XCOM 2 gameplay reveal. · 1:56am Jun 16th, 2015
http://www.twitch.tv/ign/v/6218650
The XCOM 2 footage starts around the 1:30:00 mark. My reactions, go!
The video starts off with a bit of the talking heads prefacing the setting for the game: XCOM lost and was shattered, and for the past twenty years they've rebuilt what they could so they could finally strike back.
TV broadcasts extolling the virtues of the ADVENT administration and their alien allies, followed by a collaborator (with suspicious looking scales on his neck) condemning earth's governments for attacking their 'peaceful visitors'. Some new screens appear, showing what looks like XCOM soldiers moving through alleyways. Confirmed classes are two rookies, a ranger and a specialist.
And the game has officially started, in concealment. Apparently they can move into position and stage an ambush before the fighting actually begins. Two things I'm noticing immediately: Soldiers running appears to be a bit contextual: They'll lean left and right to make turns, and sidestep to avoid things. Also, flashlight beams. Nifty detail. Oh, and in addition to procedure-generated maps, apparently you'll see wanted posters/holographics of -your soldiers- as wanted posters.
Lots of civilians nearby, I'm now worried about the possibility of collateral damage. :S
Ranger opens up with the shotgun to start combat, and the two surviving ADVENT are murdered by overwatch. And... oh joy, apparently everything is made of cardboard, and can't withstand any gunfire.
SNEK! Ohgod, yank and instant kill. Ranger YOLOs and stabs the snek.
"Classic XCOM moment, 3 ADVENT sitting beside a car?" One grenade later...
Apparently ADVENT can call reinforcements. It's actually a good mechanic that reinforces the idea that you are NOT the establishment. You are the resistance, and you don't have nearly as much resources as the ADVENT does.
Specialist Gremlin hacks the sentry turret and uses it to murder the ADVENT reinforcements. (Also love the sound effects for the weapons shown so far.)
And one more wave of reinforcements: ADVENT MECs, and an evolved Berzerker that backhands the ranger into the sentry turret van. Specialist picks up the ranger's body and retreats to the evac point (that the player defines!)
Woo, nifty stuff. The talking heads talk a bit more but the video ends there. Cool stuff!
I saw a different video but all in all its going to be quite good, makes me need to finish the dlc for the first i haven't started yet.
But heres a question, will it affect your headcannon?
What I was hoping for was the mechanics involving XCOM's mobile base. And now, apparently, they don't have science teams or engineers. How are they going to keep up with ADVENT then? Raiding facilities and claiming them for XCOM?
Actually, that'd be awesome if we could occupy an entire city and use their facilities for our own use.
Hey Arad, doesn't that guy with glasses look a lot like a certain... "blank" we know?
3153197
I'll be borrowing some ideas from XCOM 2 while some others I'll be passing on. Anything further would be spoilers. :D
3153198
It would be awesome to take a base for use but I don't think that'll be an option. It's very apparent that the Advent could bury XCOM in bodies without the help of the aliens. If XCOM were to attack a base, they would strip it of everything they can carry and then run for the hills I think.
3153223
Nice catch but just a wee bit too much alien influence there. Notice the scales on his neck?
3153230 Hey, it wouldn't surprise me if it's Vide.
That Berzerker, oh god. I want to be the ranger class, and I want to be a mad man killing everyone with the sword, including the Berzerker. I'm not sure but is the Berzerker female? I notice that Jake stated the Berzerker as she unless he was stating the ranger unit but it really doesn't mean that much, gameplay wise.
Also be afraid of everything, I going to die.
3153230
Right, rampant pillow-fights. Got it . (Who slipped that grenade into my pillo-*BOOM!*)
3153270
Pillow fights like THIS.
i3.photobucket.com/albums/y64/echo123456/1049787-fate_hollow_ataraxia_033_zpseuq2htix.jpg
Kudos to the person who gets the pun in this picture when combined with this discussion. >_>
Great, now we're exalt. Thanks aliens.
3153298 Pfft~ Shirou never stood a chance against Berserker there.
First of all: Snek!
Now that that's out of the way, melee attacks being integrated into movement is a relief. At least I know you won't be left out in the open afterwards!
)
Speaking of which, yeesh I hope that tongue attack's range was exaggerated for the trailer. That's an even worse threat than Chryssalids! (Which we have yet to learn how they've been augmented...
Finally, enemy weaponry has always been the the bane of cover, it's the top tier of weaponry in the game. I'm really curious as to where mag weaponry fits on the tech tree.
At least I don't feel as bad for the rookie in this demo - in Enemy Unknown's E3 demo, those poor rookies were wearing body armor while their superiors were in archangel, ghost and psi armor! That's just mean, dude.
3153198 Well, in EU/EW, funds were gotten by putting up satellites. Maybe now it's "recruitment?" Get your own PR meter up to reclaim a Council nation (and access to their facilities for research/construction, perhaps), and 'base defense' may be like in Long War, where you defend hangars. Like basically you're starting Long War with all nations under alien control, and you have to win then back, I think. So, some more alien facility raids, and some hangar/base/facility defense akin to Terror Missions.
Also, I'd like for everyone who encounters someone who complains/whines/bitches about "whatta MEEEN we LOST!?" being canon:
Remind them of the Zelda timeline, and how much ass Link to the Past (and Link between Worlds) kicked in the Downfall timeline. Or hell, the Adult Timeline section of Ocarina: in both, Ganondorf won (at least initially).
I love the concept but I'm afraid of them either half-assing or outright ignoring the political aspects of running an insurgency. It takes a lot more than ambushing a few soldiers to wage an effective guerrilla campaign, let alone win one. I hope the developers watched Battle of Algiers or read Che Guevara's book or something.
Collateral damage should be interesting this time around. Any civy casualties will surely be blamed on "terrorists" by ADVENT propaganda and probably result in a penalty of some kind, right? However......history teaches us that guerrilla movements are not exactly....averse to civilian casualties. It can be a means to an end. Greater good n all. I doubt Firaxis is gonna have the brass balls to let you run X-COM like Hamas, but I hope they include some kind of moral idealist vs. brutal pragmatist options.
*gasp* M.E.C.s! *fan girl scream* YES! *Hyperventilating* I... j-just hope... they... will... *gasp* Oh dear Luna! *calming down* MAKE THEM PLAYER PLAYABLE! *faint*
BTW Arad? Would you mind If I asked you something? Please, are you going to add MELD based augmentation for Xcom soldiers in Mente Materia? Both mechanical and biological?
3153585
One of my theories for how alternate timelines could work for XCOM. Bear with me.
Jake Solomon's tweets about our psionic volunteers surviving the Temple Ship implosion plays a role in XCOM 2. Sure, we won in that timeline, but what about this one? Perhaps the Ethereals were able to send a message to themselves in this alternate universe saying "Yeah, forget the gradual invasion / research operations. Just drop Sectopods and Elite Mutons on them en masse. Don't give XCOM any chances."
And from there, we were decimated within the first month. Earth surrenders, XCOM goes underground, and the Ethereals have free reign to do as they please.
But how would the volunteer factor into this, you ask? Well, remember how the volunteer disappeared before the Temple Ship blew? My guess is he / she transcended their physical form, becoming akin to the True Ethereals from The Bureau : XCOM Declassified. And, according to one of the Ethereals of that game, there are multiple realities that they exist in.
Perhaps, as the Ethereals sent out their warning to themselves in this new timeline, the volunteer picked up on it and is trying to help somehow?
In any case, the media coverage is still early and there's a lot of story questions left to be filled in. I'm still hyped for the game. Just try to not let this timeline reset become a recurring theme for XCOM, Firaxis. Its bad enough when Samus loses all her gear in every new Metroid game. Let's at least give those starting rookies something with a little more punch than gunpowder peashooters.
Also: coincidentally related via Terror from the Deep
[youtube=WVTUwgYmZLg]
IT WORKS ON SO MANY GODDAMNED LEVELS
3153746
I am unsure about all of that stuff, but the Main Ethereal's on the Temple Ship straight up told you that they were fighting you and abducting people to force them to evolve psionically. They wanted a race that was both physically and mentally strong for "What lies ahead". For all we know, they were a fringe faction of the aliens, not the main fleet.
I'd say with the cover getting blown to hell it was probably just because of the demo to show stuff off unless mag weapons hurt the terrain more than others. Or maybe weapons get more defining characteristics... Also I want my MECs back thank you very much!
Looks very good so far! Also, Bradford is backi3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/978/860/5f6.jpg
I wonder if we'll see Shen and Vahlen again.