# XCOM Enemy Unknown Discussion



## gameranand (Apr 7, 2013)

I know that its quite an old game now but I didn't found any thread for this Topic so I am creating one.

This game is a remake of a really old game UFO : Enemy Unknown. Its a Turn based Strategy game. Here are the necessary info about the game

Name - *XCOM Enemy Unknown*

Developer - *Firaxis Games*

Publisher - *2K Games*

Engine - *Unreal Engine 3*

Release Date - *12 Oct 2012*

*Official Site*

*Wiki Page*

*pics.mobygames.com/images/covers/large/1349868137-00.jpg





I am currently playing this game and quite enjoying it. You have everything in this game and every action you take has a reaction and consequences with which you have to live. Probably the best part that I like is that I can name my soldiers to whatever I want which makes a kind of emotional connection with that soldier that urges you to keep them alive at all costs. There was a mission where I injured most of my soldiers and next mission was a nightmare for me because I had to complete that mission with Rookie and I was used to play with Veterans. 
In simple words if you have any love with Strategy games then you have to play this game. This is the best game that I have played in Strategy games after Command and Conquer 3 Tiberirum Wars.


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## quicky008 (Apr 7, 2013)

Many reviewers have suggested that this game's graphics look rather dated-can you confirm whether thats true or not?


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## gameranand (Apr 7, 2013)

quicky008 said:


> Many reviewers have suggested that this game's graphics look rather dated-can you confirm whether thats true or not?



Well Graphics are adorable TBH. Its not that great but its good enough and once you start playing the game then you won't mind it.
Also one point is that in vanilla version of the game graphics were quite BAD but after the updates the movies started showing in proper 1080p and graphics were also improved. I would suggest you give this game atleast one chance with updates and everything and you'll be hooked that I can guarantee.


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## quicky008 (Apr 7, 2013)

That sounds great-whats the size of that update?Is it available for download at Firaxis' official website?


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## gameranand (Apr 7, 2013)

The Update size is quite large as it contains all the movies in 1080p resolution.
Its more like 3.5 GB. As for Download I don't think that its available at their site, it will self update from Steam though.
If get problem finding the updates and PM me.


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## heidi2521 (Apr 7, 2013)

Lots of early reviews said it was extremely buggy. Has that been fixed now? (crosses fingers for GOTY edition)


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## gameranand (Apr 8, 2013)

Yes most of the bugs has been fixed. There are a few bugs like Units will be in air on starting a mission sometimes but nothing deal breaker as they come down as soon as you switch between them or give them any order.
All in all very good bugs and no deal breaker bugs at all, in vanilla version, yes there were many bugs but now the game is on 1.3 and all the patches rectified them.


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## bippukt (Apr 8, 2013)

quicky008 said:


> Many reviewers have suggested that this game's graphics look rather dated-can you confirm whether thats true or not?



Yes, the graphics are sub par from acoording to today's standards. But the game itself is pretty good, and I didn't encounter any bugs, although people did talk about some 'teleport bug'.


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## gameranand (Apr 8, 2013)

bippukt said:


> Yes, the graphics are sub par from acoording to today's standards. But the game itself is pretty good, and I didn't encounter any bugs, although people did talk about some 'teleport bug'.



Same here. No deal breaker bugs so far. Have you completed the game ??


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## Tachyon1986 (Apr 8, 2013)

As someone who played the first X-com (the one from the 90s) , allow me to make some observations on this game. You may or may not agree with them , but thank you for reading. I'll place this game in a side-by-side comparison with the 90s classic:

1) The weakest part of this remake is that no. of maps are LIMITED. It's quite immersion breaking when you realize you've been through the same areas over and over again.

The original used procedurally generated maps , which basically means randomly generated maps. So , it makes each battle quite unpredictable as opposed to the fixed maps where you know the best places to position your troops.



2) In the remake , the aliens always spawn at set positions on the map. Not only this, but they NEVER START MOVING AS SOON AS THE GAME STARTS. They only react when the player "triggers" them.

In the original, the aliens would spawn at random positions , and they start moving as soon as their turn starts. This made the battle more challenging and unpredictable , because in the Remake you ALWAYS know where they'll be if you've played through the map at one point and you KNOW they WON'T MOVE from that spot until you've triggered them.

3) In the remake , you're only in command of a single base. Besides this , in UFO interceptions you can only send ONE interceptor after it. Also, you can only do ONE mission at a time.

In the original, you could have several bases all over the world (cost would increase with each new base being developed). This allowed you to create special bases for Research , Production , Interception. Upside of this is that you can quickly speed up research and your engineers can produce items faster. Also , with bases created especially for UFO Interception (strategically positioned between two continents), your interceptors can get to the UFOs before they land. Downside? Well , more bases means more micromanagement , but again this depends on you - how many bases do you need to defeat the aliens?

Also , you can send out multiple interceptors after the same UFO (absolutely necessary when you want to down that big bad guy in the sky without him landing and spawning terror missions). The best part is that you can send out squads on multiple missions at the same time. Unlike the remake, you are NOT forced to choose between saving regions.



4) In the remake, you cannot deploy any vehicles at all. By that I mean tanks , hovertanks e.t.c .

In the original, you could deploy tanks and other vehicles researched from alien wreckage. They were very useful for scouting ahead , thus saving your soldiers from surprise attacks from the aliens.



5) Now here comes the biggest difference between this game and the original - soldier specializations. This is something the developers really messed up imo , and allow me to explain this further.

In the remake, you get Soldiers based on their specializations. For example, a heavy weapons guy cannot use sniper rifles and vice versa. Also , you get these soldiers randomly , so you cannot fill that empty sniper spot until that particular rookie  gets RANDOMLY promoted to Sniper. Also , each soldier is given a limited no. of grenades / rockets. It's so limited you wonder where all the space in that suit is gone, and the grenades don't do much damage either.

Also in the remake, you can only take a squad of six into battle. Now , losing even one of them early in the battle can make the whole affair unwinnable as you get swarmed by aliens. My biggest gripe here is that YOU CANNOT PICK UP STUFF FROM FALLEN SOLDIERS/ENEMIES ON THE BATTLEFIELD. See that medkit on your dead soldier? Yeah , it's useless until the end of the battle , gg.

In the classic , any soldier can use any weapon BUT there's a catch. Each soldier has stats related to their expertise in weapons. Some soldiers do naturally come as good sharpshooters ,so they're best with a sniper rifle - BUT you can give them a heavy weapon. The only thing is they'll be far less accurate at making their shots compared to a specialist , but given time they CAN improve on a gun they're not used to.

Also, you can stash more grenades/rockets on a soldier and they do decent damage as well. With regards to squad size, you have a max no. of slots depending on the vehicle you transported them in. So , taking a tank along might occupy the slots for 4 soldiers. If I remember right, you can field 26 soldiers on the battlefield depending on the vehicle. You can also pick up weapons from fallen comrades and even ALIENS. 

Downside is that too many soldiers means the battles can get prolonged. Then again, the aliens sometimes also come in large squads (depending on the type of UFO that dropped them there) , so you will need those extra troops to match them. Having more soldiers also means that the loss of a single man doesn't necessarily turn the overall tide of the battle unlike the remake.

*SUMMARY*

To summarize , while Xcom : EU does seem inferior to the original X-Com in many ways , keep in mind that it's been heavily dumbed down to appeal to a more mainstream audience. If like me you played the original X-Com , you will not like the remake. My advice to such players is to treat Xcom : EU as a different one from the remake and play it on it's own merit.


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## gameranand (Apr 8, 2013)

Well I never played the original game and so far I am loving this game.


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## rakesh_ic (Apr 8, 2013)

+1 to all that you said on the the game though I have not played the classic.

I still felt it could be better or may be in different way that appeals more in certain case like - 

1) The repeated maps killed all the fun after sometime as I thought its pointless going to the same place again and again for nothing but a not so rewarding mission that makes less sense after mid game (oh yeah after having sattlite coverage in most part of the planet).
May be they could have had a linearly progressing map rather than drop-to-the-same-old-map-kill-return formula. 

2) There was this upgrade of stealth sattelites. I wornder why do we have that?? I dint see any enemy attacking the sattlites or anything for that matter. The poor enemy never dared to touch me 

3)The granades should have done more damage. I dont mind having only 1 granade per person though if that single granade could hurt some "feelings".


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## bippukt (Apr 8, 2013)

gameranand said:


> Same here. No deal breaker bugs so far. Have you completed the game ??



Yes, I completed the game, but only on Normal difficulty. I uninstalled the game after that. I played it last in January. Too many games to play 

EDIT: Normal turned out to be too easy for me. The game finished so fast that I didn't get to see all the moves of the enemy. I believe that later on, the aliens do target your satellites and stealth helps. But I killed the aliens before that happened


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## surajramnani2k8 (Apr 8, 2013)

This was a good game..I might play it again after watching this thread


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## gameranand (Apr 8, 2013)

I got a camera bug, that camera used to go in a direction unless stopped but found out that if I disconnect my controller then problem is rectified. 

Got one of my soldiers to Colonel rank and many to Major. With perks and all games sure plays and looks good. Now I just need some Armor and a Plasma Sniper to complete building a Elite group of soldiers.


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## bippukt (Apr 8, 2013)

Once you get plasma weapons, the game seems much much easier. Beware of the last fight. I took a squad of 6 colonels and only 2 survived, I think. Not that you need colonels after that, but still, it tells you how tough that fight is.


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## gameranand (Apr 9, 2013)

I have Plasma Rifle and Plasma Snipers. What about LMGs, how do I replace them with better weapons. That really sucks.
Also now I am going in for better Armors for the Squad, as for now they are surviving because of the aggression.


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## bippukt (Apr 9, 2013)

I always go with Armor over Weapons. If my Major lives, he might become a Colonel. If he dies, a Rookie or Squaddie has to come in.

Heavy Plasma Rifle will replace the LMGs. Also, the most advanced armours like Titan or Ghost cost a TON, even though they are very useful. You have been warned


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## gameranand (Apr 9, 2013)

bippukt said:


> I always go with Armor over Weapons. If my Major lives, he might become a Colonel. If he dies, a Rookie or Squaddie has to come in.
> 
> Heavy Plasma Rifle will replace the LMGs. Also, the most advanced armours like Titan or Ghost cost a TON, even though they are very useful. You have been warned



Well my entire squad have Plasma Rifles and Sniper Rifle so I guess I'll afford that also.


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## bippukt (Apr 9, 2013)

gameranand said:


> Well my entire squad have Plasma Rifles and Sniper Rifle so I guess I'll afford that also.



I also thought so, and I was surprised when I found that I had to wait a bit.

BTW, why don't you grab the plasma weapons from aliens by capturing a few of them alive instead of killing them? That's very helpful, and speeds along research as well


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## gameranand (Apr 9, 2013)

^^ Well to get promotions quickly, also going near them is a risky because if you miss them then they won't miss you. 

Anyway now I have a squad full of colonels and damn sniper with all the perks is like a non stop killing machine. Anything he sees without cover and then BAM, also the damage deal is 10 so most of enemies are gone in one shot and if not just a simple shot away from death anyway. Really liked the sniper with that Archangel Armor, get to high ground automatically and eliminate all the enemies. DEATH FROM ABOVE.


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## bippukt (Apr 9, 2013)

The Sniper is great in most missions. The only ones where he performed sub-par for me were the missions where a lot of movement was involved, like terror missions. The Sniper is also your ticket to a win over the last boss. Without mine, I would never have won. Of course, you might discover another way to win the fight


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## gameranand (Apr 10, 2013)

Yeah corridor missions where there is no clear high ground are bad for me as I can't kill multiple enemies in one go with the sniper. When I got that perk for first time then around 5 enemies were there and I was thinking what to do to save the soldiers and then I accidently pressed tab and then the killing started.


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## gameranand (Apr 11, 2013)

Is there any way to get a Council member back if they leave the Council ??


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## bippukt (Apr 11, 2013)

Nope, they are gone forever. Despite all my efforts, I couldn't stop Australia from leaving. Missed the achievement


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## gameranand (Apr 11, 2013)

bippukt said:


> Nope, they are gone forever. Despite all my efforts, I couldn't stop Australia from leaving. Missed the achievement



And Nigeria Left me.


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## gameranand (Mar 21, 2014)

Started this game again from the start as I bought this in the Winter Sales. Also modded this game for the graphical enhancements. Haven't installed any mods so far which change the gameplay in any manner.


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## gameranand (Mar 23, 2014)

gameranand said:


> Started this game again from the start as I bought this in the Winter Sales. Also modded this game for the graphical enhancements. Haven't installed any mods so far which change the gameplay in any manner.



Darn those abduction missions. They always give you choice between 3 and out of them 2 will be pissed. Need Satellites more and more.


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## gameranand (Mar 24, 2014)

It seems like I am the only one playing this game so spamming this thread, the hell with it. I am gonna continue this spree even if nobody comes here.


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## Bhargav (Mar 25, 2014)

gameranand said:


> It seems like I am the only one playing this game so spamming this thread, the hell with it. I am gonna continue this spree even if nobody comes here.



lol dont worry abt it

Btw in this summer sell i ll buy the DLC XCOM: Enemy Within coz i also love this game


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## gameranand (Mar 25, 2014)

Bhargav said:


> lol dont worry abt it
> 
> Btw in this summer sell i ll buy the DLC XCOM: Enemy Within coz i also love this game



Yeah me too. I have all the XCOM EU DLCs except that. It was costly in Winter, I hope that it won't be in Summer.


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## Bhargav (Mar 26, 2014)

whic solder is ur fav ?

i used to take 2x sniper in every mission and also the i was using shotgun more on assault class


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## gameranand (Mar 26, 2014)

Bhargav said:


> whic solder is ur fav ?
> 
> i used to take 2x sniper in every mission and also the i was using shotgun more on assault class



My Ideal team setup

2* Sniper (Both Sqaudsight)
2* Support (So that I can always come back with no injuries)
1* Assault (Shotgun so that I can kill one enemy instantly using rapidfire)
1* Heavy (Situational for their rockets)

In all cases I always try to kill all the enemies which are visible to me in that turn itself, Sniper with In the zone really helps. In one instant I had killed 3 mutons + 4 Floater + 3 Crystallids in one turn. Rocket them, grenade them (Alien Grenade) and after that there will be cover so sniper can finish them off if any remaining.

BTW what will do I require to resist Mind control. In Assault Base mission, the sectoid commander mind controlled my colonel support, but well it was a part of my plan to stun that commander but still the last thing I want on the battlefield is 20+ health assault turning against me with their best weapon and armor.

Whats the minimum will required to resist it ??


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