No doubt you’ve heard that XCOM is coming back as an FPS instead of a turn-based strategy game. Believe me, you have every right to be angry and disappointed at this announcement. It is a really huge leap in genres. However, as someone who has played the first and third XCOM game who also appreciates the lore and history of the XCOM universe, I believe that it might work as an FPS.
No, genius, I don’t mean as a “one supersoldier kills all aliens” stereotypical game design like in Enforcers (a terrible-but-at-least-humorous third person shooter). If you think along the lines of Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six: Vegas and Ghost Recon, suddenly the idea to make an FPS XCOM doesn’t sound very preposterous.
When you enter the battlescape in the first XCOM, you control a squad of soldiers facing off against aliens in isometric turn-based combat. Now if you put that into an FPS perspective, you will act as squad leader for your alien-killing strike team. You customize their loadouts before the start of a mission, you use the D-pad to assign basic commands to your squad members (to either use suppressive fire and take cover, or press forward and charge), and even use funky alien weapons dropped by the enemy. You still have to take cover when under fire, and also have to be careful of some aliens who can walk through walls, use telekinesis, or even turn your squad members against you.
2K Marin and 2K Australia can funnel in the micro-managing aspect, albeit in a more basic format. At the end of every mission, you can take your spoils (alien artifacts, weapons, body samples) and use it to fund your base research. Said research can help power up your soldier’s stats, armor, weaponry, or even come up with new-but-unstable alien-human hybrid technology (and skills) you can use against the aliens.
Of course, you can’t just research all at one go; you’ll be allocated limited points so you can only go up certain tech tree routes. Do you wish to focus on upgrading your existing armor and equipment, or build new experimental equipment that might be good but have a chance to break in the middle of battle? Do you focus on weapons and firepower or on equipment that can help you brave through alien ships and ruins with harsh conditions? Or do you go straight to training your soldiers to use alien mind powers and forsake everything else? The choice is up to you. If you don’t want to fuss over such things and would rather just go straight to the action, there should be an auto-assign button to distribute your stats and research points to do things for you automatically.
I could also suggest a few other ideas, like three different endings determined by how advanced your research tree is and how well you perform on each mission, or even a multi-player mode that lets you control the aliens as a faction, but I don’t want to give them all away for the developers to steal borrow.
Don’t get me wrong: this new XCOM will not be a true XCOM game that fans will accept. This is akin to turning Final Fantasy into a 2D platform game; sure it might turn out good, but you can’t call it a true Final Fantasy game. I will say, however, that this game might have a chance to be a great game on its own terms if you keep an open mind to it. After all, 2K Marin & 2K Australia did a pretty good job with Bioshock 2. Keep in mind that what I’ve said here is all speculations, so chances are they might go to the “one man killing all aliens” design doc route, which would be a real damn shame.
Besides, if you still think it’s a horrendous idea, Steam’s selling the first two games for five dollars US a piece.
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X-com is dead, It has been for a long-time, Tactical strategy, Tactical RPG’s etc are usually produced by smaller company’s because they are extremely hard and only accepted by hardcore gamers so they don’t bring in the revenue, that the low-brow FPS games bring in. you see every FPS game ever made is exactly the same thing, sure you change the graphics, and the weapons but its all the same. In the last 20 years they went through the transformation of 4, first addition, allowing rooms to exist simultaneously above and below each other. second addition alternate fire for the weapons you carry, third addition vehicles, and finally the forth addition destructible environments. None of which are creative in any way just the next logical step in a first person simulation. So what we will get to fight aliens in FPS format, so its basically a extremely watered down version of X-com, no base management, no research, no tactical combat, no challenge, no fun, but what could you really expect, I thought bio-shock sucked as well and I was not extremely happy when I heard 2K game’s owned the franchise, apparently their fans of X-com, which part? Enforcer? I really don’t care that their butchering X-com their just another big studio, capitalizing of the work of others. Much like EA-games, who’s pretty much ruined every franchise they have ever purchased from Ultima, to Command and conquer if you want to see games that are similar to the originals look at fan remakes, spiritual successors, Although I really didn’t think the UFO : Aftermath, Aftershock, Afterlight series completely captured the original, I think the people that created UFO : Extraterrestrials are on the right track, and their making UFO : ET2 right now which looks like its going to be decent.
Who remembers Fallout?
It was a turn-based RPG back on the PC by Obsidian now Bethesda Studios. Now it is a free-roamer quick-time action game with RPG elements with the choice to play from 3rd-person or even FPS.
XCOM as FPS? Let’s give it a chance shall we? I’ve never heard nor play it before but I would like to see and compare the old and the new for fun.
Fallout 3 isn’t Fallout, it’s crap.
I’ll just quote a favourite reply from someone else from another forum:
“Fallout 3 is total sh*t. In fact it’s a buffalo sh*tspray. That’s when a buffalo takes a sh*t while it’s tail is swinging, spreading the muck in all directions.” – stonebro, GoG forums
X-COM is a game that people who played it before places it on an altar and worships as the pinnacle of gameplay: base building, research, horror, aliens, squad management, alien loot and intense tactical combat rolled into one. Hate to keep repeating but I’ll just copy and paste what I’ve typed:
An X-COM fps ISN’T X-COM anymore. X-COM is not just a turn-based strategy/tactical game, it was and had EVERYTHING. The start of X-COM made you feel how pathetically weak you are even against the alien’s weakest. You suffered plenty. Then you slowly progress, researching on your own items and eventually using their tech against them. Eventually at the end you reach “Godhood” with Mind Control and you kill every single son-of-a-b*tch by turning themselves against each other. It was incredibly rewarding.
If they could make a FPS and TPS game where I can explore my base, build my base, initiate research/purchase weapons, armour and items by talking to NPCs, recruit soldiers, having tactical battles as a shooter where I can directly control all my squadmates or let the AI handle them and also capture aliens back for research, but I HIGHLY doubt they will.
X-COM is to PCs is to what the later FFs and the MGS is to PS. They don’t fug up our revered franchise and hope to get away without repercussions even if they say they’re big fans of X-COM.
here’s the thing: i get the transition from fallout 2 to fallout 3. fallout 1 & 2 had guns and deal with the wasteland; bethesda just took it further, made in an fps with rpg elements, and it worked. sure, the hardcore fans aren’t too pleased, but those guys are just being anal about their franchise not being up to their unreasonable standards. as a whole, fallout 3 is pretty good and worked as a logical sequel.
turning xcom into an fps? where’s the logic in that though? there isn’t really a genre to label xcom 1 as; its a combination of turn-based combat, simulation, and base-building. how 2k came to the decision to make an fps out of this is beyond me.
i do think the rainbow six: vegas idea might work, but it’s better if they just made a side-story based from xcom instead of announcing it like it is. still, just wait and see.
Besides, if you still think it’s a horrendous idea, Steam’s selling the first two games for five dollars US a piece.
Add UFO Extraterrestrials, the best modern attempt for cloning X-COM.
Now I wish some studio cloned X-COM Apocalypse.
The poor soldier in the third screenshot is gonna get screwed the next turn.
unless he has backup coming up or a psiteam! I always have a psiteam for mindcontrol hiding on the ship… :P