No hopes for XCOM

[EaglePryde]

Just my honest 2 cents

XCOM looks like a upgraded Mafia 2 game.

I really don't have any hopes for XCOM because nearly every new released Game nowadays get's some "fancy" stuff over the old successors and fails so badly that it hurts.

Nothing against the FPS part but couldn't 2k just take the old one and make in an FPS, if it has to be a FPS so badly.

not having the "-" in XCOM makes it viable to totaly take the X-COM name, rip it apart and put stuff in that don't have anything to do with X-COM.

1.) You may have a base...you could have that in dozen games..doesn't make it special..but X-COM always had "base building". I don't count enforcer/interceptor because they have proven to me how things can go wrong if you change a successfull game design. Seems also XCOM (enforcer 2) will fall vitim.

2.) No Geoscape..great...Maps from a part of a planet doesn't count nor will the missing ships and interception possibilities. Not even Transport abilities through a carrier plane..just some prehistoric car that possiblie goes to light speed to cover those great distances in short time.

3.) Tactical Squad Combat/Unit Equipment. So you have some "followers" sticking to you but without "cover this", "go there" through some area map and like in something similar to To Clancys Vegas this ain't do it. Are we even able to "loot" the enemy and use their stuff or do we stick out hands into blobs and wave our hands to a floating donut?

4.) Gone are the days of better armor and even flying abilities like in apocalypse. We are stripped naked and glued to the ground.

5.) No base assaults on our or the alien side..no alien UFO/Base interiors nor their high advanced technology. Maybe they add something similar but it won't be the same.

6.) No Alien planet raid..this would have been totaly cool like in Apocalypse but no..we can't even fly.

7.) No tanks and no customization for them.

8.) The timeline, the story..nothing is remotly similar to X-COM

9.) WE developed cars at that time who aren't faster than a tortoise and shotguns but play Einstein^100 now and understand and reproduce alien tech or atleast things to counter them...could someone explain to me why a high advanced alien race get's kicked in the butt by mafia looking guys? Let the invasion come...if some guys with shotguns can do it, we in our current stage of tech. will blast them into oblivion.

10.) Oh yeah..no soldier stats...in an FPS..why not make it coop then?..atleast there would be some guys who can actually shoot and do what you say or be a bit tactical..i don't trust the AI to be that smart.

Can anyone explain to me why'd they take the X-Com fanchise and turn it into this?

I also wouldn't take the "Street Fighter" franchise and remake them as an FPS with barbie dolls..what's next? nor would i remake "Super Mario" as an RTS with fluffy teddybears.

I would have taken the FPS part but every other change /strip down is really crossing the line.

I came back to see if there has been any change in mind to go the right direction or even some kind of apologizing for even remotly thinking that X-com fans will get along with this.
But no....just silence.

This is like being slapped in the face.

Honestly. Why doesn't anybody learn what happend in history? Even Square Enix took their highly successfull "Front Mission" franchise, turned it into an FPS and FAILED but in the end it was their franchise and it had a rather continuous release life and kicking 1 game doesn't hurt that much like waiting 10-16 years and kicking somthing that you didn't invent. And if true it will be PC and XBOX360...this smells even more like console port or dumped down game.

Edit: If this would have been a short intro story like roswell where you'd have your first encounter and the story continues in the prestent with an established X-COM that has research tech since the past it would be believable and i could live with it but if it stays like this...no thanks. I hope 2k takes their sweet time thinking and reconsiders so mabe there is still a "little hope" for them and their game. Otherwise i'd rather go with a X-Com similar game that doesn't have it's name.

[Nosmirc]

Hey now. FM Evolved was totally a third person affair

But that doesn't change the fact that it still sucked. From the story to the gameplay, it was a massive step backwards for the series. We're talking about a series that had a deep geopolitical set up, and the armed conflicts that invariable occurred, and turned it into a idiotic "oh no, some evil dude built a massive army with NO ONE NOTICING, took the world by storm, now the world nations must unite with super powered pilots to save the day, and everyone lived happily ever after!" storyline. There, I saved anyone who was curious about the game 60 bucks (or 10 if you rented it lol). There's even heroic sacrifices in the game, so you know it means business.

Anyways, on XCOM, I'm going to wait to see what they show us next, and hope that what they showed us last year was a hoax or something (or that they were actually receptive to people saying 'wtf this crap?', and retooled it to actually reflect X-Com) before I unleash another spat of 2k rage.

Although, just going back to Front Mission...I really really really wish devs and publishers would try to find a business model that doesn't REQUIRE Triple A titles. Front Mission and X-Com were both series that were highly praised, and shockingly (to some I guess, not to me), it was the turn based games in those series that get the most praise. There's probably a reason for that. But since turn based games are not conclusive to a Triple A market, that niche gets shafted.

Is it really too much to ask to research a niche, get some estimates of potential customers, and develop a game with a budget that takes that potential into account?

[Cpl_Facehugger]

Is it really too much to ask to research a niche, get some estimates of potential customers, and develop a game with a budget that takes that potential into account?

With services like steam for PC and xbox live arcade for consoles, I think we could see a revitalization of niche games like this. Cheap $10-20 games that can be put out there for pennies compared to retail to make some money on the side.

I doubt niche games like a real X-Com would end up being a major revenue stream for a big company like 2k, but they'd surely make a decent amount of money.

I mean, games like Recettear and the juggernaut that is Minecraft show that non-AAA titles can be large successes.

[Wonderboy2402]

The more time passes, the more I look to the indy devs to cater to my taste in games. They seem to be the ones actually innovating and creating interesting games.

With a game such as X-com, you REALLY are stepping on alot of peoples toes when you radicalize EVERYTHING that defined the game. I mean, I saw Fallout turned into some sort of RPG lite shooter... Games such as Dragon Age, a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate, that to me felt more like playing an MMO. I don't know, I am really terrified that XCOM is going this route and all evidence seems to point to it.

Heck, I wouldn't mind seeing a X-com FPS. In fact, I think it could be an awesome game if you are put in the shoes of one of those little named X-com soldiers and ordered to navigate a dark street as aliens lurk in every space and home, while the silhouette of their invasion craft sits eerily glowing in a darkened high grass field... Randomly generate mission parameters and building layouts, an expanded species of aliens with old and new, new alien tech to research. The chance to advance your character and earn higher rank with new special tech and available tactical options like intel for better deployment, orbital strikes, unit insertions on to roofs, light armor tank support, etc. Eventually, gaining high enough rank to gain full control of an X-com facility which let you call the shots and still participate in mission if you so desire.

But instead we have XCOM. 50's clothing and hats, 2 tons of detroit metal transport, shotguns and moloblobs.

Oh well, there is going to be an audible collective sigh and shaking heads from many of the fans.

[Nosmirc]

With services like steam for PC and xbox live arcade for consoles, I think we could see a revitalization of niche games like this. Cheap $10-20 games that can be put out there for pennies compared to retail to make some money on the side.

I doubt niche games like a real X-Com would end up being a major revenue stream for a big company like 2k, but they'd surely make a decent amount of money.

I mean, games like Recettear and the juggernaut that is Minecraft show that non-AAA titles can be large successes.

I actually just read a pretty good article on a somewhat related note.

The Pilot Paradigm

The chart at the bottom really highlights the case he's making too Organic chart

I think it's safe to say that 2k, along with EA and Activision, fit firmly in on the top half of that chart.

And after reading this, and a few other articles lately, the more I question the reasoning behind using the XCOM brand here. It's safe to say, with what they've presented to us, that this is, in fact, a brand new IP. So it's not being used to attract fans of the originals.

Since it has so little to do with X-Com, could that mean the use of the XCOM brand was used to 'ensure' that their new game would be approved?

[EaglePryde]

Imho if they want to make it an FPS it should be 1:1 the old X-COM game with the FPS part. I really don't care if they don't model real citys in 3D into the game. I'd go with complete randomized locations and citys. They could call it even "new earth" if they like.

They should add an inventory to every soldier and make you able to give them orders to pick something up and "carry" it back to your dropship. This would be such nice stuff to really be able to go through the exact same experience just in realtime FPS style.

They don't even have to scratch their heads that much....the perfect system is allready there. They just have to put it into XCOM. The could expand the old game through additional new enemies and more weapons+modifications.

If they'd pull it off this way, they sure would sell big time. And if XCOM would have 2 player coop too...very much a hord of people will gonna play it busting Aliens. Hard to make? no..Just a second player who can instantly teleport his troops to your base/transport while expanding his bases etc...oh well..i'm just dreaming.

X-COM has such a good strong system that can easily be expanded in any way you want if you don't kill the core of it.

[Brian Damage]

And after reading this, and a few other articles lately, the more I question the reasoning behind using the XCOM brand here. It's safe to say, with what they've presented to us, that this is, in fact, a brand new IP. So it's not being used to attract fans of the originals.

Since it has so little to do with X-Com, could that mean the use of the XCOM brand was used to 'ensure' that their new game would be approved?

I've been thinking, and I don't remember if I've said this before, but could the entire "Hurriedly slap the name on a new IP" thing be due to an impending trademark lapse? I'm admittedly shakey on the law, but I seem to recall hearing somewhere that if a trademark goes unused for long enough then it becomes harder to defend infringements in court, especially if others have been using said trademark unopposed for a certain period of time. Maybe someone who's got a deeper knowledge of IP law could clue me in on the rightness or wrongess of that...

[Nosmirc]

Well, that's the reason why you see Captain Marvel show up every few years after dying in Marvel Comics. Mar-Vel and Jean Grey seem to be in competition to see who can die the most lol.

So it's not out of the question by any means.

[AlphaCent]

Lol, if that's the case then the industry can just go to hell!