XCOM: Enemy Unknown's lead designer, producer, and art director share their memories of the original XCOM game and explain what makes it a masterpiece.
The original was phenomenal. I remember most of my classmates refused to play it, because it was so hard and complicated, so I decided one evening I will crack it, no matter what. Soon I was so hooked, I couldn't wait for next research to be over, read the next explanation and unravel the alien plot.
That Hidden Movement screen was horrific. You just wished for the alien turn to be over with and hopefully nobody in your team died. I remember firing up the old Playstation and playing X-com with my friends. What we used to do was naming the soldiers with our own names and then each and everyone of us was in charge of your own special little soldier. I always saved time units for the overwatch, and turning to see around corners. Those Xenomorphs could stand right next to you and still be out of line of sight.
XCOM: EU is a good game, but unfortunately there are things I really dislike (I've heard that Enemy Within fixes some of them, though). The original still stands as the best one, but this is easily the best sequel/spin-off/remake of this classic game. I hope they keep adding stuff to it before moving to other games they are making and I really look forward to the finished version of Xenonauts, which, in my opinion, shows more promise than XCOM: EU but is broken at its current state. Well, no matter how you look at it, I love how these guys treated the old classic (I'm still mad about the "modern Syndicate"). XCOM: EU is one of the best AAA-remakes (or spiritual successor, whtaever you want to call it) I've seen... probably ever.
3:25 Commander, you might want to instruct your men to be careful with explosive weapons. While certainly excellent at killing aliens, they also destroy the useful technologies we are trying to salvage from the bodies. :(
I played Firaxis' XCOM and then Gollop's XCOM. Both games are amazing. The UI of Firaxis' version is better, but you have more freedom in the original. No class restrictions, no one or two item limit, you can build the bases anywhere on land, you can shoot UFOs down over water. One thing that I didn't like about Firaxis' XCOM at all was the Abduction missions forcing you to pick one of three. And the countries you didn't choose to go to would have the ENTIRE continent rise in panic. That sucked, and really took away from the UFO raids. It happened in countries with no satellites, while UFOs would appear in countries WITH satellites. But as you confine the abductions to a single continent by putting satellites everywhere else, it was almost like the game mission generator was like "Well, we can't screw them over with panic now. So now you only get abductions every two or three months, if that."
I like what they were trying to do: make it impossible to achieve a flawless victory. But it suffered in execution because you'd go for days without an event, then suddenly there were 3 at exactly the same time. It made you wonder why you aren't allowed to have 3 skyrangers. They could have come up with a better excuse for why you can't save everybody. In the original game, it was virtually impossible to save every civilian. Maybe they could have used that feature with a twist: every lost civilian pushes the country into higher panic. So a successful mission results in less panic, but if too many civilians die, the panic level might rise higher than it was before the event. They should have thought it through better.
@@TheReaverOfDarknessCan't believe I just now saw this. I mean, your scenario is essentially what Long War 1 did. I think the problem with the execution in Vanilla was that, as you covered the world with satellites, the abduction missions dropped sharply in frequency but you aren't given more UFO or Council missions to compensate, and I think it's largely because both are scripted or FEEL like they're scripted. Again, Long War changed this, so that UFOs are constantly doing missions both in and outside your satellite coverage. The problem with both those things is that someone shouldn't have to mod fixes into your game when you're the developer.
@@Savior20061 I have to say it is very hard develop something especially as complex as a game. It's much easier when the framework and everything else is built for you. I constantly see large oversights that seem ridiculous, but become understandable when you are in the shoes of a designer. Also you can only work on something for so long unlike a mod which can have an indefinite life cycle as long as people want to mod.
@@thelaw3536 Good points. To repeat, I think Firaxis did a fantastic job overall. I may not like all the aspects of the Geoscape, but I know they had their points.
Love the enthusiasm and passion behind everything Jake Solomon says. The way he laughs, recounting his friend's first dreadful play experience where he lost 4 guys in one turn, saying "it was awesome", has me believing this guy's going places in the industry. Big places. Keep an eye on this one. XCOM isn't going to be his magnum opus.
The original XCOM was a game way ahead of its time, amazed at how much they managed to pull off in that game with the specs of computers back then. Guy isn't wrong when he says the game had a 'soul' remember a few times literally jumping with surprise/horror as a green laser bolt was shot out the dark of some wooden farmhouse. The music/sound effects used really kept you on edge and created a tense atmosphere.
Games like UFO defense and half life 2 and such are definitely in their own category. it always pisses me off when people say "these games were great in their day but they dont hold up anymore" its so clear they havent played them and is why i also fundamentally disagree with the idea that the games that we dismiss as awful today would have been heralded as masterpieces back then. the reason i know this is because i wasnt even born when these games released... (i mean techincally i was like 6 months old when HL2 released but still) i didnt even play the original half life until 2 years or so ago, i realised that i'd been playing PC games all my life and it felt wrong to not have played the original classics like doom and half life so i went back and played Half life 1 and the fact that someone who grew up around modern gaming with all the amazing tools modern games have to offer and still think "damn this is a really well made game" the technical wizardry that is half life 1 and 2 is just amazing, if you had put half life up on my screen without any prior knowledge to what the game was there's no way i'd have guessed it came out when it did and the same can be said about half life 2. Xcom UFO defense i only started playing because i've been in love with the Firaxis style XCOM for years and whilst id tried to play UFO defense a few times before i was always put off by the sheer hostility of the UI, but once i finally got past that i was just amazed.... the thing that i think shows that XCOM UFO defense was so amazing is the fact that its UI IS so unfriendly, its not unfriendly because its incompitent, rather because its doing so many things so well for its time that it was literally impossible to make it any more streamlined than it is... any game that can have a UI as hard to grasp (for modern gamers) as that but still draws you in and makes you want to understand it is very obviously a well made game... i fell in love with UFO defense for the simplest of reasons, it was like the 5th or so turn that id been hucking smoke grenades and suddenly 2 of my soldiers dropped unconcious, i didnt know what had happened and then it happened again on the next mission... and i realised it was smoke inhalation. i was speechless... i know its a simple thing, in reality its probably not particularly difficult to make even for the time its more that they had that level of attention to detail that really showed the creators love for the idea and how amazing the execution is. I love Firaxis' XCOM but after going back to UFO defense ive found myself yearning for an xcom game closer to its routes, Xcom EU / EW and XCOM 2 WOTC are amazing games that i will continue to pour hundreds of hours into, but i cant help but hope that one day XCOM UFO defense gets a true modern remake. Until then, ill be enjoying some Xenonauts :)
5:10 I love this part, where they're talking about the seeing the aliens in the fog of war. You can see the feelings that lead them to having that cinematic little introduction to the aliens when you first see them in the new game now.
I have played the originals back in '94, when me and my friend squandered in a room late at night were totally terrified to even leave the bloody Skyranger as 5 of our soldiers have already died. And there was our tank plus 10 soldiers on our very first mission... only 5 have made it back. And we were hunting ONE sectoid in very small ship... Yeah, that was an amazing game. XCOM:EU '12? EQUALLY AMAZING, gave me same thrills and joys :D Well done Firaxis on both new XCOMS :D BTW: XCOM2 rokcks...just fucking optimise it better.
+oleyullah Uh.....you had me at one Sectoid......I'm sorry but there is just no way that you're not lying. Just from sheer reaction shot luck alone, there's no way that could've happened. And that's if you couldn't even figure out how to fire on your turn.
well, we were 12-13 yo at the time, freshly after the fall of Communism back in Poland...we did not speak English at all and the game was not translated to Polish ... it was a learning curve :D
I remember a mission in XCom where I landed the drop ship. The moment I turned on of my guys to leave there was a green alien standing at the bottom of the plank. The alien tosses a grenade onto the ship. I'm like oh shit. Boom. Everyone dead. It was awesome. You never knew what was going to happen. That game taught me two by two cover formation.
we all had mcnamara soldiers that were scouting drones, io remember it was hard always,to learn and to keep pushing but somehow you came on top, was a glorious feeling, you can enjoy some of the og elemnts in the modern on, have to give these guys props, sometimes is too easy thou
4:30 I really love this video for touches like this, where he says things that line up so well with my own experience of the game, especially the 'find the really psi-weak guy, give him literally nothing, push him at the alium commanders' plan.
You guys have made an amazing game. I have to admit going into it I had extremely high expectations as any old school gamer would. You guys have met and exceeded my expectations beyond my wildest dreams. Instead of getting into all the details, I'll just say that this game has the exact same "feel" as the original. I can only imagine what kind of programmers 10 years in the future will cite this game as their inspiration. My sincerest thanks to the entire team!
Love the original!! Back when I was playing it the first time, I got so distressed by the death of my squad that I began a new game with the "I will not see a single operative die" idea in mind. And so it was. For countless hours I played that game saving and loading my way through every encounter. And when that brain finally died I still had the same 8 guys as in the very first mission. Amazing feeling!
Homeworld is another excellent series in need of that fabled sequel - Homeworld 3. At the very-very-LEAST an ultramodern HD remake of the first two, preferably followed by Homeworld 3... That game was insanely captivating. I just enjoyed zooming in on my capital ships and trying to imagine their exact dimensions based on the sizes of their window ports or imagining the construction and life of the crew aboard them. Those were the days...
My first game into the franchise was the reboot Enemy Within. My first squad had discovered those little bastards and immediately one squadmate died. Second one panicked and died because they went to a bad position. My third squadmate died after throwing a grenade killing the last two of three enemies. My last guy killed their last one, starting my entire campaign basically under his eyes. Avenging that first squad, i never wanted that last guy to die and sure enough i pulled him through all the way to the final mission. These guys definitely knew how to recreate the magic of how brutal yet tactical this game was. Sure it may not be as intricate as the old games from what ive seen but the game captured me.
I Played Original Xcom Since I was a little Boy, and now ... seeing this, playing the new game it's like a Sonic-boom in my brain. Just AWESOME! GREAT JOB GUYS! Abrazo desde Argentina
JakeSolomon, love your quotes! I first played the game in 1994 and that game is the reason I publish games today too... I work for Garena which publish League of Legends now. I bet XCOM brings us here today...
I can get pumped for so very few games... but XCOM (among a few other titles) is one of those games I get excited by and I love Jake's passion for the game in this video and subsequent vids he's made.
The way I loadout my guys in the original made sense to me and possibly made it artificially difficult. My new guys (R-Sq) got L. Rifles, maybe a grenade. NCO's got P. Rifles and grenades, Sgt's got Smokes. Officers got H. Plasma, smoke, grenades. I had specialised demo-men with L. Pistols, prox grenades, HE. Some stun dudes with S. Launchers, L. Pistols. Maybe a dude here or there with an L. Pistol and a motion tracker. Night missions had everyone with flares.
'Build success on the bodies of the weak' This is why I love Jake. I still remember the feeling of tactical mastery once I figured out I could use smoke grenades to avoid getting butchered as soon as I landed the skyranger.
I m a fan of the original x-com enemy unknown. It has been 8 years since the original version. The original game is excellent because of several combinations. The gameplay, the music, the base management and etc. Clearly, It is one of best game of all time. And my god, the music/sound for the original x-com is awesome.
Amazing game - as a fan of the original, I must say they did a great job with the successor. But after seeing this, I have to wonder, Jake Solomon: if you loved them so much ..where are our shadowy farms and cabbages! :)
Im lovin X-Com 2 from this generation... as an original player of x-com:ufo defense i looked on steam and it was like a dollar! I now own original X-com again and its a fricken atom!
I played the original on MS DOS mode when I was about 10 years old. It was my uncles game and I got into crazy style. I recognize many of the original sound effects from Xcom used in games today like the Startup screen for starcraft had the same exact sound effects. I liked the Xcom enemy unknown, seemed to end too quickly for me. I hope they have another game coming out soon because I went through the game so quick in Ironman mode. I have played every single one of these games.
What i liked most was the intro... Comic style, but still so epic! The entire art style of the original game is awesome! The pics in the UFOpaedia, the gear and all... and to think the guys back then did it with no 3D, antialiasing, tesselation, particle system and other words that i dont understand and i dont f**kin care about. And for the new guys: gentlemen, i salute you!
Why is this not on Fox news!! These guys indeed get what Xcom was all about and should be getting on primetime news! Im so jacked up for this game to come out in Oct.
Seriously, major props to Firaxis. The passion is what made Enemy Unknown great. There are some issues, but this is how you reboot a franchise the RIGHT way.
true but no one will mention them because lets be honest you just tune it out eventually. i mean god i must've heard that scream hundreds of times.... and i only started playing the original xcom a few weeks ago... im forever going to have trauma.
So they sat half of their company down in front of X-Com without the manual and just said, "have fun?" The manual is really well written and teaches you everything you need to know about the UI and what you're supposed to do.
i totally agree with you. This remake was really really good. The only thing i did not quite like was the fact that i only encountered 1 base and very few UFO's. It feels a bit too on track i loved the freedom in the original more. But still it's awsome. Almost cried with joy when i managed to finish my first classical iroman run without a single casualty. So it's still emotionally involving. Can't wait for future DLC addons or mods.
Don't forget that they actually added micromanagement in research and production on the base, with the queues along for the ride. As far as I know (never really played the old X-COMs), they "broke" one to "fix" another.
I actually bought myself an old pentium 200mhz, just to play it like it was in the old days! that game is amazing all over. i am really excited for the remake. hope those guys dont spoil it!
i still pull this game out every couple years and play it. save very very frequently like after every single kill. every time you lose a soldier just leave the battle and load.
The terror missions were brutal. I remember when I got terror attacks I wouldn't go after them until I was pretty established, at least laser weapons, personal armor etc.
Having said that I agree that losing the "secure the LZ through the smokescreen" phase of missions was a good design call. Probably losing the flares as well, though it did add an element.
THIS ! This is the X-Com I wanted remade... and then I learned it *was* being remade. I tought my workmate was pulling my leg so hard. But yup, it's real, and it's comming pretty soon. I hope they included Multi-Player on this, if only some kind of deathmatch (even if it's not a game breaker to me). Didn't expect them to let us customise the race/gender of marines tho... SG-1 here I come, lol !
You know, I think XCOM Enemy Unknown was the first Firaxis game I've ever played. I don't know how I've dodged their games up until this point, but I'm liking them.
In the new game, Enemy Unknown - I have to agree with some of the streamlining. I was originally thought the game was dumb down a bit. It was stream lined for the better. So far, the game does live up to the old one. While the tutorial holds your hand, it also quickly lets it go and you can lose within minutes after it does. OI My biggest gripe, though - is enemies seem to be standing still until you find them, except on Terror missions - where you really have to push yourself or lose civies
the human mind does amazing things to fill in the spaces. I loved the original homeworld. everything was insanely cool even though lookign back all of these things were just lil boxes and rectangles. but my mind filled in the gaps and made them into amazing battleships. What your mind does is even better than an extreamly high polygon model because your mind will always please you :D
My childhood was playing XCOM and Microprose (as well as SSI) games in the mid to late 90's and if you really want to play it you should just grab OpenXCOM client for Win, Linux and Mac. I still feel the original is superiour to the Firaxis release but the Firaxis release is good in itself.
I believe that they'll release a very large DLC in the near future to address that. They've confirmed that the next DLC will be severely larger in scale than previous releases. I'd expect new weapons, aliens, technologies, equipment, armor, maybe even a new class and some new abilities. And of course, new customization for soldiers.
For the last problem, turn on damage roulette. You will cry when your plasma sniper does a measly 2 damage 2 turns in a row on a sectopod which proceeds to code black you.
you will, you...will...and you will name a few soldiers after your friends and self, and losing them all, i shed a tear...sniff...BWAAAAAAAAAAAAH *runs off*
Hehe... I still remember my first alien base. I was stomping alien crews, invasions and had a party of well equipped and experienced soldiers. Alien base popped up and I was like... hey! It's going to be like another terror mission, just with more cool stuff I can take home. Boy did I regret that. I came through with two soldiers out of 8 + tank. And I had to took out their command with suicide bomber. And survivors were in a hospital for like 2 months.
Remake is excellent ive played the origional for two thirds of my life. but the reason i loved the game is because it took so long to work out how to even shoot down an enemy UFO, took me ages to realise how to end the turn, then seeing my first second sticking its head through the door was amazing, as was getting my entire squad destroyed by a chrysalid, the chrysalid is going to lead to alot of rage in this game :D
As someone already mentioned Second wave mixed with some .ini file changes makes the game feel much more like the old one With the second wave options it adds the length and replayability of it but with .ini file mods it changes the gameplay alot(potentially) like being able to manufacture and sell EVERYTHING your engineers can make, adding mutiple soldiers(althrough rather glitchy) to even adding in cut content(flame thrower is finicky but holy shit is it fun to spray a thin man with)
Damage Roulette for the original randomness of the weapons, Marathon Mode for increased gameplay length, Not Created Equal and Hidden Potential for more randomized soldiers. Second wave helps a lot with problems people had with the changed stuff. Personally, I think they put in second wave just for original Xcom fans.
I hope this gets a sequel so badly! Though the expansion feels kind of like one its mostly just an over priced DLC. I would rather buy the expansion for more like 15$
I remember the time when I assaulted a landed very large UFO that was filled with Ethereals. At night. In the arctic. With my weaker squad. I got lucky though and only lost about two or three of my soldiers and my tank. Mind you, this was in the mid game, and not the late game. This was only the second mission I had seen Ethereals in. Now that was a fun mission! It took me nearly three hours to play through it. God knows how I got my men out alive.
They did a good job avoiding the time drain of some of those original xcom missions. Overall the modern version is more accessible and less frustrating, although I find 'classic' difficulty to be crazy hard. There is less micromanagement which I think is a net win. I miss my different types of shots, but not having to have guys whose function is to hand the main shooters ammo 25 minutes into a mission is Fing great
They most certainly updated the franchise. They streamlined and simplified many things, e.g. getting rid of free aim, materiel micromanagement and the sort. I feel a bit miffed about the smaller squad size. In the original game (gotten late to it, but I very much like it), you can command a PLATOON. In the new XCOM it's half-a-squad. But those soldiers are damn effective. The series has made a good transition to the current gaming world, so any complaints about simplification are small.
Okay, quick note; these kinds of games are really sort of _amazing,_ just so many factors that make one combined product unique.... Come to think bout it it's like wearing goggles, or reading a well written book, it almost 'reads itself' in the game: almost 'plays itself'. ... if that makes sense... This sort of games remind me most of the oldschool Arcades (way modern-gaming started off in a sense) not only due to resemblance of the games presented in the factors of _fun_, mentioned in the way of _experiencing them_ which begs me to mention; graphical resemblance of these kind of games to the _Arcades_ but also in the way a game like this is somehow a 'complete package' with incredible PvE difficulty learning curve and as well as (once more:) experience, the _playing,_ the 'bones and meat' of the game; the grind... Depth! (rpg-style of _depth,_ thing _Arcades_ *missed* [mem.lim.,etc]) Notice how in Xcom player is 'chasing' in a sense after the superior 'aliens' seemingly always one step behind... (note that the same could be said about the relation of the _player_ to the _game_ and its A.I.... always _chasing_ like is with _chess_). One can not simply expect oneself to 'walk in' (and _master_) as is often with games of Arcade-olden era where reflexes play the (most) important part of the gaming experience-achievement, this game is layered in fear, (get the pun?) it is segmented logically built up of segments like a board game is well thought through fitting only _for a better_ concept, then mere _paper..._ Games Seems _Molded around maths..._ and (to me) _visuals..._ Impressive work of art, when.... _if_ one gets to play it, gets to _get into it,_ deeply... a Culmination of 'things', way ahead of its time, respectfully. Ahead of its time as in: _many can imitate but non can innovate._
Ammo management, lack of base defense actions, multiple bases to attack...these I miss. But the biggest thing I miss is the "...WTF!...What was that!" moment when I first encountered (got hit by) the guided missile in a tactical combat and lost nearly half my squad.
Flying suits, medpacks and a lot of health to start with (they were my best soldiers luckily). And yes.. they got fired upon by heavy plasma, alien grenades and other stuff. Attacking base HQ felt like Omaha beach.
There is no other game like Xcom/UFO that still has so much replayability after 15 years with dated graphics. It just proves that graphics don't always make a game. There have been many sequels to xcom along with fan made versions, all failed, I have seen the previews of the new one and I just hope they got it right. The big question is, will people still be playing and talking about xcom 2012 in the next 15 years or will it just not make the cut and fizzle out?
I played the original, although I haven't got the attachment that other have to it. I think the remake, looking at why everyone loves the original, is worthy of the title of XCOM. The problem is simple. This is the "COD" generation, those who have little to no attention, don't want a long and difficult game which makes you have to THINK. Not every COD player is like that, but I was just pointing out that this is a generation that they needed to appeal to
I would have liked to see a base defense mission as well but the other things didn't bother me too much. Also you can recover weapons from the field but only after completing the prerequisite research to prevent the weapons from detonating on alien death. Its an understandable balance issue to prevent you from getting advanced weapons in the beginning of the game.
That's sounds unmistakeably Xcom alright! That was my experience as well! 2 of my men got shot just stepping out of the craft from reaction shots. One panicked and shot my other soldier. I lost 3 soldiers on my first mission all in the first turn.
ahhh the classics. When I was able to make blaster bombs and stored enough of the alien power source, I pretty much nuked the place, hearing alien death cries, the survivors would have low morale, they would sometimes panic, drop their weapons and I would pick them off lol
I notice from these clips that they don't seem to know how to use the visibility items, which must be why they're missing from the contemporary XCOM. 1. When you exit the Skyranger you first throw out a smoke grenade, and prime some smoke and frag grenades. Exit the Skyranger without a smokescreen, lose the first four guys. 2. Throw flares everywhere. Light up the night in every direction before you move. These guys were stumbling blindly. Each of my soldiers had a flare, smoke, and grenade.
The original was phenomenal. I remember most of my classmates refused to play it, because it was so hard and complicated, so I decided one evening I will crack it, no matter what. Soon I was so hooked, I couldn't wait for next research to be over, read the next explanation and unravel the alien plot.
That Hidden Movement screen was horrific. You just wished for the alien turn to be over with and hopefully nobody in your team died.
I remember firing up the old Playstation and playing X-com with my friends.
What we used to do was naming the soldiers with our own names and then each and everyone of us was in charge of your own special little soldier.
I always saved time units for the overwatch, and turning to see around corners. Those Xenomorphs could stand right next to you and still be out of line of sight.
XCOM: EU is a good game, but unfortunately there are things I really dislike (I've heard that Enemy Within fixes some of them, though). The original still stands as the best one, but this is easily the best sequel/spin-off/remake of this classic game. I hope they keep adding stuff to it before moving to other games they are making and I really look forward to the finished version of Xenonauts, which, in my opinion, shows more promise than XCOM: EU but is broken at its current state.
Well, no matter how you look at it, I love how these guys treated the old classic (I'm still mad about the "modern Syndicate"). XCOM: EU is one of the best AAA-remakes (or spiritual successor, whtaever you want to call it) I've seen... probably ever.
3:25
Commander, you might want to instruct your men to be careful with explosive weapons. While certainly excellent at killing aliens, they also destroy the useful technologies we are trying to salvage from the bodies.
:(
4:10
>Save time units for an auto shot.
>Using the Rocket Launcher
I played Firaxis' XCOM and then Gollop's XCOM. Both games are amazing. The UI of Firaxis' version is better, but you have more freedom in the original. No class restrictions, no one or two item limit, you can build the bases anywhere on land, you can shoot UFOs down over water.
One thing that I didn't like about Firaxis' XCOM at all was the Abduction missions forcing you to pick one of three. And the countries you didn't choose to go to would have the ENTIRE continent rise in panic. That sucked, and really took away from the UFO raids. It happened in countries with no satellites, while UFOs would appear in countries WITH satellites. But as you confine the abductions to a single continent by putting satellites everywhere else, it was almost like the game mission generator was like "Well, we can't screw them over with panic now. So now you only get abductions every two or three months, if that."
I like what they were trying to do: make it impossible to achieve a flawless victory. But it suffered in execution because you'd go for days without an event, then suddenly there were 3 at exactly the same time. It made you wonder why you aren't allowed to have 3 skyrangers. They could have come up with a better excuse for why you can't save everybody.
In the original game, it was virtually impossible to save every civilian. Maybe they could have used that feature with a twist: every lost civilian pushes the country into higher panic. So a successful mission results in less panic, but if too many civilians die, the panic level might rise higher than it was before the event.
They should have thought it through better.
@@TheReaverOfDarknessCan't believe I just now saw this. I mean, your scenario is essentially what Long War 1 did. I think the problem with the execution in Vanilla was that, as you covered the world with satellites, the abduction missions dropped sharply in frequency but you aren't given more UFO or Council missions to compensate, and I think it's largely because both are scripted or FEEL like they're scripted. Again, Long War changed this, so that UFOs are constantly doing missions both in and outside your satellite coverage.
The problem with both those things is that someone shouldn't have to mod fixes into your game when you're the developer.
@@Savior20061
I have to say it is very hard develop something especially as complex as a game. It's much easier when the framework and everything else is built for you. I constantly see large oversights that seem ridiculous, but become understandable when you are in the shoes of a designer. Also you can only work on something for so long unlike a mod which can have an indefinite life cycle as long as people want to mod.
@@thelaw3536 Good points. To repeat, I think Firaxis did a fantastic job overall. I may not like all the aspects of the Geoscape, but I know they had their points.
Love the enthusiasm and passion behind everything Jake Solomon says. The way he laughs, recounting his friend's first dreadful play experience where he lost 4 guys in one turn, saying "it was awesome", has me believing this guy's going places in the industry. Big places. Keep an eye on this one. XCOM isn't going to be his magnum opus.
The original XCOM was a game way ahead of its time, amazed at how much they managed to pull off in that game with the specs of computers back then. Guy isn't wrong when he says the game had a 'soul' remember a few times literally jumping with surprise/horror as a green laser bolt was shot out the dark of some wooden farmhouse. The music/sound effects used really kept you on edge and created a tense atmosphere.
Games like UFO defense and half life 2 and such are definitely in their own category. it always pisses me off when people say "these games were great in their day but they dont hold up anymore" its so clear they havent played them and is why i also fundamentally disagree with the idea that the games that we dismiss as awful today would have been heralded as masterpieces back then.
the reason i know this is because i wasnt even born when these games released... (i mean techincally i was like 6 months old when HL2 released but still) i didnt even play the original half life until 2 years or so ago, i realised that i'd been playing PC games all my life and it felt wrong to not have played the original classics like doom and half life so i went back and played Half life 1 and the fact that someone who grew up around modern gaming with all the amazing tools modern games have to offer and still think "damn this is a really well made game" the technical wizardry that is half life 1 and 2 is just amazing, if you had put half life up on my screen without any prior knowledge to what the game was there's no way i'd have guessed it came out when it did and the same can be said about half life 2.
Xcom UFO defense i only started playing because i've been in love with the Firaxis style XCOM for years and whilst id tried to play UFO defense a few times before i was always put off by the sheer hostility of the UI, but once i finally got past that i was just amazed.... the thing that i think shows that XCOM UFO defense was so amazing is the fact that its UI IS so unfriendly, its not unfriendly because its incompitent, rather because its doing so many things so well for its time that it was literally impossible to make it any more streamlined than it is... any game that can have a UI as hard to grasp (for modern gamers) as that but still draws you in and makes you want to understand it is very obviously a well made game...
i fell in love with UFO defense for the simplest of reasons, it was like the 5th or so turn that id been hucking smoke grenades and suddenly 2 of my soldiers dropped unconcious, i didnt know what had happened and then it happened again on the next mission... and i realised it was smoke inhalation. i was speechless... i know its a simple thing, in reality its probably not particularly difficult to make even for the time its more that they had that level of attention to detail that really showed the creators love for the idea and how amazing the execution is.
I love Firaxis' XCOM but after going back to UFO defense ive found myself yearning for an xcom game closer to its routes, Xcom EU / EW and XCOM 2 WOTC are amazing games that i will continue to pour hundreds of hours into, but i cant help but hope that one day XCOM UFO defense gets a true modern remake. Until then, ill be enjoying some Xenonauts :)
5:10 I love this part, where they're talking about the seeing the aliens in the fog of war. You can see the feelings that lead them to having that cinematic little introduction to the aliens when you first see them in the new game now.
XCOM fans may well be interested to know that Julian Gollops newest game Chaos reborn is out 26th October 2015 YAY
Hears devs talk about X-Com: UFO Defense and "The Challenge".
*Laughs In Terror From The Deep*
I have played the originals back in '94, when me and my friend squandered in a room late at night were totally terrified to even leave the bloody Skyranger as 5 of our soldiers have already died. And there was our tank plus 10 soldiers on our very first mission... only 5 have made it back. And we were hunting ONE sectoid in very small ship... Yeah, that was an amazing game. XCOM:EU '12? EQUALLY AMAZING, gave me same thrills and joys :D Well done Firaxis on both new XCOMS :D BTW: XCOM2 rokcks...just fucking optimise it better.
+oleyullah Uh.....you had me at one Sectoid......I'm sorry but there is just no way that you're not lying. Just from sheer reaction shot luck alone, there's no way that could've happened. And that's if you couldn't even figure out how to fire on your turn.
well, we were 12-13 yo at the time, freshly after the fall of Communism back in Poland...we did not speak English at all and the game was not translated to Polish ... it was a learning curve :D
I remember a mission in XCom where I landed the drop ship. The moment I turned on of my guys to leave there was a green alien standing at the bottom of the plank. The alien tosses a grenade onto the ship. I'm like oh shit. Boom. Everyone dead. It was awesome. You never knew what was going to happen. That game taught me two by two cover formation.
we all had mcnamara soldiers that were scouting drones, io remember it was hard always,to learn and to keep pushing but somehow you came on top, was a glorious feeling, you can enjoy some of the og elemnts in the modern on, have to give these guys props, sometimes is too easy thou
4:30 I really love this video for touches like this, where he says things that line up so well with my own experience of the game, especially the 'find the really psi-weak guy, give him literally nothing, push him at the alium commanders' plan.
My introduction to the X-Com franchise actually came through Xenonauts, which I first encountered through Scott Manley's LP.
Well done on revitalizing the franchise better than anyone could ever do.
You guys have made an amazing game. I have to admit going into it I had extremely high expectations as any old school gamer would. You guys have met and exceeded my expectations beyond my wildest dreams. Instead of getting into all the details, I'll just say that this game has the exact same "feel" as the original. I can only imagine what kind of programmers 10 years in the future will cite this game as their inspiration. My sincerest thanks to the entire team!
Love the original!! Back when I was playing it the first time, I got so distressed by the death of my squad that I began a new game with the "I will not see a single operative die" idea in mind. And so it was. For countless hours I played that game saving and loading my way through every encounter. And when that brain finally died I still had the same 8 guys as in the very first mission. Amazing feeling!
Three words giving you the ability to chew threw depleted uranium crowbar: "Terror-Night-Etherial"
Homeworld is another excellent series in need of that fabled sequel - Homeworld 3. At the very-very-LEAST an ultramodern HD remake of the first two, preferably followed by Homeworld 3... That game was insanely captivating. I just enjoyed zooming in on my capital ships and trying to imagine their exact dimensions based on the sizes of their window ports or imagining the construction and life of the crew aboard them. Those were the days...
My first game into the franchise was the reboot Enemy Within. My first squad had discovered those little bastards and immediately one squadmate died. Second one panicked and died because they went to a bad position. My third squadmate died after throwing a grenade killing the last two of three enemies. My last guy killed their last one, starting my entire campaign basically under his eyes. Avenging that first squad, i never wanted that last guy to die and sure enough i pulled him through all the way to the final mission. These guys definitely knew how to recreate the magic of how brutal yet tactical this game was. Sure it may not be as intricate as the old games from what ive seen but the game captured me.
I Played Original Xcom Since I was a little Boy, and now ... seeing this, playing the new game it's like a Sonic-boom in my brain. Just AWESOME!
GREAT JOB GUYS!
Abrazo desde Argentina
JakeSolomon, love your quotes!
I first played the game in 1994 and that game is the reason I publish games today too...
I work for Garena which publish League of Legends now.
I bet XCOM brings us here today...
This game has it's claws in me just like the original one did.
Awesome job!
I can get pumped for so very few games... but XCOM (among a few other titles) is one of those games I get excited by and I love Jake's passion for the game in this video and subsequent vids he's made.
I played the original so much.
This new game is fantastic. I absolutely love it. Good work :)
The way I loadout my guys in the original made sense to me and possibly made it artificially difficult. My new guys (R-Sq) got L. Rifles, maybe a grenade. NCO's got P. Rifles and grenades, Sgt's got Smokes. Officers got H. Plasma, smoke, grenades. I had specialised demo-men with L. Pistols, prox grenades, HE. Some stun dudes with S. Launchers, L. Pistols. Maybe a dude here or there with an L. Pistol and a motion tracker. Night missions had everyone with flares.
'Build success on the bodies of the weak' This is why I love Jake. I still remember the feeling of tactical mastery once I figured out I could use smoke grenades to avoid getting butchered as soon as I landed the skyranger.
That literally happened to me yesterday. This game has so many trademarked, unforgettable moments.
I m a fan of the original x-com enemy unknown. It has been 8 years since the original version. The original game is excellent because of several combinations. The gameplay, the music, the base management and etc. Clearly, It is one of best game of all time. And my god, the music/sound for the original x-com is awesome.
Amazing game - as a fan of the original, I must say they did a great job with the successor. But after seeing this, I have to wonder, Jake Solomon: if you loved them so much ..where are our shadowy farms and cabbages! :)
Good thing Long War came out. Great mod for Xcom EW
Im lovin X-Com 2 from this generation... as an original player of x-com:ufo defense i looked on steam and it was like a dollar! I now own original X-com again and its a fricken atom!
Wait someone other then me and a few of my friends have played Battle for Westnoth? Seriously? Nice!
22 years and its still the best game ever made. I like the newer versions aswell. But the original still holds up in every regard except for graphics.
"I'm sorry Jake, I thought you fixed your game" - Your australian friend BeagleRush
I played the original on MS DOS mode when I was about 10 years old. It was my uncles game and I got into crazy style. I recognize many of the original sound effects from Xcom used in games today like the Startup screen for starcraft had the same exact sound effects. I liked the Xcom enemy unknown, seemed to end too quickly for me. I hope they have another game coming out soon because I went through the game so quick in Ironman mode. I have played every single one of these games.
Really good interview
What i liked most was the intro... Comic style, but still so epic! The entire art style of the original game is awesome! The pics in the UFOpaedia, the gear and all... and to think the guys back then did it with no 3D, antialiasing, tesselation, particle system and other words that i dont understand and i dont f**kin care about. And for the new guys: gentlemen, i salute you!
Its awesome to know the games in good hands
Why is this not on Fox news!! These guys indeed get what Xcom was all about and should be getting on primetime news! Im so jacked up for this game to come out in Oct.
Seriously, major props to Firaxis. The passion is what made Enemy Unknown great. There are some issues, but this is how you reboot a franchise the RIGHT way.
First time playing a x com game u got the same experience from enemy unknown ad they did with the original. Amazing game
Didn't play it when it was released but I still pull some all nighters playing this some years back.
XCOM is one of the many reasons why it is great to be a PC gamer right now.
He guess what i bought it for my xbox
Good for you.
We got an elitist over here.
I don't get it
Richard Tyler I meant the other guy, you did nothing wrong.
they talk a lot about the dread but they don't mention the screams, the screams of your dying soldiers is dark af
true but no one will mention them because lets be honest you just tune it out eventually. i mean god i must've heard that scream hundreds of times.... and i only started playing the original xcom a few weeks ago... im forever going to have trauma.
lol, the interception music is what gives me the best memories, that and the intro music.
"No kidding little Beaver"...Thats what i learned after that event.
So they sat half of their company down in front of X-Com without the manual and just said, "have fun?" The manual is really well written and teaches you everything you need to know about the UI and what you're supposed to do.
i totally agree with you. This remake was really really good. The only thing i did not quite like was the fact that i only encountered 1 base and very few UFO's. It feels a bit too on track i loved the freedom in the original more. But still it's awsome. Almost cried with joy when i managed to finish my first classical iroman run without a single casualty. So it's still emotionally involving. Can't wait for future DLC addons or mods.
i have to agree with you the original x-com had me hook from the jump i still play this game today its the best rts i ever play period in that era
I haven't even heard of it till you asked me. I'll look into it.
Don't forget that they actually added micromanagement in research and production on the base, with the queues along for the ride. As far as I know (never really played the old X-COMs), they "broke" one to "fix" another.
I actually bought myself an old pentium 200mhz, just to play it like it was in the old days! that game is amazing all over. i am really excited for the remake. hope those guys dont spoil it!
i still pull this game out every couple years and play it. save very very frequently like after every single kill. every time you lose a soldier just leave the battle and load.
I prey there is an Xcom: enemy unknown 2!
"challenge is having a comeback"
I hope so
I'm SOOOOOOOOOOO glad that people with the same passion I have for this game are recreating it. Imagine EA helming this approach (*_*)
The terror missions were brutal. I remember when I got terror attacks I wouldn't go after them until I was pretty established, at least laser weapons, personal armor etc.
Having said that I agree that losing the "secure the LZ through the smokescreen" phase of missions was a good design call. Probably losing the flares as well, though it did add an element.
Man that original xcom had the creepiest music ever. hardest game i ever played.
Ok thanks I will watch and see for myself.
THIS ! This is the X-Com I wanted remade... and then I learned it *was* being remade. I tought my workmate was pulling my leg so hard. But yup, it's real, and it's comming pretty soon. I hope they included Multi-Player on this, if only some kind of deathmatch (even if it's not a game breaker to me). Didn't expect them to let us customise the race/gender of marines tho... SG-1 here I come, lol !
You know, I think XCOM Enemy Unknown was the first Firaxis game I've ever played. I don't know how I've dodged their games up until this point, but I'm liking them.
It is The Successor to Xcom. This game is my religion, I have been waiting for it for years.
In the new game, Enemy Unknown - I have to agree with some of the streamlining. I was originally thought the game was dumb down a bit. It was stream lined for the better. So far, the game does live up to the old one. While the tutorial holds your hand, it also quickly lets it go and you can lose within minutes after it does. OI My biggest gripe, though - is enemies seem to be standing still until you find them, except on Terror missions - where you really have to push yourself or lose civies
You speaketh the truth my X-com brother, and for that, BanjoBurner will the name of my 1st heavy gunner out of the Skyranger.
the human mind does amazing things to fill in the spaces. I loved the original homeworld. everything was insanely cool even though lookign back all of these things were just lil boxes and rectangles. but my mind filled in the gaps and made them into amazing battleships. What your mind does is even better than an extreamly high polygon model because your mind will always please you :D
My childhood was playing XCOM and Microprose (as well as SSI) games in the mid to late 90's and if you really want to play it you should just grab OpenXCOM client for Win, Linux and Mac. I still feel the original is superiour to the Firaxis release but the Firaxis release is good in itself.
Awesome job team. Love the game.
I believe that they'll release a very large DLC in the near future to address that. They've confirmed that the next DLC will be severely larger in scale than previous releases. I'd expect new weapons, aliens, technologies, equipment, armor, maybe even a new class and some new abilities. And of course, new customization for soldiers.
For the last problem, turn on damage roulette. You will cry when your plasma sniper does a measly 2 damage 2 turns in a row on a sectopod which proceeds to code black you.
you will, you...will...and you will name a few soldiers after your friends and self, and losing them all, i shed a tear...sniff...BWAAAAAAAAAAAAH *runs off*
I only recently started playing too, and yeah, hell of a learning curve. But it's so fucking worth it.
Hehe... I still remember my first alien base. I was stomping alien crews, invasions and had a party of well equipped and experienced soldiers. Alien base popped up and I was like... hey! It's going to be like another terror mission, just with more cool stuff I can take home. Boy did I regret that. I came through with two soldiers out of 8 + tank. And I had to took out their command with suicide bomber. And survivors were in a hospital for like 2 months.
Remake is excellent ive played the origional for two thirds of my life. but the reason i loved the game is because it took so long to work out how to even shoot down an enemy UFO, took me ages to realise how to end the turn, then seeing my first second sticking its head through the door was amazing, as was getting my entire squad destroyed by a chrysalid, the chrysalid is going to lead to alot of rage in this game :D
As someone already mentioned
Second wave mixed with some .ini file changes makes the game feel much more like the old one
With the second wave options it adds the length and replayability of it but with .ini file mods it changes the gameplay alot(potentially) like being able to manufacture and sell EVERYTHING your engineers can make, adding mutiple soldiers(althrough rather glitchy) to even adding in cut content(flame thrower is finicky but holy shit is it fun to spray a thin man with)
Damage Roulette for the original randomness of the weapons, Marathon Mode for increased gameplay length, Not Created Equal and Hidden Potential for more randomized soldiers.
Second wave helps a lot with problems people had with the changed stuff. Personally, I think they put in second wave just for original Xcom fans.
I grew up loving xcom. Though the new ones aren't around the same scale, they are indeed good games.
I think Firaxis overhauled XCOM the way 343i had overhauled Halo, sacrificing depth for more balanced, streamlined gameplay. I like both.
I hope this gets a sequel so badly! Though the expansion feels kind of like one its mostly just an over priced DLC. I would rather buy the expansion for more like 15$
I remember the time when I assaulted a landed very large UFO that was filled with Ethereals. At night. In the arctic. With my weaker squad. I got lucky though and only lost about two or three of my soldiers and my tank. Mind you, this was in the mid game, and not the late game. This was only the second mission I had seen Ethereals in. Now that was a fun mission! It took me nearly three hours to play through it. God knows how I got my men out alive.
They did a good job avoiding the time drain of some of those original xcom missions. Overall the modern version is more accessible and less frustrating, although I find 'classic' difficulty to be crazy hard. There is less micromanagement which I think is a net win. I miss my different types of shots, but not having to have guys whose function is to hand the main shooters ammo 25 minutes into a mission is Fing great
I want them to make Terror From The Deep....SO BAD.
They most certainly updated the franchise. They streamlined and simplified many things, e.g. getting rid of free aim, materiel micromanagement and the sort. I feel a bit miffed about the smaller squad size. In the original game (gotten late to it, but I very much like it), you can command a PLATOON. In the new XCOM it's half-a-squad. But those soldiers are damn effective.
The series has made a good transition to the current gaming world, so any complaints about simplification are small.
Okay, quick note; these kinds of games are really sort of _amazing,_ just so many factors that make one combined product unique.... Come to think bout it it's like wearing goggles, or reading a well written book, it almost 'reads itself' in the game: almost 'plays itself'. ... if that makes sense...
This sort of games remind me most of the oldschool Arcades (way modern-gaming started off in a sense) not only due to resemblance of the games presented in the factors of _fun_, mentioned in the way of _experiencing them_ which begs me to mention; graphical resemblance of these kind of games to the _Arcades_ but also in the way a game like this is somehow a 'complete package' with incredible PvE difficulty learning curve and as well as (once more:) experience, the _playing,_ the 'bones and meat' of the game; the grind... Depth! (rpg-style of _depth,_ thing _Arcades_ *missed* [mem.lim.,etc])
Notice how in Xcom player is 'chasing' in a sense after the superior 'aliens' seemingly always one step behind... (note that the same could be said about the relation of the _player_ to the _game_ and its A.I.... always _chasing_ like is with _chess_).
One can not simply expect oneself to 'walk in' (and _master_) as is often with games of Arcade-olden era where reflexes play the (most) important part of the gaming experience-achievement, this game is layered in fear, (get the pun?) it is segmented logically built up of segments like a board game is well thought through fitting only _for a better_ concept, then mere _paper..._
Games Seems _Molded around maths..._ and (to me) _visuals..._
Impressive work of art, when.... _if_ one gets to play it, gets to _get into it,_ deeply... a Culmination of 'things', way ahead of its time, respectfully. Ahead of its time as in: _many can imitate but non can innovate._
Ammo management, lack of base defense actions, multiple bases to attack...these I miss. But the biggest thing I miss is the "...WTF!...What was that!" moment when I first encountered (got hit by) the guided missile in a tactical combat and lost nearly half my squad.
i love how all your soldiers are Guile from street fighter. ;P
Flying suits, medpacks and a lot of health to start with (they were my best soldiers luckily). And yes.. they got fired upon by heavy plasma, alien grenades and other stuff. Attacking base HQ felt like Omaha beach.
Guys..you made a new classic...XCOM enemy unknown is amazing. Now start working on DLC...
Yeah, I reeeeally miss that game. Forget the complete remake, if someone could just make a working version of it, I'd pay full price for it!
There is no other game like Xcom/UFO that still has so much replayability after 15 years with dated graphics. It just proves that graphics don't always make a game. There have been many sequels to xcom along with fan made versions, all failed, I have seen the previews of the new one and I just hope they got it right. The big question is, will people still be playing and talking about xcom 2012 in the next 15 years or will it just not make the cut and fizzle out?
I played the original, although I haven't got the attachment that other have to it. I think the remake, looking at why everyone loves the original, is worthy of the title of XCOM. The problem is simple. This is the "COD" generation, those who have little to no attention, don't want a long and difficult game which makes you have to THINK. Not every COD player is like that, but I was just pointing out that this is a generation that they needed to appeal to
Jeez I wish they would include the old one with this release.
I would have liked to see a base defense mission as well but the other things didn't bother me too much. Also you can recover weapons from the field but only after completing the prerequisite research to prevent the weapons from detonating on alien death. Its an understandable balance issue to prevent you from getting advanced weapons in the beginning of the game.
That's sounds unmistakeably Xcom alright! That was my experience as well!
2 of my men got shot just stepping out of the craft from reaction shots. One panicked and shot my other soldier. I lost 3 soldiers on my first mission all in the first turn.
ahhh the classics. When I was able to make blaster bombs and stored enough of the alien power source, I pretty much nuked the place, hearing alien death cries, the survivors would have low morale, they would sometimes panic, drop their weapons and I would pick them off lol
Yeah. With the older game, TFTD, to be exact, I sat still an entire mission, and the aliens killed each other. It was the FIRST MISSION too.
I notice from these clips that they don't seem to know how to use the visibility items, which must be why they're missing from the contemporary XCOM.
1. When you exit the Skyranger you first throw out a smoke grenade, and prime some smoke and frag grenades. Exit the Skyranger without a smokescreen, lose the first four guys.
2. Throw flares everywhere. Light up the night in every direction before you move. These guys were stumbling blindly.
Each of my soldiers had a flare, smoke, and grenade.
this shit is so happening right across the road from me.........can't wait!!!!!!