What games are you playing and why?

I went into the new XCom hoping for a strategy/simulation about fighting an alien invasion with your money and resources and cool upgradable base. Instead I got a turn-based tactical squad game. I was not happy.

 

Well, the original was a turn-based tactical squad game. Sure, there was the strategy/simulation part too, but it was a bit more on the "tactical" side, at least on the higher difficulties.

On that note, since I haven't played the remake, is it really that "crippled" in that regard?

At least your troops won't die when they throw a grenade behind them. Since, at least in the original, that could and often did happen.

 

Believe me Kazeto, the new remake is every bit as broken as these posts say. (And then some.)

I managed to get those flying drones stuck on just about every level. The only thing they could do was pass a turn. I thought they would be good scouts due to flying high. But it turns out they got stuck on just about anything that is on the top level of the maps.

Resources were scarce, and it was all but impossible to figure out what you needed to advance the plot at times. (No spoilers from me for once.) When you downed an alien craft, you could then assault it like in the original, but this almost never seemed to help in any measurable way.

I spent either months or years in the original and Terror from the Deep, but found this remake clunky and impossible to fully learn. (Months? Years? It's all a blur now.)

When you do manage the impossible and advance the plot, it was such a bad ending that you want to puke. You wind up paralyzed in front of your monitor continually asking yourself if that was all a big joke or if they really intended to bitch slap the Xcom name that way...

Try it out if you get the chance. Some liked it much more than I, but perhaps I had unrealistic expectations for them. (Just remake the original game with newer graphics and a modern engine. Every last thing would work perfectly.)

 

OmniNigrum, you might like this then.

http://ufoai.org/wiki/News

 

I was just thinking about the aliens 'free turn', and have an alternative that would make more sense -- instead of the way it's done now, you could roll for detection and initiative (with cover being taken into account) whenever someone comes within visual range. So you would have a chance to ambush an alien, or alternatively, to be ambushed. The way it is now, aliens don't have a chance to shoot at you as you come into range, unless it happens towards your last soldier's movement. If aliens are guarding a crash sight, they should be on watch and always get a free pot-shot instead of running for cover as they do now. On other kinds of missions, some would be on watch, others not so much, and those you would have a chance to ambush.

That might make the game more 'fair'. I know it's not quite what you meant, but it would be fairer (for the aliens, that is).

 

I disagree that the game is 'crippled'. The game is certainly streamlined, though. I'm actually happy with a lot of the design decisions that people complain about, just not all of them. To me, doing a remake where the only thing you change is the graphics, is kind of silly, but to each his own. The original was a very good game, especially by the standards of that time. But my memory of it is not as completely shiny as some of yours. I personally thought that all of the gear swapping that you'd end up doing on missions was tedious, for example. I also hated the way you'd have to shoot down UFOs -- I thought that was the weakest part of the game.

Don't get me wrong -- that doesn't mean that I think what Firaxis did to replace some of that was perfect. But I do believe that they picked some of the right things to change. My biggest problem is that I just wish that on average, maps could be bigger, more complex, and more varied. It would be nice if soldiers could carry more. Certainly parts of it need to be tweaked. It's not the same XCom game, and it was never going to be. But if that's what you want, it still exists.

It would be like complaining that West Side Story is not the same as Romeo and Juliet. They aren't supposed to be the same. One's been modernized, and not everyone is going to like all of the changes. That's fine. For those who prefer Shakespeare's version, it's still around. You can't kill the original by doing a remake.

 

I thought it was great, despite its faults. But replayability is rather low.

Many of the changes were great. Mainly it was let down by a few design decisions, and some bugs, but on the whole, it was still an enjoyable game.

I might go back to it at some point, with mods... For example I'd make my personal modifications to the skill trees(yes this is possible, just a bit tedious).

 

If you are replying to my post, I will have you know that this is precisely why I put the word in quotes - so that others would know what I am talking about without me having to write an overly long explanation.

So nice try (and a nice post), but a miss in that the word you are disagreeing with was supposed to mean something different and I can't consider the game literally "crippled" since I haven't even played it.

 

It was good in spite of it being broken.

It doesn't change the fact that it is broken and it could be a much better game if they spent a bit more time patching/tweaking it. It could be even better if they overhauled a few aspects.

 

Unlike most who seem to hate the new one, I never really played the original until a couple of months before the new one came out. I found the game hideously unplayable in several regards, but was fascinated by the simulation parts and the idea of building up my "Xcom division base" in order to prepare for aliens. The tactical state reminded me of why I can't play the original Fallouts anymore and I dismissed them as something that would be upgraded in the new one.

Oh, they upgraded it in the new one. And then made it 96% of the game. The part I didn't like suddenly became, basically, all there is to do.

For people who like turn-based, square-based tactical PC games I'm sure it's fine. But it was not what I was hoping for, not what I wanted, and I simply can't stand it. I'm just so glad I played it at a friend's before wasting money on it.

 

You probably wouldn't need to pay money directly for it, anyway. It's been given away enough times...

 

I just bought (Again) Fallout 1, 2, and Fallout Tactics. This time from Steam.
Each is modded now and far superior to the original.

The mods I chose are only one per game, but each contains everything you could want.
Fallout 1:
Fallout FIXT

Fallout 2:
Fallout 2 Restoration Project

Fallout Tactics:
Fallout Tactics Redux

I did this because I always loved the series, with strong exception to Tactics, but I have hope it may be worth playing now. And because they are together $5 on Steam at the moment.

The real irony is the fact that I still have the CD versions of each sitting around, and if I were willing to wait half a day to get the patches, I could likely discover they either do not really exist after pushing me through a dozen redirects to dead files and 404s like never seen before. But the Steam version is patched to the latest needed for the mods I am using, that just so happen to include the unofficial fixes and high resolution fixes needed to play on a modern system.
*Edit* Nevermind Tactics, I have no working patch or set of patches that allow me to even play the game. I have a theory as to what is happening, but am unlikely to bother making an application profile in AMD's Catalyst Control Center. So if I get bored I may bother.

 

Bought and tried Rise of the Triad (the new one). Kinda fun, but really flashy and BOOM GRAPHICS which is a bit blergh. But aside from the mouse sensitivity being ridiculous, I have enjoyed the ONE level I've done.

 

I have been playing the alpha for 7 Days to Die. It's rough around the edges but has a very nice creepy vibe to it. I've only managed to play a few hours and already have had more "holy *%&#!" moments than in most other finished games.

 

On that note, I just remembered that I have a spare key for "The Sims 3" from the last Humble Bundle. It's not a game I'll ever be playing so if anyone cares about getting that, just write me a message or something (I'll give it to whoever writes first unless it's someone who registered just to get it).

Edit:
And I also have a spare copy of "Depths of Peril" (since I already have that), so if anyone cares to get it, rules are the same.

 

I have still yet to decide if I will bother with Origin for the Origin only games, but I can assure everyone that I will never play the Sims junk. So my key is available if anyone wants it. One little issue though, I will only give it if you promise you are going to use the key for yourself, or someone else who is not going to pay you in any way for it.

 

Awww, quite hating on The Sims! I've actually spent many a happy hour playing Sims 3. It's a nice break from frantic competitiveness and you can royally screw over people's lives.........or be a nice guy and actually help 'em out.

I do have a question about those keys, though: are they just for Sims 3, or for x-packs, or what?

 

Well, I enjoyed the first instalment, and I have no doubts that the third one would be enjoyable, even if a bit mind-numbing. But I simply don't have the time to play "endless" games unless it's with friends just to do something together (and even that is rare), so I simply don't have a reason to touch it (any time I could spend on that would be better spent trying to write something for DoD, working on my book-to-be, or replying to something on this forum).

It's the core game, the "Late Night" expansion pack and something called "High End Loft Stuff". Not much, but still something.