XCOM: Enemy Unknown

[LeftEyeNine]

Pity.

Also, can you ever intervene with panic levels in countries before abductions/terror attacks occur (other than satellite-ing them ?)

[a completely inoffensive name]

Watched this live. Never played the game, but everyone was laughing so hard in chat.

Vid note: Profanity - LEN

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

EDIT: A little bit of context. He had just started playing XCOM that day and was playing on Impossible/Ironman. About 90% of his time was spent re-doing the first mission over and over again. He was going a bit crazy about the random number generator after a couple hours.

[TinCow]

EDIT: A little bit of context. He had just started playing XCOM that day and was playing on Impossible/Ironman. About 90% of his time was spent re-doing the first mission over and over again. He was going a bit crazy about the random number generator after a couple hours.

That's brutal and his reaction was not remotely exaggerated. I had to stop playing on Classic/Ironman due to frustration. I can't even imagine what it would be like to be on the receiving end of luck that bad in Impossible/Ironman. Part of the problem for me was that the more I got frustrated the more errors I would make, which just compounded the frustration and put me into a vicious spiral of suckitude.

[HopAlongBunny]

My hats off to anyone completing Classic/Ironman; all my attempts at Classic have ended in humiliation :p

Yes, I am still trying to "solve" this game :)

[SwordsMaster]

Likewise. Classic - best attempt so far, survived 5 missions before being left with no squad, and no money. Frustrating how thin men will hit me at long range every time, and yet my sniper will miss 3 tiles away...

[Monk]

Likewise. Classic - best attempt so far, survived 5 missions before being left with no squad, and no money. Frustrating how thin men will hit me at long range every time, and yet my sniper will miss 3 tiles away...

The dice gods can be quite unforgiving. The best way to approach the game on classic is to do what Gelatinous Cube suggested and go heavy explosives in your first few missions. Yeah, your scientist won't like it, but promoting your rookies is way more important in the first month than anything else (except for maybe getting engineers and building sats, but we covered that a few pages ago!)

Playing XCOM classic is a game of caution. Your best bet is to play cautiously and approach things with the dice in mind. A 50/50 shot is probably not going to be worth it, since you're essentially gambling with lives at that point in the game.

But sometimes? Well. Sometimes you just gotta roll the hard six.

[easytarget]

I'm holding out taking a run at classic ironman till they get the current patch they are working on, working. I've played classic, and I've played ironman, just not together. ;)

But it's time will come, I just want the teleporting business actually fixed, I've got time on my side, I'm still playing S2/ROTS/FOTS like they just released. haha

[Papewaio]

Just been playing this again before the next version comes out.

One of my female characters is Ms Ho.

Major Ho

Major 'Combo' Ho

Sweet.

[easytarget]

There's an Enemy Within. And in November the battle will be rejoined: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4KdSli869U

[easytarget]

Really? No one finds this even mildly interesting news?

Whatever.

[Arjos]

Oh we do! Just not our wallets! :P
I have to avoid getting too hyped up and wait for a steam sale XD

Though I'm definitely way more interested in this, than The Bureau...

[rajpoot]

As do I. The mech class sounds like it would be fun to play as opposed to the SHIVs.
Plus flamethrowers.

[easytarget]

I agree on all counts. The time, effort and resources wasted on the Bureau could have and should have been applied to XCOM EU, there is just so much untapped potential here.

With just more maps (god I hate seeing the same ones even after just one play through, that was just beyond stupid), some time spent doing a better job fleshing out interception (which right now is just a placeholder), a more robust strategic layer (right now it's build satellites and launch them, that's it), and base invasion they'd have taken quite a few steps towards taking advantage of the position they have in breaking open this IP again.

What they've done instead for about the last year appears to be the production of a fairly modest DLC. I mean I'll take what I can get, I might even pay 30 bucks for it (probably not, I'll still be up in my eyeballs in R2 in Nov).

I'm glad to see they are still developing for it. As everyone who has played and liked it has noticed, there's so much potential untapped. It's hard for me to not wonder why Firaxis isn't putting more behind this, because for my money, Civ 5 is played out, you either feel like you're on board with the byzantine number of decisions they've forced the game down along with the insane clutter of the map now, or you're not (you can no doubt guess which camp I'm in). But wasting more time putting out more DLC on that in my eyes is just stupid when there's so much low hanging fruit to be developed on XCOM.

Ah well, such is life, just thought I'd bring it to everyone's attention it's coming.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Interesting interview over on RPS:

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013...hin-interview/

I'm torn - it sounds like they want to add meaningful stuff, but it also doesn't sound like they care much about balance. I guess we'll know for sure when it's out.

[Hooahguy]

Finally got started on this game, its quite challenging I must say. The AI seems to be quite good.
Shame I accidentally uninstalled the game/lost my savegame file and now I cant play until I get back to campus on a strong internet connection.

[Jarmam]

Had no idea about this game until I saw Day[9] get *massacred* at it on Classic Ironman a few times before he just quit. I was playing Shadowrun Returns at the time and discovering a love for tactical shooters I didnt know I had so I thought "heck why not" and bought XCOM.

Beat the Classic Ironman a few weeks ago after 22 attempts (although at least 10 of those were me losing guys left and right at mission 1 and going the coward's route of retrying - yeah, I still suck). I gotta say I had a feeling I'd like the game based on what I saw in the LetsPlay, but I did not expect to fall completely in love with it. Holy hell does this game not joke around. I loved the constant tension and the progression of difficulty (new gear vs new enemies). In fact the only two letdowns were the endfight in the base assault and the endfight in the last level - the only really terribly balanced thing seems to be Squadsight (+Double Tap), which essentially turns your snipers into I-win-machines, esp against sole enemies with high hp. So no using Squadsight in the impossible playthrough ^^

I actually like the sort of simplied macromanagement aspect of the game. I got plenty of 1990's gamer frustration from the actual missions, and that's before the alien material gets a half-life. It struck a nice balance of not being too long and complex, while still maintaining the merciless fun/frustration-balance perfectly. Had a mission where 3 of my corporals were off-duty due to being nearly dead, so I sent a bunch of squaddies and corporals into the first mission featuring a Sectopod! Throw in a couple of Sectoid Commanders aggroed accidently and the mission was a blast! I ended up with 4 guys with 2 health left, but no casualties or critical wounds (taking the Will penalty). Next mission, all I face are Floaters and Thin Men - and 2 Thin Men flank my Colonel Sniper and wound her critically! Got lazy for a second, instant punishment. Good going, game! Dammit that Will penalty hurt when she later became my "defensive" Psi user.

It was quite fascinating how you slowly develop a care for certain soldiers that have saved your entire squad in pinced situations. I spat Coke all over my keyboard when the infamous sniper Tong Hi Lao was insta-gibbed in a council mission by a drop-in Thin Man. That guy was my best soldier! Too bad for me, suck it up and train a new Sniper. Funnily enough my new sniper squaddie by the name "Emily King" ended up saving me later by landing 3 35% shots in a row on Mutons in the train-mission, prompting me to rename her "Emilia Rex". She later became the first soldier in Archangel armor and earned the nickname "Angelica", which I found quite fitting, because of....
... am I playing "the Sims" in alien invasion space?

Game was good, looking forward to an expansion. If nothing else then for some more map variation.

[easytarget]

Yeah, that's a testament to a great game in my opinion, it creates great emergent stories about what happened that players are itching tell other players about. This game is full of those moments. The tension is well balanced especially in the tactical side, I wish they'd done just a bit more on the strategic (it comes down too much to just launching sats).

It's probably been my favorite game over the last year and I look forward to new content and hope Firaxis keeps giving it some love.

[Monk]

I don't understand why they haven't. By all accounts, the game sold well. I'm just waiting to throw some money at them for more content.

From the sounds of things the main creative forces behind Enemy Unknown have left development and went on to other things. The lead on Enemy Within isn't the same as the ones who made the base game. That may be the reason new content has been a long time in the making..

[Jarmam]

So yeah... a lot of people have noted how much harder "Classic" is than "Normal".

Let me just for the record state that "Impossible" feels like 3 times that gap atm. My Classic squad was made up of 2 assaults, 2 snipers, a heavy and a support, with the assaults spearheading to scout for mobs, letting the rest move in peace. Assaults are a great class to gear up due to their sick mobility with Run and Gun - and Im now considering not using any at all! Enemies seem to hit *every single shot* at medium range and they come in legions instead of packs. Assaults just die. Instantly. I dont think even Titan Armor with Chitin Plating would stop this, and I used Ghost Armor on Classic. My previously so graceful idea of not using Squadsight is also being seriously reconsidered, not because of "bossfights" but because of Thin Men. They are surprisingly terrifying when they pack 6 health instead of the usual 4. Add their annoying +hit modifier from Impossible and their stupidly powerful Light Plasmas in mission 3 and let the nightmare commence. The game does - not - joke - around. Also panic levels... yeah. Forget all about going for continent bonuses. Pick the 30% credits-per-month continent, you will never unlock it by satellites.

I wonder what Mutons will be like. I have yet to get anywhere close to seeing them :) Playing again has let me to get quite excited for the expansion, mostly due to the limited map pool. Its really starting to show itself. Takes a lot of the appeal out of the game when you "learn" most of the maps. I know its unavoidable, but for once I would seriously consider investing in a map pool DLC.

[HopAlongBunny]

A little more from RPS:

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013...-enemy-within/

Enemy Within sounds like a beast :)

[easytarget]

I've pre-ordered. Wasn't going to, but found it at GMG for 20 bucks. I'll get value out of that with just one complete campaign, and I know, just know, I'll play it through more than once.

[Jarmam]

So after 15 or so tries Ive made it to see my first Muton. I don't know how I made it through Classic without ever really utilizing Hunker Down, but I rely heavily on it for Impossible. Got a good game going atm, I believe I might make it to the base assault, yay. Also Assaults are still gods, they just aren't immortal anymore. I engaged in learning!

And here I thought I'd pretty much "mastered the game" after a Classic win. Pfff! No Hunker Down. Frowning at Supression. Rushing to gear everyone in medkits, SCOPEs or Nanovests, leaving no grenades in the squad. Thinking that the 100%-crit bonus from Ghosting was "kinda cute I guess". I've learned so much more from this that I laugh at my own past inferior tactical self! Did I ever miss games that give me that feeling again (Thief 4, Im staring myself blind at you).

Pre-ordering was unavoidable.

[Jarmam]

Been spending a lot of time updating servers and fixing stuff, during which I've spent an irresponsible amount of time finding good XCOM series. If you're struggling with higher difficulties or just enjoy watching different ways to approach the game like me then I recommend these following series:

Beaglerush's Ironman Impossible is a comedic post-play commentary on Beaglerush's IM/Imp playthrough in fast-forward. Well worth a watch for the entertainment value alone, but it's clear he knows his stuff.
Beaglerush's Live and Impossible is a standard Letsplay with commentary from the same guy. He cranked the Second Wave-difficulty to "no oh god please don't" and commented on the experience.
Marbozir's IM/Imp Letsplay is another Second Wave-Impossible Ironman with a slightly more aggressive approach than standard. Given my lust for Assaults I like his style, plus he taught me how to effectively use Heavies in Impossible.
Sean "Day[9]" Plott's XCOM Classic Ironman Day-off is a Letsplay from the closest thing Starcraft-players have to an Obi-wan'ish mentor. His masterful RTS skills don't always convey to other genres, which, when mixed with his sense of humour, makes for some solid entertainment. I recommend checking it out at least up to the end of part 2 as to experience why Anna Sing is the funniest thing ever concieved by mortals.

[easytarget]

The latest game play footage has me convinced this is going to be good stuff gentleman.

[HopAlongBunny]

I went back to play the game; warm-up for the new content.
Gawd I suck!

Must play more!!!

[easytarget]

Yeah, I believe you award them instead of having them handed out by the game itself like a run of the mill achievement. I'll be interested to see how exactly they've implemented it. It will be a nice touch.

I foresee some real heartache over losing troopers in this one, you get a member of your team all spliced up and enhanced only to loose him/her on a mission, that's going to leave a mark as you start over from scratch.

[Monk]

Been spending a lot of time updating servers and fixing stuff, during which I've spent an irresponsible amount of time finding good XCOM series. If you're struggling with higher difficulties or just enjoy watching different ways to approach the game like me then I recommend these following series:

Beaglerush's Ironman Impossible is a comedic post-play commentary on Beaglerush's IM/Imp playthrough in fast-forward. Well worth a watch for the entertainment value alone, but it's clear he knows his stuff.
Beaglerush's Live and Impossible is a standard Letsplay with commentary from the same guy. He cranked the Second Wave-difficulty to "no oh god please don't" and commented on the experience.

Late to the party, but anyone who is a fan and hasn't watched beagle's Ironman Impossible is doing themselves a real disservice. His tactics are really sound (for the most part) and when they are not, he's really good at explaining why things work and why they don't. The humor is top notch too, but that's subjective so you may not enjoy it as much as me.



Enemy Within looks like it's absolutely wonderful, but if the mech-troopers are as powerful as people are saying I may be bumping up to impossible to keep the challenge going. We'll see. Can't wait to get my hands on it either way.

[easytarget]

I suspect getting a Mec is going to be expensive and/or time consuming, and it is a commitment you can't go back on, and losing them means starting over. So I don't know that they are OP necessarily given how much will probably be entailed in getting one, I might forego that route and splice soldiers instead.

Besides, it's not like the aliens aren't fielding one of their own that's a counter to this.

Based on your recommendation, I'm going to make some time to look at the vid, I'm intrigued now.

[easytarget]

Ok, just finished watching the first two missions, this guy is tactically sound and absolutely hilarious. Love it.

So, does he do the entire campaign?

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Apparently Base Defense is back in some form in Enemy Within:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=1&theater

(Direct link to image from the 2k Facebook account: http://imgur.com/9Vmoqyx)