XCOM: Enemy Unknown Message Board older than one year ago

Mind merging and Berserker beatdown's are just a few of many ways to destroy your opponents in XCOM's multiplayer mode.

Speaking with XCOM: Enemy Unknown producer Garth DeAngelis earlier this year, I managed to unearth a little information that had been (appropriately) unknown about the game at the time. Specifically, I learned that aerial combat is returning in Enemy Unknown. Dogfighting alien aircraft played a huge role in the original X-COM, a game that developer Firaxis is trying very hard to live up to.

But what other secrets are housed within Enemy Unknown? We've been privy to plenty of information when it comes to ground combat and tactics. Make no mistake, that's the meat of the XCOM experience, but the core gameplay of outwitting alien combatants is all supported by the structure of scientific research and aerial combat.

To uncover more pieces of Enemy Unknown's intricate design puzzle, DeAngelis has returned alongside designer Jake Solomon to exclusively explain to Joystiq about gunning down UFOs, scouring its wreckage, and turning its alien tech back against the invaders.

No, 2K won't send a 1980s stylist to your house, but pre-ordering XCOM: Enemy Unknown will guarantee you a flat-top haircut that would make Guile jealous. Of course, we're talking about the classic blonde 'do from the original X-COM. It's part of the "Soldier Pack" that's included with pre-orders of all versions of XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Also featured in the pack are three new types of armor.

2K notes that the equipment is entirely cosmetic. That said, even if that haircut has no effect on rampaging aliens, it's bound to beguile anyone that watches you play.

A lot of things have changed since the original X-COM was released in 1994. Strategy games have gotten much grander, with higher production values and streamlined mechanics. Now, XCOM: Enemy Unknown has to tow the line between modern sensibilities and the expectations of series fans. We've already talked about our experience with the game at E3, but I caught up with Firaxis producer Garth DeAngelis to learn more about the differences between the original X-COM and it's upcoming revival. Specifically, I want to know what has changed, what has stayed the same, and what is entirely new.

A lot of things have changed since the original X-COM was released in 1994. Strategy games have gotten much grander, with higher production values and streamlined mechanics. Now, XCOM: Enemy Unknown has to tow the line between modern sensibilities and the expectations of series fans. We've already talked about our experience with the game at E3, but I caught up with Firaxis producer Garth DeAngelis to learn more about the differences between the original X-COM and it's upcoming revival. Specifically, I want to know what has changed, what has stayed the same, and what is entirely new.

Jess Conditt: First, I have to paint a picture for everyone: Mike Schramm, tall dude extraordinare, so giddy with anticipation that he resembled a puppy in a canine candy store -- that's how he entered the XCOM: Enemy Unknown preview room. I, on the other hand, had no previous experience with the franchise, yet by the end, my tail was wagging a bit as well. Mike Schramm: To be fair, I can look puppy-like at almost any time: Big ears, wet nose. But yes, I was excited to see XCOM, and as you may have already heard in all the hype from the show, the core turn-based gameplay did not disappoint. Turn-based strategy RPG scratches a core (flea-based?) itch in my soul, and between this game, Skulls of the Shogun, and iOS games like Outwitters and Hero Academy, this genre's on the cusp of a renaissance. XCOM's turns move easily and quickly, and the game's interface is great at getting out of the way and letting you make strong choices.

Hear what we thought when we finally got our hands on XCom: Enemy Unknown.

#xcom XCOM: Enemy Unknown reintroduces itself immediately with very familiar themes of sacrifice. In the first mission, a tutorial, I lost three squad members, and there seemed to be no way to avoid it. More »

Learn how you'll protect the world from an alien invasion in the incredibly deep XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

Ryan pulls aside Garth DeAngelis to slice some XCOM: Enemy Unknown info directly out of his brain!

#xcom Every mission briefing screen in XCOM: Enemy Unknown begins with an operation name. Playing through the game's initial levels, they sounded somewhat deliberate but a little disconnected. Investigating an alien abduction in China, for example, was Operation Burning Pyre, I think. Didn't really connect with the matter at hand but, eh. More »

I’m only just curling myself out of the tiny ball of rage I’d become due to missing out on getting to play Firaxis’ X-COM reboot the other week. Instead, we sent Adam. Adam! He’s famous for saying stuff like “aliens are for losers” and “turn-based combat is a dusty relic of a bygone age” and “I wouldn’t be caught dead in a Skyranger”, then he starts body-popping and singing Flo Rida songs.

I take some small measure of comfort from the following end of the world-themed and rather splendid E3 trailer for XCOM: Enemy Unknown, which you may yourself watch below. It’s impressively dramatic and explosive, in a way that I can only presume will be somewhat at odds with the slower-paced, turn-based combat of the real thing, but more excitingly it shows a Cyberdisc transforming, some sort of new alien that might be of crystallised light, a Chrysalid in action, hints at some sort of psychic powers for soldiers and features a glimpse of a very pissed-off Muton trapped in an alien containment tank. I likey.(more…)

#e32012 The turn-based strategy revival of classic PC game X-Com continues to impress. Here's the game's E3 trailer. Even the cross-section of the base looks good. (And the game plays well, too.) More »

Fight for humanity and prevent the end of civilization as we know it in XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

Come see the bullets fly in 2K's turn-based strategy title.

Some other trade show.

OK, I've got five days of clothes packed. Actually, I've decided to bring a sixth pair of socks and an extra pair of underwear, just in case things go horribly wrong in Los Angeles. I went out today and bought some overly-expensive portable charging brick that I can use to keep my iPhone running for a full day of actual use. I'm staring at myself in the mirror a lot and attempting to psych myself up. All of this can only mean that E3 2012 is upon us.

Excited yet? Some of you are, some aren't. This year could be a bit of a sleeper, with plenty of interesting software and not a lot of noisy hardware oomph backing it up. But shows like that can also set us up for huge announcements, precisely because no one else sees it coming. Either way, I've seen enough of the games that are going to be there next week to know that there are going to be some pretty hot bangers through 2012 and 2013. Some of those bangers I've already played, but I want to make sure that the rest of the guys get a chance to see that stuff. So, with that in mind, we booked an appointment to see XCOM: Enemy Unknown, which was one of the coolest things I've played recently. Hopefully the final version holds up.

I'm also interested in playing Injustice: Gods Among Us, which has a different button configuration than Mortal Kombat, including a dedicated button for background interaction (like the car tossing seen in the trailer). And, of course, there's The Last of Us. The demo I saw was old--from January or so--so I'd expect that there'll be something newer shown during Sony's press conference. And hey, how about Need For Speed: Most Wanted? Sure, it's kind of crazy that they're just reusing the name of a game that also came out on this generation of hardware, but assuming this is an open-world driving game with plenty of police action, and knowing that Criterion is the team behind it, it's certainly made my own personal black list.

Unless Razor Callahan's not in it. In that case, all bets are off. I'm only mostly kidding.

E3 2012: OVER 40 ACRES OF BOATS

E3 2012 begins in earnest on Monday morning, with Microsoft's press conference. From there, it'll be EA, then Ubi, then Sony. After that, there's a Microsoft showcase event that I'll be heading to so we can actually play some of their stuff. The rest of the guys will probably hang out at Sony for a bit, because they usually have kiosks with running games on them. But we won't dawdle there too long. We'll have to get back to our streaming spot and get a live show going so we can talk about the events of the day with a collection of guests. The plan is to get the live show going around 8PM every night, but you know how these things can be. We'll be spread out across LA to see games, and I wouldn't be surprised if we started late here and there.

Tuesday morning starts with Nintendo, which I have to imagine will be the most exciting press conference of the bunch, barring any hosting fiascos at Ubisoft. New hardware rules the day at these things and Nintendo's probably going to be the only guys who have that. After that, the show starts in earnest, and we'll get to the floor and get going. Around 3PM or so on Tuesday, I'll be swinging by GameSpot's second stage to check in with John and say hey.

OK, so, for the press conferences we'll be carrying GameSpot's Twitch.TV channel in our chat room, so you'll be able to congregate there and watch. We'll also keep that up for the duration of the show so you can check out their stage demos, once again chaired by Chris Watters. I've seen the list of games they're booking and it appears that they'll have a pretty good show. At night, we'll shut that business down and swap over to our Twitch channel, which is where the nighttime magic will be happening. If you're into the whole Twitch ecosystem, feel free to head over there and follow our channel. Then you can get emails or mobile alerts or smoke signals whenever we're going live. We'll do four shows, Monday through Thursday. We'll also have Vinny, Drew, Daniel, and Thomas anchoring the rest of our on-floor video pretense, letting us get out there and shoot interviews and... ya know... see stuff at E3.

Three people you are likely to see during this year's broadcast!

Alex and I are the only ones who care about tradition, it seems. I think we're the only two people here who are driving down to LA. That'll happen on Sunday, and we're going to try to live stream as much of it as we can. That requires a few different things to line up, though. First, the Justin.TV app will have to be stable and functioning. If you've tried to watch me and Ryan drive home lately, you know that it's been a bit... spotty? Second, we'll need proper 3G signal between here and Los Angeles. There were a ton of dead spots the last time we tried this, so... we'll see. That'll happen on my own Twitch channel, so... maybe peek in on that once or twice tomorrow and see if we've managed to get it working. I'll probably be posting about that stuff on Twitter, too, so follow that, if you're in the following mood.

That... should be just about it? There are still a handful of things related to equipment and process that I'm sort of sweating, but E3's going to happen whether that stuff gets ironed out or not, right? Wish us luck on that stuff, and assuming that all of our equipment isn't destroyed during E3, hopefully we can get it all back to San Francisco and start thinking about producing content that wasn't shot on my ZI8. A novel idea, I know.

See ya on the other side!

XOXO,

Jeff

#xcom Given its pedigree, you might expect XCOM: Enemy Unknown, the October-scheduled throwback to a classic computer strategy game, to be playable only by mouse and keyboard. More »

The ant farm I had growing up never had cool future soldiers and ships. My childhood sucked.

You'll be strategically killing alien scum this October.

Adding to the deluge of release dates we've been getting in these couple of weeks prior to E3--because apparently there's no point in saving any of this for the show--2K Games and Capcom have revealed the launch dates for some of their bigger upcoming releases in XCOM: Enemy Unknown and the Ninja Theory-developed Devil May Cry reboot, respectively.

First up, Firaxis' update of Mythos Games' classic turn-based alien killing strategy series, which is now scheduled to hit stores on October 9. The announcement came with a gaggle of pre-order information pertaining to the game, which I won't reprint in its entirety for brevity's sake. You can read about all the pre-order goodies and doodads on 2K's official blog, if you like.

As for Devil May Cry, you can expect to take control of a newly revamped Dante starting next January. Ninja Theory has been working on this reboot for the last few years, and this is Capcom's first official launch date set for the game. This, of course, means it could still slip a few more times, given the way these things generally tend to go, but for now, let's just pretend that this sounds like a very solid date that has no chance of moving whatsoever. It's less stressful that way.

It's worth noting that DMC will join a host of other major games, including BioShock Infinite, Tomb Raider, South Park: The Stick of Truth, and Aliens: Colonial Marines in an increasingly crowded first quarter of next year. Perhaps it might be prudent to set aside a little bit more of your holiday moneys than usual this year. Come January and February, it looks like you're gonna need that extra cash.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown's October 9 launch date this morning was also coupled with screenshots and a developer doc on XCOM's base of operations. Referred to as the "ant farm," the XCOM base is a living cutaway, allowing players to build out and create all new rooms to assist the agency in its clandestine operations.

The highly-anticipated update to the beloved strategy game comes out on October 9th for the U.S., followed by a October 12th international release date. More »

XCOM: Enemy Unknown will begin training operatives in the art of global xeno defense on October 9 and 13 in North America and internationally, respectively. Unlike a growing list of publishers, 2K Games plans to launch the console and PC versions simultaneously.

I know exactly what I’m doing. Including when I screw up. When I screw up in X-COM, I invariably know that I’ve screwed up long before the results of said screwing-up actually come to pass. My soldier is out of action points and left standing in the open while an alien silently eyeballs him, or a yet-to-explode grenade lands casually at the feet of an innocent civilian. Next turn, I will pay for these mistakes. Pay in blood.

I make exactly the same mistakes, and knew exactly why they had come to pass and what punishment would follow them, in Goldhawk Interactive’s indie remake/reiminaging Xenonauts, which after three years of preorder-funded development today climbs about the wheezing Kickstarter bandwagon for its final furlong.(more…)

As promised yesterday, here’s another chat with XCOM: Enemy Unknown lead dev Jake Solomon. Here it is – and it brings with it particularly glad tidings if, like me, you weren’t 100% convinced the slo-motion ‘glamcam’ killshots and action movie soldier vocals were for you. Turns out we will indeed be able to turn them off in favour of quieter, interruption-free strategising. I’ll probably try it both ways (missus) to work out which I prefer in practice but I’m super-chuffed that we’re getting the option.

Also discussed – what he thinks about indie X-COM remake Xenonauts, chat about how to capture live aliens, how alien interrogation and research works, more on the game’s lethality, and to what extent the game will shape your advancement up the tech tree.(more…)

Two XCOM: Enemy Unknown interviews in (across four huge posts), I’m afraid I’m still nowhere near out of questions. And people are still saying ‘why didn’t you ask about thing x?’ Well, let’s do it all over again. Once more, Firaxis’ Jake Solomon fields my endless queries about his reboot/remake/reimainging of precious, precious X-COM – and in this first of two parts, we talk about the new look, newly not-stupid Floater, the length of the game, approximately how many fatalities you can expect to suffer, coming up with prototypical names for the soldiers, squad sizes and modding. Oh, and please click on the first three screenshots for larger versions.

Jake Solomon: This is like our third interview

RPS: I know, it’s getting silly.(more…)

Much as I love X-COM and would have as many of its turn-based, slow-scrolling babies as it asked me to, I would have zero hesitation in demanding one important change from it – to chance the name of hovering alien foe known as the Floater. No, no, no, NO I’m not going to tell you why. If you don’t already know you live an enviably innocent life. And probably haven’t read many issues of Viz.

Distressing name or no, Floaters will not remain a thing of the past, having recently been confirmed as making a redesigned appearance in this Falltumn’s XCOM: Enemy Unknown.(more…)

That music makes the concept of working at Firaxis seem unreasonably spooky.

It’s probably horribly sensationalist to suggest there’s a cold war on between Firaxis’ XCOM: Enemy Unknown and Goldhawk Interactive’s more mechanically purist X-COMlike Xenonauts, but then again it is the battle to end all battles, one shall stand and one shall fall and the Earth itself will be left in smoking ruins by the time this apocalyptic conflict is over.

Xenonauts has been smartening itself up since the announcement of Firaxis’ official reimaginging, as lead dev Chris England chatted to me about a few weeks ago. More detailed environments, and the ‘evil alien sheds’ have now been replaced with suitably dramatic crashed UFOs. Images of its newly endetailed look are now available for all to clap eyes upon. Which is only so much preamble, innit? Here you are…(more…)

Just in case my three-part, 15,000 word interview with Jake Solomon, lead designer on Firaxis’ XCOM: Enemy Unknown, wasn’t enough for you, here’s a follow-up chat with the effusive main brain behind the X-COM remake. This time, we’re finding out about how much soldiers’ special abilities define the game, what’s been done to ammo and why the perception that this new version only has one base isn’t quite right. (more…)

#xcom There is no way Firaxis would build the PC version of XCOM: Enemy Unknown to accommodate the console version's system of command prompts. "No, no, no. Nooo. Oh man, no," Jake Solomon, the game's lead designer told PC Gamer. "I wouldn't do that to you, are you kidding me? No." More »