XCOM: enemy unknown
 

This is bound to get someone here happy, but Firaxis is doing a remake of Xcom, and apparently this is going to be a strategy game instead of a shooter. Some screenies:

http://cdn.themis-media.com/media/gl...v/80/80575.jpg

http://cdn.themis-media.com/media/gl...v/80/80577.jpg

More info: *click*

For some reason, I have the feeling I'll be disappointed.

I'll be sure to read reviews before buying. However I will consider.

There's a free demo on Steam now.

An not too far away from a free version of Civ V if you pre-order.

Played a few minutes yesterday.

This is a hungry resource game on the video card. I turned everything to minimum and my fps was still a bit low to have a "fun experience".

The ambiance is quite dark and the music stressful. It's realistic, but you don't get a clear view at what you are seeing/shooting and doing as you had in the original X-com game. They are doing this to immerse you in the game and make it tense, but I'm not sure it's something I'll like in a long game.

I'll try it again tonight.

I';ll try the demo, the free Civ V doesnt really encourage me to buy :)

Started playing this last night. Normal difficulty, ironman mode.

1st: Demo was slow for me as well, with the mouse feeling exceptionally laggy. This laggyness was completely removed when I played last night. I had a hard crash at the very beginning that required a computer reboot. After that, all was well. We'll see how it goes tonight. I should note that I have a pretty decent desktop computer. Not great, but it's no slouch.

2nd: The real-game tutorial is much longer than the demo. I basically played about 2hrs to get thru it, but had to take breaks to help my kids do various things (TF2 for the 8yr old, pajama's onto the 3yr old, then bedtime for all 3). Tutorial, I felt, is decently done. By the end, I had 1 sergent (heavy) and 3 coporals (sniper, support, soldier). Had faced sectoids, thin men, and some weird thing (no spoilers!). Soldier was injured on last mission(lost 3 of 8 hps) and was in the hospital for 7 days. Had an additional 8 rookies ready to step-up. Also, did one spacecraft shoot-down+recovery mission plus lots of base-stuff (built armor, medkits, did research, built an officer training school).

3rd: Tactical gameplay is very good. Normal may be too easy, but I want to get the hang of the controls first. Cover is really important. Cover-and-move squad control is still the defacto way to go. 4 solders feels too small, but not by much. By the end of the tutorial, I had already increased to 5 (but didn't run a mission yet). I think 6 units is going to be standard for the majority of the game.

4th: Spacecraft interception seems pretty lame. Not sure how they managed to make it lamer than the original, but they did it. Maybe because I'm just using the starter aircraft with starter armaments, but there was nothing to it. I just sat in my chair and watched the event unfold, like a real commander(?). Anyways, no gameplay element to this other than deciding to intercept or not.

5th: Soldier customization seems pretty good. Made all the rookies wear bright green armor to distiguish them. Still thinking about the others ranks/skills for what colors or other physical changes so I can see them clearly on the battlefield.

Overall, seems promising. How the game unfolds now that I'm out of the tutorial will be interesting and I'll try to post more in the coming weeks. Overall, it's a pretty suprising game coming from Firaxis.

Anyone who got the TF2 items for this game is free to give them to me :D

You hit the nail on the head. I don't trust Firaxis with creating a game with depth, though I expect the game to be entertaining. Perhaps I'll pick up the game when it's on a discount, but for the moment I'll stick to Borderlands 2, TF2, EUIII and, ehm, well, maybe I'll even play some Civ5 G&K.

But please post updates, I'd love to see a walkthrough with pictures or something.

XCOM just drug me back to video games.

I love it. Yeah its got some problems but my biggest issue is squad size. My standard was 8 running 4 was painful. Running 6 was tolerable. I dilike the quick progression of aliens. I used to be able to maybe get plasma weapons by the time Mutons showed up. And the other difficulty is the mixed group of aliens since i had a tactic for each type.

Floaters...have a rear guard since they fly up behind you.
Mutons....lots of overlapping fire
Crysallids.... grenades for suicide

Normal got too easy for me, so I moved to classic-ironman. Lost 1st classic game by the end of June. 2nd one going much better, but yeah, need more sleep and this game doesn't let me get any [;)]