KO Traveling Hobo
Member
Is that really where all the mission names come from? That's amazing.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown |OT| Neo GAF is Under Alien Control
- Thread starter Jintor
- Start date
Basileus777
Member
The last boss does.
Stronghammer22
Member
Yes, they talked about it in one of the videos leading up to release. I thought it was quite cool too; metal albums usually do have some kickass titles.
I see. I'm all out of ellerium right now, so no armor. But, I got a support guy with 76 will, and now a combat stim. I'll give it another go.
BudokaiMR2
Member
Yeah I had a terror mission with about 7 cryssalids and a few floaters.
The goddamn cryssalids all gathered in a restaurant on the second floor of a building that had about 5-6 civvies trapped. I knew that guys were dying up there but didn't realize how many cryssalids were there until my point man climbed the pipe and promptly got surrounded by 8 enemies.
I managed to get my guys up there in time but there wasn't even enough cover to hide them so I had to keep rotating out guys as they got hurt. Luckily the zombies were easy to clear out and my dudes didn't miss any shots(even the rook heavy I brought!) I somehow managed to mow down all the enemies without a casualty. Most of my guys had no health left so it was close.
I am really afraid to start a Classic run lol
The goddamn cryssalids all gathered in a restaurant on the second floor of a building that had about 5-6 civvies trapped. I knew that guys were dying up there but didn't realize how many cryssalids were there until my point man climbed the pipe and promptly got surrounded by 8 enemies.
I managed to get my guys up there in time but there wasn't even enough cover to hide them so I had to keep rotating out guys as they got hurt. Luckily the zombies were easy to clear out and my dudes didn't miss any shots(even the rook heavy I brought!) I somehow managed to mow down all the enemies without a casualty. Most of my guys had no health left so it was close.
I am really afraid to start a Classic run lol
In other news, I have come across at least 3 bugged SHIVs. I don't mean that I reloaded and waited for the same SHIV to be rebuilt(although I tried that too), I mean 3 separate ones. I'm on normal, so money isn't an issue, but damn! I really like these things. Now I can't use them when I'll be replaying on classic.
The biggest OH SHITtook this isn't so bad enemy so far are the berzerkers. Tough at first but once you realize they'll head towards whoever shot them last it becomes real easy to lure them into their own death
Woo-Fu
Banned
Just kill it and restart, you'll be back at almost the same moment. I had this happen once, it went OK the 2nd time.
KO Traveling Hobo
Member
Started a new game on Classic and hit my very first full lockup. I think it had something to do with my rookie killing the last sectoid to move with reaction fire.
Thanks man!Right click, copy link, tag it.
Like this:
[IMG]http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/542941196538064829/C113F57E24ED9F43FEB0E1543A20F4CB0642456A/
(Dizzy-4U favorite game is Halo 3 btw)
Incendiary
Banned
Man, this goes so well with my endgame battle.
Okay, endgame spoilers, the epic final battle of my game. It's story time!
I get to the last room of the alien ship, all six of my guys intact. My Heavy is pretty seriously wounded, but everybody else is in pretty good shape. Plus, one of my two psionics is mind-controlling a Muton Elite...so we send the Muton in as a meat shield, scout out the room, maybe get in one or two shots before he dies...and he gets splattered across the wall by a psionic lance from the Uber Ethereal before he can get a single shot off. But now I know the layout of the room and what I'm up against.
Under the cover of a Will-enhancing Smoke Grenade, my team of six bursts into the room in textbook fashion. Unfortunately, the Smoke Grenade doesn't help then and apparently hinders them even more, as several key shots are whiffed or blocked by the Ethereals leaving the squad open for assault. It comes, and it comes hard. The two Muton Elites down my Heavy, critically injured and with no medkits left, he's left paralyzed on the ground, an agonizing death watching the rest of his squad fight it out. The two normal Ethereals unleash Psionic Lances, crippling both my assault soldiers down to low health. Then the Uber Ethereal mind controls my non-psionic weak-willed assault soldier. It's looking grim.
The Volunteer, Corporal Ryan "Mad Man" Johnson, armed with a Psi Suit, Mind Shield, and Will-Enhancing Smoke swirling around him, weighs his options. He can unleash a devastating Psionic Rift and maybe catch two Ethereals and one of the Mutons together...but no guarantees of a kill. The squad is hurting, it needs to change the tide of the battle and quickly. So what does Mad Man do? On a 31% chance of success, he attempts to mind control a nearby Ethereal...AND SUCCEEDS! Suddenly it's 5 against 5. If the rest of the squad can take out the second Ethereal, which is mind controlling the other squad member, it'll turn to 6 against 3 and just maybe they will pull out a win before the Heavy bleeds out.
Alas, it's not to be. The backup psionic assault soldier delivers two solid hits with his rapid fire, but the medic misjudges what she thought was a safe place to shoot the Ethereal but she doesn't have line of sight. This is a mistake she'll have to live with for the rest of her life, because then tragedy strikes. The squad sniper, also out of line of sight, pulls out his pistol. A crit shot from his plasma gun will put the Ethereal down, but the only way he can do it is rushing out into the open and sacrificing himself for the team. Unwavering, Jose Santiago, a hero for the ages, charges out and point blank aims his gun at the Ethereal's head. 100% shot chance. 85% crit chance.....and he doesn't get the crit. The Ethereal staggers but doesn't fall. Uh oh.
Santiago goes down from Muton fire, dead before he hits the ground. The other psionic solider goes down as well, his squadmate forced to blow him away by the Ethereal controlling her. The Ethereal and Uber Ethereal attack the Volunteer, bringing his health down...but he's not out yet. No...now Mad Man Johnson is angry. These bastard aliens killed three of his friends, three men he'd been serving with for months. Now he's a wrecking ball of disaster. He commands the Ethereal to unleash a powerful Psionic Storm. The Ethereal mind controller is torn to pieces. The two Mutons get ripped to shreds. The Uber Ethereal gets battered, but stays standing. It's not over yet. Johnson, the medic, and the now free assault soldier, all unload their weapons into the Uber Ethereal. He still stands. In his weakened state, caught in the psionic rift, he's confused. He lashes out, trying to kill the Ethereal that Mad Man turned against him...but fails, only hurting it a little. The rift then tears him apart.
But Mad Man isn't done with his special brand of justice yet. The other Ethereal, still trapped in its own mind by Mad Man, is forced to walk into the center of the room. There, Mad Man Johnson unleashes his own psionic rift, and forces the Ethereal to stand there and die. He is cold, he is unforgiving. And yet...after all the death, as the ship starts to tear himself apart...Mad Man makes one last sacrifice for his team. He saves Missionary, the medic, and Mustang, the brave assault soldier, sending them away as he pilots the ship to a safe distance before it explodes.
Mustang and Missionary...the sole survivors of a team that stood together for months against aliens. A bittersweet victory. They've saved the Earth from alien takeover....but at what cost?
Under the cover of a Will-enhancing Smoke Grenade, my team of six bursts into the room in textbook fashion. Unfortunately, the Smoke Grenade doesn't help then and apparently hinders them even more, as several key shots are whiffed or blocked by the Ethereals leaving the squad open for assault. It comes, and it comes hard. The two Muton Elites down my Heavy, critically injured and with no medkits left, he's left paralyzed on the ground, an agonizing death watching the rest of his squad fight it out. The two normal Ethereals unleash Psionic Lances, crippling both my assault soldiers down to low health. Then the Uber Ethereal mind controls my non-psionic weak-willed assault soldier. It's looking grim.
The Volunteer, Corporal Ryan "Mad Man" Johnson, armed with a Psi Suit, Mind Shield, and Will-Enhancing Smoke swirling around him, weighs his options. He can unleash a devastating Psionic Rift and maybe catch two Ethereals and one of the Mutons together...but no guarantees of a kill. The squad is hurting, it needs to change the tide of the battle and quickly. So what does Mad Man do? On a 31% chance of success, he attempts to mind control a nearby Ethereal...AND SUCCEEDS! Suddenly it's 5 against 5. If the rest of the squad can take out the second Ethereal, which is mind controlling the other squad member, it'll turn to 6 against 3 and just maybe they will pull out a win before the Heavy bleeds out.
Alas, it's not to be. The backup psionic assault soldier delivers two solid hits with his rapid fire, but the medic misjudges what she thought was a safe place to shoot the Ethereal but she doesn't have line of sight. This is a mistake she'll have to live with for the rest of her life, because then tragedy strikes. The squad sniper, also out of line of sight, pulls out his pistol. A crit shot from his plasma gun will put the Ethereal down, but the only way he can do it is rushing out into the open and sacrificing himself for the team. Unwavering, Jose Santiago, a hero for the ages, charges out and point blank aims his gun at the Ethereal's head. 100% shot chance. 85% crit chance.....and he doesn't get the crit. The Ethereal staggers but doesn't fall. Uh oh.
Santiago goes down from Muton fire, dead before he hits the ground. The other psionic solider goes down as well, his squadmate forced to blow him away by the Ethereal controlling her. The Ethereal and Uber Ethereal attack the Volunteer, bringing his health down...but he's not out yet. No...now Mad Man Johnson is angry. These bastard aliens killed three of his friends, three men he'd been serving with for months. Now he's a wrecking ball of disaster. He commands the Ethereal to unleash a powerful Psionic Storm. The Ethereal mind controller is torn to pieces. The two Mutons get ripped to shreds. The Uber Ethereal gets battered, but stays standing. It's not over yet. Johnson, the medic, and the now free assault soldier, all unload their weapons into the Uber Ethereal. He still stands. In his weakened state, caught in the psionic rift, he's confused. He lashes out, trying to kill the Ethereal that Mad Man turned against him...but fails, only hurting it a little. The rift then tears him apart.
But Mad Man isn't done with his special brand of justice yet. The other Ethereal, still trapped in its own mind by Mad Man, is forced to walk into the center of the room. There, Mad Man Johnson unleashes his own psionic rift, and forces the Ethereal to stand there and die. He is cold, he is unforgiving. And yet...after all the death, as the ship starts to tear himself apart...Mad Man makes one last sacrifice for his team. He saves Missionary, the medic, and Mustang, the brave assault soldier, sending them away as he pilots the ship to a safe distance before it explodes.
Mustang and Missionary...the sole survivors of a team that stood together for months against aliens. A bittersweet victory. They've saved the Earth from alien takeover....but at what cost?
This game is amazing.
That's not an Ethereal, that's a four-armed, deranged drama queen. Roughly similar in appearance, but the learned observer can tell the difference at a glance.
Perhaps more relevantly: who the hell would go achievement hunting in the final mission? I mean really.
Yup, it's pretty tough to pull off. I think the Mind Shield also boosts your Will for offensive as well as defensive purposes. Hook your brainiac up with one of those to tip things in your favor a bit more.
KO Traveling Hobo
Member
Man, my climactic "battle" was the complete opposite, Incendiary, though it may be because I was on Normal difficulty.
One of my Assault troopers charges in to survey the boss' chamber. My two Double Tap snipers take alternating shots from behind cover outside the final hallway. My original Sniper, the Volunteer, kills the Uber Ethereal on his last shot. Didn't touch the two Muton Elite bodyguards, didn't even know there were other Ethereals in there until I read your post. It wasn't a battle. It was an execution.
Basileus777
Member
I did. But I only had a 14% chance of landing it on those ethereals, and I gave up trying pretty quickly.
Same happened to me. And even before the end area, I don't think I ever encountered more than 3 enemies at a time. The whole final mission has some pretty poor design that made it a boring and uninteresting finale.
ii Stryker
Banned
This game escalates way too quickly. Even on easy the game overwhelms you within the first 2 months.
This being my first experience with the franchise I wonder if I'm "doing it wrong" so to speak.
I started on normal and things went bad quickly. After that game ended horribly I started a new one this time on easy, things still went horribly it just took a little bit longer.
It proving to be more frustration than fun at this point.
This being my first experience with the franchise I wonder if I'm "doing it wrong" so to speak.
I started on normal and things went bad quickly. After that game ended horribly I started a new one this time on easy, things still went horribly it just took a little bit longer.
It proving to be more frustration than fun at this point.
What's actually happening? Unless you're losing your entire squad every time you go into combat or too many countries withdraw from the program you're far from doomed. You also don't have to move onto the next stage (by researching story relevant things) until you feel like you're ready.
I feel like the game difficulty peaks early. Once you get armor strong enough to withstand more than 2 shots the game gets way easier.
Funky Papa
FUNK-Y-PPA-4
I don't know man. I made short work of sectoids and floaters, but right after that Mutons showed up to shit on my game.
KO Traveling Hobo
Member
I really hate that explosives deny you weapon fragments. Isn't one shot per mission limiting enough?
It sounds like you're rushing things. Treat each battle as its own game, and make every move count. Remember that you can move each player twice, so at the start of a drop use your team to scout (move once into space to see if you make contact, then move into cover). Upgrade your sniper with radar grenades (I forget the name of them), and position your team around cover each time you make contact. Keep your support troops close to your front line, and close to those outside of cover or in half cover for easy medical recovery.
And most of all remember you've got all the time in the world to make your moves (at least in the first few hours) so plan each move like the strategist you are.
ii Stryker
Banned
I started my first playthrough on normal and trucked right through the priority research and got my shit pounded in quickly.
Started on easy avoiding the priority research to try for a slow burn so to speak. About right at the 2 month mark all hell breaks loose in Moscow and I go in with a squad of 4 to try to save 16-18 survivors. At this point the game decides to throw the zombie creating creatures at me and my entire squad gets wiped out! WTF! Is this a normal thing in XCOM?
Maybe I'm just expecting to win every time I go out. It just seems like it takes too long to research, build something, and earn money, even on easy.
Europe has been my base of operations on both starts btw.
This may very well be the case. I was starting out only moving the squad within the blue line and putting everyone into overwatch and when things went south I was dashing to locations.
I'm beginning to realize that perhaps I'm not the best of strategists. =P
Okay XCOM, it's cool that you want me to fight three groups of four mutons on the way into an abduction ship. It's fine that there's no cover anywhere after a round of shooting. I'm not even going to get mad when they one-shot my soldiers with those plasma rifles they've been pumping up with their freaky muton steroids. But the camera.. count me among the folks switching to gamepad for ship interiours. I'm really happy with the mouse and keyboard interface in general, but the cursor jumping wildly between levels is terribly disorienting when badass (mostly bad) tactical decisions are being made.
Terror missions are a spike in difficulty at the start. Luckily most missions are not terror missions. Still, they're doable; just make sure you overwatch the ^*!%@$ out of everything and move slowly, triggering only a small group of enemies at a time. Don't worry about the civilians for now
doubleplusgood
Member
Finished my first run last night. There's certainally a lot of small annoyances in this game (like the camera inside large buildings..) but overall this game is tons of fun.
The only thing that left me a little sad was that quite early in the game(playing Classic) I was getting stomped over and over again to the point where I raged and said "Fuck it, switching to Normal" but then I manned up and switched it back to classic right away and continued. So when I beat the game it said I beat it on Normal, not really a biggie and I probably should have seen it coming.
The only thing that left me a little sad was that quite early in the game(playing Classic) I was getting stomped over and over again to the point where I raged and said "Fuck it, switching to Normal" but then I manned up and switched it back to classic right away and continued. So when I beat the game it said I beat it on Normal, not really a biggie and I probably should have seen it coming.
better gfx on pc and mouse works great.
KO Traveling Hobo
Member
I have it on 360 and it plays great for the most part, but I think PC holds the advantage via modding and tweaking.
Terror missions are a spike in difficulty at the start. Luckily most missions are not terror missions. Still, they're doable; just make sure you overwatch the ^*!%@$ out of everything and move slowly, triggering only a small group of enemies at a time. Don't worry about the civilians for now
That feel when you go slowly, make contact with one group, which moves to a new group which moves to a new group which drags out the final group of the map and now you're completely fucked since while you're fighting one group there's 6 aliens slaughtering civvies.
The free move aliens get is bullshit.
Yeah, I'm really missing the sneaking featured in many turn-based games (Jagged Alliance, Silent Storm). But ah well.
I have got the achievement where you need excellent ratings for everything on a terror mission. The strongest enemy I fought were cyberdisks and heavy floaters and my guys were decked out in titan armor, plasma weapons and a flying SHIV. Was able to just rush in and kill everything (though my heavy accidentally blew up a civilian haha).
Terror missions are a spike in difficulty at the start. Luckily most missions are not terror missions. Still, they're doable; just make sure you overwatch the ^*!%@$ out of everything and move slowly, triggering only a small group of enemies at a time. Don't worry about the civilians for now
I think I also need to remember to just "waste" a turn reloading instead of moving if some guys are low on ammo. Nothing sucks more than thinking you can rapid fire an enemy right next to you, only to get the NOT ENOUGH AMMO message. >_<
Chrysalids are tough at first. You need to move more cautiously on terror missions because of their presence alone. Don't worry about saving the civilians. In fact, ignore them unless they're actually near you. Concentrate on killing whatever is most dangerous at any given point and try to minimize potential losses whichever way possible.
If you tend to move everyone in a close group, that will of coursebackfire on you when Chrysalids are near, so avoid that. Stuff like that. Expand your squad size to five or six will help tremendously as well. It makes your squad configuration more flexible but also just plain stronger.
And yes, treating every mission like it's own game helps a lot. Be patient and don't underestimate the enemy and you should be fine. It's all a lot less dramatic than it seems in the moment. Regardless, things will go wrong sometimes, so don't worry too much about it.
It takes time to get going and understand the flow of the game, but it will all become very apparent soon enough. I totally slept on satellite coverage early on, which eventually lead to France, Nigeria and South Africa pulling out. Once I had that covered (ha!) it got a lot easier and I felt I had everything very much under control. To the point where I expected the game to screw me over in some way.
Nope, no nasty surprises. I'm actually a little disappointed by that.
Oh man. Words, everywhere.
Ammo conservation is seriously the best upgrade you can get. Yet even with that I still do that 'reloading turn' even if I only fired a shot or two...FPS habits I guess.
Fun way to conserve ammunition in an emergency (OH GOD 2 BERSERKERS AND MY ALLOY CANNON IS EMPTY) is that assault soldiers with the '4 tile reaction fire' ability can still reaction fire when their weapon's empty. Saved my ass once.
If the aliens din't have that they'd be bunched up and out of cover. They'd get steamrolled.
Instead of alien spawnpoints, the game would have to seed aliens already in cover or have them roam from cover to cover in order to be a challenge.
All in all, I'm fine with the scatter move. You can always overwatch em.
Metalmurphy
Member
If the aliens din't have that they'd be bunched up and out of cover. They'd get steamrolled.
Instead of alien spawnpoints, the game would have to seed aliens already in cover or have them roam from cover to cover in order to be a challenge.
All in all, I'm fine with the scatter move. You can always overwatch em.
You mean just like we do?
If the aliens din't have that they'd be bunched up and out of cover. They'd get steamrolled.
Instead of alien spawnpoints, the game would have to seed aliens already in cover or have them roam from cover to cover in order to be a challenge.
All in all, I'm fine with the scatter move. You can always overwatch em.
I'd really be fine with aliens already being dug down instead of them running randomly. It really sucks getting flanked because you had your approach covered but then the aliens got a free move to your side.
bigdaddygamebot
Member
Mutons are tough at times...
They wreck rookies and squaddies even in carapace and laser rifles.
Cyberdiscs are terrifying however.
Man. I thought so the first time, but eventually I managed to shut down every single one I've met past the first two. They never even got to fire at my squad.
Very annoying. Seems so easy to fix, too, since they could easily limit what you can select by the level you've chosen with the mouse wheel. Seems strange for it to be this dodgy.
Fragamemnon
Member
Heavy w/ HEAT ammo (a must have, you need the DPS later on for other enemies) annihilates Cyberdiscs. They are pretty easy to kill provided that you counter-initiate on them by letting them aggro you instead of you bumping into them.
doubleplusgood
Member
Pretty sure it will become available fairly soon.
For me mutons where the first ramp up in difficulty after I had gotten the hang on the sectoids and thinmen. Once you aggro one or two packs of these things tend to get very interesting.. Cyberdisks I usually swarmed and tried to get down in the first round of combat since that canon of theirs wrecked havoc.
Strummerjones
Member
Infuriating bug I just had:
I was in desperate need of new satellites but couldn't afford any. Then I got a request to build one satellite for France. Well, no chance of that happening. I scraped together enough cash for a new satellite, but the completion time took it over into the next month, meaning I'd have to take any terror consequences on the chin. Once the month rolled over and the satellite was built I figured I might as well sell it on to complete the request as it'd give me enough money for exactly two satellites, and I'd have the entire month to make them. So I complete the request. Then I check my money. I haven't got the reward cash added to it. I also don't have the satellite. The request is still open. Exit to desktop.
I was in desperate need of new satellites but couldn't afford any. Then I got a request to build one satellite for France. Well, no chance of that happening. I scraped together enough cash for a new satellite, but the completion time took it over into the next month, meaning I'd have to take any terror consequences on the chin. Once the month rolled over and the satellite was built I figured I might as well sell it on to complete the request as it'd give me enough money for exactly two satellites, and I'd have the entire month to make them. So I complete the request. Then I check my money. I haven't got the reward cash added to it. I also don't have the satellite. The request is still open. Exit to desktop.