[Multiplatform] Xcom etc etc

So, there's a new Xcom game already out and another coming very soon. For those poor, unfortunate souls who missed the originals, UFO - Enemy Unknown was the first X-Com game, followed by Terror from the Deep. These were probably called something different in 'Merka coz you people are odd. There were also some other games but they were shit so nobody cares. UFO was essentially a turn-based, strategy rpg with a wider tactial game around it where you controlled a shadowy organisation tasked with halting an alien invasion. You build a base, you buy some gear, you wait for the aliens to show up, shoot them down then send in the troops. If you're playing on anything other than easy mode, most of them get killed and if you're lucky you recover some alien shit, bring it back then research it. Then sometimes the aliens attack cities and you go to help. Pretty much everyone dies in these missions, even on easy mode. Terror from the Deep is the same kind of thing only underwater, except sometimes it's above water, and some of your guns only work underwater.

Anyway, the games were fucking amazing, offered exceptional tactical depth and were hilariously difficult. They had a big, cult following so it was only a matter of time before they got remade.

The one that's already out is a fairly faithful remake. It's turn-based, it's tactical and from playing the demo, it's only a bit dumbed down and they've hardly added any annoyingly cheesy American accents and stupid cut-scenes. You can't put your base anywhere anymore, instead picking a region with each giving different bonuses. You can't design the base yourself either and the maps are no longer randomly generated, although alien placement is. As far as I can tell from the demo, instead of shooting down UFOs, you get a choice of mission at each point. Your squad is fixed at four people and instead of kitting them out anyway you want, you pick specialisations for them and there are skill trees and shit, implying that the game isn't so tough and you don't face tpk's as often as in the original. Also, everyone has a cheesy American accent and there are loads of stupid cut-scenes, I was lying about that bit.

So it's not a complete, faithful remake but then, what really would be the point of a faithful remake? The original is easily available on cheeky download and runs perfectly fine in DOSBox, there's no need to pay for an Xbox version. Ive played the demo through a couple of times now though and once I get paid on Thursday, I'm going to pick this up because it's a decent, turn-based tactical combat game and there aren't enough of those. There aren't really any in fact on 360, except Vandal Hearts Fires of Justice and I already beat that. Certainly if you liked the originals and aren't the kind of dullard who refuses to embrace change and will complain that it's not as good as the original then this looks like being worth getting.

So anyone else bought this already or planning on getting it?

Oh yeah, the other one coming out is an FPS, set in the 60's. It looks bollocks.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Eh? I said the one that was out looked good and the shooter looks awful.

Or was that just a general purpose, unrelated insult?

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Thought as much.

My copy should arrive tomorrow, although with it being Bonfire Night and Halo 4 arriving the day after, I may not have time to get in to it for a day or two.

How ya doing, buddy?

So thanks to my copy of Halo still not turning up yet (Fuck you the Post Office), I started playing this today and I'm loving it so far. Started straight from Classic difficulty (Hard mode) and it is suitably tough. Took me till the fourth mission to bring all the team home alive. It is a little simpler than the original but that's not necessarily a terrible thing. The research options hint as to what you'll unlock rather than in the old days where it was pot luck until you'd played it a few times. There's less money in the system but fewer options to spend it on which means a bit less customisation perhaps but it's more forgiving on the new player.

My one gripe is that at the start at least, you don't get the customisation in your combat team one might want. On the pc, you could buy any gear you wanted and stick whatever you liked on your team. If you wanted to kit out a rookie with a rifle, pistol, taser, rocket launcher, medipack and ten grenades you could, he just wouldn't have been able to walk very fast. I find that having to choose between a medi-kit or grenades, i.e. only having an equipment slot, is a bit limiting and only having four guys and them only having a speciality once they survived a mission means you tend to end up with pretty vanilla teams. I'm aware you can increase your squad size though and I guess you can open extra equipment slots so I'm sure it'll get better in that respect.

Enjoying it so far though!

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So it turns out that Xcom is one of the best games ever. Once you unlock some stuff, there is a lot more customisation, perhaps more than in the original in some respects. It does get easy pretty quickly although there is an ironman mode which will make it hilariously difficult.

It's a hugely involving game, it's actually genuinely scary when you get rushed by Chrisalids and you get a real sense of achievement when your sniper with "In the zone " skill picks half of them off before a crashing volley of overwatch fire from the rest of the team wipes out the others.

I honestly thought I'd be playing this when I got bored of Halo, turns out it's the other way around and I've barely touched Halo since finishing the campaign.

I was speaking idiomatically.