Ulukai on 23/10/2012 at 08:14

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My most experienced Dude just got fecking eviscerated by a sectopod at near point blank range :(

WELCOME TO THE PARTY PAL

Ulukai on 25/10/2012 at 15:41

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I've noticed that sometimes Sectopods take no damage from Rockets.

I'm not sure if this is a bug or whether they have a chance to block a direct hit.

Ulukai on 26/10/2012 at 19:26

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So, I completed my first playthrough on Normal difficulty. Much lower score than the world, but much higher number of soldiers hired and lost, probably because I didn't keep saving and loading like a crazy man, and just kind of sucked up the squad losses (34!) and bad decisions in preparation for an Iron Man playthrough. (http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=104790913) Stats. Here's what I think.

The Good

It's a turn based squad strategy game, and it's fun. And they made it, despite the rumblings of dissent, in 2012. Happy days. Although simpler than X-COM, XCOM still has enough depth to it so you have to think. To be honest, equipping all my soldiers with ammo was one of the more tedious things about X-COM, and this ommision I do not mind at all; with one caveat - I'll come onto this later.

The cover system works pleasingly well, with good indication of when your guys have been flanked which you can plan ahead to avoid as much as possible.

Base building is still satisfying, this also requires some forward thinking in order to reap the benefit from bonuses and to ensure you've balanced your excavations with the funds available.

The Satellite/Funding/Council system, although different to X-COM works well and I like it. And a big "Fuck You" to Argentina and Brazil who withdrew within mere days as a consequence of me failing one (and only one) terror mission!

The progression system for your soldiers is great, much better than the "ramp up the core stats" approach of X-COM, with them gaining better abilities as your soldiers rack up the experience and often a choice between two. Once your soliders are able to be set a nickname, you do get attached to them and it is with some regret that Duke 'The King' Nukem was Mind Controlled and died on the very last mission.


The Bad

On the subject of Ammo, although I do not miss having to remember to equip my guys with rifle clips, I do wish I could specify to load up Heavy class soldiers with more than 2-3 rounds for the Rocket or Blaster Launcher.

Aliens - Where are the Snakemen? And (AFAIK) base invasion is not possible, which reduces the level of peril somewhat when originally not only could you be seriously on the backfoot but you'd then face having the fight brought home.

On the larger alien ships, the multiple levels do cause issues. I only moved one of my guys to the wrong spot twice, and you do get used to it - but something really needs fixing here.

Environments - there is a fair variety (I think I might have played one map thrice, at most), but they're not random, and you can't defend a map based on your own base. Disappointing. In a similar vein, although you can destroy the environment it's just not quite as satisfying as X-COM because you can't cause floors above to collapse down onto floors below.

Soldier Classes - Soldiers get assigned a class at random, which can be frustrating when you've got a team of Sniper Dudes but all you want is a Heavy. I'd like the ability to choose class for raw recruits who have been promoted to squaddie.

[spoiler]Endgame was something of an anticlimax, especially once I worked out you only have to shoot and kill the Chief Ethereal to win. And it just wasn't an alien enough atmosphere. X-COM used to creep the hell out of me when I was infiltrating the base.[/spoiler]

In Conclusion

Firaxis have managed to pull off a turn based strategy game that will appeal to gamers of 2012, who wouldn't necessarily have been around for the original. I've spent 22 hours on one playthrough, and I'll be back for more.

Bring it on, Ironman.

Ulukai on 26/10/2012 at 22:28

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First DLC is just going to be some five mission story arc, or somesuch.

Ho hum.

thrawn_121 on 28/10/2012 at 01:50

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I thought the Thin Men were the new snakemen? At least it appears that way to me when reading their autopsy report.