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

[FMod]

That was 1993, this is 2012.

So what? It could have been worse; things have generally been getting worse, not better.

 

Some predicted the world would end in 2012. And however foolish their reasons, the world as we know it can, indeed, end any month.

We could be cowering away from a pandemic, or a terrible political mistake in the Middle East could trigger a strategic exchange, or just a big conventional war, and Sam would be drafting all able-bodied men.

 

Think about it all for a while.

...And now, in perspective, the new XCOM doesn't look bad at all!

[deroger11]

What I like is mostly the tactical part. With the slight restriction, that the two phases are a rather rough scale instead of the "action points" in the original. Also, there should be the option that any grunts with leftover action phases can be put on "auto-overwatch".

What I find unsurpassed is the atmosphere of the diffuse lights in cornfields on night missions of the original UFO. What both old and remake rather lack is a marker for the general direction the gun-boys should take the to reach the (crash-)lander, or are the pilots to dumb to remember?

Next disaster: classes. On the other hand, it's some kind of rewarding to see your sniper colonel blow an Elite Muton's head to pieces with a single (Plasma) shot from a safe distance, or chew that Ethereal up with your Assaulter's Alloy Cannon on closest range. On the other hand, I also demand to pick skills myself, either when hiring, or when giving first promotion. But this was said before, where's the queue to join and complain...?

 

The whole research/manufacturing system is total crap... you should at the very least be able to research or build as much different projects simultaneously as the number of workshops you have. On the other hand, you can create equipment like guns in a second? Impressive. :-(

And, where's the option to sell-for-scrap your surplus unused outdated stuff? Liked that better in UFO.

 

The story itself--- well, it's different but I can live with that. What I can't stand is that Mafia-style "council"... 'eff-em!!

 

Nonetheless, I like XCOM:EU without knowing why...

 

My 2cents

Tom

Edited January 2, 2013 by deroger11

[joestracke]

Interestingly enough, when I joined the army (i.e., a Private), my bunkmates nicknamed me "Joker" after the Full Metal Jacket character.

 

+++

 

I don't want to re-hash what I've already put on the Steam forum, but compared to UFO:EU, this game falls short in every respect save pretty... and pretty has no place taking priority in a strategy game. It's a tepid blend of random events and repetitive cut scenes rolled around frequent plotline interruptions (I should be given the choice of listening to my chief engineer wax philosophical for 10 minutes… since I’m the one in charge of saving the planet and all, I’d like to think I’d have better things to do).

 

Every tactical and logistical decision has been removed in Firaxis’s “streamlining” process, and the combat is chock-full of nonsensical alien behavior, silly soldier commentary, excessive knee-jerk camera movements and utterly non-existent military tactical options. The Geoscape is nothing but a strictly visual way to display random missions that you are not allowed to adequately address. Soldiers can’t equip themselves in a pragmatic manner, ammunition is unlimited, and the level of sexism is surprising given it’s the 21st century. Ah yes, the soldiers…

 

Currently, I have the initial ‘Heavy’ soldier, and 7 Sniper Class. If I were a real TacCom officer, they would shoot me… after they finished laughing hysterically. The only way I can turn new boots into anything but snipers seems to be charging up to spitting range of the enemy and asking for their e-mail address (did this a couple times, but resorted to saved games instead of keeping the dead/heavily wounded soldiers this tends to produce). Not cool, and definitely counter-intuitive to those of us who have had combat training and lack a death wish. Yes, I’m aware it’s not real… but the principle and morality are quite valid, and not entertaining to those with a personal connection to the subject.

 

However...

 

Firaxis is big. They employ Sid Meier. Theoretically, they can produce a good, solid strategy title. Civilization V made me question that, and now XCOM has me in the realm of actual doubt. I’m not entirely sure when it happened or why, but we as consumers are essentially being told that we are unable to handle the ‘complexity’ of things today that we could handle 15 or 20 years ago. I don’t recall anyone complaining about UFO: Enemy Unknown being too difficult to understand… but I do recall how many of us in the dorms spent far too much of our free time playing it. It also appears to have somewhat of a revered legacy in the gaming world… which again implies that it did not suck all that much.

 

Obviously, XCOM is not meant to be UFO:EU. But I’d imagine that when they told the devs to play and finish UFO before they began development, they were expected to determine what “worked” and what did not, as well as understand the overall ‘feel’. I sense that they missed the mark rather badly, as the only aspect they were faithful to was the name that bears the legacy.

 

I have high hopes that mods can turn this into something a little more… X-Com.

Edited December 30, 2012 by joestracke

[pdoan8]

It's a fun game but it is not the original Enemy Unknown (XCOM: UFO Defense) with new graphic. Probably not intended for the older XCOM vets.

 

As said above, the first disappointment is the soldier load out: no ammunition? But I have to waste that single inventory slot to carry a scope or wear extra armor? Neither of those should be kept in the "backpack" during the fight.

 

The Soldiers: they are like clones, but not as good as the real clones. I don't understand why SW "Not create equal" and "Hidden talent" options wasn't included. Every soldier start out the same, every soldier of the same class is the same. At least, the real clone soldiers won't suffer from mass panicking.

 

Class: it is a fine feature, but too much emphasis without a way to influence make it hard to manage the fighting force. Either let me pick the class base on the stats, or it can be influenced by the actions in the fight. Even the load out is geared toward classes. One slot to carry either scope (sniper), or medikit/stimulant (support), or extra armor/arc thrower (assault) or grenade (heavy). IMO, the arc thrower should be in the secondary slot. It's a stun gun, isn't it?

 

Scientist/Engineer: 100 scientists can't research more than one project, but half that number of engineers can produce most of the items instantly and perform nearly unlimited number of foundry projects. Research time is too short (even with SW marathon). There isn't much to worry about researching new tech which supposed to be the key to combat the aliens who possess far more superior technology. Some tech advancement are too close to each other to have any real impact (carapace armor to skeleton suit, beam weapon to plasma). Some tech should have been more restricted. I usually get beam and plasma weapon before I get the research credit for them. There is not much of the achievement feeling when I get something new. The only thing I worry about is getting enough engineers for satellite up links. This link to the story line and fixed alien appearance make the game feel too short.

 

For me, the new EU can't even compare to XCOM Apocalypse, except for the aliens and the new graphic. The new EU is a quickie in term of game time compare to Apoc.

[Thor.]

Cool the nexus the ever expanding forum, its great to see XCOM on here, i even didn't know it was modifiable until i saw it here on the Nexushttp://forums.nexusmods.com/public/style_emoticons/dark/confused.gif Good to know http://forums.nexusmods.com/public/style_emoticons/dark/biggrin.gif Edited January 2, 2013 by Thor.

[remnex]

Well.... i'm really enjoying playing the game even if it is 'dumbed down' for console users.

 

I think small squad sizes are ok, they make the attachment with individual troops more significant and add to the emotional turmoil during a difficult mission.... if you like that sort of thing.

 

Not enough stats/info? Well... there is always the fun of learning by experience rather than having everything spoon-fed like...well...a console user :wink:

 

Unable to choose class of troops? Annoying sometimes yes, but having to change your *yawn* previously worked out Uber strategy for winning all the time can be exciting... unless you are a console user i guess.

 

One thing that IMHO is a REAL SHAME is that there are no 'Defend the Base' missions. Missed a trick there as successfully repelling an enemy attack, against the odds, can be a rewarding experience.

 

It would also be very annoying if weapons jammed/malfunctioned sometimes.... may disrupt your finely tuned, textbook tactics and result in death of a valued trooper but hey...that is war.

 

Greater variation in the maps would be good, as would having to consider things like the weather.

 

From my playing experience so far it seems pretty well balanced.

Edited January 4, 2013 by remnex

[deroger11]

Yeah, weather would be much better if it came with consequences... and imagine snowfall in winter with short-lasting foot tracks and reduced visibility. Rain degrading laser performance.

 

Well, I hope that the next serious DLC will bring us the missing alien races (Celatid, Silacoid, Snakeman, Reaper) and the option to retake "lost" countries by subsequent base assaults.

 

And, why the Eff would they not include an alien-tech-based next-gen dropship? Whatever.

 

I also hope for a map editor, giving us the option to include locally-correct scenery to missions. It annoys me that the same architecture (maps) can be found in Kalkutta, Paris and Lagos. And sorry, could not have been that complicated to put European-looking cars in Europe maps, and US vehicles where they belong. Hell, the models are there! All that's needed is a regional reference (TruckUS vs TruckEU)

 

Okay I'll stop my rant for now and return to decimate off-world biomass into body parts.

 

Torsten

 

PS.: I WANT THOSE FARMLAND MAPS BACK!!!

[Mekii]

XCOM compared to UFO is close to "Ultra kiddy-play" by my standards. Too stripped, too much holding the players hand and the missions are too predictable. In (i.e) an escort mission (goes for the other Council missions as well) you know what you are up against every single time.

By the Ufo's sizes or the missions difficulty it gets easy to predict how many aliens (or groups of aliens) that will be on the map.

 

Games such as UFO: Aftermath and UFO: Aftershock (published by 1C) is, in a way, closer to a "Classic-UFO" than what XCOM: Enemy Unknown is said to be. Not entirely spot on though.

 

The fact that I am so unable to affect what class my soldiers will be may be quite a minus. I dislike that 20 of my 30 soldiers are snipers in my current game.

 

Still, I do like the fact that you can get special mission by the Council, I do like that you can only do two actions per turn (but I miss the AP still). I like that the player is stuck with 4-6 units per battle (more units would make this game even easier), but on the other hand, I miss to field a large amount of units. Thank gawd for Snipers, to have an actual sniper rifle is something I missed from the first game.

 

In the end I do however like playing the game, but if I want some serious alien hunting strategy my first pick will be UFO: Enemy Unknown.

Edited January 20, 2013 by Mekii