Xcom feature in PC Gamer

[SectoidSquisher]

I can't find it online, but in this month's issue (UK - issue 237, March 2012), there's a feature on Xcom, where a PC Gamer writer gets to see the game in action.

First off, I reckon the starting number of troops is six - not four, because it mentions that you can pick up to six of your best soldiers to fight the UFO crew on the ground. Given this is a preview for PC Gamer, I don't think it's likely that they'd be showing them a late game, or even mid game mission - surely it would be an early game mission? If that's the case, six is the starting number, not four. If that is accurate, that means we can have three x two fire teams, which works for me personally.

It also appears that the 'ant farm' is also the game's menu. So if you want to look at research, you no longer click on 'research', you click on the lab and the camera 'swoops in close to show you the inside of your laboratory'. Each room functions the way the old Xcom menu system did, so to name and manage your troops, you go to the barracks, to launch interceptions, you go to the hangar and so on. Personally, I love that - it sounds as though it'll make the game immersive at all times.

The Muton has a special ability - it

'beats its chest to panic the inexperienced rookie'.

'Almost instantly, one of Jake's recruits spots a couple of Sectoids. We're introduced to them by a short ingame engine cutscene'.

That's bound to annoy some people here, but I'm sure there will be a way to turn them off.

There's quite a lot of info in here - anyone has questions, post them and I'll try to find a relevant quote in the magazine.

[Gen_Pho]

I can't find it online, but in this month's issue (UK - issue 237, March 2012), there's a feature on Xcom, where a PC Gamer writer gets to see the game in action.

First off, I reckon the starting number of troops is six - not four, because it mentions that you can pick up to six of your best soldiers to fight the UFO crew on the ground. Given this is a preview for PC Gamer, I don't think it's likely that they'd be showing them a late game, or even mid game mission - surely it would be an early game mission? If that's the case, six is the starting number, not four. If that is accurate, that means we can have three x two fire teams, which works for me personally.

It also appears that the 'ant farm' is also the game's menu. So if you want to look at research, you no longer click on 'research', you click on the lab and the camera 'swoops in close to show you the inside of your laboratory'. Each room functions the way the old Xcom menu system did, so to name and manage your troops, you go to the barracks, to launch interceptions, you go to the hangar and so on. Personally, I love that - it sounds as though it'll make the game immersive at all times.

The Muton has a special ability - it


That's bound to annoy some people here, but I'm sure there will be a way to turn them off.

There's quite a lot of info in here - anyone has questions, post them and I'll try to find a relevant quote in the magazine.

I wonder if the cutscene is just the first time you the alien ever in the game, or first time in the mission. If it is the first time in the whole game ever I wouldn't mind, it could be a cool way to be introduced to the new species.

[Brian Damage]

I just hope it's not like UFO: Aftermath.

"There's one, over there!"

Slow zoom-and-rotate

"I see one!"

Slow zoom-and-rotate

"An alien!"

Slow zoom-and-rotate

"There's one over there!"

Slow zoom and rotate...

They'll probably not make that mistake, though. It's the action cams I'm worried about. I hope there's a toggle.

[SectoidSquisher]

I just hope it's not like UFO: Aftermath.

"There's one, over there!"

Slow zoom-and-rotate

"I see one!"

Slow zoom-and-rotate

"An alien!"

Slow zoom-and-rotate

"There's one over there!"

Slow zoom and rotate...

I hear you. Wasn't there a way to turn that off? I only saw it in the demo, it's one of the things that put me off the game. Not the main thing, but it was a factor.

Edit:

After watching Jake play the game, a lot of my fears about it have been put to rest. It looks like Xcom. Still, I'm nervous.

That bit then follows on into the bit about the PC interface - that's what he was nervous about.

My anticipation for the game has just skyrocketed. In the past, there have been very few occasions where I've disagreed with PC Gamer.

[Brian Damage]

I hear you. Wasn't there a way to turn that off? I only saw it in the demo, it's one of the things that put me off the game. Not the main thing, but it was a factor.

It's been ages since I played, but I seem to recall the only options were between "No alerts", "Near-useless alerts" (we've seen an alien but we won't tell you immediately where it is - you'll have to ask us to) and "Annoying alerts" (we've found an alien and we're going to force you to spend three seconds looking at it). But the game had crap performance on my computer back then, didn't like my graphics card, and kept crashing, so if there were other options I might have failed to find them due to not wanting to risk perturbing the engine any more than I had to. I definitely preferred the later two games, Afterlight especially, though by that point they were quite distantly removed from their original inspiration, so they don't really scratch "the X-Com itch" for me.

I'm liking the sound of that!

Edit: I'm beginning to think that because you can zoom into each room in the base, it might be not entirely unlike watching a brief, simplistic, but interesting and entertaining scene from The Sims play out. That's my impression, but I might be wrong. Either way, it's got to be better than a sterile static screen, eh?

I'd say most of the ant farm stuff will be seen from slightly further away - remember that the actual interface screens we've seen for character customisation and research were rather single-focus, with only one obvious "character" in view.

[SectoidSquisher]

No, I wouldn't mind either. It reminds me of when you meet a new enemy in Doom 3 and I liked that.

Here's a bit I like:

'I asked Jake afterwards if the user interface would be the same across PC and console. He laughed.
"No, no, no. Noooo. Oh man, no".
-So that's a no?
-We wouldn't do that do you, are you kidding?

[coyote_blue]

Thanks for the heads up, Squisher.

If they just have the "movement speed" option from Enemy Unknown, that'll let you burn through lookit-this-neat-power animations, like the reaction shots did in the original.

[SectoidSquisher]

Jake keeps going before I even get the chance to ask about mods. "Because it's on Unreal Engine 3 too, the idea is that there's the ability for modability. It won't be anything we're committing to for release, but it's very, very easy using Unreal titles to then give people access to the scripts."

I'd bet on mod tools three months after release. And mods to increase the battlefield soldier count and remove those incredibly brief cutscenes, oh, about twelve seconds after that.

I'm liking the sound of that!

Edit: I'm beginning to think that because you can zoom into each room in the base, it might be not entirely unlike watching a brief, simplistic, but interesting and entertaining scene from The Sims play out. That's my impression, but I might be wrong. Either way, it's got to be better than a sterile static screen, eh?

Interesting fact from the PC gamer issue: UFO Enemy Unknown was rebranded as 'Xcom' in the US to capitalise on the popularity of The X-Files. So there you have it, that's how 'X-Com' the brand was born. It also settles the argument over what came first as far as naming goes.

[Cpl_Facehugger]

I'm liking the sound of that!

So am I. Oh yes.

I just want Firaxis to commit to it instead of just being wink wink nudge nudge.

[Brian Damage]

[Moved from a late edit]: On the modding, I'm not sure where the article writer is pulling those numbers from (Solomon even says they're not committing to it for release, and doesn't say when they do think they'll be able to do it), but I do hope they can get all the legal wrangling and stuff sorted out. I feel this game is going to need a few mods before I and certain others will be happy with it, and I hope we can thus encourage Firaxis to add a little more crunchiness to any sequels.

Not sure I like the focus on individual soldiers and what it may represent. I want a soldier to be a favourite tool that may get broken, not a favourite RPG character that the game will be practically encouraging me to hold a funeral for.

[SectoidSquisher]

I've just noticed one of the screenshots - you can make the female soldiers look hot.

Speaking of customisation, here's a little snippet which shows that the relationship between you and your troops will be even more personal:

He's now your favourite toy out of all your toy soldiers. You've thought about him as much as you have your Khajiit in Skyrim, or your monk in Diablo III. Remember that. We'll come back to Popeye Doyle in a moment.

Later in the preview, the writer asks you to imagine that 'Popeye' gets killed and goes on a long lament of what-ifs. Gimme this game now, man!!!!!

Edit: Running around and making a lot of noise can alert the aliens - so moving slowly can have its uses.

Hmm. One slight negative: it appears the camera not only zooms in whenever you see a new species (don't mind) but also for each kill. Off switch please, Firaxis - we may or may not like that and for those who don't, we need the option to turn it off.

[Aknazer]

Off-topic in regards to XCOM, but relating to PC Gamer. The most recent copy of it I saw in the US had a "Top 100 games ever list" only to turn around and not have XCOM on the list and to say that it only represents games that are good to play nowadays and ignores nostalgia or what a game might have done for a genre. How can it be top 100 ever if they don't consider the effects the game had on the genre, and how can they say that XCOM isn't in the top 100 nowadays?!?! I sure don't still play it cuz of the "nostalgia" factor!

[Cpl_Facehugger]

Off-topic in regards to XCOM, but relating to PC Gamer. The most recent copy of it I saw in the US had a "Top 100 games ever list" only to turn around and not have XCOM on the list and to say that it only represents games that are good to play nowadays and ignores nostalgia or what a game might have done for a genre. How can it be top 100 ever if they don't consider the effects the game had on the genre, and how can they say that XCOM isn't in the top 100 nowadays?!?! I sure don't still play it cuz of the "nostalgia" factor!

I dunno. I mean, X-COM still routinely gets on other top 10 lists, much less top 100 ones. IGN's lists come to mind most prominently, but there are others too.

[SectoidSquisher]

Odd. It's still on the UK's top 100 list.

[Aknazer]

I dunno. I mean, X-COM still routinely gets on other top 10 lists, much less top 100 ones. IGN's lists come to mind most prominently, but there are others too.

At Wal-Mart like three days ago was when I was looking at the PC Gamer magazine and ya it wasn't listed AT ALL in their top 100. It made me put the mag down and just shake my head.

[SectoidSquisher]

Uh-oh guys - major negative.

I've just reread the article and saw this:

He only has four along for this mission. With research, that can be upgraded to a maximum of six.

At least it looks likely we'll be able to mod it - on PC at least. So, it would appear that four is the starting point after all. Let's hope the modders can do something about that - but that it doesn't somehow unbalance the game to change those numbers.

I'm still very excited about the game though. Sure, we won't be commanding big squads any more (mods withstanding), but the idea of a 'squad based' Xcom - similar to Rainbow Six or suchlike really appeals.

[Brian Damage]

Uh-oh guys - major negative.

I've just reread the article and saw this:



At least it looks likely we'll be able to mod it - on PC at least. So, it would appear that four is the starting point after all. Let's hope the modders can do something about that - but that it doesn't somehow unbalance the game to change those numbers.

I'm still very excited about the game though. Sure, we won't be commanding big squads any more (mods withstanding), but the idea of a 'squad based' Xcom - similar to Rainbow Six or suchlike really appeals.

Even if it unbalances the game, I'm certain we can just re-balance everything that gets broken... maybe take some of the focus off perks-as-abilities and make most of them just have passive effects*, kinda like I feel Firaxis should have been doing from the get go. This feels more and more like an RPG skirmish game. A simplified small squad game like this would have been better as a side game, possibly a linear sequence of missions like Rebelstar raiders, especially if they wanted to focus on characters as much as they seem to.

I think this game just went down to "buy only when modding is fully supported" for me.

*With the inevitable AP/TU mod: Extra actions, cheaper actions, increased move, dodge bonus for less likelihood of being hit while moving, stealthy movment, able to fire at things outside your line of sight etc. All stuff that just allows you to do more with what you've got, like the items of the old games, rather than trying to make everything an action with a cooldown to keep track of.

[Cpl_Facehugger]

A maximum of six? As in, six for the whole game? Two teams of three or three pairs?

Well crap. That's worse than the UFO: After<xxxx> games.

I mean, UFO: ET had the starting transport with six guys and I always rush to the larger transport because I can't stand working with so few guys.

Major downer. Still probably going to buy since it has everything else I want, but that's very sad.

[Aknazer]

Honestly, hearing that the starting size is 4 and it can be upgraded to a whopping 6 really sucks a lot of my enthusism for the game out. I'll still get the game and I'm sure I'll still enjoy it, but I know I won't enjoy it as much. Controlling 4-6 is NOT controlling an army, and that was part of the joy for me. And having a max size of 4-6 in a non-FPS tactical setting just doesn't feel like XCOM to me. Sure it worked for Interceptor, but I didn't really like the small squad sizes in that game either and it's part of the reason I rarely play Interceptor.

Starting with 4, but being able to buy an additional 2 soldiers for the starting craft similar to how the original Skyranger had 8 soldiers and you had to buy the extra 6 to fill it up, followed by allowing you to eventually upgrade to 12 would have been better to me. But 4-6 is really just crap in my opinion.

[Nosmirc]

Controlling 4-6 is NOT controlling an army, and that was part of the joy for me.

I've seen comments like that come up from time to time in the last few weeks, and I gotta say...I never felt like that when playing X-Com. X-Com has always been a specicalized strike team for me.

Myself, it's not that huge of a deal for me, really, especially if it'll be easily moddable like Solomon is hinting at. Probably play it a few times with the normal cap, then go for a more comfortable 8-10 (really don't want to command more then that, IMO) once the modding is supported.

I've just noticed one of the screenshots - you can make the female soldiers look hot.

That settles it. I shall have an all women's squad of hotness called Valkyrie Squad

[Aknazer]

I've seen comments like that come up from time to time in the last few weeks, and I gotta say...I never felt like that when playing X-Com. X-Com has always been a specicalized strike team for me.

Myself, it's not that huge of a deal for me, really, especially if it'll be easily moddable like Solomon is hinting at. Probably play it a few times with the normal cap, then go for a more comfortable 8-10 (really don't want to command more then that, IMO) once the modding is supported.



That settles it. I shall have an all women's squad of hotness called Valkyrie Squad

It depends on how the controls work for how many soldiers I use. In the not-very-tactical EU/TFTD games I usually start with 6-8 per mission just because tactics aren't very important while accuracy and saving TUs is and the controls are horrible for controlling multiple people. But in Apoc I regularly use 12-20+ soldiers because the controls are so much better for controlling squads; and so long as you don't go the Toxin Type-C route then you actually want more people and your tactics matter more (The toxin is so powerful that a single soldier can easily drop a squad of 4-6 aliens thanks to it's machine-gun speed and heavy plasma level damage). If one goes the toxin route then it becomes more of a challenge to see how few troops you can use to beat missions.

[SectoidSquisher]

I've seen comments like that come up from time to time in the last few weeks, and I gotta say...I never felt like that when playing X-Com. X-Com has always been a specicalized strike team for me.

Same here - when I'm playing Total War, I feel like I'm controlling a whole army. When I play Xcom, Special Forces springs to mind - small, contained units. Well now they're going to be even smaller and even more contained, but having said that I would still prefer a slightly larger number and I'm glad that mods shouldn't be much of a problem.

That settles it. I shall have an all women's squad of hotness called Valkyrie Squad

But of course - it would be rude not to!

[Cpl_Facehugger]

Yeah. I never really got the sense I was commanding any great number of guys - most of the time I used 10-~12 at the most. The others are just reserves who chill in the skyranger unless I start suffering casualties.

That being said, six guys is way too few. I don't really care if each one has all sorts of special abilities and such, I need warm bodies to throw at the aliens and scout the map, and to absorb the inevitable casualties from me making a mistake somehow. Six warm bodies isn't enough. Twelve is pushing it, because I like to have reserves.

The good thing is that it should be modable. I'll admit this really cools my enthusiasm.

Still a day 1 purchase... But sad.

[OldManBrian]

About the squad size, I'll repeat what I said in the other thread:

I think the original X-Com is like the movie Aliens, a large, inexperienced squad that gets extremely high casualties trying to combat an unknown alien threat. All the soldiers have a similar skillset and are fairly interchangeable as far as abilities go.

The new XCom is like the movie Predator, an elite 6 man squad that STILL gets extremely high casualties trying to combat an unknown alien threat. Each soldier is pretty unique and has their own abilities and skillsets.

Based on what Solomon has said, while I don't think the casualties will match the original in numbers, I think they will be similar in percentages.


From what's been said, you WILL have reserves, but they will be back at base. Instead of having a skyranger half full of troops for reserves, you'll have to pull your team back and retreat if you get overwhelmed, instead of having half your team sit the mission out and wait to be "tagged in" after someone dies.

[Cpl_Facehugger]

Based on what Solomon has said, while I don't think the casualties will match the original in numbers, I think they will be similar in percentages.

Unpossible. Player errors are far more punishing since each guy represents a much higher proportion of the squad - if the player makes the same number of errors between games, they'll suffer a greater loss in total squad firepower.

From what's been said, you WILL have reserves, but they will be back at base. Instead of having a skyranger half full of troops for reserves, you'll have to pull your team back and retreat if you get overwhelmed, instead of having half your team sit the mission out and wait to be "tagged in" after someone dies.

Which means they aren't actually reserves. Seriously, the whole point behind reserves is so you can take casualties in a mission and still complete the mission without having to abuse save/reload. Having 9999 guys back at base doesn't strictly matter.

[OldManBrian]

Unpossible. Player errors are far more punishing since each guy represents a much higher proportion of the squad - if the player makes the same number of errors between games, they'll suffer a greater loss in total squad firepower.

In the original it was EASY to accidentally get your guys killed. No cover systems, misguaging TUs, soldiers who can't shoot straight, and general UI limitations caused the majority of soldier deaths in the original game.

Which means they aren't actually reserves. Seriously, the whole point behind reserves is so you can take casualties in a mission and still complete the mission without having to abuse save/reload. Having 9999 guys back at base doesn't strictly matter.

From what they said you can and will take casualties and still be able to finish the mission. Like I said, think more in terms of the movie predator instead of the movie aliens.

[Cpl_Facehugger]

In the original it was EASY to accidentally get your guys killed. No cover systems, misguaging TUs, soldiers who can't shoot straight, and general UI limitations caused the majority of soldier deaths in the original game.

I'm not convinced. With me the majority of deaths came from misclicks or the aliens catching me by surprise as I advance from cover to cover.

From what they said you can and will take casualties and still be able to finish the mission. Like I said, think more in terms of the movie predator instead of the movie aliens.

You could still theoretically finish the mission with one guy with 1 HP left. What's needed is some way to make it so players are less compelled to save/reload. In UFO: Afterxxxx, you had ~7 guys and if you lost one, you generally reloaded because you'd put so much time and effort into leveling them up via an RPG-esque syste- Oh hey there perks. Seriously though, losing even one guy was a crippling blow.

The original got around this by making guys valuable, but not too valuable. This game is clearly going for the UFO: AFterxxxx game route, which is extremely unfortunate since the number one biggest problem with those games was how few guys you had.

[ShanDaMan]

Wasn't there a mention in the GI article about researching bigger craft? Is 6 the limit UNTIL you research a bigger craft or AFTER you do? It seems silly that the scientists come out with "The Lightning - Featuring 2 more seats!".

[Aknazer]

Wasn't there a mention in the GI article about researching bigger craft? Is 6 the limit UNTIL you research a bigger craft or AFTER you do? It seems silly that the scientists come out with "The Lightning - Featuring 2 more seats!".

According to the UK PC Gamer 6 is the max later in the game and 4 is all you can have at the start.

[SectoidSquisher]

Wasn't there a mention in the GI article about researching bigger craft? Is 6 the limit UNTIL you research a bigger craft or AFTER you do? It seems silly that the scientists come out with "The Lightning - Featuring 2 more seats!".

Yeah, I agree that it is a very strange decision to have six as the absolute limit, especially taking what you mentioned there into account. Thank God for mods, that's all I can say. They've improved so many games over the years - games that would've been on the shelf a long time ago without them.

From what's been said, you WILL have reserves, but they will be back at base. Instead of having a skyranger half full of troops for reserves, you'll have to pull your team back and retreat if you get overwhelmed, instead of having half your team sit the mission out and wait to be "tagged in" after someone dies.

The ability to call in reinforcements? I didn't see that anywhere in the PC Gamer article - where did you see that?

[OldManBrian]

The ability to call in reinforcements? I didn't see that anywhere in the PC Gamer article - where did you see that?

Nah I didn't mean you'd be able to call them in, just that you'd have guys waiting back at base to replace casualties and switch out between missions. You don't just have six guys and thats it, you have a bunch of soldiers at base that can be rotated out for different squad makeups, and choose up to 6 to go on missions. As a result, there certainly will be times you're going to have to book it back to the skyranger or face a complete squad wipeout. Whereas in the original you could have a bunch of guys sitting around in the skyranger, waiting to replace someone. Personally I think forcing the player to pull back is more realistic and less cheesy than just having a mass of soldiers waiting in the skyranger.

[Gen_Pho]

Wasn't there a mention in the GI article about researching bigger craft? Is 6 the limit UNTIL you research a bigger craft or AFTER you do? It seems silly that the scientists come out with "The Lightning - Featuring 2 more seats!".

That's how I read the line too. Why would they bother implement a mechanic for of "researching to increase squad size" if you can only do it once and it only increases the squad by 2. Let's give Firaxis a little more benefit of the doubt here.

[anotherdevil]

That's how I read the line too. Why would they bother implement a mechanic for of "researching to increase squad size" if you can only do it once and it only increases the squad by 2. Let's give Firaxis a little more benefit of the doubt here.

Why? We've been waiting for weeks for more word, and now they've given it to us. So why give them more benefit of the doubt? If they are being misleading or ambiguous that's hardly our fault

[Alucardex]

Why? We've been waiting for weeks for more word, and now they've given it to us. So why give them more benefit of the doubt? If they are being misleading or ambiguous that's hardly our fault

The game is still half a year from release, so they don't know what will be in the final release yet. If they start giving away all the details about the current version people will go crazy if the final version is any different.

[SectoidSquisher]

In the states it basically means goofy or silly.

It can also mean making something easy. .

OK, thanks for the heads up, American friends.

The original didn't get around this at all!
I bet half of the people playing the old X-Com were reloading too, if their favorite soldiers died in a mission.
What exactly is the problem with that? People will play however they want and noone forces you to reload it's just an option.

Nope. If one of my best troopers died, I winced, I felt the loss - but I sucked it up and carried on with who was left. Reloading? Pah!!! I hope the new game has a proper 'Iron Man' mode where you can't revive a dead veteran in this way.

That's how I read the line too. Why would they bother implement a mechanic for of "researching to increase squad size" if you can only do it once and it only increases the squad by 2. Let's give Firaxis a little more benefit of the doubt here.

I hope you're right. Either way, the unit cap is not going to spoil the game for me even if it can't be modded, but I would prefer a few more squad members.

The game is still half a year from release, so they don't know what will be in the final release yet. If they start giving away all the details about the current version people will go crazy if the final version is any different.

Yeah, talking about things that need sorting out? I hope someone from Firaxis reads this - sort out the spelling of some words, guys! It's 'Squaddie'. Not 'Squadie'.

[Guesswho]

Why? We've been waiting for weeks for more word, and now they've given it to us. So why give them more benefit of the doubt? If they are being misleading or ambiguous that's hardly our fault

I’m not sure how familiar you are with a concept called marketing.
Basically the way it works is this: Give details, Let people stew and chew and eat and discuss and generate hype. When the buzz dies down, give another morsel of detail, and let people stew, chew, eat, discuss and generate more hype. At trade shows, (E3 and the like) reveal a bigger piece. This way keeps the discussion of the games alive.

Now knowing that, I’m a hundred percent sure that there are more than 3 species of aliens. So if there are more than 3 species of aliens, does that mean there could be more features they haven’t revealed to us? We are more than 9 months from release. I’m sure that there will a lot more features, and details revealed.

[Aknazer]

I’m not sure how familiar you are with a concept called marketing.
Basically the way it works is this: Give details, Let people stew and chew and eat and discuss and generate hype. When the buzz dies down, give another morsel of detail, and let people stew, chew, eat, discuss and generate more hype. At trade shows, (E3 and the like) reveal a bigger piece. This way keeps the discussion of the games alive.

Now knowing that, I’m a hundred percent sure that there are more than 3 species of aliens. So if there are more than 3 species of aliens, does that mean there could be more features they haven’t revealed to us? We are more than 9 months from release. I’m sure that there will a lot more features, and details revealed.

And that is giving them a free pass and not voicing concerns until it is too late. Better to say something and find out later that its a non-issue than to wait and find out is is an issue once its too late to do anything about it.

[anotherdevil]

I’m not sure how familiar you are with a concept called marketing.
Basically the way it works is this: Give details, Let people stew and chew and eat and discuss and generate hype. When the buzz dies down, give another morsel of detail, and let people stew, chew, eat, discuss and generate more hype. At trade shows, (E3 and the like) reveal a bigger piece. This way keeps the discussion of the games alive.

Now knowing that, I’m a hundred percent sure that there are more than 3 species of aliens. So if there are more than 3 species of aliens, does that mean there could be more features they haven’t revealed to us? We are more than 9 months from release. I’m sure that there will a lot more features, and details revealed.

Yeah I am actually. But if you read my post and what it was referring to you'll see that I was simply stating that I don't think we should give the devs more 'benefit of the doubt' as to their changes, as we've been waiting for their explanations.

I wasn't asking for more tasty morsels at all, just clarification. Maybe read the posts you're replying to? =p

[bcraigpow]

That's how I read the line too. Why would they bother implement a mechanic for of "researching to increase squad size" if you can only do it once and it only increases the squad by 2. Let's give Firaxis a little more benefit of the doubt here.

Wrong. You hope for a certain answer and attempt to bend statements to fit your desired answer. What we know: Have seen examples of 4 squad missions. Firaxis themselves said 4 to start with being able to increase "final numbers not decided) - and now an article by someone who was with them, got to see it played, and asked lots of Q's and article says, "Up to 6". Meaning up to six.. meaning less than six but can go up to six.

The fact that you give your squad members perks (RPGesque) and can MODIFY THEIR APPEARANCE all leans toward significant time investment. It would be a waste to put all that effort into disposable soldiers. Only is rewarded if those soldiers are your core and stick around long enough for the investment to pay off.

[Brian Damage]

Also no "physics system". Which implies no collision system, which in turn implies no possibility for an inaccurately-thrown grenade to bounce off something in its path, but then, I'm betting grenades will just go exactly where you aim them in this game anyway, more's the pity.