item box.... click that and you get the additional info you want.

 

For your ships, go to hanger, view ships list, and press the fighter you want... then press the "weapon info" for the equipted weapon, or press edit loadout and just put the mouse arrow over a weapon. Sure this only gives the actual numbers for hit chance, and the others are words only... but I don't see how the numbers would make it easier to understand the difference between "low/medium/high" etc. Since low, medium, and high is used for each weapon... which means that a weapon that does "medium" damage will do more damage then one that does low, but less then one that does high.

 

Or how about this... go to engineering and then build/buy item, choice an item, and then press the big square icon with the big glowing ? inside it that you can find in the bottom left corner of the screen. ;) Not everything has the info your after, but most things do.

[Beaviz81]

I so missed the Ufopedia. It sort of is there in the research-files, but still it's sorely missed.

 

The automatic covering was nice as I'm rid of the time-consuming task of setting my soldiers down, but I always thought I have too few guys. I mean four to six guys to send into a sticky situation is ludicrous. That goes for boring tactics for my part where I skulk slowly forward with a mixture of heavies and support as heavies are the only ones who can one-shot anything that moves. With more guys I would have found room for Assault and Sniper as well, but then I guess more monsters would be necessary as only the base really taxed my heavies about their rockets, for the rest I have ample supply.

 

Also the Uber-Ethernal musing about how humans was the best seemed odd. I sort of sat through the last mission wondering why the hell didn't he just contact us peacefully. He wanted to give us something, and sure some people would have volunteered for the testing at least, plus that would please everyone without anyone having to die.

 

Also it's irritating having to dress a guy up in the PSI-armour as I like the Ghost Armour much better and the volunteer suddenly became irrelevant in the final mission. Maybe it should be changed to be the best, as now I prefer to go invisible instead of facing any psykers, I generally deal with Etherals with rockets anyway since they don't give any loot and they explode upon death.

[mailor]

 

Smoke Grenades - Useless in the original - Here Firaxis nailed it

 

 

Not true. Smoke grenades were highly useful in the original game.

[CuriousMarten]

I hope the mod community finds a way. Something along the lines:

 

"How many scientist/engineers would you like to assign to this project?" popup window, research time would be impacted by this number (a min and max value).

 

Scientists should require a lab, where do those guys do their magic?

Same for engineers.

A foundry equivalent for said scientists.

 

Let me promote my soldiers to what I want, and thats a major f***in' capital "I". Ya know; spend that exp the way i want, towards aim, hp, def, etc.

Bigger talent trees.

More guns, not just: "go get plasma, everything else is a waste of time and resources", guns with pros and cons (high critical and aim - low dmg, huge dmg and aoe - tiny range...), generally more equipment and more choice (give me options man).

A revamped inventory system (maybe unnecessary).

 

Just throwing ideas out there, maybe some of them are worth something to someone.