XCOM: Enemy Unknown · 5:29pm Oct 26th, 2014
So, for the last week, I've been playing through XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Originally, I picked the game up in December of last year, but at that time, I was not used to treating characters as expendable, or particularly used to the combat system. Well, earlier this month, Green Man Gaming held a promotion that, when voting for the Golden Joystick Awards, yielded a free XCOM: Enemy Unknown key, in ADDITION to running a promotion yielding an 80% off coupon for the Enemy Within expansion. This kinda motivated me to give the game another shot [as well as to make a giveaway for the game on SteamGifts].
I'm really glad that I gave this another chance, too. Maybe it was because of Shadowrun Returns, but I felt far more comfortable with the isometric view and the cover system than I had been in the past. It also helped that I did the smart thing and set my first run on Easy so that I could get used to the gameplay. The save-scumming also helped, but honestly? That's a staple for any singleplayer game where it is an option, if nothing else than because it sucks to lose progress to a power bump, game crash, or computer malfunction. I still lost a number of rookies [rest in peace, Hiroshi Nakamura; your powers over time could not save you] and I couldn't stop the Nigerian princes from withdrawing from the council, but it was a good run. I even completed a raid on a battleship shortly before the endgame.
My endgame team?
Colonel Clara 'Trixie' McIntyre - Support, Psi Operative
Colonel Paul 'Nightmare' Taylor - Sniper
Colonel Ivan 'Nero' Sanchez - Heavy, Psi Specialist
Colonel Anastasiya 'Gaea' Ivanova - Heavy,
Colonel Adam 'Soarin'' Wong - Assault
Colonel Cesar 'Blitz' Delgado - Assault
This crew has carried me through the bulk of the game, with Nightmare having a kill-count of 83 prior to the final mission.
Now, I would like to take a moment of silence for our hero.
Rest in Peace, Clara 'Trixie' McIntyre: Support, Psionic, Savior of Mankind.
Incidentally, I would like to take this time to recommend a story to you.
Stardust, by Arad
This is a My Little Pony/XCOM crossover that simply cannot be outdone. Excellent characterization, exciting story, even plenty of giggle-worthy [YMMV, because I giggle at strange things]. It's a sort of 'What If' story, on the premise of 'What if Discord had made a bet with Twilight when he was depetrified in order to be reformed, and she ended up on Earth during the XCOM campaign. If you're a fan of XCOM, this story is for you. It [and its sequel] even ties in a lot of memorable things from the game, Slingshot DLC, and Enemy Within expansion in a quite enthralling manner.
Why are you still reading this blog when you could read that instead?
I take it that raiding a battleship is a much more noteworthy feat than it was in the first game. By the end of the game you'd be blowing up the little ships because they just weren't worth the effort to spare them from your air-to-air weapons so you could make a ground assault.
Also, I've read that story already! I'm here 'cause I can't read it again! Wait...
Because I hate FPS...and I never, NEVER attempt lengthy Sci-fi without reasonable personal pay-off. As in: if it's not interesting/has pointless guns/doesn't work as it's own base and has to piggyback off information from elsewhere, it's not worth a read.
2556345 Ah, but see, that is where you're wrong! XCOM is a turn-based strategy/tactics game with no first person elements at all—all isometric, baby. You order a squad of up to 4 [later 6] soldiers—drawing from a pool of many more more, since you are bound to lose some unless you save-scum—about a map, engaging aliens. You pick their load-outs, and decide which research takes priority. With two actions per unit, you have to weigh your options carefully and keep a keen eye on the battlefield. XCOM isn't Halo. XCOM isn't 'Fisher Price: My First Sci-fi Playset'.
2556461 Option 2 and 3 then. For the story, not necessarily XCOM. I get tired of terminology without description, and terminology with pictures. Both are meaningless in the narrative, and both are as-a-whole uninteresting.