No AP is the most worrisome part for me so far. Some of you say it's no big deal, but I actually think it is. It's a significant loss of flexibility.
What happens to... turning? No turning? One free turn per move? No directional line of sight, thus making turning irrelevant?
You are crossing a narrow intersection. Buildings are making line of sight very limited. You probe towards the intersection. You turn right, no alien. You turn left, no alien. Okay, it seems safe, you keep walking towards the other end of the intersection. What happens if you have no AP? Is the bilateral checking automatic? (eg. no directional line of sight, only 'fog of war'), is there NO checking possible? (how do you know if it's safe) Even if you get one free turning opportunity per move, that's still just one.
What if you are gauging the safety of a building and checking every window. It's a small walking distance, so being able to only do two move actions that turn isn't necessarily reasonable. But if you walk towards one window, check through it, walk to the next, check, and etc. That flexibility is also lost. Being able to do these little probing moves was important because it was a tense game. Where were the aliens?? Hiding behind that wall? Behind that door I just opened? Near those windows?
It also removes some flexibility of cooperation btw teammates. You take a few steps, alien spotted. Okay, guy with big gun, take him out. You swap back and forth between teammates. If you only get set actions (move or shoot), you can only do a full move (or maybe you have to do a full turn before being able to switch between characters), and only then can you get an ally to help you out. That again removes the flexibility.
This is more significant for me than the 4-char rumor. This isn't merely 'streamlining'.
