X-COM Preorders

[Capn Darwin]

Basic Demo info:

1 tutorial mission, scripted move and die. Gives you a feeling for the move and shoot system used as well as cover.

1 90% hands free mission at the pier. Both the US and China mission are the same layout with the same bad guys. Some of the signs change from US to Chinese. Real game will have a skyrange full of various missions, locations and random enemy start points, etc.

A brief look at the ant farm and a few of its functions. Definately a lot more to deal with here in the real game. You can jump in an change the look of the troops. No weapon load out options or real skills other than the lone survivor of the scripted mission getting a rocket launcher.

Game controls. The mouse/keyboard is rough and the tutorial does not do a good job of telling you how to zoom or rotate. I found the game a whole lot easier, quicker and more natural on the xbox controler. I'm sure mouse and keyboard will be better in the full version when I can map keys and such. If you have an XBOX I highly recommend playing again with the controller. Go get an Afterglow controller wiith the blue leds. Very XCOM.

Sound and Graphics are top notch even on my "work" machine here in my office. I'll have to load the demo on my gaming beast and see how that goes.

The game does have that original terror of the unknown feeling the first game had. The "real" mission could have been a lot tougher if aliens were placed in certain spots at start. Another thing to factor in is that the demo is most likely set to Easy difficulty. So, those of us breezing through the demo may be in for a shock when we go classic or hard in the real deal.

14 days and counting. Color me very stoked!!  8)

[Arctic Blast]

I keep hearing how tough that second mission is.  I suck, and still made it home with only one wounded soldier and everyone else intact.  I took several shots where the to-hit odds were 52-54%, and they all ended up as one-shot kills.  Either I'm extremely lucky, or you guys are over-thinking things.

I really miss having a strategic map that shows FOW and LOS. I always found it handy in terms of knowing what area to search next.

NONE of my guys hit on 52-54%. I did replay it and just go blast-a-thon, though. Much easier when you pay attention to the damn briefing and realize collateral damage doesn't matter.  ;D

[JudgeDredd]

I too found the mission very easy. One guy wounded. I didn't see a miss at all.

Not running forward and thinking about who can cover if one of your boys suddenly discovers an alien seemed the way to go...moving in short bursts

I definitely think it's one to watch...I'm not pre-ordering - and I was initially thinking day one purchase - however - as money is a wee bit tight at present and I've just bought another model, I think I'll hold for a week and see what's being said.

I've managed to hold out on Borderlands 2, F1 2012 and Sleeping Dogs. A Steam Christmas sale will be very welcome :)

[Grim.Reaper]

wow...didn't think I would like this game, never played the first.  But seems like a decent game.  Might be on the buying radar....

[Capn Darwin]

If you want to try a bit more intense demo go into this file:
?\Steam\steamapps\common\XCom-Enemy-Unknown-Demo\Engine\Config\BaseGame.ini (? = location of your steam folder tends to be Program Files (x86) on Win7 machines)

Open the file, wordpad works.

Change the fifth line down: GameDifficulty=+0.0 to +1.0 for Normal mode, +2.0 for Classic, and +3.0 for Impossible.

The missions screen will say Easy, but the aliens will put up a much better fight. I played on classic and lost my first soldier when the floaters popped up and one shot across the board and drilled my sniper how was in cover. The number of missed shoots also goes up.

There is more demo modding info on the 2K XCOM forum.

Happy hunting!  8)

[Bison]

Just played through the demo.  I like turnbased so those mechanics were pretty sweet, but I though the camera controls were pretty wonky actually.  I'm sure you can tweek them a little and they become easier to manage over time.

[JudgeDredd]

Hartford688 posted this link over at Wargamer to some info (based on preview code I believe) which may squash some of the things the demo "misled" us into thinking the game was like
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/09/25/some-things-you-should-know-about-the-xcom-demo/#more-125588

In there is also a link in that article to a 1 hour video showing preview code I believe with some crazy blokes talking about the game and mechanics as they play through a level...I haven't watched it all yet - but what I did see seemed fun and pretty cool. I may be back on day one purchase.

The video is here
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/08/29/enemy-yours-watch-an-hour-of-the-xcom-remake/

Sorry if these links are already in this thread - I haven't read all 5 pages!

[Capn Darwin]

Great footage of an outdoor map and down ufo here: http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/ns2k61/xcom--enemy-unknown-ufo-walkthrough

Enjoy.

[hammersby]

anyone know if this is going to work with teh trackIR headsets?

[Bison]

Not sure, but why would you need it too?

[Kushan]

Jake Solomon, the lead designer, was on Three Moves Ahead this week.

http://www.idlethumbs.net/3ma/episodes/we-will-be-watching-commander

The demo didn't do much for me. After listening I am definitely more interested in buying it. Still going to be waiting for first hand reviews, but its now on my radar.

[Grim.Reaper]

Held out longer than usual....pre ordered....it's a sickness.

[Capn Darwin]

I'm pissed my Gamestop is not doing a midnight launch. I'll have wait all Tuesday until afterwork. Sucks! Really, really up for this game. Should be a blast.  8)

[tgb]

Steam is unlocking it 9PM Pacific time Monday, so if you've pre-ordered on line.......................

[Kushan]

After watching the Gametrailers video, I broke down and pre-ordered. Anyone know if I can gift Civ V that comes with pre-ordering? I already own it.