XCOM: Enemy Unknown

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

We Are Not Alone.

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So, Firaxis is at the helm of a remake of probably my favorite video game of all time. This is not to be confused with the FPS also called XCOM which looks kinda daft. This is a ground-up reimagining of the original beloved X-COM UFO Defense that came out way back in 1994.

So, what is XCOM anyway?

XCOM, or the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit, is a joint effort of the nations of the world to fund a response to the growing alien menace that is suddenly plaguing earth. Not only is XCOM's mission to combat the aliens where they turn up, but they also research the aliens and their technology, improve upon it, and bring it to bear against their foes. It's part turn-based squad tactical game, and part huge global strategy game.

Also, get ready to die. A lot. The developers have stated in pretty plain terms that they're keeping the lethal spirit of the original game in place, which means that you are going to be burying friends on almost every mission. The original XCOM (and its immediate sequel, Terror From the Deep) were highly stressful slugfests that quickly made you realize just how badly humanity is losing this war.

A brief overview from the makers:

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A look into the XCOM Base - your home when you're not getting murdered in appalling numbers by aliens

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So basically, as soon as I have the scratch to afford it, I am pre-ordering this game.

[Peter McCoy]

I've been following the development of this since it was first announced. I really like Firaxis and can't wait to get my hands on this game.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Here is my ever-changing XCOM trooper death list, or at least the ones tangentially related to SWfans. Writing these out makes me feel like I'm writing my condolences to their families, which definitely adds to the XCOM feel, haha.

<strike>Colonel Josh 'Gopher' Imobersteg</strike>: Killed In Action - XCOM's 'Angel of Death', Colonel Josh Imobersteg was the rock upon which the foundation was built for dozens of flawless combat operations. His natural talents as a sniper allowed him to call down accurate overwatch fire on nearly any alien that dared to move openly on the battlefield. One of the longest-serving XCOM troopers, Josh brought his expectations of success and espirit du corps to the rest of his men as their ranks grew.

Colonel Imobersteg was lost during combat operations at an alien terror site in Toronto, Canada. When his sniper's nest was overrun by Chryssalids, Josh desperately mounted a defense, killing two outright, but not before they had killed his spotter and turned her into a Zombie. The zombified trooper attacked, gravely wounding Josh and leaving him to die. Had a medic been able to reach the sniper's nest, he could have been saved, but the situation on the ground was too desperate to mount a rescue, and the XCOM squad leader bled to death.


<strike>Colonel Sam 'Corny' Helbling</strike>: Killed in Action - Despite not being on the team for very long, Colonel Helbling quickly asserted himself as an important part of the team, bringing experience to the younger cadre of assault troops on the squad. Able to charge the flanks of dug-in alien troops, Sam more often than not saved his pinned-down comrades by surprising an alien with a point-blanc shotgun blast to the back of the head. A UFO insertion specialist, Sam was the first one to be called on when they needed a point man to go down unfamiliar warrens of an alien spaceship.

Colonel Helbling was killed during the hard, desperate fighting in Toronto. Flanking the casino that was held by the Alien forces, Sam rescued no fewer than six civilians from harm's way as he fought to save a badly outgunned squadmate. He didn't shirk his duties, even in the face of three Chryssalids and a Cyberdisc, going as far as to kill one of the Chryssalids and deliver the coup de grace to the heavily armored Cyberdisc, destroying it mid-air spectacularly. In buying time for a teammate to fall back to a rally point, Sam was outflanked and finally killed by a Chryssalid.


<strike>Corporal Chris Casale</strike>: Killed in Action - Corporal Chris Casale was the junior-most officer among the XCOM assault troopers, usually called upon when his senior officers were taken off the front lines due to combat wounds. A live capture specialist, Casale never hesitated to sprint through the threat of enemy fire if the opportunity presented itself to stun an alien for capture and interrogation, making his contribution to the squad an extremely valuable one. Though he hadn't been on the squad long enough for them to give him a nickname, he was well-liked by his squadmates, particularly the rookies Peter Sturm and Jenny Jones, who he often played pool with at the lounge. Chris mentored Jenny, eventually helping her join the assault troopers as she was promoted.

Corporal Casale was killed during a rare raid on a landed UFO near Germany. The raid took place after the disastrous Toronto terror mission, and the call was given to bench some of the veteran squaddies so that younger troops could get combat experience and fill in the gaps left behind. The combat strength of the alien force at the landed UFO was vastly underestimated, and turned out to be a force of eight Mutons and four Sectoids. Under increasingly desperate fighting conditions, Casale struggled to keep the fight pressed to the enemy even as his squadmates panicked all around him. He even managed to capture two Mutons alive, a feat that had never been done before. In the end, the onslaught was just too much, and before he could fall back to receive first aid, he was cut down in a hail of plasma. The mission was a success, but at such a high price.

[Ndonsa]

It brings a tear to my eye. :cry

[Dasquian Belargic]

:( boys, you did good.




does this mean I have been called up for action? :uhoh

[Crusader]

Hey Charley when do you let me jump over the knife :D

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Jones, you are quickly becoming my MVP. You're a badass hard-charging assault troop with a cloaking device, grappling hook, psionic powers, run & gun perk, close combat and double tap perks, and a shotgun. You're basically FemShep, and you kill Sectopods with the quickness.

Peter, you're a pretty damn good trooper too. Now my 2nd most senior sniper. If I can get you into good firing position you'll do great things on the battlefield. Now that you have flying armor, that might happen a bit more.

Had an incredibly hard-fought UFO mission tonight. Lost a man - my 2nd best support trooper. He was bleeding out and ironically was the only man on the squad with a medkit.

Nearly lost Peter McCoy too. Christmas was down to one health and very nearly bought the farm, but we finally took out the balance of the enemy. Three damn sectopods. Incredibly difficult fight.

[Tear]

I named one of my soldiers after my ex-girlfriend. Expecting to use her as cannon fodder. Now she's one of my best. Awkward.

Also, one of my heavies panicked and shot the mvp we were escorting to safety. Also awkward.

[John Glayde]

Jones, you are quickly becoming my MVP. You're a badass hard-charging assault troop with a cloaking device, grappling hook, psionic powers, run & gun perk, close combat and double tap perks, and a shotgun. You're basically FemShep, and you kill Sectopods with the quickness.

Grappling hook, you say? :mischief

[Dasquian Belargic]

noooo [/grappling hook voice]



post pics!

[Charley]

I'll do my best to catch an action shot of "Doctor" grappling to the roof of a building. I've gotta keep you in the mix, but the added lethality of the enemy is giving me pause. Three sectopods in one ship is insanity

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Current SWFans XCOM roster that's still alive:
Colonel Jenny "Doctor" Jones
Colonel Jace "Untouchable" Atkins
Colonel Peter "Firefly" Sturm
Colonel Brian "Banhammer" Sears
Colonel Peter "Christmas" McCoy
Colonel Christin "Bad Wolf" Gattuso
Colonel Jason "Zeke" Gilbert
Colonel Andrew Grapsas
Major Liz McLellan
Squaddie Andrew Milligan
Squaddie Holly Meisner


Got a big crop of greenhorns since money no longer concerns me and I can just spend whatever, so I'll add pretty much anybody who wants to join the few, the proud, the still alive.

[Karl Valten]

Colonel Imobersteg reincarnated?

[Taataani Meorrrei]

Here's an aussie with a great knack for voiceover doing a few Let's Play sessions of XCOM.

Operation: Secret Serpent
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Operation: Dark God
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[Lilaena De'Ville]

You said you were going to add me! :(

Did I already die?

[Droo]

You washed out in boot camp, Holly.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

You're on my roster, you just haven't been properly blooded on a mission yet. When my next crop of squaddies promote upwards, you're going into the mix.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Sweet! :eee

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Also since Droo is an enigma wrapped in a riddle and nobody's actually seen him, I took the liberty to make squaddie Andrew Milligan look like Craig Charles with an obnoxious flattop hairdo.

[Sansa]

There are photos of him on Facebook!

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

He's on facebook?

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Only technically. But yes. As is Peter. Droo was in Peter's wedding and is in the pictures.

I've already said too much. :o

[Crusader]

^^ Holly is showing some real James Bond skills here :D

[Peter McCoy]

I have a confession to make...

Droo doesn't exist. I made him up. Every post he's ever made, that was me. All of his characters, his OOC rants, his random thoughts, his awesome video postings - all by my own hand. The man you see with me in the wedding photo's and on Facebook in general are all staged and photoshopped. The image of 'Droo' is in the likeness of a late 1980's Liverpool-based male prostitute who was famously gunned down while buying a new outfit from Anne Summers. When you've seen 'him' on webcams, the poor editing will explain why he was never lip-synced, and anybody who's ever heard 'him' speak, that was my dog, Barbara.

Hope that clears things up a bit. Sorry for carrying on this masquerade for such a ridiculously long time. I'm glad it's in the open now. I can finally stop living a lie.

[Crusader]

..., and anybody who's ever heard 'him' speak, that was my dog, Barbara.



:airquotes Oh and I always thought that was just your scouser accent. :airquotes

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I have a confession to make...

Droo doesn't exist. I made him up. Every post he's ever made, that was me. All of his characters, his OOC rants, his random thoughts, his awesome video postings - all by my own hand. The man you see with me in the wedding photo's and on Facebook in general are all staged and photoshopped. The image of 'Droo' is in the likeness of a late 1980's Liverpool-based male prostitute who was famously gunned down while buying a new outfit from Anne Summers. When you've seen 'him' on webcams, the poor editing will explain why he was never lip-synced, and anybody who's ever heard 'him' speak, that was my dog, Barbara.

Hope that clears things up a bit. Sorry for carrying on this masquerade for such a ridiculously long time. I'm glad it's in the open now. I can finally stop living a lie.LOL

Everything makes sense now!

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

<strike>Lieutenant Andrew 'Smeghead' Milligan</strike>: Killed in Action - A junior officer on a well-established XCOM squad, Lieutenant Milligan was a support trooper in training. On a routine mission to a downed alien supply barge, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and was caught in a sectopod bombardment. Critically wounded, he ironically was the only trooper with a medkit on the squad, and the only way he would survive is if the mission ended in three turns. The squad tried valiantly to save him, rushing through to find the last aliens on the ship. Unfortunately they weren't fast enough, and Lieutenant Milligan bled out on the battlefield.

[Peter McCoy]

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[Yog]

I love this game.. :thumbup

[Charley]

Went ahead and added you into my squad :) Found a convenient Norwegian heavy weapons trooper who is now Alexander Hackner.

I'm beginning to put together my full psionic squad for the final mission. Since Holly's support trooper is psionic, she'll eventually join Jace, Brian, and Peter on the main squad. Another assault guy is also psionic, so that leaves me with an opening for one more psionic assault...whenever I recruit one.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Welcome to nerd squad :cool

[Taataani Meorrrei]

So I have broken this game at last. Having a full squad of psionic colonels makes it stupidly easy to win in all but the most ridiculous of cases. Enemy contact? Are they a robot, a Chryssalid, or an Ethereal? If not, they now belong to you!

[Captain Untouchable]

Ooooh. You found your last few psionics? :ohno

[Taataani Meorrrei]

Beat the game. One final casualty.

Colonel Holly "LD" Meissner, KIA.

She saved us all.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Congrats, and congrats to the surviving members of Nerd Squad!

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Beat the game. One final casualty.

Colonel Holly "LD" Meissner, KIA.

She saved us all.

Noooooooooooooooo!

:cry

[Charley]

To be fair, its a scripted sort of event.

You have a "volunteer" for the final mission who dons psionic armor and uses the Ethereal device to communicate directly into the psionic hivemind, to both discover the alien plot and also to locate their Temple Ship. The volunteer is granted massive bonuses to their psionic powers, including the ability to channel a rift storm, which is a devastating area of effect attack. Upon defeating the aliens on the Temple Ship, the ethereal device on the ship begins to overload, and it's basically a singularity that, if it blows, will do to the earth what happened to Vulcan in Star Trek. So the volunteer psi-pushes their squadmates onto the skyranger and makes them take off without them. The volunteer taps into the device, flies the Temple Ship away, and it detonates at a safe distance, saving the entire world

Long story short, she's the hero of the game.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Well, as long as I was saving the world. :D

[Pierce Tondry]

I'm cool with living. I get to join my nerds in glorious retirement.

[Captain Untouchable]

Picked this up today, and I gotta say... holy shitballs it's awesome! :eee

Edit:

Several hours in, and I lose my first squad member to one of those bonkers cyberdiscs. Worryingly, it was the black guy who died first. :uhoh

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Such a cliche ;)

[Dasquian Belargic]

Who is on your team Jace? Are you creating another incarnation of Nerd Squad?

[Captain Untouchable]

I decided against Nerd Squad, because at the time I wasn't confident in my ability not to get you all killed. :uhoh

The replayability of this game is pretty insane, though: so Nerd Squad may well make an outing. I'm on Normal at the moment; upping to the next level - Classic - would not only make the aliens tougher to fight and give me less resources to start with, it also gives you more to worry about in terms of big-picture strategy. XCOM has a mechanic where the public panics when aliens attack their country... if you fail to calm the populace by winning victories or investing money in security for them, they'll eventually withdraw their funding. Classic (and Impossible) make countries accrue Panic quicker, so that'll make panic management a bigger concern.

You can also add bonus rules during your second/etc playthough, like making it so criticals are automatic when the target is flanked, weapon damage is a more random, you lose gear from someone that dies... and on top of that, a lot of the maps seem to be random(ish)ly generated: I had a crash-hiccup during one mission, and when I loaded the previous save and played again the map was facing a completely different direction, the terrain and cover was laid out differently, and I fought a totally different set of aliens.

[Park Kraken]

Just finished my first playthrough on easy. I ended up dilly dallying a little longer than I needed to before finishing it off. I incorporated a wide range of soldiers from different parts of my life, including friends, nerds, fanfiction writers, and other random stuff.

BTW, Hot Pink haired Yobama "Mittens" Romney ended up being the Psionic Savior, lol.

Here's what happened to two of the three "nerds" I incorporated into my squads;

Rk. Loklorien Tarkin 0 Kills 1 Mission Operation: Black Heart
Maj. Teleran 'Desaria' Tear 11 Kills 15 Missions Operation: Black Priest

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

I've seen your other stats. You subscribe to the Zap Brannigan strategy of playing.

[Park Kraken]

Mmmm not quite. I don't just "throw" tons of infantry at the enemy. Most of the losses were incurred against either first meetings against new enemy types, or sending a scout just a little too far forward and encountering too many enemies at once.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

I'm not just counting losses though. I'm looking at the number of missions completed and the kills for each character.

I have no interest in the style of game personally, but I did enjoy watching Charley when he played. What I was able to gather about this game (and someone correct me if I'm wrong), was that it's very strategic in how you handle your squad. Never send folks so far out alone was pretty much the message I got when watching him play.

[Park Kraken]

I'm not just counting losses though. I'm looking at the number of missions completed and the kills for each character.

I have no interest in the style of game personally, but I did enjoy watching Charley when he played. What I was able to gather about this game (and someone correct me if I'm wrong), was that it's very strategic in how you handle your squad. Never send folks so far out alone was pretty much the message I got when watching him play.

Yeah in my experience if you're going to do that, do it at the beginning of the turn and not the end.

[Charley]

Always creep and overwatch. Your enveloping fields of fire, even with aim penalties, can help out in a pinch if enemy contact attempts to flank.

The only time I ever dash is to redeploy across terrain I've confirmed clear, and even then, I prefer to have the path covered by line of sight.

Also when you are fielding newbies at the beginning of the game, spam the hell out of grenades. They are very effective against low level xrays

[Park Kraken]

I may go conservative on my third play through. I'm planning to go Banzai my second playthrough and see how big my memorial list gets.

[Dasquian Belargic]

I am in fear of my life, playing this game! Having named everyone so far after all of you guys, I am terrified of someone dying :ohno

Lt. Charley 'Flambe' Hicks is currently leading my squad, btw.

[Charley]

Did you pick up the DLC? Am I rocking the guile flattop?

[Dasquian Belargic]

No, you're bald :p

Chris "Archer" Casale is the only other one with a nickname right now.

Peter, Jace, Sarah, Christin and me are still waiting for promotion.

[Korax]

This game is up for community choice deal at 33% off and voting ends in like, 2 hours-ish. If it wins I'll be getting this because I want it hard. My backlog grows immensely by the day, thanks for that Steam.

[Morgan Evanar]

It was on sale so I bought it. I love turn based tactical squad games.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

I'm sorely tempted to restart a campaign on classic difficulty to see if I've got what it takes.

[Morgan Evanar]

I don't. This game is not quite as brutal as the original but it's still damn unforgiving.

[Taataani Meorrrei]

lemme know your squad makeup when you get a bit. I like to live vicariously through your play style.

[Charley]

Did anybody end up getting XCOM Enemy Within, the mega expansion for Enemy Unknown?

It's flat-out amazing. You get the option to cybernetically or genetically enhance your troopers, getting massive MEC suits that you can equip with miniguns and grenade launchers or you can create super soldiers that can leap buildings and have spider senses, etc. The aliens also get new units including their own mobile suit bad guys. There's also new maps, new language packs, new armors, and a new enemy faction that are a human pro-alien terrorist group.

That's scratching the surface. There's new missions as well, some of them are incredibly intense.

[Zasz Grimm]

Yes, XCOM is superb, and EW makes it that much better. If you have a legitimate bought installation, you should mod it with the "Long War" mod that is running around. http://www.polygon.com/2014/5/27/5750392/xcom-enemy-unknown-enemy-within-long-war-mod is a good review/overview of it. I've yet to play it, but I've heard nothing but good things.

Oh, it also makes the game balls harder. As if current harsh difficulties aren't enough.

PS: Mec Troopers are ahmazingggg. Fllamethrower / mines = winning.

[Charley]

They buffed sectopods so much in EW. I lost one of my best colonels (wearing ghost armor and chryssalid chitin) in a one shot kill from a Sectopod mortar barrage. Combine that with their new armor damage debuff trait and they are nearly damned impossible to face without paying a little blood

[Zasz Grimm]

Sectopods are such a pain. Wait until later with the enraged berserkers and the berserkers with thin men backup. Discs get rough too. The mission where you have to defend the base..ugh. Just make sure you have a good stable of guys when that happens, and your barracks is good to go. I don't know what difficulty you are on, but on one of my ironman playthroughs i totally forgot about the base defend mission and all of my guys were laid up from a previous mission..yeah, it wasn't fun.

[Charley]

Oh I beast moded base assault. Only lost two base staff and they actually performed quite well in the defense

[Charley]

How many mortars does a Sectopod launch in a salvo. I want to say that it launched six and they were hitting for like 11 damage each. That seems so ridiculous

[Zasz Grimm]

That sounds about right, I may be wrong though, it's been a while since I've done a play through. I've been contemplating doing another classic ironman recently.

[Charley]

I don't quite have the cojones for classic or harder, nor do I have what it takes for ironman. Normal's gonna be the hardest I take it for a while.

I think my first squad is gonna get gene spliced for the second heart mod. I had been using the adrenal gland boost, but considering how easy it was to get one shot punked by a sectopod it's a prudent insurance policy at this point.

Also I'm ruthlessly using ghost armor now. In Enemy Within I'd used it almost exclusively on my assaults for breach and clear attacks against bridges on UFO's. Mainly I'd only considered it for the critical damage bonus. Now I'm going to seriously start using it in tandem with a ruthless maneuver warfare policy. I cleared a supply barge pretty effectively by letting one person a turn chew up a third of the ship on a blind dash into fog of war. Even ran smack into three muton elites, a muton, and an ethereal without gun support from my MEC's. Blasted a prox mine into the bridge of the ship and dashed out the rest of the squad. End turn, veil drops, rocket gets dumped inside the bridge. Sniper double taps the flankers, and my assault leisurely rolls in and puts one in the ethereal's ear hole.

[Charley]

Also MEC stuff: While I love the flamethrower in the early game and on chryssalid maps, it seems the clear winner in the late game is to opt for the kinetic strike module. It adds what's effectively a sprinter bonus to your MEC, and the mobility seems to be a lot more useful than the occasional time or two that I've felt like I needed to burn someone out of their position.

Also have you used kinetic strike on the heavy aliens (mechtoid, berserker, sectopod)? If you kill on the attack, each one has it's own custom death animation and oh my god that alone is worth the price of admission. I don't even care if your MEC suffers three damage in the explosion from the sectopod, it's worth it!

[Zasz Grimm]

Second heart is almost essential in ironman playthroughs, especially on classic. But when it comes to MECS, I actually haven't tried the kinectic strike. I may have to change it up and give it a try. I've always been very big on the flamethrower.

[Charley]

Just finished off Exalt. I tracked down their hidden base to Canada. Between harboring pro-alien terrorists and the Newfoundland mission, this game really hammers home the whole "Blame Canada" thing.

Also I was more than a little upset with how little story material you got out of Exalt. Okay they're kooky and all but you don't really get to see much more beyond the veil, and that's kind of a shame.