You wouldn't know it from watching the bang-pow-quote-cinematic-die-die trailers, but XCOM: Enemy Unknown is actually a turn-based tactical affair in the same vein as the widely-celebrated original X-COM games. Fortunately, publisher 2K decided to show off the game itself yesterday, though you'll have missed it if you don't follow social Twitfacestreams. So come, enjoy an hour of tactical delights.
Civilization V recently got a lot more holy with the Gods and Kings expansion, but some of you fence-sitters haven't yet indulged in abusing religion for your own selfish ambitions. If you're still itching to give your theocracy a try, you'll be happy to know that a demo for the game is now available.
Hyperviolence was all the rage at this year's E3. However, only one hyperviolent game could take the crown. The Game Critics Awards have finally been determined, and Naughty Dog has come on top with The Last of Us. Its strong performance pushed PS3 to the top of the heap, with PS3 as the most-winning platform. Sony Computer Entertainment is the most-winning publisher as well, with 7 awards.
How exactly can one sell a turn-based tactical game to the E3 audience, those hooting, hollering troglodytes who clap and roar because they recognise a character in a video game? The approach taken by XCOM: Enemy Unknown, at least, is to pretend you're something else entirely with a very flashy E3 trailer.
Firaxis is cutting out Civilization V's existing mod browsing system to slip in Valve's sleek and chic Steam Workshop, publisher 2K Games has announced. As in Portal 2 and Skyrim, it'll let you easily peruse, download, rate, and submit mods through your browser or the Steam client.
Civilization V is getting ready for some of that old time religion, also known as polytheism. To mark the Gods and Kings expansion, Firaxis and 2K Games are offering the game as free to play for this weekend, lasting from today until Sunday, May 27.
Firaxis has a daunting challenge to overcome with XCOM: Enemy Unknown. As a true successor to the beloved strategy classic, it has to sate the expectations of those that played the 1993 original. But, it needs to be flashy enough to catch the attention of the modern console gamer. How does one go about making a turn-based strategy game appeal to the masses?
Simple: stay as true to the original X-COM as possible. Fighting an alien invasion where the stakes are so high makes for great drama, no matter what the genre. Thanks to the game's unforgiving and brutal difficulty, every move matters that much more. Whereas other games had me mowing down hundreds of enemies, Enemy Unknown made me feel like every decision I made was crucial.
Although 2K Marin's first-person reboot of XCOM has disappeared into the ether, Firaxis' strategy game has been dated. XCOM: Enemy Unknown will be available on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 on October 9th.
Of course, no release date announcement is complete without mentioning pre-order bonus incentives. Pre-ordering the game from select retailers will entitle you to the "Elite Soldier Pack." This DLC add-on includes a classic X-COM soldier, inspired by the original UFO Defense. Soldiers can also be customized with a Deco pack and "complete color customization."
XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a re-imagining of the turn-based tactics and RPG elements found in the original X-Com: UFO Defense. Enemy Unknown producer Garth DeAngelis recently talked about the game that core fans of the series have been waiting for, and the focus on accessibility while keeping challenges in-tact.
"We look at games like Demon's Souls and Dark Souls and Minecraft and Dwarf Fortress, and we think there's a little bit of a renaissance of difficulty in games. Gamers are buying those experiences, clearly, and they're not easy games," DeAngelis said. "They're challenging. You can lose. You can fail. And failure is part of games. So we wanted to bring it back, and we thought, you know, it's a pillar of X-Com."
Firaxis is ticking a lot of the right boxes in "reimagining" the much-loved tactical series X-COM for modern audiences with XCOM: Enemy Unknown, certainly more than the FPS XCOM. The developer's shared a few details on the PC edition now, ticking more boxes with support for modding and a "unique" UI especially for PC.
Read more: Console interface? "No, no, no. Nooo. Oh man, no," says lead designer »
XCOM: Enemy Unknown was a breath of fresh air for long-time X-COM fans, terrified of 2K Marin's FPS reboot of the franchise. The bullet point of features for Enemy Unknown sound like a wishlist for fans of the original: strategy, character customization, and yes, perma-death.
However, one feature stood out in my hands-off demo of the Firaxis-developed turn-based strategy game. Enemy Unknown features randomly selected levels and procedurally generated layouts that make it "impossible" to see everything the game has to offer on one playthrough.
Spies and religion are returning to Sid Meier's Civilization V in its first expansion pack, announced today, which will also bring revamped combat and bags of other new things. Named Gods & Kings, it's due from developer Firaxis in, oh, less than one turn--in "late spring."
Sid Meier has been in the industry for years, long enough to see new trends rise and fade. How does the luminary plan on approaching tablet and mobile games?
"Essentially, I think we would not approach [mobile/tablet gaming] differently," Meier said. "I think we would imagine, what would be a game we would like to play, on this platform with this technology, and then make that game."
Read more: Mobile brings new possibilities 'waiting to be explored' »
For classic strategy fans, the announcement of XCOM: Enemy Unknown was a breath of fresh air. Rather than take the series in a radical new direction (like its cousin, simply titled XCOM), Enemy Unknown pays homage to the older title. Apparently Firaxis feels the same way, and creative development head Sid Meier feels the game could potentially draw in different types of gamers.
"In our dreams we pull in strategy game players, we pull in action players, we pull in RPG players," Meier said.
Read more: 'An action gamer might think strategy is pretty fun too' »
Julian Gollop, creator of the original X-COM game, hasn't had a hand in the XCOM first-person reboot from 2K Marin, nor the more recently announced strategy game, XCOM: Enemy Unknown from Firaxis. It's clear which one he prefers though, sharing his thoughts on the strategy game and calling the shooter direction "disappointing" for its departure from the series' roots.
"I thought it was a great shame because it was going down the same route as some of the previous X-COM sequels, like Interceptor and Enforcer - in other words, going completely against turn-based combat," Gollop said.
Read more: Are turn-based games a 'completely niche market'? »
"That's what the rabid X-Com fans want to hear, though. And it wasn't every time something ..."
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