XCOM: Enemy Unknown Message Board older than one year ago

If for some reason you still haven't let XCOM: Enemy Unknown get its sharp, slimy hooks into you, Green Man Gaming has a heckuva deal on the PC version. Already discounted to $20, you can knock it all the way down to 16 bucks with the coupon code GMG20-P4DLK-FKYRS.

We suggest you use the savings on building satellites. Like, as many as possible. Always.

Giant Bomb maintains its constant vigil against the alien menace with a bit of that 2012 XCOM. We will be watching.

In turn-based strategy terms, here's how to acquire XCOM: Enemy Unknown for $25.

• Order your browser to go to this Amazon link.
• Spend 25 money units to purchase and download the PC version XCOM: Enemy Unknown.
• Alien Activity
• Play XCOM: Enemy Unknown.
• Rejoice over substantial savings.

In this concluding part (the first one is here), we discuss boardgame influences, commercial success, what XCOM might mean for the future of strategy, the need for realism within science-fiction, and why XCOM wound up rather buggy.(more…)

With Firaxis’ de-hyphenated, largely very well-received remake of the legendary, incomparable, enormous-haircutted X-COM now out there saving the Earth from the worst scum of the universe for several months, now seems the time to sit down with its enthusiastic main man Jake Solomon. What went right, what went wrong and what comes next? As per recent tradition, we had a very long chat.

Covered in this first part – the base, the skills, the missing element of surprise and what they’ve learned if they ever do this again. Edited out to spare you the horror: his Punch & Judy-style impersonation of an Englishman.(more…)

#xcom One of the best things about XCOM: Enemy Unknown is naming your squaddies after your friends. It's a lot of fun to tell people you know about their daring exploits in the battle against the aliens, and equally goofy to inform them of their heroic—or needless—deaths. (Of course, sometimes that second part can get weird.) More »

XCOM: Enemy Unknown is available now from the the Xbox Marketplace's Games on Demand section. All it will cost you is a sectoid arm and a muton foot, which converts roughly to $59.99 (in the United States).

For those not stuck in underground bunkers while the planet is under attack, more cost-effective hard copy options can be delivered to your door for $10 less (or more). But how you want to go spending your hard-earned alien limbs for one of the best games of last year is your choice, Commander.

#xcom I wouldn't be surprised if you're reading that headline and thinking, "Um, 'well-meaning death notification?'" But believe it or not, that's exactly what we're talking about here. More »

Patch 3 notes
• Second Wave addition (gameplay details in the press release)
o If a player has beaten the game, they can access a variety of gameplay toggles upon starting a new game. The Second Wave option will be available on the New Game menu.
• AI teleport bug fix
o Minimizes the bug where aliens teleport into the middle of a players squad
• Defeat screen when beating the game
o Minimizes a bug that displays a Defeat screen after winning the game
• Chris Kluwe as XCOM Hero unlock

Today marks the announcement and release of XCOM's second batch of DLC, "Second Wave," on all available platforms. The new content comes via a free update, adding multiple new options designed to appeal to players looking for a new and different challenge. Specifically, the update adds a new menu of options that significantly alter the way XCOM is played.

Damage Roulette, for example, gives all weapons a much wider range of damage - potentially stealing a killing blow or possibly bestowing a last ditch pistol shot with extra punch. Another option, Not Created Equally, gives all rookie soldiers random stats, while Hidden Potential causes stats to increase randomly with each promotion. Firaxis designer Jake Solomon tells Joystiq that these options allow for more versatile soldiers, even some that go against the grain of their classes. Heavies with incredible accuracy? It could happen.

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in. By which I mean, just when you thought I couldn’t possibly muster another marathon interview with XCOM: Enemy Unknown lead Jake Solomon, I did. Later this week he post-mortems the largely brillo remake of the 90s ultra-classic, but firstly we chat about the impending free Second Wave add-on. Skeletal remnants of this set of balance-tweaking toggles were found by modders at launch, but now the full-fat version is ready to go. Here, Solomon talks about why Second Wave was made, how it in some ways makes XCOM more like X-COM and why the add-on’s very existence might just be down to you lot.(more…)

#gotynominee The staff of Kotaku nominated nine games for 2012 Game of the Year. One game, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, blew the competition away. More »

Steam's Holiday Encore Weekend has kicked off, and it's essentially the digitally distributed PC gaming equivalent of one of those Top 40 best-of compilation CDs: Now That's What I Call The Best of Steam's 2012 Holiday Sale, Vol. 1.

Running until 1 p.m. Eastern on Monday, January 7, the sale encompasses much of Joystiq's 2012 Game of the Year list, including The Walking Dead, Dishonored and XCOM: Enemy Unknown, as well as a few of our favorite games from last year, such as Skyrim and Saints Row: The Third. There's 24 deals in all, some of which span multiple games in a franchise, like the Batman, Borderlands and Portal sales. We doubt this compilation will see a Vol. 2, however, so best "get while the gettin's good," as our southern grandmothers would have said.

#gotynominee April 16, 2015 More »

In the ultimate showdown of "us versus them," your decisions will determine the fate of countless soldiers, the XCOM project, Earth and, oh yeah, humanity. No pressure, Commander.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown doesn't just update and re-imagine a classic PC game for a new generation. It executes on bringing a deep strategy game to consoles without skipping a beat. Developer Firaxis is well-known for creating accessible epic-scale strategy through its Civilization series. In XCOM it applies those skills acquired over a very long career - talents that went underappreciated with Civilization: Revolution - and streamlines the strategy genre to a point where everyone can feel welcome, and aficionados of the genre can recognize the brilliance in the simplicity.

The majority of mainstream shopping holidays have now reached a complete stop, but the sales live on - especially in the case of Valve's annual Steam Holiday Sale, which today enters its ninth day of dealing out discounted digital sundries.

PC gamers can save 25 to 75 percent on every game in the Assassin's Creed series, 75/50 percent off Prototype and Prototype 2 respectively, get Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 for a cold dead $7.49, Limbo for a spooky $2.49, Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion for an astronomically low $13.59 and Just Cause 2 for a justified $3.74.

Yesterday's deals also remain active for another 20 hours or so, including LA Noire for $4.99, FTL for $4.99 and 33 percent off XCOM: Enemy Unknown. As always, flash sales and community choice sales change throughout the day.

There are only four days left in 2012 after today, which means you're running out of chances to save money on games this year. Steam understands this, and today's iteration of sale prices is designed to help you pick up some of the best games of 2012 for super cheap.

FTL, the great indie space roguelike, is down to $4.99, and XCOM: Enemy Unknown is at $33.49.

Elsewhere, award winner The Walking Dead is only $12.49, the ambitious Spec Ops: The Line is available for $10.19, and retro dungeon RPG Legend of Grimrock is $3.74, which is less than that carton of eggnog you polished off last weekend.

#publicitystuntswefellfor Christmas Joust is still my favorite 2012 video game-related holiday card, but I'm giving this XCOM: Enemy Unknown one second place. Watch the video with the sound on and you'll hear why. More »

So many friends, loved ones, dead pets, Auotobots and French philosophers have fallen. We’ve each of us made decisions that led to loss of noble life in our attempts to save the Earth from the malevolent alien hordes of XCOM. Briefly, we mourn their loss. Then, all too soon, we move on and forget them forever.

It is time to more meaningfully honour the fallen. Uh, via Facebook.(more…)

XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a brutal lesson in life, love and the fragility of human flesh. Your squad members will die, dozens of them, while you are forced to watch in omniscient yet helpless real-time. Each game has its own graveyard, though if you want to share your losses with the world, there's an app for that.

The XCOM Memorial Wall on Facebook hosts all of the fallen soldiers added by mournful players. Add yours by simply clicking that big button on the top and filling out the appropriate assets. Turns out Facebook can be used for some pretty cool (and heart-wrenching) things, after all.

#xcom One of the neater (and sadder) aspects of the new XCOM: Enemy Unknown is the fact that your base comes with a built-in memorial wall for your fallen soldiers. It's a great idea, though the execution is only okay: You don't get to post a picture of the soldier, nor any info beyond their name and rank. More »

#xcom Everyone thinks that Metallica fell from grace, sold out, became corporate shills. But what if they'd gone out a different way? What if they suited up for battle, XCOM style, and went down in a blaze of glory while fighting off chryssalids? More »

I should be over the moon about new content for one of my favourite games of 2012, but a) I wear specially-made grumpy pants at all times and b) the Slingshot add-on for XCOM really does sound underwhelming. It’s out later today, and currently I’m not particularly likely to play it. The biggest problem with it for me is less its nature – a few bonus missions, a pre-generated hard-ass squadmate and some new outfit options – and more that, reportedly, most of it can’t be accessed without starting a new campaign. I’ve played the game through two and half times now and what I want are new levels of challenge and new types of menace, not to repeat all those early stages once again to play three new maps, even if they are set in China.

See? Like I said, these pants are stitched from the finest grump hide.(more…)

It's a big day for big games to get comparatively smaller add-ons.

The Skyrim "Dragonborn" DLC launches today on Xbox 360; you'll have to wait until next year to play it on PS3 and PC. XCOM: Enemy Unknown players on all platforms can recruit Zhang today in the "Slingshot" DLC. And Max Payne 3 players can unearth the title character's "Painful Memories" with a set of new multiplayer maps and weapons, though he'd probably prefer leaving them repressed.

He's kind of a downer as it is.

You probably remember the day that your best friend died on the field of battle in XCOM: Enemy Unknown. One of the coolest features of the Firaxis-developed remake is the ability to customize the names of individual soldiers that make up your army of alien-stompers, fostering a strong connection that adds weight to a soldier's permanent demise. It's unexpected, then, that for its first downloadable content in the rebooted XCOM universe - dubbed 'Slingshot' - Firaxis has decided to create a completely fictional character as its star.

Zhang is a member of the Chinese Triad who defects over to XCOM when he comes to recognize the magnitude of the threat that the world faces. He's introduced in Slingshot's first mission via cutscene, a heavily scarred, besuited tough guy who stands as motionless as the Foo Dog statues that surround him.

The Triad defector is a civilian in the first mission, a neutered unit that must be escorted by XCOM forces to a nearby evac location situated close to your Chinese cemetery rendezvous point. Alien forces attack from all sides, same as it ever was, and only tactical thinking sees you through. You'll probably think more than once "Why can't I just hand this Triad fellow a gun and tell him to point it at the invaders?"

That opportunity comes later, as Zhang's defector status puts him on the outs with his former bosses. Complete the first Slingshot mission and your Triad buddy joins XCOM as a Heavy. He's just like any other soldier save for the fact that his name and appearance are locked. You don't even need to bring him along on the two Slingshot missions that follow, though his high stats might compel you to do so anyway.

#xcom No one was sure that XCOM: Enemy Unknown would please fans of the original X-Com. The remake's lead designer Jake Solomon counts himself amongst the devotees of Microprose's sci-fi strategy game and even he wasn't certain the team at Firaxis could recapture the appeal of the original. More »

GameFly has posted its sales for Black Friday and Cyber Monday on digital PC games, and there are quite a few healthy discounts in there, on big PC titles from this year and last. And even beyond the prices on the website, you can use the code NOV20OFF for an extra 20 percent off these already discounted titles. We've got deals on deals here, people!

You can look through the whole list of prices on GamerDeals, but the standouts are probably XCOM: Enemy Unknown for just $37.49, Dishonored for $29.99, Torchlight 2 for just $14.99, and Spec Ops: The Line and The Darkness 2 for $7.49 each.

Only on Black Friday, you can grab Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning also for $7.49, and Hotline Miami is that same price on Saturday. And on Friday and Monday only, Need for Speed: Most Wanted is $24.99. All those prices are before the code discount, too, so if you need to stock up on PC titles, GameFly seems like one of the best ways to do so.

Somehow, I wasn’t aware that there was an official novelisation of 1993 strategy/everything game X-COM until just last month. Given my decades-long fixation with X-COM, this was rather like discovering that there was a book about my mum that had passed me by completely.

Diane Duane’s slim text X-COM: UFO Defense – A Novel, published in 1996 by game guide firm Prima, has long been out of print (and never made it to e-print), so despite long scouring of fansites my only option was to explore the secondhand market, which in general wanted over £20 for this 250-page paperback. One joker’s even asking £500 for it. Fortunately, a lucky eBay bid got it to me for a mere £11, and so it is that I now own this fascinating oddity: a novelisation of a strategy game, written by an author with a long history of writing books based on sci-fi franchises. Could it truly recreate the tension and horror of X-COM? The thoughtful trauma of the minute-to-minute decisions and the long game of base-building and troop-nurturing?(more…)

October had two scrappy underdogs in Dishonored and XCOM: Enemy Unknown. The meticulous murder-em-up sold 460,200 units, according to the NPD, while the XCOM revamp from Firaxis sold 114,000 units.

Dishonored and XCOM: Enemy Unknown launched on October 9 for Xbox 360, PS3, PC and through digital distribution, and later shared shelf space with big hitters like Assassin's Creed 3, NBA 2K13, Forza Horizon and NBA Baller Beats (kidding).

The NPD only chronicles boxed retail sales in North America, so we don't have a full picture of the sales performance of either Dishonored or XCOM: Enemy Unknown. We already followed up with 2K for XCOM specifics, but the publisher told us it does not "comment on sales figures."

Friday’s shock announcement that X-COM co-creator Julian Gollop is creating a version of Chaos, his wizardy strategy game for the Spectrum, is the best gaming news in forever. But with zero known about it and even some concerns that his little-used, little-followed (at the time) Twitter account was the real deal, a whole of concerns can be assuaged by the development blog he’s set up to cover the making of the new game.

(more…)