E3 2011: XCOM
It's not the turn-based tactical combat game of the old games, but this year's new E3 demo gets a lot closer to getting the classic XCOM "vibe."
XCOM
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Shacknews
replyGarnett Lee posted a new article, E3 2011: XCOM.
It's not the turn-based tactical combat game of the old games, but this year's new E3 demo gets a lot closer to getting the classic XCOM "vibe."-
Pre-emptive *Nick Breckon Sigh* Idle Thumbs 47, 37:30
(watches video)...-
Well, this looks a lot better than last year's video. Looks a lot deeper than "Bioshock with black alien goo".
I'll say it now to 2K in general: don't shoot yourself in the foot by going GFWL ( http://www.shacknews.com/article/62072/bioshock-2-pc-drm-plans ) and disc-unlock multiplayer DLC ( http://www.shacknews.com/article/62780/bioshock-2-mp-dlc-already ). Not that us PC gamers matter in the XCOM marketing plan, right? -
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Which is...
A: A sequence resembling Stronghold Crusader Extreme level 1?
B: Resident Evil 5 turret sequence?
C: Call of Juarez turret sequence?
D: Borderlands end boss?
E: Other?-
A turret sequence. It was an amazing combination of his disgust with endless turret sequences in games that don't need them as well as a tangental historical sperg on why they wouldn't have even had that type of turret in a wild west timeframe. I think is was Call to Juarez or Red Dead. I don't remember the episode either but it was glorious.
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Still not feeling it.
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Maybe I'm just an oldschool hater and nothing will make me happy, but I really dislike seeing descriptions like:
"2K Marin promises an experience more true to the spirit of the originals"
"the two-part approach of the game harkened back to the old XCOM"
"it's starting to sound a lot more like XCOM than before"
I get that they wanted to make a new game, I also get that they had that license sitting around doing nothing, but quit trying to pass it of as some sort of homage or pushing the idea that it has anything to do with the old X-COM. -
This will fail in such a profound and magnificent fashion that it will be almost poetic.
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Oh how I wish for this game to bomb spectacularly. It is an abomination and no amount of shameful patronizing is going to change that. Kill it with fire.
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I'm there with you, buddy. 2K hasnt been utilizing their IP properly recently it is quite sad. Mafia 2 was super crap I wish I can sell mine back even if it is free. Civ 5 also seems to be a few step back compared to the Civ 4 and now this?
I just hope that Darkness 2 will be at least better...
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In a real X-COM game you would have 10 men and half would die in the first few seconds of encountering aliens. Then you continue the mission because losing only half is better than what happened last time. Then you see chrysalids and you abort but only one guy makes it to the dropship, that's ok because it's better than what happened last time.
In this game you have 3 guys and you shoot the aliens. I don't think it is close to the same vibe.-
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Maximum Truth.
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They could put in a "red shirt" mode. "Captain, I found something!... *BZZZT* AAAAHHH!!!"
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Haha, the best was that your soldiers were an actual resource that oft-times needed to act as cannon fodder to get the job done.
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It's not like people were happy with Far Cry 2 being called Far Cry 2 when it had nothing to do with the original. Same goes for the new Brothers in Arms game.
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Poor analogy. At least Far Cry and Far Cry 2 were both FPS games set in similar time periods. XCOM and the older XCOM games are different genres and from completely different time periods. The only theme that's similar is that there's aliens invading, but you have that in so many thousands of games from multiple genres already out that that's not a viable reason to just tack it onto the XCOM series. It's kind of like Valve coming out with Half Life 3: The RTS, and being set in the 1200's impaling your enemies with swords and arrows instead of bullets and a crowbar.
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As long as people keep saying this I will keep on pointing out that far cry 2 was just about extracting the best part of far cry (killing merc compounds with tactics) and developing a game in which you did that forever and ever with a large selection of weapons and environments to do it in.
Trigens are gay, merc compounds are awesome. Therefore, Far Cry 2 is awesome.-
Even the part where you keep getting malaria? That part got really old for me after the first 5 minutes of my vision being blurred.
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Two of them are entirely different from the original (a third-person shooter and a space sim), which, I guess, doesn't make this one a special case.
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At least you are killing fucking Sectoids, Snakemen and Mutons there, so you can make a case that this is going on in the same universe. This new XCOM is a reboot, so the universe is different, which is ok, but at the same time it's not a turn based tactical game, like the first 3 games, so at this point it has absolutely nothing to do with X-COM. It's not a reboot anymore, it's a new thing altogether. So they should change the name, goddamit.
And there were 5 X-COM games, btw.
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The game looks absolutely spectacular, and I eagerly await seeing the haters eat their words. Solid looking gunplay, and a surprising amount of tactical depth too.
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I went in as a blank slate, having never played the originals for any substantial amount of time and only seeing the one teaser trailer from last year's E3, and I was blown away. The setting was great, and I really like how you have to manage your other agents as assets both on the battlefield and back at base. Plus, the strategic elements seem like they could make for some fun gameplay, since deciding whether to use a weapon right away or keep it for research seems like it could have some pretty heavy effects on weaponry, abilities, etc., that you'll have access to. I told dahanese to pick the best demo they were showing for me to watch, and she did!
Also, Duke MP owns.
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Don't be a faggot.
No one hates this game, I have said, others have said, pretty much everyone has said, that the problem isn't the game but the messaging. When you look at this you don't see anything that recalls for you the excitement of playing X-Com 1 or 2. It's not even the same genre of game. And that's the point. Cause this is an X-Com game for people who never played or cared about X-Com. That's all anyone is pointing out, and doing so in very clear language.
We can all argue about games, but lets not be faggots about it, because where you're taking this is not an argument about a game it's about these people you've invented that you're calling haters. Where's the fun in that? I'd much rather theorycraft some game design.-
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No matter how many other games they made under the brand, whether Apocalypse, Interceptor or Enforcer, the game that started the franchise is always going to be THE X-Com. And there's no legitimate way for you to be confused about the bemusement your non-X-Com XCOM game has generated.
If you say "Oh guys, we're bringing back X-Com!" I'm not excited and thinking of fucking Interceptor or whatever, I'm excited cause of UFO Defense! That was a good game, and I'll be happy to have more.
More importantly, I will have more. There are a number of X-Com clones out there and Xenonauts is pretty much guaranteed to be one of the best ones. Just as important to note is that this XCOM game of yours looks interesting and I will continue to follow its development. So my point there is that there's no hostility in saying this isn't an X-Com game. It's just.... not an X-Com game, and maybe I'm a little disappointed cause I think it could be, but it's not the end of the world or anything and it's not to disparage the work being done in Australia and other 2K studios. So what are you and the other guy I replied to hissing at? -
As pointed out elsewhere in the thread, even Enforcer and Interceptor worked within the established fiction of the X-COM universe. I don't think it's about ignoring 50% (well 40% really) of the past games, it's about having an IP many people are sentimental about retconned into something unrecognizable. Personally I'd be a lot better with it if the marketing stopped using phrases like "true to the roots of the franchise" and similar. Take it in a different direction, but don't insult everyone's memory of one of the best turn based strategy games of all time while you do it.
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Serious question (pretend I'm not me) - what about people who disagree with your point if view? Who like those games but maybe have a different opinion?
I think I'm just going to give up on this know because I know where your head is, I just think it's a shame in many ways. If that makes sense. I'm not being super eloquent and am fucking exhausted.
Also if you are not being serious and fucking with me again apologies for me bring serious.-
Didn't you just make a post about how certain reactions and perspectives to XCOM are illegitimate because people are ignoring 50% of the games in the series?
If this is about agreeing that everyone has an opinion than we can do that right now and the thread is over. But it's not about agreeing on that, or discussing the game, it's finding the presentation of a contrary opinion itself offensive and then locking horns about it till it becomes boring and there's a better thread to post in. How tedious. -
People who disagree with my point of view how? Have a different opinion how?
Don't get me wrong, as a game it looks interesting (it certainly looks way better than "The Goo-Files", or "Goobusters" or whatever you want to call last year's video). I'll always reserve final judgement on a game until it's actually out.
It's not that it's not like "x" when there are others not like x, it's about being "z" but still trying to pass yourself off as "true to the roots of x" when it looks about as far removed from "x" as you can get. I don't think even Enforcer or Interceptor tried to claim they were being true to the other X-COM games.
I am being serious, but I'm really trying to not be a jerk about it. I called X-COM "one of the best turn based strategy games of all time" because it is. That doesn't mean I think this new XCOM is shit, I just wish marketing would stop preying on people's nostalgia by claiming it has anything to do with X-COM when what we've seen doesn't look that way at all.
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I agree Mr Kow, my only problem with XCom is that it seems to have nothing to do with the original X-Com games beyond the inclusion of aliens. Perhaps I'm being overly cynical but I feel like it was called XCom for the nostalgia of an X-Com game as opposed to being related to the original X-Com universe or a continuation of the X-Com story (such as it was). I should say that I think that XCom looks very interesting and I think I'll have a blast playing it but the marketing for this game makes no sense to me.
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But that same charge of faggotry could be leveled at those who are unwilling to accept sequels, or successors, to games that don't adhere 100% to the gameplay mechanics of the original game. For example, look at all of the mockery of the NMA forums in Shack threads leading up to the FO3 release.
While I completely understand people enjoying older games (I still enjoy them myself!), I personally have never understood the way that some people latch on to genres being the only defining feature of a game. Is genre important? Certainly! But to go "X GAME is only really X GAME if it is played in this particular fashion!!!" just confuses me. Part of the nature of gaming is that games, genres, and franchises evolve. As much as we love the classic games, I don't think people would still be playing Zelda games if they were top-down, cumbersome semi-RPG titles. I don't see why a game like XCOM should be any different. If Ghost Recon can be fun as a turn-based action-strategy game, I don't see why XCOM can't be fun as a strategic FPS.
/twocents-
Also, between your post and the tons of other posts I've seen here from people unhappy with the reboot, I'm gonna check out the original X-COM this weekend. Although, from everything people have said about the game over the years, I have a feeling I might smash my keyboard to pieces in rage after being repeatedly raped by aliens. Should be interesting!
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"But that same charge of faggotry could be leveled at those who are unwilling to accept sequels, or successors, to games that don't adhere 100% to the gameplay mechanics of the original game."
But to go "X GAME is only really X GAME if it is played in this particular fashion!!!"
Again, the majority of the negativity is not stemming from the fact that it isn't 100% faithful to the first games of the series. It's the fact that they're using the brand when it has no connection whatsoever to that series. It's not an issue of changing the gameplay as in your Ghost Recon example. It's more like if they took the Ghost Recon name and slapped it on a puzzle platformer that was set on the moon where you play as a race of hitherto undiscovered moon men. It might be an awesome puzzle platformer, but you'd be wondering why the Ghost Recon name is attached to it and why marketing keeps telling you that it's "faithful to the spirit of earlier Ghost Recon games".
I don't necessarily have a problem with reboots, but even reboots still have something to do with the thing they're rebooting.
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Still not interested. Don't need yet another shooter.
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Also, if anyone can recommend a good turn based tactical game, please do. I am still filling this niche with Blood Bowl Legendary Edition.
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Goo based Aliens...... really??? "The outsiders?" .... very technical sounding indeed.
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In the Prey 2 thread anyone wondering why it was called Prey got a lot of grief. Apparently what whether reappropriating a name is kosher or not depends on how much i one liked the original
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Prey isn't a beloved game with an interesting setting and great original game play.
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Prey had an interesting setting. I'll give you the other two.
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On a related note, did you see the Jagged Alliance remake? At least it is still a strategy game but then they throw away the turn based and now using semi real time with plan and go...Not sure how I feel about that but I saw the gameplay and to be honest, I'd rather play the original with the 1.13 mod. It looks stupid looking at your merc (or the enemy) shoot at each other but it didnt hit anything at all and they keep doing that for at least 5-10 seconds before one of them died.
As for X-Com, yeah, I really dont think this move to FPS will make me happy either. I'll probably play the original again since I missed some of those a while back. I think the move to FPS is to make the game accessible to console users, but the move basically crapping all other PC users that grow up with the original X-com and turn based games in general...
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Hey, it might be good. But I'd rather have a game that grew out of X-Com's mechanics than its story.
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Actually a game that grew out of x-coms story would be ok as well. This is neither.
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Thread Hijack: For those of you looking to harken back to a more traditional XCOM style game, http://www.xenonauts.com
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Yeah, I've seen dozens of fan made xcom games just die in flames. Let me know once it is out.
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There must be many levels of "pro" I guess. http://www.xenonauts.com/siteimages/alphascreenshot.jpg
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They're an indie dev, they don't have a media department to choreograph gameplay videos and screenshots, they just release stuff as they get it.
Personally I love the way indies are open about their development, it grants insight and it's just fun to see a game develop over time. I'd hate for that to stop because people out there are too busy making snap judgements. -
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True X-COM successor: http://ufo.ufo-extraterrestrials.com/
Another one is slated to come out September of this year: http://www.ufo2extraterrestrials.com/-
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i playing through it right now, it's not terrible, but i liked Afterlight better http://store.steampowered.com/app/7500/
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did you try it with the community patches? Apparently much was fixed, but then I never played it un-patched.
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It looks cool, but i can't believe that it'll have even a quarter of the depth of the original and that makes me sad. Also the shooting looks too much like a mix of brothers in arms with cod instead of BiA and rainbow six.
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The vibe would be more suitable if it was more like SWAT 4. Where the goal is taking the suspects/aliens alive and avoid killing if possible. Also collecting evidence/technology from the scene. You can still direct your team and use tools to plan your approach. More games should reward for not doing Murder Death Kill.
Interestingly enough Irrational made SWAT 4.
Still looks interesting in its own way. -
Am I supposed to hate this game or what? Everything I see for it makes it look pretty fucking awesome.
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http://cf.shacknews.com/images/20110609/js_xcom_angela_mission_18431.jpg
Thank god the aliens only seem to be attacking the continental United States. I'm surprised they have such a sophisticated understanding of political boundaries and that their plans are so focused.
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