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X-COM: Enemy Unknown
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Cephelange du'Krevviq
Gildinous Vangaurd
The Initiative.
#1 - 2012-09-27 21:35:55 UTC
I'm honestly surprised a search in this forum for "X-COM" didn't show any topics on this game.

Anywho, there is a demo with a tutorial and one mission available for download from their site or through Steam. I DL'd it and tried it out; as a fan of the original series, as well as "UFO Aftermath," I will definitely be picking this up.

"I am a leaf on the...ah, frak it!"
Jim Era
#2 - 2012-09-27 21:44:47 UTC
wat

Wat™
Surfin's PlunderBunny
Sebiestor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#3 - 2012-09-27 21:48:24 UTC
Jim Era wrote:
wat

"Little ginger moron" ~David Hasselhoff 

Want to see what Surf is training or how little isk Surf has?  http://eveboard.com/pilot/Surfin%27s_PlunderBunny
Cephelange du'Krevviq
Gildinous Vangaurd
The Initiative.
#4 - 2012-09-27 21:51:59 UTC
This

"I am a leaf on the...ah, frak it!"
Destination SkillQueue
Doomheim
#5 - 2012-09-27 22:12:01 UTC
Seems too consoly and streamlined/simplified for my taste, but maybe the good will outweigh the bad. I might even buy it, if known fans of the originals can address my concerns after playing it through. If not, I'll just wait for one of the PC remakes to finish. I think one of them is set to release this year too and looks to be a much more faitful remake and tries to improve on the original game without the excessive streamlining.
MinefieldS
1 Sick Duck Standss on something
#6 - 2012-09-27 23:58:48 UTC  |  Edited by: MinefieldS
Cephelange du'Krevviq wrote:
I'm honestly surprised a search in this forum for "X-COM" didn't show any topics on this game.

Anywho, there is a demo with a tutorial and one mission available for download from their site or through Steam. I DL'd it and tried it out; as a fan of the original series, as well as "UFO Aftermath," I will definitely be picking this up.


Does it have the same crappy, worthless, ******, dumb, ********, stupid "AI" as their Civ 5?
Cephelange du'Krevviq
Gildinous Vangaurd
The Initiative.
#7 - 2012-09-28 00:11:49 UTC
Can't say, as I haven't played Civ 5. Try the demo for yourself and compare.

"I am a leaf on the...ah, frak it!"
Bart Starr
Aggressive Structural Steel Expediting Services
#8 - 2012-09-28 00:45:54 UTC
Game was a work of art. Nice graphics, even for 1994 release.
Still have the box, manual and original CD.
Too bad I don't have my old IBM 486 DX4 anymore. Sad
Surfin's PlunderBunny
Sebiestor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#9 - 2012-09-28 00:50:39 UTC
Bart Starr wrote:
Game was a work of art. Nice graphics, even for 1994 release.
Still have the box, manual and original CD.
Too bad I don't have my old IBM 486 DX4 anymore. Sad


Pfft, I had a 486 sx33 Cool

"Little ginger moron" ~David Hasselhoff 

Want to see what Surf is training or how little isk Surf has?  http://eveboard.com/pilot/Surfin%27s_PlunderBunny
Malphilos
State War Academy
Caldari State
#10 - 2012-09-28 03:27:35 UTC
Bart Starr wrote:
Game was a work of art. Nice graphics, even for 1994 release.
Still have the box, manual and original CD.
Too bad I don't have my old IBM 486 DX4 anymore. Sad


DOSBOX or Steam.

It's still quick and easy fun. :)
Akita T
Caldari Navy Volunteer Task Force
#11 - 2012-09-28 07:49:43 UTC  |  Edited by: Akita T
I played it like a madperson for years, and less intensely for nearly a decade, but I find it a bit difficult to concentrate on it nowadays, after 18 years of on-and-off play.
It's not so much the graphics or anything (but it sure is a factor), it's all the small bugs, glitches and hangups that nibble at your enjoyment after so much time with it, especially after a longer break.
I know there are fan-made fixes for a lot of those nuisances, but I lack the energy to go out and collect them all into a nice little pleasurable package. Now, if somebody else would do that for me, that's another story.

Meanwhile, the X-Com remake is the one game that I look forward to the most, and have been ever since they first announced it. That's a game I'm sure to play regardless of the reviews. But I'm pretty sure the reviews won't be all that negative either way, not even from die-hard classic game fans.

P.S. Superhuman difficulty, self-imposed "save on exit only" extra difficuly FTW. You die often and horribly, but man, is that FUN ! Great replay value IMO.

P.P.S. Not sure I'd have the time to even try that nowadays though.
Sigh, how easy and full of spare time life as a single student was, compared to being married and having a job...

Akita T evewiki profile | | | Build your own EVE-ready PC
Louis deGuerre
The Dark Tribe
Minmatar Fleet Alliance
#12 - 2012-09-28 09:16:18 UTC
Been looking forward to this for ages.
Demo looked very nice, my only worry is that levels may be too small, but it definitely gave me the good old 'XCOM feeling' of OH **** OH **** NOT HIM DONT KILL HIM I HATE YOU ALIENS AARGH
Sidus Isaacs
Center for Advanced Studies
Gallente Federation
#13 - 2012-09-28 12:09:18 UTC
Gonna be interesting to see how it turns out.
Kattshiro
Deep Core Mining Inc.
Caldari State
#14 - 2012-09-28 20:54:06 UTC
Played the demo. Could select difficulty in demo, but yeah still hard, and still need to think.
Surfin's PlunderBunny
Sebiestor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#15 - 2012-09-29 02:59:05 UTC
Kattshiro wrote:
Played the demo. Could select difficulty in demo, but yeah still hard, and still need to think.


Former is fine, the latter... well that's just unacceptable X

"Little ginger moron" ~David Hasselhoff 

Want to see what Surf is training or how little isk Surf has?  http://eveboard.com/pilot/Surfin%27s_PlunderBunny
Akita T
Caldari Navy Volunteer Task Force
#16 - 2012-09-29 07:56:44 UTC  |  Edited by: Akita T
Demo insanely brief for my taste. Other than the out-of-mission cutscenes, it lasted like, what, barely over half an hour combined ?

There was practically as good as no Geoscape action, which is my favourite part in the original.
Yea, I know, you spend most of your time inside missions not in the Geoscape, but that's ok, it only makes the Geoscape part more fun.
All the base building, research options, equipment buildings and purchase, scientist and engineer allocation, even the actual squad selection (soldiers and gear), almost none of it available in any free-form in the demo.

First mission was basically a scripted tutorial, which I suppose is fine, in a way.
But... the lack of a freely rotating camera was an oversight that horrifies me, when combined with the pretty awful decisions for which structures to make transparent // remove visible walls of, and the total lack of a map.
Second mission only had 6 enemies, which I suppose is ok-ish for a demo, but still, meh.

I am questioning the wisdom of putting the demo out, it actually REDUCED my "can't wait for it" levels.
Why ?
It's not exactly what I expected from the dev vids I've seen so far, as it seems awfully console-optimized (but not in a good way, or even a borderline acceptable way like, say, the Mass Effect series). I just hope they release later a PC version with all the stupid console-controller-inspired limitations removed, free camera movement, and a gorram map.

But other than that minor set of gripes, the little I've seen in the demo (especially combined with the vids of later gameplay I've seen put out by the devs much earlier), it does show quite a bit of potential, and isn't bad at all.
Oh well, I guess it's a good thing I don't have that much free time right now, so I can easily wait for patches and fan-made mods to make it even more palatable than it already is.
I guess I could even get used to the consolified controls eventually, but I'm in no hurry.

Akita T evewiki profile | | | Build your own EVE-ready PC
Blue Binary
Polychoron
#17 - 2012-09-29 11:52:55 UTC
Looking forward to it's release. I was a little sceptical that they would dumb it down to appeal to the casual mass market, but this hands-on 40-hour preview by a fellow veteran of the old game makes me optimistic.

The Crysalid traps sound interesting, as does cover-suppression-flanking manoeuvres. Only 4-6 troops allowed in the Skyranger though, which makes it difficult to train rookies.

Other positive touches like the geographical placement of the HQ offer different bonuses, special one-off missions (rescues, disarm bombs, etc), multiplayer, more attention to detail and background atmosphere. The downside is maps are not random, but you can use that to your advantage...

I remember the first game 18 years ago (god, am I that old? Shocked) had me hooked when Microprose sent me a demo which featured a scouting mission in the jungle at night. The music, the anticipation and the atmosphere were infectious.
Cephelange du'Krevviq
Gildinous Vangaurd
The Initiative.
#18 - 2012-09-29 14:02:06 UTC
Akita T, there is a way to rotate the camera around; they just don't tell you how until either late in the tutorial or in the actual demo mission.

"I am a leaf on the...ah, frak it!"
Akita T
Caldari Navy Volunteer Task Force
#19 - 2012-09-29 20:43:08 UTC  |  Edited by: Akita T
Yeah, I know, I meant not only in 90 degree increments, but freely, and there's also only a very limited amount of vertical tilting. There's no good reason I can think of why you shouldn't be allowed to move the camera anywhere you want and point it in any direction on the PC version.

Akita T evewiki profile | | | Build your own EVE-ready PC