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2K Games announces XCOM (X360 and PC)

Chittagong

Gold Member
I'm moving towards "sort of want" too.

If the new details are true think the announcement strategy is really smart. They knew that it will be anyway a disappointment that it's not a full RTS, so they went to a maximal disappointment as a starting point and then reveal the good stuff after that. By the time they're done, we are convinced that this is the best thing ever anyway.

I do have faith in this. The Bioshock team did an amazing job with that franchise, and I don't believe for a second that they'd neglect what actually made UFO: Enemy Unknown fun.
 

epmode

Member
Chittagong said:
I do have faith in this. The Bioshock team did an amazing job with that franchise, and I don't believe for a second that they'd neglect what actually made UFO: Enemy Unknown fun.
Like controlling each member of an international squad of alien murderers as necessary? Where using gunfire and explosives to destroy rocks/doors/trees/walls/everything in a map is not only possible, but also a good strategy?
 

Kodiak

Not an asshole.
this is an opportunity for the traditional gameplay to live on in an all new XBLA/PSN/Steam title right? Right?



... right?


: (
 

FrankT

Member
So I got my OXM with this on the cover. A lot here to be sure. I would suggest if you are remotely interested in the title to grab a copy.
 

Acosta

Member
Jtyettis said:
So I got my OXM with this on the cover. A lot here to be sure. I would suggest if you are remotely interested in the title to grab a copy.

Give us something please, not everyone can buy OXM. Some important details would be nice.
 

Kayhan

Member
Jtyettis said:
So I got my OXM with this on the cover. A lot here to be sure. I would suggest if you are remotely interested in the title to grab a copy.
What a cocktease you are :lol
 

FrankT

Member
Kayhan said:
What a cocktease you are :lol

Heh, I can write something up in a bit perhaps if it makes you feel better. Just stating the OXMs are hitting the streets. I haven't even had a chance to go through all this yet there is that much here.
 

FrankT

Member
XCOM OXM Cover Story June 2010 48-55:

-It all starts in a secret underground base beneath an air force hangar somewhere in the US.

-This hangar is your home, and it’s the center of your team’s operations. We’re not quite sure how Carter ended up in the FBI trailing unexplained phenomomena-2K AU guys would only say that the agent has a “checkered past”.

-It’s clear from a quick lap around the facility (run by brilliant Dr Goldberg) that something at the Bureau buzzing.

-A team of people in one glass-walled corner are busy listening to radio transmissions, searching for intel that might be useful in your mission.

-In another area tech expert Malcolm Quinn-the Q to your James Bond-is busy assembling your next gadgets in his search lab, aided by a team of engineers.

-In the planning room, meanwhile, it’s time to take the intelligence you’ve acquired and decide your next move. Which lead your should pursue? Something strange is a foot-something not of this earth. Carter is seeking evidence of extraterrestrial activity, be it biological or elemental-the latter referring to Elerium, a potent energy source that powers the entire underground facility and is sought by the US govt for the use of weapons apps.

-Examining the large US map on the wall, we have the option of heading to Wichita, Kansas; Bangor, Maine; or Flagstaff, Arizona. 2K promises that each mission will offer a range of choices of where to go and because the game unfolds in quasi-real time, picking one mission might cause you to miss out on others. In gaming terms that means the leads in towns you pass up might go cold by the time you return from the location you do visit.

-This setup should diversify the campaign experience, giving you and your friends completely different stories to share about your play-troughs. In our demo, we made our way to the Grand Canyon State to check out reports of “swarming insects’-a hint that our precious Elerium was nearby.

-You will be joined in all missions by fellow FBI agents. In Flagstaff for example Agents Jonas and Frank tag along. Though 2K claims that the agents presence is part of a tactical-management angle meant to hearken back to the original X-COM strategy games, we didn’t see the ability to issue any sort of squad orders-like basic “go there” commands, for example-in our demo. But the game is still very early in development.

-Nor did 2k Au provide any further details about your pals, like the possibility of leveling them up or whether they will simply be replaced by two more generic grunts in the next mission if they happen to be killed.

-For now though it’s FBI cohorts Frank and Jonas providing the extra eyes and ears as we park our boat like cruiser at the end of the residential zone’s cul de sac. Working our way back up the street on foot, we make our first strange observation; the streets are completely empty. Where is everyone? It’s sunset sure, -Northern Arizona’s gorgeous early twilight sky is rendered beautifully by the same Unreal Engine 3 tech that powered Bioshock-but hardly late enough for any sort of curfew to have kicked into effect.

-Pulling out the in-game map and notepad to see our mission goals and decide our next move, the 2K AU crew take advantage of this quiet time to tell us you ‘ll be able to leave a mission anytime you want.

-The level zones are huge, but if you want to poke your head into just one house, find a bit of intel, and go home unscathed, you can do that. The tradeoff, though, is that you lose out on other potential intelligence hidden around the area, and crucially, you’ll miss any opportunities to gather precious Elerium. Eventually clarifies lead designer Ed Orman ominously, “You do have to leave no matter what. “

-In the quaint Flagstaff neighborhood, Carter and Co come across a rather impressive two-story house halfway down the street. According to the mailbox in front the Sweeter family live inside. But, clearly, something’s gone sour. A dark grayish black trail of….something leads from the front yard into the back through the gate.

-All is quite in the backyard except for some odd sounds-foreign noises made even more eerie silence permeating the entire neighborhood-and the continued trail of residue running up the side of the white house. A red lawnmower lies on its side. Still running, its exposed blades remain spinning, ready to slice and dice anyone-or anything-that gets too close. Here, we receive our first look at XCOM’s unique array of gadgets.

-Dr Goldeberg really outdid himself; in Carter’s left hand is a Petrie dish containing what appears to be a living, nebulous sample of the black, inky residue that led us to the Sweeter’s backyard. It’s as if someone captured Spider Man’s Venom in a glass sphere. Plugged into the dish are electrical leads connected to a battery-fed compass in Carter’s other hand.

-As we move closer to the trail of goo the electronically stimulated contents of the dish vibrate wildly. Because the substance wants to combine with itself whenever possible, the gadget ends up guiding you closer and closer to the source of the gooey material.

-We move through the backyard toward the opposite side. The black stuff begins to react even more violently, leading us straight over and through a doghouse to a grassy patch behind some bushes in the back of the property. On a different day we’d stop to admire the scenic view of the valley below, just as a man standing there was doing, camera in had. But this isn’t that day; the man with the camera lies dead next to his tripod, coated in black nastiness. Ironically it is now our job to photograph him to document the incident for Goldberg, Quinn, and crew to study for precious intel.

-With the goo compass spastic and the trail of horror getting worse it’s obvious we’re close to something. Heading towards the home’s side entrance we finally glimpse it; a big black glob of goo. You quickly put away your compass for a loaded shotgun. You and your two pals unload pellet blasts into the extraterrestrial substance. It shrieks and breaks into smaller-but-still-very-much alive pieces and immediately starts to reform. A good ol-fashioned lead diet, it seems, is only going to slow down this alien invader, not stop it.

-Your man carter plunges his hand into his pocket to pull out another Goldberg contraption.: the Blobatov (aka a goo grenade rigged to catch fire when shattered), The dichotomy of its visual appearance is almost laughable: a clear glass sphere containing a radically advanced alien substance, rigged up as a grenade with primitive analog 50s’ era switches and misc hardware. Still, it proves satisfyingly effective when you throw it into the goo. The orb shatters, the goo ignites, and the entire tar like mass evaporates in a flash of fire and ear piercing, terrorizing shriek o what must be pure pain.

-One blob is down, but we still have to fine Elerium before we flee Flagstaff. Our sense of dread intensifies as we move through the house. In these close quarters and tight hallways, we’d have a difficult time dodging the goo if any of it leaps out at us here. We follow a slime trail upstairs and discover the nursery, complete with mutilated mom and no baby. There is no Elerium either.

-With Frank and Jones at our back we move back downstairs and toward the front door. Remember how we’d come in through the side? A wise decision as three blobs ambush us in the living room! One gloms onto Frank. He tries to pull it off, but at the end of the battle we find his body lifeless beneath an end table with a knocked over lamp on his head. Carter and Jones manage to fight off the springy alien tar with shotguns and Blobatovs, but not before being dragged to the brink of death in the process. Still in search of Eleriu, we move outside and head up the street; that’s when the vortex appears in the sky and the Titan monolith shows up.

--Jones by our side, we streak in the opposite direction, our health’s low, ammo scarce, and a giant stone alien death ray is on our tails…but we still have options. We could leave now with our lives intact, but returning to the base empty-handed after everything would be a waste. We turn into one more backyard.—if only to shake the Titan from our trail—and we see it on a random back porch: Elerium.

-Looking like Mayan relic designed by Frank Loyd Wright, the element’s nearly within our grasp, save for the swirling goo shield protecting it. We blast the goo with our shotguns, reluctant to risk bombing the Elerium with a Blobatav. Three blobs vacate the Elerium block and attack, and after another fierce battle and a few more Blobatav-induced immolations we finally collect what we came for. But where’s Jones? Is he dead or alive? Not out of the woods yet the Titan is cresting over the roof of the house like the morning sun, resuming its quest to vaporize us. We’ve come so close to death we can feel the hairs on the backs of our necks singe, but as described earlier, we make it to the care and escape.



But where’ll XCOm take us next? Some weird animal killings were recorded in Bangor, Maine, and we didin’t get to check them our before heading to Arizona. If the case is still active we have some investigating to do.


-As intense as it is, the Flagstaff incident is merely one of XCOM’s grab-bag missions. Orman suggests that every mission you go on will play differently.


Other tidbits;

-When we asked about the possibly of multiplayer, 2K AU was non-committal. Right now, we’d place the odds at about 50/50.

-Lead designer Ed Orman tells us that the team did their homework before starting the project. We clocked a lot of hours with the original. He shares with a laugh.

-Looking to spice up the missions the developers have made their outcomes uncertain says lead designer Ed Orman, But he noted things will escalate.

-Naturally you’ll have far more than just a shotgun and Blobatovs at your disposal. We’re told to expect a good mix of human and Goldberg built alien gadgets.

-Did you enjoy taking pictures of enemies in Bioshock 2? 2K AU clearly thinks so: they're adding it as a major evidence gathering component of XCOM. Snap pics of unexplained phenomena-no matter how grisly-and you'll gather research that Quinn then uses to build you new alien based weapons and gadgets for future missions.

This is the rough and tumble of it . Don't complain about typos ya lucky ya getting this.
 
Thanks Jtyettis! Being able to select missions is a nice feature. Maybe this is something more than just Bioshock with a X-Com skin.
 

Tain

Member
no crow eatin' here, my original view stands: game will be cool, game will be nothing like the original.
 

Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
Action adventure? Not in my X-Com, fuckers. I retract my crow eating statement.

And thanks, Jtyettis. Does it look good at least?
 
my top 3 favorite games were Fallout, Shadowrun, and X-Com


and we get


Oblivion with guns
Counterstrike with magic
Bioshock with aliens


*sigh*


well I did like Fallout 3..... :lol
 

Swifty

Member
It's nice to see some sort of planning and management stage carried over from the original games along with some form of a real-time element.

It pretty much sounds like MIB SWAT 4. Ironically, SWAT 4 was developed by Ken Levine's team at 2K Marin's sister studio, Irrational.
 

Servbot #42

Unconfirmed Member
Thanks Jtyettis! After reading that i'm feeling a little hopeful but i dunno this feels too scripted maybe, also no mention of squad tactics is worrying me.
 
Still cautiously optimistic about this

That story Jyettis posted sounds pretty fun but it will all come down to the gameplay. I hope the RPG-ish aspects of X-Com and leveling up agents will still be there. I loved the fact that I'd get pissed when one of my vets got killed and I knew I'd have to recruit a n00b in his place.
 

subversus

I've done nothing with my life except eat and fap
Four_Chamber said:
I loved the fact that I'd get pissed when one of my vets got killed and I knew I'd have to recruit a n00b in his place.

I hope for this too, but this probably won't fly with modern audience. People will cry because it's "unfair".
 

Acosta

Member
Thanks a lot Jtyettis.

Well, sounds nice and all, but I need to know much more about the tactical layout abd character development.

Not going to replace my wishers of a proper X-com, but sounds interesting at least.
 

epmode

Member
Tain said:
no crow eatin' here, my original view stands: game will be cool, game will be nothing like the original.
Exactly. This does sound pretty neat but I'm still hoping that Firaxis rumor is true.
 
arakyd said:
From the strategycore.co.uk forums:

1zyhea0.jpg


Jtyettis said:
XCOM OXM Cover Story June 2010 48-55:

inoutdr9.gif
 

FrankT

Member
Funky Papa said:
Action adventure? Not in my X-Com, fuckers. I retract my crow eating statement.

And thanks, Jtyettis. Does it look good at least?

It looks early lets just say that.

archnemesis said:
Thanks Jtyettis! Being able to select missions is a nice feature. Maybe this is something more than just Bioshock with a X-Com skin.

This is what they say about that comparison;

And though XCOM and Bioshock sport a number of similarities -white knuckled fear, mixed pace, and unique weaponry-they approach missions, with one key difference: Bioshock's underwater city of rapture was an unfamiliar place that pitted your fear of the unknown against you. XCOM on the other hand takes the ordinary and brilliantly turns it inside out, twisting your expectations of everyday life and using them to scare the bejeezus out of you.
 
Jtyettis said:
-In the planning room, meanwhile, it’s time to take the intelligence you’ve acquired and decide your next move. Which lead your should pursue?

-Examining the large US map on the wall, we have the option of heading to Wichita, Kansas; Bangor, Maine; or Flagstaff, Arizona... picking one mission might cause you to miss out on others.

-The level zones are huge, but if you want to poke your head into just one house, find a bit of intel, and go home unscathed, you can do that.

Those 3 bits of detail seem to hint at an actual campaign and mission structure similar to the original, ie a fair amount of freedom both in mission choice and within a mission (rather than just a linear shooter).

But its hard to tell... the article focuses so much on a boring point by point summary of a seemingly linear playthrough of a mission. yawn.
 

Gorgon

Member
ZombieSupaStar said:
so Bioshock with a MiB skin applied?

eh sounds interesting I guess, will play it. I just wish someone/ANYONE would make a better x-com Terror from the Deep game.

Fixed.

By the way, my hype for this is growing. Looks like the kind of approach I expect the FPS genre to move to. Now it only needs to actually deliver a top notch game.
 

LQX

Member
Got my latest OXM today and they had a 8 page spread on it. It looks great and just looking at the new screens you can tell it will be dramatic really story driven. I love the 50's setting and how average(no superman looking guys) the casts looks.
 

FlyinJ

Douchebag. Yes, me.
What they should do is:

Take the FPS/RPG hybrid system that Borderlands uses, but make a more tactical (R6 Vegas) type shooter with a 4-6 man squad. This squad has stat progression as well.

Add in the ability to salvage bodies and weapons which can be used for R&D.

Have "set piece" missions, as well as random missions (reconfigure different tilesets, randomize enemy placement).

Allow for up to 5 people to join in to play co-op on any mission you're running

Add to that a Red Faction Guerrilla (or even Bad Company 2) destruction system... and my god, what a game you would have.



THAT is how you make an XCom FPS.
 
LQX said:
Got my latest OXM today and they had a 8 page spread on it. It looks great and just looking at the new screens you can tell it will be dramatic really story driven. I love the 50's setting and how average(no superman looking guys) the casts looks.
=(
 
Finally got around to reading the story in OXM. Again: =(

Everything about this game seems wrong to me. I thought maybe they could at least capture the same tension and atmosphere from the 1st game but now I know they're going off in what looks like a TOTALLY different direction. The characters are cartoony, looking almost like people from that Blue Toad Murder game and the whole FBI angle really rubs me the wrong way. It seems lazy. Oh yeah an half the story is about some mysterious black goo you can only kill with fire. Weeeeee!

I came away from the article completely uninterested in the game.

Well, there's always whatever Ken Levine is working on I guess...
 

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
bhlaab said:
Whew, good thing there's a bunch of elerium on this random porch.

Much better then recovering it from UFO's you intercept and shoot down. Far more immersive this way.

Hopefully it shines and spins in the air too and makes a cool little paching! sound when you pick it up and a nice on screen indicator "Elerium found, 1/50" too. That'd be rad.
 

bhlaab

Member
Sinatar said:
Much better then recovering it from UFO's you intercept and shoot down. Far more immersive this way.

Hopefully it shines and spins in the air too and makes a cool little paching! sound when you pick it up and a nice on screen indicator "Elerium found, 1/50" too. That'd be rad.

I know this new type of steak looks like pig shit and smells like pig shit, but you have to be willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. The only way you'll know if it tastes like pig shit as well is by tasting it so there's no point in judging ahead of time. I mean, they wouldn't be calling it "steak" if it wasn't a little bit related to your favorite food. Take off your rose tinted glasses, maybe you'll realize that steak didn't taste quite as good as you seem to remember anyway. I'm willing to bet that if farmers had the kind of technology they have now, steak would have looked and smelled like pig shit from the beginning. And even if it's not like steak at all, you might end up loving it and end up liking pig shit better than steak!

Just keep an open mind.
 
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