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XCOM: Enemy Unknown |OT| Neo GAF is Under Alien Control

neorej

ERMYGERD!
Started playing lat night, and this game is full of "just one last turn"-syndrome.

The first time you have to response to an abduction and there is no tutorial... words cannot describe the feeling. This is classic XCOM, every shadow could house a sectoid, thin man or worse. My troops inch through the battlefield, just to have Overwatch on all the time. Grtting my teeth, I'm in full force "kill em all, let god sort em out"-mode.

And then my researchteam wants me to capture a live one, by stunning it with a special gun. Only downside is that this particular gun has little to no range. So I bring in heavily armored troops to take the little fucker's attention, while my Support-trooper flanks him. Stunned him, mission complete, now let's mo.... nope, I got pinned down by thin men and sectoids. I move my men in a classic wedge-formation and since we already have the live sectoid, we have a green light to kill everything in sight. My sniper takes down a thin man after Miguel "Boombox" Marquez unleashed rocket-hell on four sectoids that sought out power in numbers. After they go down, I remember the line from Saving Private Ryan; "a group of men is a target, one is a waste of mortars.".
2 thin men remain, and they manage to poison Marquez, leaving me with a sniper who has no solution and two assault-troops. One of them throws a grenade at the full-covered thin man, the othe one moves into position to take the second one out. At this point, I want to curb-stomp his ass, but I remember this is not possible in XCOM, so while the thin man is too busy with the trooper that threw the grenade, he doesn't see the squaddy that crept up to him. He is now one square away and chance to hit is 100%, I mumble "yippekayay, motherfucker." and I press enter. Mission success. I wanted to fistbump my men for a job well done.
 
Well I think I'm at my first mission I won't be able to complete. I think it's just too damn hard, or my guys or underequipped, or something.

It's a terror mission, with about 12 chrysalids and 2 floaters. I'm pretty certain it's impossible because it takes 2 hits for me to kill one chrysalid, so at max I can kill 3 a turn IF I manage to hit all of them, but because there are so many and they all start right near my troops, any movement automatically activates all of them, and chrysalids can pretty much kill all of my troops in one hit.

I don't think I can beat this one.
 
I just beat the game as well, great game, played on classic. Agree about the last boss... so simple. Good job with mixing story elements with the game.

You know, they really knew how to design the action sequences and the production values. The ending is beautifully shot.

But the story itself is almost as if it is tripping over itself trying to say something.

This is a game that needs no story, so when you get to the plot cutscenes, it just does not work. It's like something you would write in middle school.

Also:
I was going to reload when my Colonels died in the final mission, but then I said "no. This is how it must be".
 

Ceebs

Member
Finally did the first base assault when I was out of things to research.

Went in with 5 Colonels and a Captain

xcomgame2012-10-1305-kmdbx.png


There was a hairy section with like 4 Berserkers but managed to down them before they did any serious damage.
 
Just got to my first terror mission and I'm suddenly regretting my decision to go Ironman. I've grown attached to these dudes ;-;

edit: oh wow. I just dunked the shit out of that mission. No deaths, no wounds, only one civvy lost. Maybe I should have gone Classic instead of Normal.
 

Jintor

Member
You know, they really knew how to design the action sequences and the production values. The ending is beautifully shot.

But the story itself is almost as if it is tripping over itself trying to say something.

This is a game that needs no story, so when you get to the plot cutscenes, it just does not work. It's like something you would write in middle school.

Also:
I was going to reload when my Colonels died in the final mission, but then I said "no. This is how it must be".

In all honesty,
taking the fight to the aliens was far more evocative. Gotta research some crazy shit and TAKE THE FUCK OFF
 

Corky

Nine out of ten orphans can't tell the difference.
Love this game.

edit : damn is it just me or does this game really push the gpu to the limit? I'm playing at 2560x1440 and my gpu is at 90% all the time, a 670. Maybe I have some driver issues.
 

pringles

Member
When I started my second game I built 3 satellites straight away and with the one I had that made 4. Had to wait until the following month to get them up but it really helped out. Not a tactic that may work on classic difficulty though.
You should definitely be ahead of the curve when it comes to building satellites. At first I didn't start production on one unless I had enough uplink facilities, but they take so long you should always have one or two ready or almost ready every time you finish an uplink/nexus.
I can only imagine this is even more important on Classic, to not sit around with unused uplink capabilities.
 

Gowans

Member
My first game was classic ironman and a constant struggle as I was circling the drain the whole time.

Second game on normal is all the better for it.
 

doomquake

Member
i dont like :

Recovering all equipment from a total squad wipe, especially inside a base that they can't even get out of.

you can pace combat by dealing with one group of aliens. then moving one square over and noticing another group. Maybe on higher difficulty, aliens will actually attack if one of them notices you. Also i can't seem to be able to sneak up on stuff. There must be some kind of stealth armor or something.

+ pretty tired of seeing the same alien intro animations when you notice them. Oh and some color palette, model scale, texture variety wouldn't hurt to break up the monotony of the alien types you have to fight over and over and over again.
 

Ceebs

Member
Love this game.

edit : damn is it just me or does this game really push the gpu to the limit? I'm playing at 2560x1440 and my gpu is at 90% all the time, a 670. Maybe I have some driver issues.

Same setup, and while I have not checked my GPU usage, I get MASSIVE slowdown in a very specific instance. When you attack a Berserker and he does the chest beating thing and moves, I get single digit framerates while he is moving. After that it goes back to smooth as butter.
 

Jintor

Member
I would love to have even more variable difficulty options (even on top of second wave). Unshackled strategic AI but on normal difficulty would be an interesting combo.
 
You know, they really knew how to design the action sequences and the production values. The ending is beautifully shot.

But the story itself is almost as if it is tripping over itself trying to say something.

This is a game that needs no story, so when you get to the plot cutscenes, it just does not work. It's like something you would write in middle school.

Also:
I was going to reload when my Colonels died in the final mission, but then I said "no. This is how it must be".

I agree that's what I meant, the tone/feel of the game and not the story itself. The feeling you were actually a part of a secretive organization taking the alien invasion head-on.
 

doomquake

Member
I would love to have even more variable difficulty options (even on top of second wave). Unshackled strategic AI but on normal difficulty would be an interesting combo.

yeah i second that..and would add the no equipment recovery on totally failed missions. If you quit, you apparently lose all equipment at a base..i guess? Equipment recovery missions would be fun.
 

ixix

Exists in a perpetual state of Quantum Crotch Uncertainty.
You know, they really knew how to design the action sequences and the production values. The ending is beautifully shot.

But the story itself is almost as if it is tripping over itself trying to say something.

This is a game that needs no story, so when you get to the plot cutscenes, it just does not work. It's like something you would write in middle school.

Also:
I was going to reload when my Colonels died in the final mission, but then I said "no. This is how it must be".

The funny thing about the final mission is that you can totally screw with it by
mind controlling the enemies and sending them to their deaths. When a mind controlled enemy dies the Ethereal With Slightly Fancier Textures acts like it was one of your squad members that died and throws out lines about how he's disappointed that you're totally fuckin' up and dying all the time. When he introduces a new alien species with a little passive-aggressive soliloquy then gets all bitchy when one of them dies he starts coming off as a bit bipolar. It took me until his third little whine session to realize that the game was glitching and he thought I was getting my ass handed to me, which actually just made it even funnier.

Then if you activate the little intro cutscene by sending a mind controlled alien into the bridge you get to watch the palette-swap last boss grandstand for a single, probably very confused Muton while the rest of your squad sits in cover half the ship away with no idea that he even exists.

The whole thing makes it feel less like assaulting the lair of the alien mastermind and more like you're storming through the house of a senile old man. Takes a bit of the edge off, really.

The plot is totally unnecessary and almost completely inchoate, but it's actually a bit fun if you glitch it out so that it turns into a sort of extraterrestrial-themed Mad Libs at the climax.
 
It pretty much becomes an impossible task when you're a bit into the game on Classic Ironman and you lose a full squad and have to start with rookies. I must have lost about five missions in a row after that.
 

web01

Member
Not sure if its a glitch of feature but my best soldier got downed and rag dolled off the level during the Alien base assault. Could see her body way below the platforms in an area impossible to get to.
 

Jintor

Member
The funny thing about the final mission is that you can totally screw with it by
mind controlling the enemies and sending them to their deaths. When a mind controlled enemy dies the Ethereal With Slightly Fancier Textures acts like it was one of your squad members that died and throws out lines about how he's disappointed that you're totally fuckin' up and dying all the time. When he introduces a new alien species with a little passive-aggressive soliloquy then gets all bitchy when one of them dies he starts coming off as a bit bipolar. It took me until his third little whine session to realize that the game was glitching and he thought I was getting my ass handed to me, which actually just made it even funnier.

Then if you activate the little intro cutscene by sending a mind controlled alien into the bridge you get to watch the palette-swap last boss grandstand for a single, probably very confused Muton while the rest of your squad sits in cover half the ship away with no idea that he even exists.

The whole thing makes it feel less like assaulting the lair of the alien mastermind and more like you're storming through the house of a senile old man. Takes a bit of the edge off, really.

The plot is totally unnecessary and almost completely inchoate, but it's actually a bit fun if you glitch it out so that it turns into a sort of extraterrestrial-themed Mad Libs at the climax.

okay, that's fucking amazing
 

doomquake

Member
Not sure if its a glitch of feature but my best soldier got downed and rag dolled off the level during the Alien base assault. Could see her body way below the platforms in an area impossible to get to.

i think the base hangs on some supports above some kind of nasty growth - so there aren't always walls. Think its totally normal to get shot and fall off of the level

oh and Jintor - there are a lot of difficulty options if you mod the game.
Apparently modders have found a way to enable Second Wave mode. Though apparently it's buggy and it does require using resource hacker to mod the .exe.
 

neorej

ERMYGERD!
I would also like to compliment the developers on the fact that they managed to make me actually care about my soldiers. I genuinely felt bad after my support-corporal got shot in the face :(
 

ixix

Exists in a perpetual state of Quantum Crotch Uncertainty.
okay, that's fucking amazing

It's where the game's glitchiness works in its favor. Even if they patch out most of the bugs I hope they don't fix the final mission. Turning it into
a character study of the alien mastermind as he rapidly descends into senile dementia
made the freezes and crashes and oddities that I put up with to that point all worth it.

It's kind of a monkeys at typewriters bit of serendipity, but it works.
 

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
Was playing a multiplayer match, grappled up to the rooftop to find 3 chryssalids waiting for me lol. Good thing I had chitin plating on.


(I won)
 
Is this an 18 rated game? Because if it is it's not gruesome enough! Also it could hurt sales. Also, also if it isn't 18 rated ignore this post...but I still think it could be more gruesome!
 

TTG

Member
Wow, the large ufo design surprised me. I thought it would be a mix of the regular small/medium ufo stuff, but larger, almost alien base. Instead,
you get to climb the roof!
among other things. Too bad the enemies were all bunched up, I didn't get to explore as much as I wanted to.
 

Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
Is this an 18 rated game? Because if it is it's not gruesome enough! Also it could hurt sales. Also, also if it isn't 18 rated ignore this post...but I still think it could be more gruesome!

wut?

The original X-Com games weren't what you'd call graphic outside of the autopsies, which bizarrely enough are way more brutal in the reboot even if you don't get to see any innards. There is also an eviscerated soldier right at the start of the tutorial.
 

Xater

Member
Wow, the large ufo design surprised me. I thought it would be a mix of the regular small/medium ufo stuff, but larger, almost alien base. Instead,
you get to climb the roof!
among other things. Too bad the enemies were all bunched up, I didn't get to explore as much as I wanted to.

Yeah some designs can get quite elabore when you farther into the game.

Also sectopods, fuck them!
 

The Foul

Member
Probably been mentioned, but I liked the homage to the old x-com in the cutscene after you finish researching Laser weapons,
The target the scientist fires at is the original sectoid sprite
. Hardly a spoiler, but nice touch nonetheless.
 
Yeah, I may have fucked my game because of that =[ I only have like three satellites active and I've done quite a few missions. Already have like 4 countries at almost full panic because of it.

What do satellites actually do other than get you money? I know they also lower panic slightly when you deploy them.
 

Jintor

Member
Playing with hunker down is godmode

nevermind the overwatch until you get some decent aim! At the beginning of the game, hunkering down and grenades are your friend!
 
wut?

The original X-Com games weren't what you'd call graphic outside of the autopsies, which bizarrely enough are way more brutal in the reboot even if you don't get to see any innards. There is also an eviscerated soldier right at the start of the tutorial.
Exactly. At the beginning you see an eviscerated goon so I'd like to see more. Not just for the sake of it but because it'd add to the flavour of the game. It's bad enough to lose a soldier, but to have their heads blown off would be more...dramatic. And I'd love to blow the heads off one of those Muton bastards with my sniper! It's a bit nihilistic perhaps.

I do like the design of the armour in the game. Futuristic but not ridiculous.
 

TTG

Member
Just some thoughts on combat strategy as I make my way through the game. Other people are far ahead and I don't play many turn based strategy games in general, so this won't be groundbreaking, but I thought I'd share anyway:

1. Always have a heavy on the front line. Besides being able to suppress some aliens if you get stuck in a bad spot after probing ahead, they're the great equalizer. What I mean is, bad guys come in packs, and if you uncover 3 assholes with loads of health that can really hurt you quickly, you know it's time to fire a rocket in their face. If they don't separate, you'll soften them up for the rest of your squad to take care of. It's a pain, because they're slow and limited in firing ability, but it's worth it.

2. Use your support to probe ahead. Provided with the right weapons and armor, they can hold their own and they can cover ground quickly. The main reason this works is that the assault guys have the ability to dash and then fire, which means they're always in reach to strike. However, if you're using them as the tip of the spear, you're either blindly wasting this ability and getting caught overwatching after dash, or you end up with helpless assault guys that uncover bad guys, but are all out of turns.

3. Anytime you want to send 2 guys down a dark alley, there's a good chance you'll be rewarded. Just make sure that dark alley isn't a whole side of the map. I guess this goes without saying really. If you have all 6 slots open, it's a good idea to split off a couple of guys to check out other avenues.
 

AllenShrz

Member
I like the game but is full of bugs!

Several times it has hanged or just the enemies refuse to attack and I cant even hit the escape key!
 
Almost 6 hours played, and really like almost all aspects of the game. I think the only thing I would have wished for are a bit bigger maps. I actually liked running around, trying to find the last alien on a level in Terror from the Deep.
 
Playing one mission in the game that is really ruining my opinion on the game.

The movement and camera controls are awful, multi-tier spaceships are just awful
 
My game was going as perfect as I could have hoped for until I tried to assault the alien base before I was properly prepared.

Stupid melee aliens and their instant get intorangebythenextturnandonehitmybestsolidersturningthemintozombiescausingotherstopanickandthenfurtherrunmybestsquadonebyoneinroughlyonlyfiftyperfectofthebasecompleted.

Rawwwwwwr. Now I feel like I'm slightly behind but it's not unrecoverable.
 

masterkajo

Member
Ahhh! The only thing I really hate about Ironman is that before the end of the month when the council evalutes your perfomance I missed to put satellites up (this will cost me the game). And it is not because of my own stupidity but I wanted to wait until about 1 day before council report to send the satellite over a country with mass panic but the stupid "Scan for activity" is so fast that I missed it... twice now. I think there should have been an option to go back out from the council report to your base like there is with a mission. I really hate that!!!
 

Totakeke

Member
Muton's hit rate and damage is so unfair. Thought I completed the mission with 4 dead, 2 left, and 1 stunned muton, but nope, mission didn't end. Immediately quit the game after that. Haha :(

Also I got stuck with my base building once because you need power to build a level down and of course my first level was all filled up. Had to demolish a facility to further progress and that just a lot of credits down the drain.
 

Oppo

Member
Same setup, and while I have not checked my GPU usage, I get MASSIVE slowdown in a very specific instance. When you attack a Berserker and he does the chest beating thing and moves, I get single digit framerates while he is moving. After that it goes back to smooth as butter.

I get this as well. Specifically Berserker agro-reaction. Must be a bug.
 
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