Two New Turn-Based Games Coming Soon!

[Grim.Reaper]

I played this for a little bit and seems decent for what it is but have to admit all of these XCOM games seem too familiar for me.  I am just an average or below average player on these types of things, but boy do they all seem overly similar.  The stories and how some of the mechanics work are supposedly different, but heck if I can tell most of the time.  Your given some back story, bolted on with some high level strategy layer, then placed in some tactical situation where you largely move around and kill things in a similar way.

Completely understand people like XCOM-like games and so did I, but just seems like the market keeps spitting them out without enough differentiation to keep me interested long.  At least in this case it came with GamePass, so no money lost:)  Again, this is no reflection on the game itself if this is what people like, I am just hoping these developers get a little more creative.

[sandman2575]

Again, this is no reflection on the game itself if this is what people like, I am just hoping these developers get a little more creative.

I definitely sympathize with this, Grim. One of my biggest pet peeves about strategy games -- specifically 4X -- is the stranglehold that the Sid Meier Civilization formula (...from the early 1990s!) still has on the genre. I'm curious to see what the Amplitude Studios devs are going to do with their upcoming "Humankind" 4x, but it won't surprise me if it is still fundamentally in the mold of Civilization.

I was curious about the Gears Tactics games based on the glowing RPS review, which suggested that the game is pushing past the XCOM formula in some important ways. Maybe that's an overblown claim -?

Probably the single thing I most want in a next-gen turn-based / squad-based tactics game is for it to move past the infuriating "pods" mechanic. "Tactics" in XCOM seems mostly to boil down to:  don't accidentally activate another enemy pod. It's such a limiting mechanic. It doesn't encourage real tactical imagination. It just puts artificial constraints on the combat and induces paranoia that 'one wrong step / one step too far' means the difference between victory and defeat.

[FarAway Sooner]

Yeah.  The rewards for successful attempts at dramatic innovation often don't outweigh the downside of unsuccessful attempts at dramatic innovation. 

The 4x genre in particular seems a bit stuck in this regard, although there have been a handful of novel attempts to break that mold.  As for the "pod trigger" issue in the X-Com games, I do agree that that one gets tiresome quickly. 

FWIW, back in the days of the original Diablo, we called those "spawn points".  :D

[sandman2575]

This is also reminding me -- sadly -- of what a missed opportunity Harebrained Scheme's XCOM-like Battletech was. I think some of the combat mechanics were quite good. What drove me crazy was the game's insistence on equating 'difficulty' with 'now watch as we gang up on you with completely unmanageable odds.' Permanently restricting the lance to 4 mechs was a major error of design. At least with XCOM2 you could increase your squad from 4 to 6 over time.

[Jarhead0331]

This is also reminding me -- sadly -- of what a missed opportunity Harebrained Scheme's XCOM-like Battletech was. I think some of the combat mechanics were quite good. What drove me crazy was the game's insistence on equating 'difficulty' with 'now watch as we gang up on you with completely unmanageable odds.' Permanently restricting the lance to 4 mechs was a major error of design. At least with XCOM2 you could increase your squad from 4 to 6 over time.

Rogue Tech is the answer.

[sandman2575]

Rogue Tech is the answer.

Didn't know about this mod -- interesting. Does it make the game worth going back to?

[al_infierno]

I played this for a little bit and seems decent for what it is but have to admit all of these XCOM games seem too familiar for me.  I am just an average or below average player on these types of things, but boy do they all seem overly similar.  The stories and how some of the mechanics work are supposedly different, but heck if I can tell most of the time.  Your given some back story, bolted on with some high level strategy layer, then placed in some tactical situation where you largely move around and kill things in a similar way.

Completely understand people like XCOM-like games and so did I, but just seems like the market keeps spitting them out without enough differentiation to keep me interested long.  At least in this case it came with GamePass, so no money lost:)  Again, this is no reflection on the game itself if this is what people like, I am just hoping these developers get a little more creative.

Yeah, I think Phoenix Point was the last XCOM-like I bought, and it was about exactly as you describe.  Solid game, but left me filled with a profound sense of "been here, done that"

[CptHowdy]

Rogue Tech is the answer.

Didn't know about this mod -- interesting. Does it make the game worth going back to?

It's a whole new game pretty much. Definitely worth it.

[Jarhead0331]

Rogue Tech is the answer.

Didn't know about this mod -- interesting. Does it make the game worth going back to?

If you have a lot of spare time and/or know of a good divorce attorney, then yes. It is worth going back to it.

[sandman2575]

If you have a lot of spare time and/or know of a good divorce attorney, then yes.

;D