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Some bits of new info. It seems we'll be fighting a new organization known as EXALT. They look to be human fighters with motives that haven't been specified yet.
There also seems to be a new video up called 'security breach'.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/10/09 21:25:33
Btw turns out exalt fight xcom but not the aliens. They want alien artifacts however. Supposedly they want the aliens to elevate humanity regardless of the cost of human life or the harm done to it.
It seems they weaken your efforts through sabotage and similar. They have fairly high numbers according to the gameplay video and some of them can be pretty nasty (mostly the heavies). I think the developer mentioned they can get some pretty disgusting gene mods to fight you with which could be potentially more potent than xcom's.
Perhaps somebody could also EXALT this thread ;P.
This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2013/10/09 23:33:14
I'm a bit torn on this one. I really like the original XCOM: EU and even got two friends to pick it up only to have it largely abandoned compared to other games when it comes to DLC. I wish the company would have taken a bit more middle road in between almost pointless DLC (like the Chinese themed ones) and a 1.5 sequel at full price. I definitely would have paid for $10-15 Borderlands style additional campaigns and enemies that added to the story instead of being forced to effectively rebuy exactly what I already have (the original game and all the previously released DLCs) for the Xbox. Eh.. we'll see. I'm still undecided whether I'll get this but I definitely won't be recommending it to anyone.
Im not torn at all. I simply dont see the point of it.
Like there is nothing in the DLC that I find worth even $10. Much less 30.
Im slightly intersted in the new Human Occult thing and the new maps but I would find it hard to even justify $5 for that.
Everything else I either dont care (Like Mech troopers, cool, but I would never touch them ever) or dont feel I should have to pay for that. (rebalance of some classes)
That is just my personal preference though. I understand why some people are excited for it. I personally just dont care
I loved EU, but it being a full physical game is making me hesitant. But I love the new stuff you can do. I hope there is another campaign to go with it.
hotsauceman1 wrote: I loved EU, but it being a full physical game is making me hesitant. But I love the new stuff you can do. I hope there is another campaign to go with it.
They have said that the original campaign has been altered but ultimately its all still there with just a few side add ons (like the Slingshot DLC).
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"...he could never understand the sense of a contest in which the two adversaries agreed upon the rules." Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
@28:30- Am I the only one that wants to name the white woman with the fedora Michael Jackson? Haha seriously I gotta find a good nickname for her like 'smooth criminal' and play some Michael Jackson music in the background.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/10/23 02:30:23
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"...he could never understand the sense of a contest in which the two adversaries agreed upon the rules." Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
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"...he could never understand the sense of a contest in which the two adversaries agreed upon the rules." Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
2013/10/24 01:02:08
Subject: Re:X-com: Enemy Within (with some new info)
Pretty much as unexcited for this as a person could be. As the core game is one of the like four games I've paid full price for in the last few years, and is also the only one I fully regret - I cannot fathom throwing them another 20+ dollars for a minor expansion. Play UFO AI people. It's free. Then donate money if you really like it. Just remember to start building a UFO yard asap.
Sure, the graphics aren't amazing and some of UI needs polish - but it's designed by people who seriously love the original XCOM and want to make a better, more modern game that encapsulates what was awesome about it... and y'know, are doing it for free on their own time. Plus they have Time Units, and an actual inventory system. And multiple bases. And you can sell looted alien weapons outside of weird random missions. And sell the crap that you built/bought. And did I mention Time Units?
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/10/24 01:02:29
I'm okay with the change. I don't need Time Units or an
inventory system. The move/shoot system works fine for
me as well.
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"...he could never understand the sense of a contest in which the two adversaries agreed upon the rules." Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
I actually thought time units aged pretty poorly, it's one of those system's that never really fit well back then and felt like it was holding for something better.
I'm okay with the change. I don't need Time Units or an
inventory system. The move/shoot system works fine for
me as well.
I don't like the inventory system - an armor underlay should not negate my ability to carry a medkit or stun gun or whatever. I do not like the one base dynamic, it seems unnecessarily constrictive and base construction mechanics are silly. I don't like the inability to sell things off - barring special missions that you have no control over - to raise capital. I don't like the 'satellite' dynamic. I don't like that harder difficulties are just hit-point hit percentage adjustments. I don't like the overly scripted story. I don't like the move to smaller squads. I don't like the semi random class system and generally useless psychic powers.
Things that don't hugely bug me - the simplified interception mechanics, the 2 actions things (despite my Time Units stuff) .
But seriously, I challenge anyone to play through this expansion and then play UFO AI for free. And then explain to me why XCOM Enemy Unknown is seventy odd dollars better.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
ZebioLizard2 wrote: I actually thought time units aged pretty poorly, it's one of those system's that never really fit well back then and felt like it was holding for something better.
And having two actions is both somehow newer and more highly evolved? Hate to break it to you, but Time Units were and evolution over the simple you get x number of actions dynamic.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/10/24 02:38:26
I like the base construction mini-game. It's not really well
balanced, but it encourages you to make your base efficient.
I hated managing multiple bases and building ghost stations
and remembering what was in all of them in the old XCOM. It
was needlessly micromanaged. I felt that the satellite system
works fine as a middle ground between trying to extend your
influence and concentrating it.
The original XCOM's arms dealing was something of an
oddity. I become entirely self sufficient by mass producing laser
cannons? Really?
In the old XCOM world, EXALT would have blown up my base
by swarming me with my own guns purchased at Walmart.
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"...he could never understand the sense of a contest in which the two adversaries agreed upon the rules." Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
malfred wrote: I like the base construction mini-game. It's not really well
balanced, but it encourages you to make your base efficient.
I hated managing multiple bases and building ghost stations
and remembering what was in all of them in the old XCOM. It
was needlessly micromanaged. I felt that the satellite system
works fine as a middle ground between trying to extend your
influence and concentrating it.
The original XCOM's arms dealing was something of an
oddity. I become entirely self sufficient by mass producing laser
cannons? Really?
In the old XCOM world, EXALT would have blown up my base
by swarming me with my own guns purchased at Walmart.
That's all fair then, this game is for you. I liked the stronger strategic elements, and so did enough of the community that basically every XCOM clone has more of it than XCOM Enemy Unknown. I mean is it really shocking that the governments of the various nations that funnel you cash for keeping the aliens off their back are also willing to buy spare plasma pistols? You can't even really come out against that since Enemy Unknown has that feature in it, it's just a silly arbitrary number only wanted at silly random times.
From a logical standpoint is there really any reason against the small group with the technology to produce laser cannons selling them on the black market or in back rooms arms deals to various governments doing so to gain extra funds? I mean what is the reason to keep weapons your enemy already has out of the hands of your allies?
If you want, you could always start a UFO: AI thread. /shrug
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"...he could never understand the sense of a contest in which the two adversaries agreed upon the rules." Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
malfred wrote: If you want, you could always start a UFO: AI thread. /shrug
True, but seeing as I feel like this a legitimate bilking of folks for monies based on nostalgia I believe like it would be morally bankrupt of me not to mention there are cheaper and in my honest opinion better alternatives to XCOM Enemy Unknown. Especially since the XCOM fan community has been such an important part of my computer gaming history I don't want to leave any true believers out in the cold simply to uphold some sort of overly restrictive on-the-topicness.
I've been playing a lot of XCOM: Enemy Within lately and marveling at its use of acronyms. There's MELD, EXALT, and MECs, not to mention XCOM itself. Beyond its frighteningly efficient use of letters, Firaxis has somehow managed to do the impossible - pack more of the same turn-based gameplay we loved about the reboot and add enough fresh new options to make you enjoy the alien-snuffing campaign over again.
To recap our interviews and previews so far, Enemy Within is a moderately priced expansion - preorder on sale now for $26.99 - which adds all the features described below to the missions, plot, and gameplay of the original on the PC, while on the consoles, it's a standalone expansion which you can buy as a separate disc, but that also includes all of the missions, plot, and gameplay of the original XCOM: Enemy Unknown in addition to the new stuff in the campaign.
Enemy Within comes out on November 12th, and adds strategic wrinkles and tactical options to the ongoing campaign against the invading aliens such as a new items, a third faction of human enemies called EXALT and an alien resource called MELD. Firaxis was kind enough to let me play the first half of the campaign with a preview code this past week, and I got to experience all of the new features within the context of how you'd actually play the game. I am happy to say EW makes XCOM 78 percent better.
The biggest overall change is the need to collect a resource on the tactical map itself. MELD is introduced in the second mission of Enemy Within, and it's a very good idea to make recovering the canisters a priority for your team. Excluding special Council missions or covert ops, alien encounters will begin with two canisters on the tactical map, each containing 10 units of MELD. There's generally one canister close to the starting zone that will expire in 4 or 5 turns, and one farther away you must grab within 10 turns. To collect MELD, one of your team needs to be adjacent to the canister - which really just looks like a yellow pillar jutting out of the ground - and you left-click to activate it. Doing so doesn't cost an action, but you can't pick up MELD if you have used both your actions that turn. Grabbing MELD is a fun secondary objective to murdering aliens, but it's pretty easy to do both on normal difficulty. Through the first half of the EW campaign I played on normal, I only failed to collect one available MELD canister. Of course, I also found myself delaying killing the last alien to make sure I had all the MELD, and that led to few fatalities. My apologies to Squaddie Robinson, but you had to die to ensure the success of XCOM and provide your commander with fancy new toys.
What can you do with MELD? Well, it has two main uses. You can follow Dr. Chen's advice and use it to augment your soldiers with cybernetic implants or listen to Dr. Vahlen and graft genetic modifications onto your soldiers' DNA. The Mechanized Exoskeleton Cybersuit is actually a two part process begun by Dr. Chen in engineering. First, you have to "augment" your soldier by removing his or her limbs and replacing them with cybernetic versions. Then you have to build a MEC, and equip it onto your now-augmented soldier in the loadout interface. MECs can't use items or conventional weapons, but you can equip each suit with useful modules. Your first choice is between a flamethrower that damages units in a cone or a kinetic strike that deals 12 damage to an adjacent enemy, and the next is between a grenade launcher or a healing mist spray. As your cybernetic soldier gains ranks, you can also choose between tactical benefits just like you did with the classes in Enemy Unknown. In that way, you'll find MECs an excellent addition to your super squad - I often ran with two in my six-man team.
Read more at http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/previews/10679-XCOM-Enemy-Within-Preview-Whole-New-Game#sHvfvDEHP4RBxprc.99
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/10/24 05:13:48
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"...he could never understand the sense of a contest in which the two adversaries agreed upon the rules." Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
malfred wrote: If you want, you could always start a UFO: AI thread. /shrug
True, but seeing as I feel like this a legitimate bilking of folks for monies based on nostalgia I believe like it would be morally bankrupt of me not to mention there are cheaper and in my honest opinion better alternatives to XCOM Enemy Unknown. Especially since the XCOM fan community has been such an important part of my computer gaming history I don't want to leave any true believers out in the cold simply to uphold some sort of overly restrictive on-the-topicness.
True Believers? I've played all the previous X-coms back when they came out and overall loved the series up to apocalypse, still disappointed that never was truly finished but it was still good. To say that everyone is being milked of money for what could be a natural evolution of a system is pretty strong, not to mention it's almost slightly offensive to say that if someone enjoys the new X-com they aren't True Believers.
Not that I mind, I know some people prefer something very strongly, but the thoughts of true believers vs believers is something that annoys me when it comes to a community.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/10/26 04:06:17
malfred wrote: If you want, you could always start a UFO: AI thread. /shrug
True, but seeing as I feel like this a legitimate bilking of folks for monies based on nostalgia I believe like it would be morally bankrupt of me not to mention there are cheaper and in my honest opinion better alternatives to XCOM Enemy Unknown. Especially since the XCOM fan community has been such an important part of my computer gaming history I don't want to leave any true believers out in the cold simply to uphold some sort of overly restrictive on-the-topicness.
True Believers? I've played all the previous X-coms back when they came out and overall loved the series up to apocalypse, still disappointed that never was truly finished but it was still good. To say that everyone is being milked of money for what could be a natural evolution of a system is pretty strong, not to mention it's almost slightly offensive to say that if someone enjoys the new X-com they aren't True Believers.
Not that I mind, I know some people prefer something very strongly, but the thoughts of true believers vs believers is something that annoys me when it comes to a community.
All I did was refer to fans of XCOM as true believers, never said people who enjoyed both XCOM and XCOM Enemy Unknown suddenly lost 'true believer' status. The whole point I was going for was that I didn't want to leave XCOM fans unaware of all their options, not that people that enjoy this new game are not true fans of XCOM. I do stand by my opinion that this is an at best three quarters arsed attempt at a sequel and that the new expansion represents a legitimate attempt to steal money from people based on nostalgia since it doesn't add anywhere near 25+ bucks of content. I am also aware that this is my opinion. Thus I am using phrases like "I feel" and "I believe".
EXALT looks like it's going to be tough to fight. They have skills
and classes and what not, and the covert operation layer looks
like it's going to be a nuisance. In the video posted by
flamingkillamajig, the guy trying out the covert mission has to
gun down 17 EXALT guys to complete the mission. I'm not the
best tactician around. This is going to be rough.
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"...he could never understand the sense of a contest in which the two adversaries agreed upon the rules." Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
malfred wrote: If you want, you could always start a UFO: AI thread. /shrug
True, but seeing as I feel like this a legitimate bilking of folks for monies based on nostalgia I believe like it would be morally bankrupt of me not to mention there are cheaper and in my honest opinion better alternatives to XCOM Enemy Unknown. Especially since the XCOM fan community has been such an important part of my computer gaming history I don't want to leave any true believers out in the cold simply to uphold some sort of overly restrictive on-the-topicness.
True Believers? I've played all the previous X-coms back when they came out and overall loved the series up to apocalypse, still disappointed that never was truly finished but it was still good. To say that everyone is being milked of money for what could be a natural evolution of a system is pretty strong, not to mention it's almost slightly offensive to say that if someone enjoys the new X-com they aren't True Believers.
Not that I mind, I know some people prefer something very strongly, but the thoughts of true believers vs believers is something that annoys me when it comes to a community.
All I did was refer to fans of XCOM as true believers, never said people who enjoyed both XCOM and XCOM Enemy Unknown suddenly lost 'true believer' status. The whole point I was going for was that I didn't want to leave XCOM fans unaware of all their options, not that people that enjoy this new game are not true fans of XCOM. I do stand by my opinion that this is an at best three quarters arsed attempt at a sequel and that the new expansion represents a legitimate attempt to steal money from people based on nostalgia since it doesn't add anywhere near 25+ bucks of content. I am also aware that this is my opinion. Thus I am using phrases like "I feel" and "I believe".
True enough I suppose, had way to many issues with people declaring someone in the fandom null because it's changed a bit. (Fallout fandom, for note. )
Though it's hard for me to enjoy pure nostalgia based games, I feel as if those that simply copy the formula exactly without changing it up slightly to be rather uncreative without fixing some of the worst parts. Many I saw generally keep everything, down to the bad issues that plagued the game at times without advancing on their own merit. Which does annoy me slightly. Though some like War of the Overworld seem like it's at least trying to fix some of the issues.
And I am still waiting on them to recreate Apocalypse again, with all the features that was planned but cut because of budget.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2013/10/26 15:33:45
n 1994's XCOM: UFO Defense, you built bases all over the world to defend against the alien menace, upgrading them all along the way. Firaxis' remake from 2012, you only had one base, but the wonderful mix of turn-based combat and strategic decision-making was enough to placate old fans as well as create new ones, myself included. Still, one of the major criticisms I hear from stalwarts is how they miss balancing multiple bases in the new game. When I spoke to Lead Designer Ananda Gupta about XCOM: Enemy Within, I put him on the spot and asked why there's only one base in Firaxis' XCOM.
"The multiple base thing was something that I know we struggled with heavily but ultimately a single base, a single base made the most sense," Gupta said. "We have unique named characters such as Central Officer Bradford, Dr. Vahlen, Dr. Shen. So right away their presence indicates that they would have to have a physical location and that would automatically elevate one of the bases above the others, because they couldn't be in all three places.
"Furthermore, having them say and do things across multiple bases would have meant some weird UI elements such as one of the bases has them and then all of the other bases have little view screens with their heads on them, stuff like that. Another thing is that we really wanted the player to feel immersed in the base and, we succeeded with that to a certain extent but we really wanted to players to click on the hologlobe and advance time. Well, okay, does every base need a hologlobe? And if all the bases are going to have redundant essential elements like the hologlobe, like the situation room and so forth then they start to look kind of the same as one another.
"From a gameplay point of view you can come up with lots of things that multiple bases could do right," Gupta continued. "Obviously, in the 1993 game having multiple bases was also your method of extending your vision over the globe. And that didn't really fit with the system that we wanted for vision with the satellites."
When I heard about an expansion, I thought perhaps multiple base locations would be an option, but after hearing Gupta's explanation I can see why his team decided to focus on improving the tactical and strategic variety in Enemy Within. Still, if there's a third expansion in the mix, I pressed Gupta to say how he would implement more than one base. To be clear, we're in "Game Design bs Land" here.
"It's a wonderful land, isn't it?" Gupta asked, laughing, before indulging me with some speculative design.
"My preferred approach would be something like simple interceptor bases all over the place where your planes are based, maybe setting up kind of limited outpost-ey bases would be fun," Gupta said, referring to how limited the systems are for tracking down and destroying enemy UFOs. "Interception is already in there only because it was in the 1993 game. I mean, you need some way to get the UFOs from the sky into flaming wrecks on the ground, but building more gameplay onto that is something we've talked about."
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Even if there's a good reason for there to be just one base, I wondered why that base couldn't be attacked and feel vulnerable to aliens like your bases could in the original.
"There's some interesting design problems with [having your base attacked], chiefly narrative ones and so if we were to do that we would need to include it in the narrative somehow, we would need to narratively explain how it could happen, why it could happen, why it could only happen once," Gupta said. "I think there's a certain nostalgia that says base attacks are really fun but when, in the original game, when four base attacks happen in one month, you're kind of thinking I'm really spending a lot of time defending my base against these aliens. Is that really what this game is about in terms of how much time I'm spending? So if we were to do that we would need to sort of hammer down all that narrative stuff."
According to Gupta, the narrative pacing in Enemy Unknown wasn't perfect, and he's aiming for the expansion to correct that somewhat with the addition of the new EXALT faction. "When you're looking at it through our self-critical eyes, we thought once you hit the alien base [in Enemy Unknown], the narrative kind of flattens out a little. It's a straight away finish to the end, so let's see if we can add some additional stuff.
"My objective was that the EXALT would occupy that role," Gupta explained. "They were supposed to be the post alien base challenge, but that didn't really work, partly for narrative reasons. If EXALT starts after the alien base then they have to be pretty awesome because you're pretty awesome by then. If they are going to be a challenge then they almost have to be too awesome. I don't want EXALT to be as awesome as you - they're the bad guys, I don't want them to be as awesome as XCOM." So what happens is the EXALT missions really ramp up around the alien base mission itself, so the drama is heightened early.
While EXALT is "light on story, but heavy on theme" as I mention in my preview of Enemy Within, Gupta says there's a lot of story to be had in a three mission arc that starts in the second month of the game called "Operation Progeny."
"It's a side plot that's similar to 'Operation Slingshot'," Gupta said referring to the DLC released last winter. "[Progeny] is a three mission arc that adds some new story elements. Now 'Slingshot' was a fairly straightforward and almost, not stand alone, but it was something you did instead of your regular counsel missions. That was a really fun thing for players because there were some new environments, and you got a new character out of it.
"But with 'Operation Progeny,' since it was going to be part of the expansion, we decided to break it up a little more and to weave it into the narrative of the expansion more. 'Operation Progeny' actually carries a fair amount of narrative away in the expansion and I think players will really enjoy how it kind of unfolds. So yeah putting a narrative into Enemy Within was definitely something we wanted to do."
For more information on EXALT and how the shadow group of humans fighting against XCOM will affect Enemy Within, check out my full preview of the faction here. Otherwise, you'll have to wait until November 15th to play it on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3, and discover for yourself whether Firaxis and Gupta should added multiple bases, or whether it made sense to deliver on all the cool stuff they've been talking about since Enemy Within was announced this summer.
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