Thanks! I like initiative-based systems usually more.
Depending on how deep the premade chars are, that is also not a problem.
Since my backlog is still huge, I'm in no hurry to pick this up immediately. I'm sure it will be on sale for a tenner in the future, too.

I'm quite fan of XCom games, but this looks off to me. I'll reserve judgement for now, not really thrilled for now.

Aliens teaming up with the xcom seems absurd to me. I prefer Xenonauts anyway, so this is a pass.

Almost bought it straightaway…but…ilike others have mentioned, it does look a little cheap and the design seems almost a bit "tounge in cheek" spinoff.

Most importantly, the estimated gamelength is not mentioned anywhere I can see. So, I think I'll be waiting for the reviews to appear for a couple of weeks after release before I buy (or not).

I've read elsewhere the campaign is about 20 hours in length.

Watch the steam vid. There is a talk about so called "level of unrest" without revealing a detail how exactly does it rise towards the critical amount - by realtime timer, by ignoring, failing or abandoning missions or by something else for example RNG whatnot.

If it's designed as irritating doomsday clock ticking to put up a pressure on a player, feeling like a job deadline instead of a fun videogame, I don't want such product on my PC.
Thanks to coronavirus my job became exhausting due to some new "deadlines" related to working from home. I don't want another such job. That is unpaid.

I'm not alone needing a straight answer.
https://steamcommunity.com/app/88210…8181702660152/

I love XCOM, but I'm not sure about this one. On the other hand only €9,99 at launch :thinking:

Yeah, but both prior XCom games had "strategic" timers, mainly to introduce some tension and prevent the player from just laying back and building up. This would be consistent with the past two versions.

XCom2 unlike it's predecessor had tension that lasts for eternity. Or should I say, until a player breaks. Or simply decides to cancel the design crime with modding like I did.

For better understanding, a 5 minutes video about tension and release in music, but applies to any entertainment.

It’s definitely silly that in 5 years the aliens would go from xenophobic doomsday threat to wise cracking police officers. But if the gameplay is good I can overlook a silly plot, especially for 9.99. And being able to play the aliens does add an interesting strategic spin on Xcom.

I find it interesting that once again someone is cashing in on the name XCom for spinoffs that doesn't seem entirely true to the original. Kind of what happened to Fallout and Descent - keeping the theme and the name but necessary the same experience/gameplay. I know its not released yet but I think I can say that much. Its not necessarily a bad thing, but more often than not spinoffs or lower budget sequels can hurt a franchise.

Firaxis got plenty of criticism for not having the same gameplay already with their two main Xcom releases. The only way to not fall afoul of purists is to not release anything new at all.

I'm not sure what you are talking about here. The gameplay is pretty much the same with the exception of the new breach mechanic and initiative mechanic - still turn based, still arm with weapons and level up your soldiers with perks, still strategic map with missions and an overall mechanic that needs to be managed, still research. The only mechanic I don't see is base building.

And your evidence for your last statement is?

Which was really dumb considering how old the original games are. Anyone expecting the exact same gameplay as 20+ year old games had unrealistic expectations. That's not the developer's fault.

Well…you can say that about Fallout 3, too.

On the other hand, I like Fallout 3, but I dislike Firaxis' take on XCom. :P

But it's not because they did it different, but because they did it in a way which I don't like.

Regarding mixing Aliens and Humans on the "good side", I don't even dislike that.

Yeah, that's somewhat comparable. I always thought the amount of rage over Fallout 3 was exaggerated and kind of silly.

It's not as bad with XCOM which has mostly positive reviews from both critics and gamers.

Fallout 3 deserved its rage.
It would be like if they made new Xcom games to play like Starcraft with resource collecting, base building, troop making and real time combat but with Xcom inspired units.

UFO: Extraterrestrials too got the same flack because the inventory management system wasn't exact to X-Com and it wasn't an official X-Com game either - but that's not what I'm talking about.
Its a $20 game that got almost no hype and is two weeks from release at 50% off? As another person here said, it looks like X-Com Lite. So yeah, I think I can say that much.

I'm not knocking the game (yet), I'm just concerned they're playing too loose with the franchise (name) and its ironic that this happened once before with the same title.

Uh, I'm not disputing that it is a knock off. I am disputing this comment:

Again, where is the evidence that "spinoffs more often than not" hurt a franchise?
For every one that I can think of hurting a franchise, I can think of one that helped or didn't hurt.

I feel like in the PC world there are not that many spinoffs to begin with, at least if you exclude console and mobile spinoffs.
To me only Farcry comes to mind. And Blood Dragon was amazing.
Maybe Jagged Alliance Deadly Games, the Multiplayer Spinoff to JA1, which was pretty good as well.

There is Critter Chronicles, a spinoff from Book of Unwritten Tales, which was much worse than the first and second game of the main series, but still "okish".

Colonization could be considered a Spin Off from Civilization, but that one was great (well, the first one). All the "Sim"games are essentially spin-offs from Sim City (besides Sim Tower, which technically was just bought and "Sim" stamped on top of it).
Some successful there (Sims), and some less successful (Sim Copter).

Ofc there is also the Ultima Spinoffs: Ultima Underworld, Martian Dreams and Savage Empire…and Ultima Online.