We are long time gamers from the DOS days we here at Mirthwerx. We were very excited a respected studio like Firaxis was remaking X-Com enemy unknown. It was released on October 9 2012. We even shutdown the office early to celebrate this major event!
Having now finished the game we are left feeling somewhat let down. Both of us feel the game is above average. It is GOOD, but it is not GREAT. Gamespot agrees in their review giving it an 8.5 (we think 7.5 is more accurate).
So rather than have a fanboy whine session, we are interested to hear from other game developers, designers, and enthusiasts out there:
What could Firaxis have done to push X-Com into the GREAT territory?
By LordYabo November 6, 2012 - 3:49 pm
It took me about 35 hours to finish the game on the normal difficulty.
On the surface, the game looks and feels great! I was disappointed some of the iconic sound effects from the first weren’t there, but overall I was happy with the new interface.
Around the 2/3rd mark of the game, I found myself growing bored. This was heartbreaking because I wanted so badly to love every second of it! I was deeply perplexed by what was missing from a game that I so badly wanted to be good.
I narrowed it down to the missions were highly enjoyable, but the “meta” outside of the missions was not. But even the missions themselves, while exciting and my soldiers felt powerful, became the same old same old. I got to the point where I would play 2 missions a night, and then put it down and play something else for some real enjoyment.
I believe the first thing Firaxis should have done is maintained the fog of war /line of sight mechanic from the first game. X-Com original had complete blackness on the map; when you stepped out of the skyranger you didn’t even know if you should go left or right or forward. Now I can scroll the whole map with my mouse and get a dimly lit view of the terrain. This greatly reduces the surprise and therefore the enjoyment.
I think aliens should have been able to sneak up on you just like in the first. Danger from any angle was an exciting part of the original game. The new one the aliens do not appear to move at all until you “discover” them. And you don’t discover them right next to you when you turn the corner, you see them a long ways off and they quickly run into cover. From that point on you know there are 3 aliens, and generally where they are. This makes for a faster playing game, but the thrill (or the “juice”) is gone.
Firaxis chose to remove Time Units and go with a move/action system. This was probably done to simplify and speed up play, especially for new players. However, this simplifying was also “vanilla-fying” the game, making every mission basically the same decision over and over: move here, overwatch. Move there, overwatch. In the original each soldier had a certain number of time units to spend, some could have drastically more than others. You chose whether to move far and shoot with low accuracy, or move little and shoot with high accuracy, or anything in between. The guns also had different modes of shooting from single shots, to snap shots, to auto shots, to aimed shots. This variety, while slightly more complicated, allowed for different tactics at different times based on the map and situation. The decision to make tactical maneuvers simpler probably will result in them selling more copies of the game, but removed the game from being a masterpiece hall of fame-r.
The base building/business management is too simplistic. In the previous one keeping a healthy bottom line was important, and you could build too much facilities and hire too many people and end up going out of business. You could also manufacture arms and sell them at a profit! This was all removed to simplify the game, but I believe they cut too deep. X-com was a strategy tactical and base building game. X-Com new is just strategy tactical. I believe with more financial options/pressure the “meta” game would be more interesting.
They should have stuck with random maps. The original had random maps, so every mission was a totally unknown experience. Now you can recognize right away “oh, it’s this map” and know where cover will be, and where the aliens are likely to be, and generally it takes away the thrill of it.
Allow me to shoot anything! The original game allowed the soldiers to shoot anything: bushes, trees, walls, etc. This allowed you the player to create your own path. Want to know what is in the building? Shoot some holes in the wall and look in! Know an alien is hiding in a room with a single door? Shoot the wall and make a second entrance and pour into the room! This freedom to “customize” the map was awesome! X-Com new does have destructable terrain, but you aren’t allowed to shoot the terrain on purpose. Boooo!
Once I leveled all my soldiers to colonel, there was nothing left to do with them. So it became boring as every mission was the same wit the same abilities over and over. I think a more varied skill tree so even if you had 4 assault troops they would all be drastically different, would have kept the game more interesting. I guess what I am saying is that the soldiers were too vanilla, I would have liked drastically different soldiers so that I have to decide: should I bring X to an abduction mission, or Y? Hmmm… tough choice.
And finally, I wish there was more variety in the weapons/equipment. Better armor is just better. Newer guns are better than older guns. The amount of damage a gun provides is not drastically more than a previous iteration (it does from 4 for laser to 6 for light plasma to 8 for full plasma). I think more of a range (like 4-16) would have made for more interesting choices.
I’m curious to hear what others would have done with this game!