Posted by Kromey at 12:54pm Oct 18 '12I pre-ordered this one after seeing some gameplay vids and then seeing the demonstration of the pre-order bonus soldier customizations. Unfortunately, I didn't get to play it really until the third day after its release, owing to a very lengthy download (13GB!), and then an outdated video driver on my laptop (which isn't a gaming rig anyway), and some ongoing issues with my actual gaming rig (I'm pretty sure one should not have to hit the reset button 5-10 times just to get the video card/BIOS to properly initialize...).
So far, I'm 28.8 hours into my first play-through; taking my time with the progression to try to keep my squad up to snuff -- I understand the game can be completed in about half that time. According to my achievements, I've killed somewhere between 150 and 500 aliens (i.e. I've earned the "Kill 150 aliens" achievement, but not "Kill 500 aliens").
Now, I've never played any of the original XCOM games, although I've had many friends who have who have told me what the "true XCOM experience" is -- which basically boils down to getting your ass kicked. Hard. And repeatedly.
Given that, my current play-through on Normal difficulty isn't giving me the "true XCOM experience" -- friendly casualties have been consistently low, and I have yet to fail a mission (or at least, none that weren't due to a game-breaking bug). Still, the game is highly challenging, and a hell of a lot of fun to play.
I love this game! And the replay potential is huge -- I already know what I want to do differently on my next play-through.
I've always been a fan of good turn-based strategy games, even if my "strategy" often leaves much to be desired. The squad-based tactics in XCOM are awesome, especially since the game breaks slightly out of the "turn-based" shell by allowing your soldiers (and the aliens!) to set up for reactions -- the most obvious being "Overwatch", where you give up an action for your turn (all turns are broken up into two actions, although if your first isn't movement you only get the one) in order to immediately react to an enemy moving by interrupting his movement and shooting at him! Nothing cooler than watching an alien dash from cover toward you, only to drop dead at your feet!!
Actually, that's not true. There is one thing cooler: A max-ranked sniper with the In The Zone ability has the potential to eliminate multiple targets on the map with a single action! (In The Zone means that if the sniper's attack kills an enemy that is not in cover or that she is flanking, the attack does not consume any actions -- letting her continue to knock down as many exposed enemies as she can in a single turn!!) I've used a sniper to clear out half a dozen enemies in a single turn before -- especially when Thin Men drop down at the end of certain missions, as they always just stand in the open on Overwatch. Or when your heavy destroys the cover that that squad of Mutons was hiding behind...
It's an absolutely amazing game. If you enjoy turn-based strategy games at all, or if you enjoy squad-based tactical games, XCOM is one that you absolutely must have!
So far, I'm 28.8 hours into my first play-through; taking my time with the progression to try to keep my squad up to snuff -- I understand the game can be completed in about half that time. According to my achievements, I've killed somewhere between 150 and 500 aliens (i.e. I've earned the "Kill 150 aliens" achievement, but not "Kill 500 aliens").
Now, I've never played any of the original XCOM games, although I've had many friends who have who have told me what the "true XCOM experience" is -- which basically boils down to getting your ass kicked. Hard. And repeatedly.
Given that, my current play-through on Normal difficulty isn't giving me the "true XCOM experience" -- friendly casualties have been consistently low, and I have yet to fail a mission (or at least, none that weren't due to a game-breaking bug). Still, the game is highly challenging, and a hell of a lot of fun to play.
I love this game! And the replay potential is huge -- I already know what I want to do differently on my next play-through.
I've always been a fan of good turn-based strategy games, even if my "strategy" often leaves much to be desired. The squad-based tactics in XCOM are awesome, especially since the game breaks slightly out of the "turn-based" shell by allowing your soldiers (and the aliens!) to set up for reactions -- the most obvious being "Overwatch", where you give up an action for your turn (all turns are broken up into two actions, although if your first isn't movement you only get the one) in order to immediately react to an enemy moving by interrupting his movement and shooting at him! Nothing cooler than watching an alien dash from cover toward you, only to drop dead at your feet!!
Actually, that's not true. There is one thing cooler: A max-ranked sniper with the In The Zone ability has the potential to eliminate multiple targets on the map with a single action! (In The Zone means that if the sniper's attack kills an enemy that is not in cover or that she is flanking, the attack does not consume any actions -- letting her continue to knock down as many exposed enemies as she can in a single turn!!) I've used a sniper to clear out half a dozen enemies in a single turn before -- especially when Thin Men drop down at the end of certain missions, as they always just stand in the open on Overwatch. Or when your heavy destroys the cover that that squad of Mutons was hiding behind...
It's an absolutely amazing game. If you enjoy turn-based strategy games at all, or if you enjoy squad-based tactical games, XCOM is one that you absolutely must have!
XCOM: Enemy Unknown - Kromey