Psy Guy
04-03-2008, 03:35 PM
I'm a huge fan of the series (despite the butchering that hasbro did to it) and the idea of the resurrection of x-com actually brings me great joy. I wanted to post here some of my perspectives on what makes x-com one of the greats and what aspects of the game i would like to see carried on into a modern era x-com and hopefully others can add there own feelings about the series in the hope that if 2K is working on the series that maybe these ideas and feelings/experiences will make it a stronger game can match and maybe even surpass the original.
I feel that its important to look into what UFO Defense did well and more importantly what Apoc tried to do to improve the original (despite its weak success). The core game of UFO Defense was its merger of 3 aspects (if not genres). The 1st base/geoscape/interception gameplay (strong empire building genre appeal), 2nd was the tactical strategy gameplay on the ground (battlescape), and the 3rd was the soldier/RPG stat aspect. While the geoscape and battlescape formed the focus of the gameplay, the RPG character like soldiers allowed for a deeper and more personal game experiance for the player. Intead of having a basic boring "rifleman", you have Capt. Bob Johnson with his own list of stats, kills, missions, and in the back of your mind a story. While mechanicly the game's recruitment system doesn't make anything more than a random sprite with a random name and stats. The experiance you have while using your soldiers and seeing them develop from a half blind rookie who can't carry a rifle and 2 gernades without being sluggish into a veteran who has grown into a hardened soldier who has lead countless ufo clearings and made it out alive of some very dicie situations. I feel that when a game can make you care about a randomly generated sprite with no real history, no predetermined personality and feel anguish when he/she dies is a sign of a great game. No game in todays market can make me care as much about a random unit as x-com can. (think about in halo, do you really care if the marine riding shotgun in your warthog takes a beam rifle shot to the head?).
This is just one of the many aspects that seperates x-com (in my mind) from many of the other games. I would like to see/hear what other people who has played the x-com games feel makes there experiance with this series diffrent than many of the other games out there.
I feel that its important to look into what UFO Defense did well and more importantly what Apoc tried to do to improve the original (despite its weak success). The core game of UFO Defense was its merger of 3 aspects (if not genres). The 1st base/geoscape/interception gameplay (strong empire building genre appeal), 2nd was the tactical strategy gameplay on the ground (battlescape), and the 3rd was the soldier/RPG stat aspect. While the geoscape and battlescape formed the focus of the gameplay, the RPG character like soldiers allowed for a deeper and more personal game experiance for the player. Intead of having a basic boring "rifleman", you have Capt. Bob Johnson with his own list of stats, kills, missions, and in the back of your mind a story. While mechanicly the game's recruitment system doesn't make anything more than a random sprite with a random name and stats. The experiance you have while using your soldiers and seeing them develop from a half blind rookie who can't carry a rifle and 2 gernades without being sluggish into a veteran who has grown into a hardened soldier who has lead countless ufo clearings and made it out alive of some very dicie situations. I feel that when a game can make you care about a randomly generated sprite with no real history, no predetermined personality and feel anguish when he/she dies is a sign of a great game. No game in todays market can make me care as much about a random unit as x-com can. (think about in halo, do you really care if the marine riding shotgun in your warthog takes a beam rifle shot to the head?).
This is just one of the many aspects that seperates x-com (in my mind) from many of the other games. I would like to see/hear what other people who has played the x-com games feel makes there experiance with this series diffrent than many of the other games out there.