XCOM: Enemy Unknown - gaming's original Hard Mode returns

Part 2: Ed doesn't save the day

There's been a lot of discussion lately about Easy versus Hard Mode, about whether "challenge" really has to equal "frustration", about qualitative differences between difficulty settings. Let me tell you how you know you're playing XCOM: Enemy Unknown on anything above Normal - it's the grenades.

This is part two of a majestic XCOM preview. Head this way for part one.

Suddenly they're not tactical extras, match-ending exclamation marks that cost you desirable but inessential salvage. Suddenly, throwing one can make the difference between life and a brief, unpleasant career as a Crysalid incubator. And blowing up that precious salvage? That's the difference between upgrading the sole survivor to Carapace armor, and sending her back into battle wearing a smile and a vest.

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It's not the only distinguishing factor, of course, but the tightening of grenade etiquette is the step-change that hit me hardest when I merrily - oh so merrily - fired up my preview build for a second run. There's also the fact that I've lost men on every single map so far save one. Oh, and the way people can't seem to aim anymore. I popped a seasoned veteran in the open a couple of metres from a Muton the other day and he managed to shoot right past the massive brute, detonating a highly valuable UFO power core in the process.

I could have done with that power core, because on anything above Normal you'll be visiting the Gray Market every ten minutes, staring hungrily at dollar signs and wishing like hell the researchers would finish up their goddamn researching so you can flog their leftovers to third-world nations. I also drop by the Medibay pretty often, to check on the battered, trembling hunks of flesh they ship back from the battlefield.

There's one chap who made lieutenant last (in-game) month, unlocking all manner of useful abilities, but he's been critically wounded so often he doesn't have any spirit left. I can't risk deploying him - odds are he'll turn his plasma rifle on friendlies at the first whisper of a bump in the night. Being repeatedly molested by sentient jetpacks does things to a man.

Playing XCOM on anything above Normal, in short, is the difference between entertaining the delicious delusion that you're a surgical general, and facing up to the twin nightmares of organisational failure and blind bad luck. It's also the difference between an experience that charms and engages, and an experience that seizes your unmentionables in a vicelike grip - the Dark Souls of strategy games, where every victory is hard-earned and thus, savoured.

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But enough of premature accolades. You probably want to hear more about the fate of Captain Price, may she rest in peace, and Sergeant Walters, may he find Paradise. Last time we saw them, Price had gone and roused a nest of Crysalids. I'd love to say they fell cleanly, like Matt's selfless warrior KitKat Chunky, shielding their comrades from perforation, but the truth is that Price died at Walters' hands. She'd have been dead in another turn anyway - or rather, zombified and the vessel for a Crysalid hatchling. So I had the squad's heavy gunner fire a rocket at the whole goddamn lot of 'em. Choke on the bitter tang of my Pyrrhic victory, jittery arachnid devils!

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Comments

18 comments so far...

  1. SkinnerChinner on 20 Sep '12 said:
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    Great article Ed! Seriously cannot wait to get hold of the game, the next 3 weeks are really going to draaag

  2. michaelhill2110 on 20 Sep '12 said:
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    hmmmmm... you've given me cause for concern there... i HATE designed bad luck, if i make a bad call and get my mens plasma riddeled asses handed to me then thats fine, i accept that, in fact i love that, and if on the highest difficulty the punishment for a mistake is instant and irriversable failure then all the better. but if i've put my men in the right place, given them the right kit, optimimised skill sets, and i fail because the computer randomly thinks i should this time??? thats not right,. its NOT what makes a good game. i will be getting this game (it's a B-day presant) and i probably will love it, i just don't want my enjoyment ruind by unfare programing.

  3. OXM ETboy on 20 Sep '12 said:
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    There have been a couple of times where I've felt like the game's cheated me, but 95% of my f**k-ups are purely the result of my own incompetence :) Don't worry.

  4. kronk10 on 21 Sep '12 said:
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    Gonna be a day one purchase for me really did not see this game coming and it looks brilliant, there has been alot of under the radar games recently and they all seem to be really good!

  5. Maverick_McCool on 22 Sep '12 said:
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    Totally agree with Kronk . I had no interest in this game until I saw the mighty fine vids posted by you good OXM chaps and now I couldn't be more stoked! This , Borderlands 2 , Dishonoured and the new Hitman game will keep me happy till the new year.

  6. scratchm on 26 Sep '12 said:
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    i just don't want my enjoyment ruind by unfare programing.

    Remember, a 95% chance of success is still a 5% chance of failure. That's once every twenty attempts that you will miss a 95% shot, and while it feels surprising and upsetting and like the world is going to end (which it probably will, for that particular soldier) it also feels completely fair and doesn't ruin anything.

    Likewise the times when your squad members survive being shot at by aliens at point blank range don't ruin anything or make the game feel too easy. It's just dumb luck sometimes. You get used to it, and in the end it actually adds to the fun.

  7. michaelhill2110 on 30 Sep '12 said:
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    Just preorder this so will get it as soon as it comes out, to my doorstep,

    I get what you saying sratchem, and that sort of thing is fine, as you say, you get user to it, as a warhammer 40000 player I know what it's like to have the dice turn against you. What I'm talking about is where you miss the 95% shots 5 times in a row, and the baddies get 25% ers to hit right between the eyes, I've seen it before on other games, and I don't want it to happen in this one. A game like this should make you feel like " I ran out of luck this time but next time I'll have them" not " I swear this game is cheating!!"

  8. kronk10 on 1 Oct '12 said:
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    do we know when there might be a review for this game and what the hell happened to edwins video ? i watched it all then wanted to watch it again (proper addicted to xcom vids) and its no longer visible? I have pre-ordered the game from GAME and got the elite soldier edition cannot wait till it comes out!!!!

  9. OXM ETboy on 1 Oct '12 said:
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    Sorry, kronk - we had a bit of a whoopsie with 2K PR over that video. Turns out alien bases are embargoed. The review's not far away, though.

  10. Briktheprop on 1 Oct '12 said:
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    Put this on pre-order straight away, and even went and downloaded the original game on Steam to satisfy my craving for alien-bashing.

    Shame about the alien base video - only got about 15 minutes into before I headed out to the pub for the evening... rookie mistake.

    11 days and counting.

  11. kronk10 on 1 Oct '12 said:
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    Put this on pre-order straight away, and even went and downloaded the original game on Steam to satisfy my craving for alien-bashing.

    Shame about the alien base video - only got about 15 minutes into before I headed out to the pub for the evening... rookie mistake.

    11 days and counting.

    The alien base video was really good looks bloody difficult on iron man mode sorry to hear the video got pulled looking forward to xcom finally a decent RTS on the xbox

  12. SidTheSloth on 2 Oct '12 said:
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    Matt/Ed - sorry i'm late to the party, haven't been around to post this for a while, but genuinely, hats off, congrats, well done and all that stuff for this video series and the other related articles. The internet is far too quick to complain when things are wrong and mistakes are made but it's always a little less forthcoming when praise and credit is due - which it most certainly is for your fine coverage of this!

    I feel genuine excitement for something that genuinely feels fresh - despite its old school roots - and especially on 360!

    One thing i haven't seen mentioned anywhere, and doesn't at all seem to be a hinderance in the vids is the controls - presumably not a problem on the pad vs ye olde keyboard/mouse combo?

  13. Plamsa wing on 2 Oct '12 said:
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    I asked Webb that over on X360A, the full quote.

    The controls are ridiculously simple and because it's turn-based, you never feel like the consoles are at a disadvantage. You select who you want to move with the bumpers, move the cursor with the thumbstick, A moves them and right trigger brings up the combat menu. It's that easy.

    There are a few issues with multi-storey buildings in terms of controls, but honestly, that seems to be a game issue as opposed to a console issue. Just because the controls are simple though doesn't mean the game is... far from it. The whole perma-death of the characters means you have to be extra careful when proceeding forward.

    Steam has a demo up, I'll give it a go tomorrow if it works, it should have controller support so I'll have a look myself.

  14. SidTheSloth on 3 Oct '12 said:
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    I asked Webb that over on X360A, the full quote.

    The controls are ridiculously simple and because it's turn-based, you never feel like the consoles are at a disadvantage. You select who you want to move with the bumpers, move the cursor with the thumbstick, A moves them and right trigger brings up the combat menu. It's that easy.

    There are a few issues with multi-storey buildings in terms of controls, but honestly, that seems to be a game issue as opposed to a console issue. Just because the controls are simple though doesn't mean the game is... far from it. The whole perma-death of the characters means you have to be extra careful when proceeding forward.

    Steam has a demo up, I'll give it a go tomorrow if it works, it should have controller support so I'll have a look myself.

    Ah, cheers dude - perfect answer - saw your follow up in t'other thread too! :)

  15. elaintahra on 18 Oct '12 said:
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    hmmmmm... you've given me cause for concern there... i HATE designed bad luck, if i make a bad call and get my mens plasma riddeled asses handed to me then thats fine, i accept that, in fact i love that, and if on the highest difficulty the punishment for a mistake is instant and irriversable failure then all the better. but if i've put my men in the right place, given them the right kit, optimimised skill sets, and i fail because the computer randomly thinks i should this time??? thats not right,. its NOT what makes a good game. i will be getting this game (it's a B-day presant) and i probably will love it, i just don't want my enjoyment ruind by unfare programing.

    " i fail because the computer randomly thinks i should this time"

    Interesting, so you are of an opinion that all of the soldiers can always shoot 100% accurately?

  16. michaelhill2110 on 19 Oct '12 said:
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    Interesting, so you are of an opinion that all of the soldiers can always shoot 100% accurately?

    No that's not my point at all, my point is that if you have 5 80% chances to hit then you expect 4 of them to hit and 1 to miss, not 4 to miss and only 1 hit, which is what I was concerned that the game would do on the harder difficulties, cheat just to say its more of a challange, as it is this is not the case and even on impossible if you've got a 95% chance to hit then it will hit (19 out of 20 times at least)

    Indeed last night my rookey sniper took out a berserker with only an 18% chance of a hit! He then got eaten by a flanking crysalid but it was still fare.

  17. elaintahra on 19 Oct '12 said:
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    Interesting, so you are of an opinion that all of the soldiers can always shoot 100% accurately?

    No that's not my point at all, my point is that if you have 5 80% chances to hit then you expect 4 of them to hit and 1 to miss, not 4 to miss and only 1 hit, which is what I was concerned that the game would do on the harder difficulties, cheat just to say its more of a challange, as it is this is not the case and even on impossible if you've got a 95% chance to hit then it will hit (19 out of 20 times at least)

    But if you have 80% chance of hitting, you might miss 25 times in a row, or even more (or less)?

    I believe there is a randomizer behind it but of course it might be a cheat :)

  18. michaelhill2110 on 21 Oct '12 said:
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    But if you have 80% chance of hitting, you might miss 25 times in a row, or even more (or less)?

    I believe there is a randomizer behind it but of course it might be a cheat :)

    By definition having a percentage to hit is "if this was done 100 times how often would you hit".

    Imagine having 100 balls in a bag, 20 are red, 80 are green, you pull out a ball, look at it then put it back, do this 100 times and you're likely to pull out... That's right children, green 80 times and red 20 times, but the odds of pulling them out in a pattern are far smaller, in fact the odds of pulling out only 5 reds in a row is 1 in 15625. the odds of pulling out 25 red in a row is 1 in 5 to the power 25, put that into a calculator and it runs into a corner gibbering.

    Going back to the game, computers, especially randomsers like to play by the laws of probability, so if its breaking those laws, it's cheating