greydan

XCOM Enemy Unknown

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I've just sent my first soldier to certain death, and felt pretty terrible about it... otherwise, it's been great :P! I spent an absolute age trying to catch an outsider, with its vicious laser killing anyone in two hits, but people kept missing for ages and I ended up Benny Hill-ing around the crashed saucer trying to get within zapping distance when the only person with a stun gun was down to 2 health. Got it eventually though, after losing 2 guys. I HOPE IT WAS WORTH IT, VAGHN!

It looks like I'm at the start of my first terror mission, but l have already played 2 today (and met my first chryssalid), so that's for another time. I've really been missing out all this time :P

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The XCOM games are horrific for 'just one more turn'. My average nights sleep for the last week or two has been horrendous!

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Yeah, I just want to get something built, and missions keep popping off- how inconvenient :P! I'm near the end of April now, if that means anything

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Wow, I may have just hosed myself! I am assaulting a base, probably way under equipped because I thought I had something when I didn't. As soon as I left the landing zone, we got charged by a bunch of chrysalids, my heavy (and slingshot VIP) got torn apart and subsequently zombie-ate my support guy. Panic ensued:D. I left it mid mission for the evening with just 2 assaults and a sniper. If they wipe, I might start over!

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you should be aiming to do that mission when you have carapace armour and at least laser rifles and sniper rifles. You can get away with only LMGs for you heavies provided you have HEAT ammo.

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I had just finished researching skeleton armour but could not see it in the list of things for my engineers to build; I had skipped carapace armour and assumed it was an automatic upgrade because it was already pretty late. I rocked up with basic armour! I do have a laser rifle though :P.

I might as well see how far I can get in this mission before deciding whether or not to restart, I've already made a whole bunch of mistakes to learn from so a few more won't hurt :).

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Listening now.  Wow.  I will definitely be waiting for a patch.  Hell, I might wait for a sale.

 

Seriously sounds like kind of a mess.

 

ETA: The fact that this stuff has not come up in reviews just makes you wonder yet again about how in bed the review platforms are with the companies.  If what the guys are saying is true, they ought to be ashamed.

 

People seem really polarized on XCOM2 so far. I've yet to listen to the 3MA analysis, but one comparison I think fits is Left 4 Dead. In the transition from L4D1 to L4D2, the team looked at the strategies that guaranteed an easy win and created enemies to specifically defeat them. Turtling was super effective, for example, so they added the Spitter.

 

I think Firaxis did the same thing with XCOM, but in terms of game design as a whole. The game really excels at keeping you off balance, both at the strategic and the tactical level. Every choice is a hard one, and no strategy guarantees success. Turtling? There are snakes and Sectoids. Too aggressive? Faceless, etc. Want to take things slowly at the strategic level? Hey, there's a countdown timer.

 

I know some people really don't like the timers, but fortunately there are already mods on the Steam Workshop to extend and disable them. There's also a mod that re-seeds the RNG at load time so you can save-scum if you want to. I think it's appropriate to evaluate this game from a review perspective as vanilla, but when deciding if this is a game you want to play, I'd also see if there are mods that fix the issues you expect you'll have.

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I'll give you one tip, and I won't tell you why.  Once you've sent the mission to the alien craft that's in the air, don't use the mechanic to free up gear for a while.  Keep your top people equipped with good gear, even if you're going on missions with not so well equipped rookies, sqaddies etc.

 

Just sayin'

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People seem really polarized on XCOM2 so far. I've yet to listen to the 3MA analysis, but one comparison I think fits is Left 4 Dead. In the transition from L4D1 to L4D2, the team looked at the strategies that guaranteed an easy win and created enemies to specifically defeat them. Turtling was super effective, for example, so they added the Spitter.

 

I think Firaxis did the same thing with XCOM, but in terms of game design as a whole. The game really excels at keeping you off balance, both at the strategic and the tactical level. Every choice is a hard one, and no strategy guarantees success. Turtling? There are snakes and Sectoids. Too aggressive? Faceless, etc. Want to take things slowly at the strategic level? Hey, there's a countdown timer.

 

I know some people really don't like the timers, but fortunately there are already mods on the Steam Workshop to extend and disable them. There's also a mod that re-seeds the RNG at load time so you can save-scum if you want to. I think it's appropriate to evaluate this game from a review perspective as vanilla, but when deciding if this is a game you want to play, I'd also see if there are mods that fix the issues you expect you'll have.

 

I think the L4D2 comparison is apt. On the most recent episode of the Crate & Crowbar one of the panelists had a negative experience with XCOM 2, but the rest were pretty high on the game. Their explanation for what was good about XCOM 2 was that the game forced you to improvise constantly, and I agree with that analysis and that's what I love about it. A game like Invisible Inc. is probably better suited for control freaks who want to make the most optimal moves possible, and execute everything perfectly. XCOM 2 leaves you with uncertainty and almost never enough time to perform the optimal move. For some people that becomes incredibly frustrating, but I find it very exciting.

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The time limits frustrated me at first, but now that I've done a mission or two that didn't have one, I felt kinda listless. Much like the save system in Dead Rising that everyone hated, but I loved. It adds tension.

 

What I still don't like about XCOM 2 is how long it takes to do anything. I'm not usually the modding type, but I'm going to have to get that Shut-up Bradford mod I think.

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I started over my Enemy Within campaign, and am doing much better this time. I ransacked the alien base without any casualties, and had my first encounter with mutons, cyberdisks and mechtoids after they invaded my base! I lost 4 people in the base defense mission, including the seargent that I had just received as a reward for the previous mission; the other guys were rookies and didn't get a mention on the commemeration wall, so I think they were base staff. I am about to complete my first thermal power station, then I'll be golden for a while I think.

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Ok, so I picked up where I had left off around this time last year, or maybe it was December, I forget. Anyway, fuck this game! I got further than I have ever gotten before, psyonics, base assault, new bad guys etc.

 

Then the game repeatedly fucks me. It's like it knows when you're doing ok, and when you're doing bad. Multiple times I've moved a single square and then like a fucking horde of aliens show up and get their god damn free move.

 

That free move has killed my enthusiasm for the game, I've failed (or lost a bunch of troops) too many times thanks to that mechanic for me to enjoy the game any more. It feels unfairly punishing, especially when you move up to a brick wall and the aliens spawn. Or some aliens spawn in the fog of war and then come and wreck you on your turn.

I'm not sure if it's just a buggy-ass game, or whether that stuff is intentional. Anyway, so matter how much I love the game when I'm doing OK, or balancing on a knife edge, I can't handle how some things just feel completely unfair. So I think I'm done, I'm a big baby and here I am saying Xcom beat me. I can't complete that game, it's just too fucking hard. 

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I hate this game. 

 

I am now playing it again. 

 

I love this game.

 

I think I'm close to completing it? 

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I hate this game.

I am now playing it again.

I love this game.

I think I'm close to completing it?

Ha ha ha. That almost completely describes my relationship with XCOM2.

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I am thinking about buying a copy of Enemy Unknown or Enemy Within for X360 (I'd love to use a mouse and keyboard but my laptop can't run it). Which would you recommend to someone who's played zero XCOM and very few strategy games?

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Enemy Within includes the base game (Enemy Unknown); I'd definitely get Enemy Within.

 

EW is a significant improvement over EU, in my opinion. The changes are entirely additive, though, so EW is also significantly more complex; somebody could argue that a strategy game newbie might have a better time with the older version for that reason. I don't know if I agree with that, personally, but the point is mostly moot because Enemy Within includes Enemy Unknown.

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At least the PC version definitely does have a splash screen where you choose between playing Enemy Unknown or Enemy Within.

 

I'm playing through the EW campaign for the very first time currently, and having a great time with it. I don't think it's that much more complex than the base game: there are a few extra avenues for improving soldiers, some extra mission types and unique missions, but the backbone is largely the same. 

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This doesn't show a choice between the two on the menu screen but maybe this is the menu screen that you get after you choose Within on a splash screen? Anyway, it doesn't matter, I think I'll just opt for Within.

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4 hours ago, Patrick R said:

This doesn't show a choice between the two on the menu screen but maybe this is the menu screen that you get after you choose Within on a splash screen? Anyway, it doesn't matter, I think I'll just opt for Within.

 

I'm pretty sure the console version of Enemy Within doesn't have an option to play Enemy Unknown. That said, Enemy Within isn't that much more complicated and is, ultimately, the better game, so...

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