New Xcom? Like…for reals?

Yes indeed, it is a new adaptation of XCom : UFO Defense called…well…XCom : UFO Defense. People online have been going nuts. I…actually, I was initially a bit blah about the whole thing.

See, I’ve played XCom. Played the shit out of it. So if all this was going to be is a fresh coat of paint on the same game, why exactly would I be all that interested? I hate to start shooting sacred cows, but there were problems with that game. Like the broken difficulty system, and possibly the worst game UI ever designed.

But it isn’t just a shinier version of the old. They’re changing things up.

It sounds like nations turning against XCom, and especially turning towards the aliens, will have real repercussions. And there might be options to do something about it. It never made any sense that China would up and walk away and start palling it up with a bunch of fucking Sectoids, and everyone was apparently cool with it and just went about their day. They’ve turned their backs on humanity! BOMBS THE FUCKERS!

I think the move from time units to an RPG-esque move action/standard action type system works well for ground missions, too. Really, that was essentially what you were doing most of the time by reserving time units for a response attack anyway. And you can still do that by throwing a guy in to overwatch. So all of the mincing fairies complaining about the loss of time units like that will open a mouth to Hell and damn the Earth can fuck right off.

Research is still there. Base development is still there, but you can only have one major installation with the rest limited to satellite systems and the like. Not really a big deal since I tended to have one main base anyway. A lot of people are whining about a limit of 4 troops initially on ground missions, but it sounds like that’s expandable through research and training. And perhaps the average trooper here is more effective the generally crap dudes you got in the first game? And yes, you can still re-name your soldiers.

Of course, the average whining piece of shit is complaining about everything. Apparently knowing when your research will be done is unrealistic and a mockery of the original game, the game where I could pick up an unconscious teammate and put him in my backpack.. The graphics are apparently a travesty, even though the original featured a collection of troops that basically looked like the start of the Fourth Reich stampeding across the planet.

But fuck those people. To me, this is looking and sounding fantastic. Bring it on!

Even the Chryssalids…cheap bastards.