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4 months ago
Feature: One Off The List
Mech love, not war. That is the lesson we must learn from the futuristic prophecies of the MechWarrior games. Yes, it is very noble to slam your big steel shoes upon a separatist’s bedroom, and to laser him in the head. But would it not bring greater valour, greater unity, greater enlightenment, if those same 65-ton brogues were used … to dance! No. Here is…
1 year ago
Celebrate six years of warfare with XCOM 2’s Tactical Legacy Pack, free at launch
Six years ago, Firaxis pulled off the impossible with XCOM, re-envisioning a DOS classic - next week, they're celebrating this feat with the Tactical Legacy pack for XCOM 2: War Of The Chosen. It's pure fan-service of the less-sexy kind (unless Carapace armour turns you on, in which case fly your freak flag high), featuring old favourite equipment and environments used in a new series…
2 years ago
Is six years within 'fashionably late' territory? Better late than never, at least. Today, Firaxis's alien-bothering turn-based squad tactics revival, XCom: Enemy Unknown has launched on GOG after over half a decade of the PC version being Steam-exclusive. Rather than divide it up, GOG are only selling the Complete edition of the game, including two minor bits of DLC and the rather more significant Enemy Within expansion.
4 years ago
Firaxis have unveiled an XCOM 2 [official site] stat-tracking page that shows how many soldiers have died, how many aliens have been killed and other such details. Four and a half million XCOM soldiers dead in less than a week since launch. Good work, Commanders. Five percent of those soldiers met their end at the hands and teeth of a zombie. Really great work, Commanders,…
Feature: neXtCOM
I visited Firaxis in 2014 to see Civilization: Beyond Earth and it was impossible not to wonder which closed doors were hiding the XCOM 2 [official site] team. The game hadn't been announced but surely somebody was working on a sequel. Would it follow the path of the original games and take to the Lovecraftian depths? Would it reach toward the stars and a battle…
Feature: Resistance is futile
In 2012, Firaxis took on the seemingly impossible task of reviving one of the most beloved PC games ever made. The original X-COM is widely considered to be one of the masterpieces of the nineties golden age, and since its release there have been sequels, spin-offs and unofficial revivals, but Firaxis' XCOM was a complete, licensed reinterpretation. It was also rather good. Now, with XCOM…
Feature: Harder, better, stronger
Hands On: XCOM 2’s Brutal Difficulty And Superb Tactical Overhaul
Nobody gets left behind. That was my XCOM: Enemy Unknown rule and it was a rule that I adhered to in almost every one of the hundreds of missions I oversaw. If a squad fell in combat, they fell side by side. XCOM 2 [official site] has made me break my one rule. Repeatedly. Deviously. Tragically. It's hard as nails, and superbly distorts the tactics…
An XCOM fan on Reddit has created a rather robust version of XCOM that is played using the spreadsheet software Microsoft Excel. Dubbed EXLCOM, this reimagining of the science fiction turn-based strategy game is far from complete, but that doesn't mean you can't sink a few hours enjoying the fact that the program you use to budget your weekly spending allowance can be used to…
5 years ago
XCOM 2 [official site] looms, but despite its many enticing changes it seems unlikely it'll take Firaxis' X-COM reboot much closer to the Golloptastic source material. As such, complicated, hardcore and remarkably extensive mod Long War is, I suspect, going to remain your best bet for a game which furthers the uncompromising, unsympathetic spirit of the original games. It expands so many elements, introduces many…
Feature: What I Play When I'm Not Well
Hello there, best keep your distance, for I am ill. Not just 'bit of a sniffle/put a bigger pullover on, you great ninny' ill, but 'noxious substances violently erupting from everywhere' ill. My daughter started going to nursery about three months ago, and has been bringing back a delightful cocktail of viruses and bacteria ever since - it's been a relentless assault on my immune…
6 years ago
I am glad. Against all odds, Firaxis' XCOM revival was actually a great turn-based strategy that captured the spirit of the original Gollop games. It wasn't entirely bereft of blindspots, though. The art style wasn't super menacing and didn't allow imagination to fill in the gaps, the game sort of got easier as time went on, tension dissipated over time, etc. Sometimes, you just need…
Feature: ReGollopification
"Why am I playing XCOM through for the sixth time?" is a question I've asked myself several times over the last week. There are so many other games I should and would like to play, yet I find myself once again knee-deep in something I by this point know every aspect of. One of the answers to that question is that the game just had…
Feature: And without, and everywhere
Enemy Within is a proper expansion - like in the olden days - for last year's XCOM: Enemy Unknown, which was a very different reworking of 90s ultro-classic X-COM: UFO Defense. This time around, we get robo-folk and genetic modification, and one giant leap further away from XCOM's parentage. Good idea/bad idea? Let's find out! Saving the world with a big, pink, French cyborg: this…
Feature: I'm X-communicating
I've been playing unfinished code for major XCOM expansion Enemy Within.Here are some early impressions for you. XCOM has a confession to make. All this time it's been carrying on like it's a militaristic strategy game (albeit with aliens and robots and psychics), but really, really it's been a superhero game all along. With major expansion Enemy Within, it proudly rips open its shirt, throws…
I was away when body-horror XCOM expansion Enemy Within was announced, so that means you've tragically been denied my thoughts on it. Clearly, I am outraged that Firaxis are going to pervert their beautiful and unique snowflake with CHANGES and I beseech you to sign my online petition demanding that they cancel months of work immediately and develop a 100% faithful remake of Terror From…
Feature: Human Unkind
XCOM: Enemy Within escalates the alien invasion, introducing body modification, sky-squids and Mechtoids. After seeing the initial reveal at Gamescom, I was eager to try the expansion before release, but when I had the chance last week, I hadn’t expected to see humanity turning on itself. XCOM have encountered a new threat and this one originates much closer to home.
7 years ago
Feature: If Only You Could Talk To The Aliens
I recently had the chance to chat with XCOM: The Enemy Within senior game designer Ananda Gupta, and I was immediately faced with a crushing dilemma. Adam had done his job too well in a previous interview and discussed everything (XCOM-related) ON EARTH. I was stumped. I was about to hand in both my hands and my ability to ask questions to the Intergalactic Journalism…
For flimsy flesh beings such as ourselves, fighting aliens is rarely a good idea. For instance, Alec hasn't posted in ages because he attempted to single-handedly stave off an invasion and nearly died but then had to postpone to go help raise his new baby. But thanks to XCOM: Enemy Within, I realize that the solution to our easily fried human organs and tendency to…
I'm fairly sure that this is the most shooty-bangy XCOM trailer that I've ever seen. It's far more energetic and noisy than the videos for the never-born FPS ever managed to be, and if I didn't know anything about Enemy Unknown, I'd assume this was an advert for some kind of third-person alien-punching game. There's even a bit at the end that has two mechanical…
Feature: Knowing Me, Knowing UFO
I've been watching the skies, waiting for news about XCOM: Expansion Unknown ever since the first teaser trailer landed. Turns out I would have been wiser watching my inbox instead because that's where I found an invitation to speak to Firaxis about the Enemy Within expansion at Gamescom. I spent half an hour with senior games designer Anand Gupta. As well as details on the…
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