XCOM 2

[DuskEngine]

PC exclusive

Spoiler: Screens

http://4d663a369f9f03c3c61e-870e777...dn.com/images/5ys0_QwdhcXM.878x0.Z-Z96KYq.jpg

new sectoids r spooky

I'm glad they skipped over TFTD and went straight for Apocalypse.

 

[Watcher]

Seems like it might be good

 

[Tranhuviya]

You now, I have a real soft spot for this kind of setting- 2kool4skool rebels warring against repressive dictatorship. Combining it with the X-COM universe just makes sure I lap it up.

 

[DuskEngine]

You now, I have a real soft spot for this kind of setting- 2kool4skool rebels warring against repressive dictatorship. Combining it with the X-COM universe just makes sure I lap it up.

The trailer makes it seem like the Cult of Sirius equivalent is in power in the city, as opposed to an illegal cult like EXALT.

I want to be more optimistic about this, but Firaxis' recent track record has been less than inspiring.

The sword thing is also dumb.

 

[Andy27]

The trailer seems cool enough and gives much information without exposition (X-com lost the orginal war, thin Men becoming snake(wo)men, the human-sectoid which fits with the revelations of the Uber Ethereal etc)

X-com:EW modded with Long War is my favourite game of all time so I'm glad they stated they will provide more support for mods.

But I hope they don't dramatically alter either the strategic or tactical gameplay (adding a few stealth missions might be fun but hopefully they'll mostly stick to what X-com is really about)

 

[Anchuent Christory]

it's pc only sadly so I won't be able to join in, which is a shame as I thoroughly enjoyed enemy unknown on ps3. I'll still keep tabs on it though, it'll be interesting to see how things evolve.

 

[DuskEngine]

IGN has a bunch of details.

On the classes:

The Sharpshooter shares a lot of DNA with EU’s Sniper, but can also specialize in using a pistol as a primary weapon instead of a last resort. The Ranger is the evolution of the Assault class, still specializing in close combat with shotguns and the like, but now comes equipped with XCOM’s first lethal melee weapon: a machete-like blade. The Grenadier? He (or she) blows things up, much like the Heavy. The Specialist replaces Support, and uses a hovering drone called a Gremlin both in combat to stun enemies and buff allies, and out of combat to pull off tricks like long-range hacking. There’s also a fifth mystery class that Firaxis is saving for reveal closer to launch.

Alien hybrid psionic, calling it now.

Stealth mechanics confirmed:

As we see in the trailer, XCOM sometimes gets to take the first shot – and that’s a huge deal. Except in certain situations (Stealth Suits and Battle Scanners), the aliens have up until now always seen us the moment we see them – and when they do, they “scamper” to cover and deny us the chance at a clean shot. In fact, the scamper is probably the most common complaint I’ve seen from other XCOM players, some of whom see it as an unfair advantage for the aliens. Those people will be very happy to hear that they’ll have the opportunity to cancel out that advantage in XCOM 2. “The first enemy that you get to jump on, obviously they don’t get to scamper anywhere,” said Solomon. That’s not all: “Enemies will get surprised, so that prevents them – some of them, based on some factors – from fully scampering into cover.”

It sounds like the enemies still get a free turn to move into cover when combat starts, but you have ways of counteracting that now. A simple stealth mechanic would also work pretty well with EU's system, I feel.

Spoiler: concept art

It would seem the aliens are going to be much tougher this time around, even the Sectoids, so the cannon fodder will mostly be the human enemies.

 

[Burned Man]

it's pc only sadly so I won't be able to join in, which is a shame as I thoroughly enjoyed enemy unknown on ps3. I'll still keep tabs on it though, it'll be interesting to see how things evolve.

I'm stuck in the same boat but I loved Enemy Unknown/Within so I'll continue to follow this even if I'll never be able to play it.

I like to think that this is the world if the council pulled all funding from XCOM. I wonder how much the citizens actually hate the Aliens they didn't seem too oppressed. I could see XCOM having to win the hearts and minds of the people. Considering the smaller mobile base and guerrilla campaign it will actually make sense that XCOM can't make more drop ships and deploy their entire roster of soldiers to multiple locations. (that was always my biggest pet peeve about EU)

 

[Dudeofteenage]

The trailer makes it seem like the Cult of Sirius equivalent is in power in the city, as opposed to an illegal cult like EXALT.

I want to be more optimistic about this, but Firaxis' recent track record has been less than inspiring.

The sword thing is also dumb.

Yeah, I was enjoying it until the sword came out.

 

[Anchuent Christory]

Yeah, I was enjoying it until the sword came out.

I think the concept of a unit that can deal with enemies in close combat is good, especially when they're talking about stealth tactics being possible. That said, I'm not entirely sold on the "sword wielding, hooded guy" character design, it just seems really out of place for this series.

 

[DuskEngine]

Yeah, I was enjoying it until the sword came out.

I think the concept of a unit that can deal with enemies in close combat is good, especially when they're talking about stealth tactics being possible. That said, I'm not entirely sold on the "sword wielding, hooded guy" character design, it just seems really out of place for this series.

I would have liked it more if it wasn't a dumb tricked out machete thing. XCOM already had arc throwers and MEC kinetic strikes in the first game, and this just feels really out of place with the setting.

I guess arc throwers will make a comeback and they needed a clear way to differentiate between stunning and lethal melee weapons, but still.

 

[Dudeofteenage]

Yeah it's not so much the concept of a close combat class as the execution. The guy looks like he stepped out of Assassin's Creed.

 

[Burned Man]

Yeah it's not so much the concept of a close combat class as the execution. The guy looks like he stepped out of Assassin's Creed.

If its anything like Enemy Within there will be plenty of head options to choose from including future helmets and alternate armor designs. So I'm sure you won't have to deal with a character looking this way if you don't want to. I guess they are trying to make the characters seem more like a rag tag resistance group, which is fine but odd considering they still have access to hover drones, sky rangers and a mobile ship base. I also wouldn't be too surprised if the machete is just the ballistic weapons tier version of the sword.

 

[dabluearmedbandit]

I think it looks awesome. You'll be able to customize your people even more than the first game hopefully, so I don't see how what the squad in the trailer looks like matters. And it would be pretty easy to justify swords in a futuristic world where you get scanned for high tech weapons and whatnot on the daily. If anything I'm disappointed we aren't getting TFTD yet, I was looking forward to creepy Cthulhu aliens. I'm really hoping they add more voices and languages and call-signs and sucg, I sperg out like a certain Marine we all love for the weird pseudo-military jargon they use (Strike-1 is at the Drop Zone).

 

[DuskEngine]

If anything I'm disappointed we aren't getting TFTD yet, I was looking forward to creepy Cthulhu aliens.

Firaxis addressed that in an interview in 2013.

Personally, and this isn’t some faux announcement, if we were going to go Lovecraft XCOM, I’d want to go all the way Lovecraft XCOM.

So no TFTD, but still the possibility of an all-out Lovecraftian tactics game. I would cream my pants if Firaxis made a Delta Green game.

 

[Rekieta’s Broken Penis]

Bumping this thread to ask: how do people usually play XCOM? I was playing recently but found myself often reloading when I made a faux pas, but also feel like this is a kind of retarded way to play. At the same time, the game does annoyingly punish certain behaviours (like moving a squad member forward at the end of your turn, as they can inadvertently trigger a whole enemy squad). Wondering how common this is and what people think?

 

[WULULULULU]

Bumping this thread to ask: how do people usually play XCOM? I was playing recently but found myself often reloading when I made a faux pas, but also feel like this is a kind of retarded way to play. At the same time, the game does annoyingly punish certain behaviours (like moving a squad member forward at the end of your turn, as they can inadvertently trigger a whole enemy squad). Wondering how common this is and what people think?

It is common when you're new to the game. As you get smarter, you start learning when to move and when to not move. Its why melee is often high-risk, high-reward: you run into a squad if done poorly and die but if you play your cards right, a melee member can make or break your team, like rangers and templars.

 

[Rekieta’s Broken Penis]

It is common when you're new to the game. As you get smarter, you start learning when to move and when to not move. Its why melee is often high-risk, high-reward: you run into a squad if done poorly and die but if you play your cards right, a melee member can make or break your team, like rangers and templars.

Thanks, makes sense. I guess it’s the same with spider. When I started it was easy to fall into the habit of spamming hint/undo, but once you got the ropes it’s funner when you refrain from using those features.

With regard to characters dying on extraction missions - do you need to manually pick them up? Does it have any movement penalties?

The hospital time is an interesting mechanic because it seems to force you to develop a bigger roster than you would for a game with no downtime like Wesnoth (which seems to imply I should also be less worried about units dying). Does healing units in the battle reduce their hospital time?

 

[WULULULULU]

With regard to characters dying on extraction missions - do you need to manually pick them up?

If a character dies, they are as good as dead. Don't bother with a corpse.

Does healing units in the battle reduce their hospital time?

Nope.

 

[Rekieta’s Broken Penis]

If a character dies, they are as good as dead. Don't bother with a corpse.

Oh, not to revive them, there is just some loading screen warning about losing their items.