[PC/XBOX/PS3] XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

[Templar+]

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Being a big fan of XCOM: Enemy/UFO Unknown from the 90's i had to nip into game today to buy this since i've heard it's alot of fun not an actual remake but more of a re-imagining of the old game from the 90's haven't had the chance to have a go yet but really excited to have a little play on it a little later on.

[S.O.Sniper]

Mentioned this in the recently played thread but I've been playing this alot, it's hard to put down.

There's a demo on steam for anyone interested but it's kind of misleading, since it's just the first two tutorial missions which are heavily scripted. The core campaign is almost completely unscripted save for afew core story triggers that move the campaign along.

One piece of advice Templar: don't play on Ironman Mode (a single autosave game), the game has afew bugs. My first campaign was on Ironman and I was unlucky enough to run into afew glitches, including one that broke my save. 5 hour campaign down the drain.

It'll probably never happen to you but if it does it'll ruin your day so have Autosaves on Ironman off to be safe.

[Shuriken]

Had a couple of goes at this so far. I'm a massive fan of the original games so I was excited to see this was being redeveloped. I think being too much of a fan of these kind of TBS games has sullied my view of this version. Or maybe it's the XCOM label on something that just isn't XCOM.

Don't get me wrong, the game is fun and they've rounded up the progression really nicely but given the complexity of the older games I was hoping for something more complex, not less.

Past aside, I'd give the game a 7/10 based on what I've seen so far, past included I'd give it a 2/10. I'm probably just bitter.

It's good that they're breathing life back into the genre though, they really could have made an amazing game if they had pushed the development further. That said, it's not the worst XCOM has spawned. To me though, it's as if they were playing UFO: Afterlight as inspiration.

[Binerexis]

The single player for me keeps freezing for reasons unknown. It seems to kill my graphic driver process; sometimes it recovers, other times it doesn't. Halp?

[Flare]

Got it , love it ... and hate it.

I hate it as it just barely skims the surface of the potential of this franchise, and has been turned into XCOM:Lite.
I hate how it limits me soooo much, shall I put a nade on my rookie in case he sneaks up on a group of sectoids, or a vest so he can take a hit and not melt, or a scope so he can hit something ... or a medpack. Why so limiting... I mean you can only take 1 nade as a rookie, the medipack only heals once as a rookie... how about more logical options...swap out the pistol for the medpack option ?
Movement... you want to walk around the back to the cover but the AI paths your soldier through the front exposing your soldier to reaction fire, how do you tell the soldier to use the equally viable but safer back path ?
This encounter system... you walk into range they spot you and do thier oh shit scene and scurry off to cover, fine no problem there...now if a patrol of aliens walks into the area where you are watching, they spot you and suddenly they are fiddling with some random human corpse and then do thier oh shit scene and scurry off... it looks so bad!
The cheese is horrible, actually a lot like the original but unlike the original you can take enough soldiers to get through some cheese... in the this game you can be wiped on classic mode by some stupid piece of cheese you cant tactically prepare for.

I do like the visuals (except the very jarring shoot right through half the planet to hit something animations) and the audio is top notch... and the game is decent, and thats what makes its soooooo damn annoying. Its a great game cut far short of its potential and marred with bugs and issues.
I get the impression they were rushed at the end, there is so much that didnt make the cut and modders are finding and putting in, like ...

- Able to intercept terror mission UFO's
- Options to change how the game plays (with menus, not ini hacks...the Second Wave set of options )
- others I cant recall at the moment.

... XCOM:lite , good but short of its potential and has bugs... but it is fun in many ways.

[Binerexis]

I disagree with most of your dislikes about it, Flare.

The fact that you can only take one 'tool' is, I think, a damn good thing. If I could, for example, swap out the pistol for a Nanofibre vest and keep my grenades, I'd breeze through any and every mission. The fact that I need to choose which to take, something that goes boom or something that stops me going boom, makes things feel more tactical. Do I take all grenades and blow everything to bits at the expense of being a bit squishy or do I bulk my guys out and only use firearms? The one thing I think was odd was that I couldn't switch the stun-gun for the pistol but I don't really mind that. In all fairness, I think it would be less logical to swap out a sidearm for a medkit considering it's a military outfit and you never know when you'll need your sidearm. Also, like you said, those options are limited AS A ROOKIE. Level up your Support and he can, potentially, heal three people with just one medkit. Again, to me, this just seems tactical rather than a horrible design choice.

I've only had one problem with pathing and that was when I was dashing a unit to cover when I wasn't really concentrating. There are ways of getting a unit to go exactly where you want in a specific way but you need to be careful how you move your guys. The pathing comes up as a line; look where that goes, move it around, click, job's a good 'un.

What exactly do you mean by cheese? I've seen some pretty bad wipes in both the originally XCOM and this one but I think to say it's something you can't possibly prepare for tactically is a bit of an exaggeration.

[Picky Bugger]

I have it but I've only played the tutorial as I'm currently having fun in Dunwall.

Looking forward to getting into this... Will play Ironman first time, sod the game ending bugs.

[Flare]

You can hardly breeze through the missions with a nanovest and nade, you already have limitations... 1 nade, can only wear 1 vest, carry 1 medipack, equip 1 scope...you cant stack them to abuse them... so a choice of stat effecting equipement and a choice of usable item would of been more logical.

The pathing I know there is a line showing where the AI will path your soldier, but I have come across times the AI pathing REFUSED to let me path the safer route ... 1 block next to it , yes but not the critical block and it was within 1 move turn range... just the more dangerous route was shorter, so the AI pathed there each time.

Cheese... oh man, I have started the game over 20 odd times, and have seen so much cheese I could spend a year typing it all out...

- One mission I had to escort a VIP back, I sanatised the one side of the map retrieved the VIP and was working back on the same side... I had a sniper on high ground but not in cover, so I covered the approach to the sniper with 1 heavy and a rookie and the sniper... a Thin Man got dropped on the other side and he ran through 2 rounds of reactions shots from my Heavy, Rookie and Sniper... and was able to get a long range shot on my sniper before finally getting dispatched... 6 bloody misses in a row.

- Another mission escorting a VIP to the Skyranger, had 2 rookies, a corp Assualt and a Sarge Sniper... I moved my team to a nearby building to secure the VIP while I sanatised a path to some other decent cover further up the map... I had the 2 rookies covering the door to the open , the sniper ready to fire through the door and my assualt checking the rear for a random drop. Aliens got spotted out the front door and scurried to cover, the shot was way too low to even bother so I overwatched on both rookies who were in FULL cover by the door... Alien 1 pops out and lands a impossible hit on one rookie, damn but hey I am clever that rookie had a vest and survived... until alien 2 lands an equally impossible shot and kills her, the other rookie panics and puts a few rounds into my assualt.
Shortly after I managed to snipe off one of the aliens but his buddy was not co-operating so I had my Assualt sneak out the window (after being healed) and run to cover...and suprise, a Thin Man was hanging around the front are of the door where my rookies had been covering when we encounted the intial sectoids... how did no one spot this lone Thin Man in the open near the front door ? He runs into the building, where my rookie and sniper both miss a reaction shot... my Rookie is sent to shoot the Thin Man but only damages him so I have to let a turn pass...the Thin man fires a shot and kills my Assault in the back (since I couldnt move the Assualt after 'discovering' the Thin Man)... I sort out the Thin Man and start moving out, my rookie checks the area then my sniper moves up and covers the area, then the rookies moves up again to secure cover and the VIP goes up... then the sniper moves up to the new cover.
The game then drops a Thin Man on top of the storage container my rookie and VIP was using for cover, and when I had moved my sniper up... my sniper has a shot, 71% to shoot the Thin Man, my Rookie cant move out as the Thin Man has a reaction shot ready... the sniper misses, the Thin Man gets a round and shoots the sniper down to 2 health pips, the sniper takes another shot...and misses again, the rookie comes out and hits but only damages the Thin Man who then simply poisons the sniper...with 2 health, dead sniper.

The situations I describe above I did the correct tactical moves, in full cover with overwatch protection while moving... tactically I did nothing wrong but lost a team due to ....wierd shit happening, how do you prepare for that ?

... I could go on, players have had wipes when 1 soldier dies and the rest of the team all flip out and shoot each other because the game has no free aim for bullets so if there is no enemy in site the panicking soldier shoots thier mates, aliens have suddenly appeared in the middle of a team (error with pathing, AI corrects this by teleporting the alien to the desired location...not Floaters using boost, or Thin Men getting dropped in...MUTONS)... original game you could survive cheese as you had more troops right from the start, cant with only 4 most of the time.

Dont get me wrong here, the game is good and I love a lot of it but it was definely streamlined too much and I am pretty certain it was rushed in the end to get it out ( Second Wave, Terror UFO interceptions... all in the game just not enabled, probably told to wrap it up so it can get shipped ).
I am still going to play, and play it on Ironman Classic without modding it until I finish it.

[Binerexis]

Whilst I've not experienced some of the bugs you've described, I would hardly call your soldiers missing an enemy when overwatch puts them at a reduced chance to hit as cheese. In fact, I don't see how missing an enemy at all counts as cheese unless, for some reason, you miss a 100% shot.

Also, a panicking soldier will NOT always shoot a squad member if no enemies are visible; I've had soldiers who panic with no enemies in sight who hunker down, reload, throw blind grenades where the last alien was, go on overwatch etc.

[Flare]

You dont see missing 6 reactions shots on the same enemy in 2 rounds as cheesy ? (2 from a Sniper on a higher ground)
Seeing an enemy appear where you had just been covering, and then the enemy gets a free 'discovery' move which enables it to get the drop on a soldier for free is not cheesy ?
Having a enemy drop from the skies on top of your VIP's cover and get to go into overwatch is not cheese ?
Having 2 aliens both land 2 near impossible shots on the same soldier in full cover in the same round is not cheesy?

Panic shots have the option of shooting enemies and teammates, but when the shoot option comes up and there is no enemy in sight the soldier will always target a friendly (original the panic shots could literally go anywhere... friendlies head, alien head, the nearby toilet, anywhere).

Bin, you must of been supremely lucky dude if you havent had any cheese on Classic difficulty (Normal isnt too bad aparently for cheese as the Aliens dont get the 'cheats' (crit chance heavily buffed and health buffed) ... just Normal is too easy).
Still I am going to beat the %£$%£^ game

[Wizav]

My setup is owning classic difficulty.

have two snipers with squadsight , battlescanner and in the zone.
two assaults focused on defence with flush skill and nades.
heavy with shredder rocket , dual nades and dual rockets.
support with 3 medkits and nade.

in the zone is amazing, if you kill an enemy that has no cover you can shoot again. If you destroy cover with shredder rocket/rockets/nades and use flush on your assaults. Both snipers can literally kill everything in one turn firing 3-4 times each.

Counters every hard enemy in the game, all of the melee types don't even use cover so snipers just get instant free turns to kill more of them. For the higher HP mobs just debuff them with shredder rocket or alien nade and sniper will one shot the entire group.

Flare what units are you using to miss your reaction shots, heavies have terrible aim. On top of the -10% chance to hit from overwatch enemies get another +20 defence when moving so you have less than 30% chance to hit, if it's at maximum range then it's more than 5% chance. It's even worse for assaults if there using shotguns.

If you want ezmode on classic, research alien material > carapace armor and get the +4 hp on your squad very early in the game then beeline it to arc gun and capture mutons/floaters and collect plasma weapons. Spend all your cash on uplinks and satelites to get $1000+ per month then just tech to titan/archangel armor. You'll have 6 fully equipped colonel's by mission 16-20.

[Templar+]

Bought this for the PS3 S.O.Sniper since that's what i do most of my gaming on these days so i don't think i will encounter as many bugs/Glitches as i would on the PC version actually i haven't encountered any bugs at all

Currently playing on Classic mode with Ironman on it's really difficult!

[S.O.Sniper]

I agree with some of what's been said, the game does feel alittle minimalistic. Having more inventory, class and mission options would be ideal but meh, that can be in the sequel.

I really don't like that the pistols are largely useless on most classes (only Sniper and Assaults using shotguns really need them), unless you need to reload your primary or want to save ammo on primary to take a guy out with 1-2 HP you won't use pistols. Would have been better if they had more secondary weapons to unlock, maybe even the Ark Thrower like Binerexis said.

Overwatch: It's very useful but don't be misled. It's a free reaction shot but alot of reaction shots can happen when the Hit % is low, so alot of Overwatch shots can miss. Missing 6 reaction shots on a Thin Man just seems bad luck though, Flare (I missed a 98% shot early on in the game, it happens).

Bought this for the PS3 S.O.Sniper since that's what i do most of my gaming on these days so i don't think i will encounter as many bugs/Glitches as i would on the PC version actually i haven't encountered any bugs at all

Currently playing on Classic mode with Ironman on it's really difficult!

You'd think that, but it's not really true. Ironman mode is neat in theory but you can just self-impose it yourself and never reload (unless your Will stat is very low ), having a campaign break on you is heartbreaking, so I've learnt to have multiple saves and just never reload on principle.

The game has a looong list of bugs - the guy who maintains that thread stopped updating 4 days ago so there are many more bugs than listed. And this is the bug i'm referring to, explained better than I ever could.

But anyway - enjoying the game alot, and I know there will be patches and re-balancing post release, so yay.

Wizav: that does seem a good strat, have you beat the game on classic yet, though? I ask because the game has a nasty habit for me of making me think i'm dominating and then throwing out an insanely tough mission and humbling me. I had one mission where a large UFO supply ship landed and I took a couple squadies rather than Colonels to level them up and got wrecked. Floaters, Heavy Floaters, 2x Sectoid Commanders, 3 Berserkers, 2 Muton Elites, a Sectopod & close to a dozen Mutons, and most in close quarters. Lost my 2 squadies, had to stabilize my best Sniper, and my other 3 had very low health by the end.

[Flare]

I typically get 2 nano vests, 2 medi packs and 2 scopes ... I put the vests on rookies or heavies, the scope on my sniper and the medipack on my support.

I work the map in a very methodical manner, as in move to cover and overwatch, have units move in pairs, secure new cover before moving VIP's, move my units out under the coverfire of snipers, reload only when another unit can cover the reloading unit, never dash on my last move... that type of stuff.
I am well aware the reaction shots have a accuracy penalty and dont rely on a single soldier to cover everything with a reaction shot, but I do expect to be able to deal with a enemy wandering into overlapping arcs of my units firepower...otherwise whats the point of planning ? I do expect full cover to offer enough protection from enemy fire to keep soldier alive (though I do plan for taking a single hit due to bad luck) otherwise why use tactics ?

I havent got that far as I tend to restart from scratch when a team gets wiped, especially when its something beyond my ability to plan for and the roll of the dice.
I dont think I have gotten to see a council report as yet.

[Wizav]

Nah not yet but ive only lost three countries and the rest are on panic level 1 with satellite coverage. You should only really use rookies and lower levels for alien abduction sites. UFO sites, Terror Missions , Council missions are always the hardest at least in terms of cover and being flanked by elites and harder mobs. With the quick recovery and don't die on me perks from the officer school you should always have a full squad of colonels for hard missions, they recovery in like 4 days.

Just play defensive and don't uncover large areas of the map with troops it gives enemy free position and lets them flank/cover. you can scout with snipers battle scanners (doesn't alert enemies, amazing skill) and if there's a group of elites ahead you can properly position heavy to get off the perfect rocket shot or snipe them all while there out of cover. Then move to the next pack, you should never lose a soldier and at most only have 1-2 wounded.

A great tip is saving main quest missions til the end of the month as they reduce global panic and afaik countries only leave once the council report comes in so you can keep them on full panic for quite awhile. satellites help with that too, basically use all your -panic at the end of the month. If you waste it at the start most countries will be full panic again by the end of the month and there's not much you can do about it.

Flare,

Cover only works from certain angels, on Classic enemies flank and move a lot. the +defence cover offers does not reduce damage taken, +defence is simply +miss for the enemy and enemies on classic and higher get +aim bonuses so full cover on classic is much weaker than on normal/easy. It's -20 and -40 chance to dodge for light/full cover but its more like -10/-30 on classic and that's still 50-70% chance to hit for most enemies.

If an enemy moves to the side and shoots you from behind cover, the cover bonuses doesn't even apply. You have to remain in positions where enemies are directly in front of your cover for it to work to full effect afaik.

If an enemy flanks one of your soldiers, suppress it with a support/heavy , kill it or move your soldier. Unless it's an assault as they receive +defence for each enemy spotted and actually benefit being closer to enemies. You soldiers will usually shout out that there being flanked in game which basically means there screwed on the next turn.

[S.O.Sniper]

I noticed that about the main quest missions (or atleast the the first base attack) in that it greatly reduces panic, in my save though I put that mission off for too long and lost 4 countries without any obvious chance to prevent it. Satelite coverage is super important but takes time, I imagine on Impossible especially you'd have to do that mission pretty early to manage Panic levels properly.

Lesson learnt about squadies though. I got cocky and thought I could risk it but it seems the landed (rather than crashed) Barges are stacked full of tough aliens, and are dicey to move about in which I wasn't expecting. I'm always slow and methodical, very rarely dashing, single moving and doubling-back rather than taking shots if I'm too close to enemies. But that mission I just barely got through it without losing any of my best guys.

Does anyone rate the Psi Armour? I'm not sold on it based on it's description (big fan of the Ghost Armour), but I'm not sure how big a boost it is to Psi abilities since I've only got the 1 Psi ability unlocked so far on my guys.

[Flare]

Wizav , if the aliens had moved to flanking positions I wouldnt call that cheese, I would be kicking my own arse for not covering my flanks... the rookie I mentioned dying to near impossible shots by 2 aliens from a far range while she was under full cover was from the front... no yellow shield, I think her chance of hitting any of them was about 5% (cant recall offhand but low enough to make it not worth it, just went to overwatch) and neither of the sectoids moved they both took a shot and both hit her killing her in that round.
I had the rookies there and in overwatch because I figured there was no way the sectoids would be able to kill at that range while the rookies were in full cover, and especially not kill the one with a vest on... so when they did exactly that it was a huge suprise and I cant work out what I did wrong.
Should I always pull back if anyone of my guys sees a alien, and hope the overwatch nails them in the aliens turn ?
It seems the aliens can kill anyone that can see them no matter what cover is being used or how far the target is.

The point is I felt I played that move properly and didnt make a fault, but still got a loss anyways... I can accept losing due to mistakes or poor planning, but when I use the tools given by the game properly and still lose... thats what I call cheese, and it didnt just happen once it happens a lot.
Its not preventing me from playing the game but it is a blemish, a fault and hence why I mentioned the cheese... you would have to be either naive or extremely forgiving to not accept this game has a lot of cheese.
The cheese can be overcome once you get to 5 - 6 man size squads because you can afford to feed a rookie or 2 to the cheese and still continue but early game its a nasty setback, especially if it takes out ranked troops...or causes a wipe.

[Wizav]

This why snipers with in the zone are overpowered. On first turn use archangel armor to fly into the air and end the turn.

Turn two have your second sniper throw out a scanner.


On the same turn use the flying sniper to one shot everything that shows up on the map, once there all dead you can even use overwatch in the same turn.


On the third turn you move grounded sniper forward and throw a second scanner, rinse and repeat until all 4 scanners are used and map is clear of mobs.

[S.O.Sniper]

I knew about Snipers with Squad Sight, Battle Scanners & Archangel Armor being pretty OP from before the game was released, "In the Zone" though sounds like one of the first skills that'll get nerfed.

[Wizav]

End boss was really disappointing, two shot's with sniper and it dies along with all it's friends, battle lasted about 5 seconds what the hell