I'm curious what other , turn based tactical strategy games people are playing.
As a long time fan of XCOM (I had the original box and disks until just recently), I've really enjoyed Jagged Alliance 2, Fallout Tactics and Silent Storm. What other similar games can likewise fans recommend to keep me busy over the fall?
Cheers
Sam
Those three are part of the reason why I'm considering a Windows laptop right now - too much of a pain to get things working on a Mac.
Brigade E5 and Hired Guns come to mind.
Both are far more simplistic than JA as far as actions and item choices go and one of them has a grueling localisation. (forgot which)
They may keep you entertained for a few days, though.
Think one of them has a sequel by now. More of the same.
I heard far more bad than good about JABIA. They are hinting that they might add a fog of war to their "tactical game" in a future patch.
Seriously guys? You. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me.
Of course there's UFO:Extraterrestrials. Straight X-Com clone but it just doesn't tickle me right. I think it's the sterile graphics. The equipment screen armour graphics are especially terrible.
Brigade E5, JA Back in Action, UFO Extraterrestrial and so forth are NOT tactical, turn-based. There are several others of these games (they try to ‘modernize’ tactical games, or so they wish), which are not worthy the few dollars they cost now.
I haven’t played Hired Guns, so I will try that.
The reality is that there are not enough of good turn-based tactical games. The original X-Com, JA, and Silent Storm series were wonderful, and one could wonder why there are no more of those. I recently tried Star Sentinel Tactics, which would be a nice attempt to emulate the great classics, but a host of bugs and poor map design make this game merely tolerable.
This is why I have to think a bit out of the box and recommending 2 games that are not strictly conventional, but they are both filling my game time and will do so for the months to come: Combat Mission (the original is still pretty good, there is also a new version now available) and Valkyria Chronicles (PS3 only, unfortunately).
Combat Mission is not strictly a tactical games, sometimes the scope is a bit larger, but it plays and feels like one. Realistic, engaging, almost endless ways to reply missions. Do not be scared by the War-game look, it is really as enjoyable as JA.
Valkyria Chronicles is more of a stretch. Console only, for starter (I do NOT play console games, I bought PS3 just for this game), with all the limitations coming with it. Also, the story and setting (anime like) are really, well, for kids. That said, when you actually play the missions you will be in heaven. Destructible 3D environment, tanks, weapon customization, fog of war, environmental effects (e.g., night mission with limited visibility), incredibly interesting and strategic maps. If you can pass on all the ‘consolite’ characteristics, there is a very deep and rewarding turn-based, tactical game at the core. If the new XCOM will implement just half of the goodies in this game, I will be incredibly happy.
I used to play a WWII tactical turn based game called soldiers at war that was pretty fun. I don't know if it is possible to find it anymore though.
I really don't want strategy games, I want alien invasion games. So, I'm going to be playing XCOM Classic, TFtD, and Apocalypse.
I'm curious. How is UFO ET not a tactical turn based game? It literally copies the gameplay from the original X-Com, save for art assets and air combat (both of which didn't really work for me)Originally Posted by mbpopolano24
wat. You obviously never played UFO:ET if you seriously think this.UFO Extraterrestrial and so forth are NOT tactical, turn-based.
UFO: Extraterrestrials is the closest any game's gotten to recapturing the feeling of the original X-Com. It wasn't perfect, but it wasn't terrible, either.
Another XCOM-type game I'm really looking forward to:
http://www.xenonauts.com/category/screenshot-gallery/
Not sure about the two you mention, but 7.62 Hich Calibre (Brigade E6) with the Blue Sun Mod is definitely worth a look for any JA2 fan. It's Pausable Real Time, but it ends up playing a lot like TBS with the smart pauses.
As an actual owner of JABIA i got downright depressed once i found out i couldn't make my own custom merc.
Haven't mustered the courage to even try the game after that horribly dissapointing revelation.
Tried the demo and didn't like their new pseudo-real-time mechanic.
A friend of mine bought the game and he complained about the difficulty being all over the place. One mission it's laughably easy and the next the game is nearly unbeatable.
Is it out then ? I didn't know they'd released it. I thought they've only released the demo.
Has been out since february.
I played about 4 minutes of the demo and wasn't impressed at all... Glad I didn't waste anymore time.
What a pity that there are no other examples of this genre of game... this definitely represents a huge gap in the market.
IMO JA:BIA is not worthy of the JA name and worth maybe 10$. Wish I hadn't purchased it.
And unfortunately it is one of the reasons I remain skeptical of this X-com "Re-imagining"
Might be easier if I just list off what I'm gonna play in general. These are what come to mind after a minute of thinking...
- Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion (I loved the first one and have all the mini-expansions)
- Legend of Grimrock (hells yeah this kind of game needs to make a comeback)
- Diablo III (gonna play the hell out of this; big fan of the first two)
- Torchlight II (I liked the first one and hey, $20 can't be beat for what you get)
- Orcs Must Die! 2 (my fiancé liked the first one; when I told her about the co-op and female playable character, she was the happiest I'd seen her all week; she all ready wants to lock our Halloween costumes as the Battle Mage and Sorceress; no, this is not where I got my online name from; I've had it for nearly a decade, but it works out awesome that way)
- FTL: Faster Than Light (best $25 I've ever spent and I haven't even played it yet; this is one of the games I've wanted to play for years)
The following as well, should they release before X-Com: EU
- Bioshock: Infinite (I loved the first one and I know this one will be just as incredible)
- Dishonored (I love first person RPG style games in the line of Deus Ex where you are given multiple ways to handle things and the original setting intrigues me.)
- Borderlands 2 (I sank hours upon hours into the first one; I love the quirkiness of the setting and the nonstop loot haul of awesome guns. The newly announced DLC character class has also compelled me to preorder)
- Assassin's Creed III (They lost me halfway through Brotherhood; I do love a period piece and the setting and character change will do it some good. Revolutionary America is my third favorite historic period piece setting behind Meiji Restoration Japan and World War II ETO)
... good thing I have a job. That's one hell of a list.
Thanks Battlemage, but I really want to keep the focus of this thread on Tactical turn-based games (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turn-based_tactics). I was really hoping for some recommendations on other games I missed...
Easy-
Combat Mission 2: Normandy (and Commonwealth Forces, just released). Realistic. Brilliant tactical turn based game, at its best vs another human player. Certainly trains you on fog of war, suppression, movement, etc.
I'm curious that no one have ever mentioned the UFO trilogy in this topic:
UFO: Aftermath, UFO: Aftershock and UFO: Afterlight.
I really would recommend trying out UFO: Afterlight if you guys haven't done this already. Currently it's the best looking game from this genre (inspired by original x-com game). And from what I hear Enemy Unknown will have some similarities to Afterlight- single base, 6 person squad (its 7 in afterlight). Until X-com Enemy Unknown is out I'm going to stick to UFO: Afterlight. (as tactical strategy game) And yes I have tried Extraterrestrials, UFO Alien Invasion and Xenonauts but I wasn't really pleased by em.
I never played afterlight. I did play through Aftermath and Aftershock, but I felt that they didn't quite capture the same feeling, and were at times, a little... odd.
I also totally agree about Extraterrestrials, etc. All not quite there.
Thank you! I will check these out tonight!
Yes, This is looking pretty awesome. Pre-Ordered
It'll all depend on having not-horrible AI, but agreed, it looks better than other attempts out there.
Tell us how the alpha plays out when you get it.
Went ahead and ordered this anyways. There's bound to be something in there worth playing. Paid £17 and change on ebay.
Well ordered it and I've started playing it.
First impressions: Grotesque !
The camera is awful. The graphics aren't that good either. Not much better anyways than the original JA2, which first walked the earth about the same time the dinosaurs did. And the control system ? Awkward and counterintuitive is the best way to discribe it. I'll have to play it some more and see if it gets any better.
I played UFO: Aftermath, UFO: Aftershock and UFO: Afterlight and quite enjoyed them. They didn't have quite the same XCOM-ness to them, but they were fun.
That was my impression after fiddling with the demo for about 20 minutes. Not sure how they borked it so badly with such a solid design base to start from.
I'm suprised nobody has mentioned Frozen Synapse.
http://www.frozensynapse.com/
Currently trying to find a way to download one of the Close Combat games for Mac, since I'm still waiting to buy my XCOMEU Windows laptop.
I never played the original xcom and still have yet to find it. I was just wondering if anybody knows any good Turn based strategy games for the xbox 360. Also where can I buy either silent storm or xcom (the original) for PC? If I don't find any for consoles or if my computer cannot run either mentioned above I will play games such Call of Duty MW3 and Skyrim.
The original XCOM is available on steam for $5 last time I looked. I think the only place to currently get silent storm is Amazon.
And from what you said in the other thread, your old computer might actually be able to run UFO: Enemy Unknown/X-Com UFO Defense without any aid, if you're lucky. What OS is it running?
I think if I understand the question that it has Windows XP.
Hmmm. You might need DOSBox, then, if you can run it (it basically pretends to be MS-DOS to let old games run). The Steam version of UFO/X-Com 1 has DOSBox included in the install, and runs it automatically, saving you from having to set up anything (though if you feel comfortable tweaking text files you can set the game up to be different sizes on-screen and so on).
Otherwise you might be able to run the Windows 95 version of UFO on Windows XP. Might. I'd give no guarantees, as I seem to recall I had two XP computers over the years and one of them would run it while the other would error out.
Okay thanks. I am probably going to try to get it anyway.
If anyone knows the ins and outs of getting the original X-Com to run under Mac OS X 10.6.8 let me know. Been trying for a while, with crap results.
Just put a PC on top of your Mac. Problem solved.
I'm running it on a MAcbook using Parallels and A Virtual WinXP.
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