http://ca.ign.com/articles/2015/06/01/xcom-2-announced-ign-first So far all we know for sure is It's likely a PC exclusive From the screenshot above, it seems like the combat will be very similar, if not the same Sectoids have evolved and are 100% more spooky New "Advent troopers" which seem to be replacing EXALT New classes, aliens and all that good stuff Maps are apparently going to be procedurally generated It seems like the story involves XCOM fighting the aliens because Advent brought an age of unification (so maybe Advent IS EXALT?) between aliens and humans, making XCOM against unification and possibly not being saviors of humanity? Looks like one class will have access to melee weapons As far as XCOM: EU is concerned, the failure ending is the canon one. Oh, also the gameplay is more guerrilla focused. Meaning enemies no longer instantly know where you are and you'll be rewarded more for stealth and scouting than running in lasers blazing IGN will be covering it throughout June, I'm pretty hyped.
Some more info from the XCOM website: XCOM On The Run: Take command of the Avenger, an alien supply craft converted to XCOM's mobile headquarters. Guide your strike force around the world, build popular support and expose the aliens' sinister plans. Recruit Resistance Fighters: Five soldier classes, each with its own skill tree including new class abilities like Momentum, let you create specific soldiers for your tactical plan. Tactical Guerrilla Combat: New gameplay systems offer more tactical flexibility in combat. The state of the world affects each combat mission's environment. Use concealment to ambush enemy patrols. Loot enemies for precious gear and artefacts. Rescue VIPs and save fallen comrades by carrying them to the extraction point. A New Breed Of Enemy: A diverse cast of enemies from powerful new alien species to the Advent, enforces of the alien regime, offer a distinct tactical challenge. Research, Develop and Upgrade: Configure and build rooms on the Avenger to give XCOM new capabilities on the battlefield. Use your Scientists and Engineers to research, develop and upgrade weapons and armour to fit your preferred tactics. Each Mission is a Unique Challenge: Go on missions around the world, from wildlands to the heart of the alien-controlled megacities, to the depths of alien installations. There are virtually infinite combinations of maps missions, and goals. Create Custom Mods: Community-focused tools allow you to create your own campaign, tactical gameplay, aliens, classes, strategy game features, and share within the Steam Workshop. Engage in Head-to-Head Multiplayer: Mix-and-match squads of humans and aliens battle head-to-head on randomly-generated maps
I'm hyped and glad it's happening but also kinda pissed that the brave sacrifice of my psychic soldier was for nothing. . Also I hope they change that snake-lady to something a little more alien. Because it just looks like they lifted an asset out of a fantasy game. I dug out this from the website: Yay backgrounds. Flying aircraft carrier called "Avenger". Hang on...
Such a choice is impossible to please a game's population with. Nomatter if the choice is respected or not, there will still be people upset about the final decision (as a decision has to be made one way or another). Rationalise a bit more, rant a bit less
XCOM:EU was a little jewel of a game... Never had the patience/courage to finish the two last difficulty levels trought
Who's joke? what's the joke? what's the punchline. I hated the concept since Red Alert. You play a campaign, you win. Then the sequel comes out and says "well remember that victory? yea didn't happen" One of the major missing things from Xcom was the influence of the Black Market. Sure i'm selling alien technology to the highest bidder. I saved the earth, but at what cost to society? So much genetic modification, mechanic enhancement, all sorts of advanced technologies and materials. And then you finish the game and there's not even a little epilogue text. After finishing it on normal, i couldn't muster the patience to go through some of it's worse points again. Like the apparently completely random chances to hit anything. Guy 3x as big as a tree, hiding behind a tree, being flanked from 2 sides, 1 HP point left. How many shots do you think it took to kill him at ~90% accuracy? 1? 2 ? 3? nope. it took 6 guys emptying their guns.
LOTS of info at http://ca.ign.com/articles/2015/06/02/xcom-2-welcoming-our-new-alien-overlords Highlights: How the war unfolded and how EU works in the canon: When the aliens showed up, XCOM suffered massive casualties, and governments around the world crumbled in face of popular support to surrender. Then, the Earth was quickly overrun. And so, 20 years into the future, the world is a very different place. The aliens rule Earth from giant shining megacities where all the people of Earth are flocking; that’s where they’re promised an easy life, a secure life free of disease (more info next week) In this reality, XCOM never acquired advanced weaponry and armour, meaning research may have to start from the bottom... again. The Avenger aircraft is a reference to the Avenger interceptor/troop carrier in 1994’s X-COM: UFO Defense, not Nick Fury’s helicarrier in Marvel’s 2012 Avengers movie. (this is important) Territory control will be important in XCOM 2. They didn't really go into depth what this entails, but I think this means that the "doomsday meter" from EU will actually be increased by XCOM's actions, since they're trying to get the people to overthrow the aliens The classes: As already confirmed, the gameplay will focus more on stealth and scouting than finding enemies in hiding. Aliens and Advent will be in the map, not hiding and ready to move out and you'll be able to scout them out and actually get the first shot, unlike in EU where the enemies would get the first move, even if you found them on your turn. The two-move system seems the be coming back. Stealth doesn't replace combat. You won't be backstabbing the enemies or picking them off one by one. Presumably, once you take your shot combat erupts. Once again already confirmed, but the maps will be procedurally generated (WHICH IS AWESOME) Maps seem to be more destructible than in EU, the article mentions acid melting through floors (maybe we can level buildings now?) Every mission will apparently have a "dynamically generated objective". You'll have to hack a terminal, escort a VIP and other things. You can also call for extraction at any point, rather than retreating to the Skyranger. You can now loot things on missions, after a mission the loot is brought to the Avenger and can be equipped on your soldiers. They haven't disclosed what the loot is yet, but apparently you can see in the trailer that the XCOM soldiers have taped upgrades to their weapons. Loot will also have a timer, like meld did. When one of your soldiers is unconcious, KIA or wounded, another soldier can carry the body and save the equipment Aliens are apparently VERY powerful in this game. A single soldier will not be able to take on an alien alone. The new snake women fetish aliens are apparently what the Thin Men look like without the human suit... whodda thunk it? Regular Sectoids now have mind control. The snake women (also called "Vipers") can rip a soldier out of cover with her tongue (FETISH ALIEN.) Advent will be taking the roll of Sectoids in Enemy Unknown, apparently being fodder. Firaxis is "going all out" for mods. More on that next week.
*sigh*. "XCOM: Reboot the franchise ASAP" Thank god, that annoyed me endlessly. Very nice. But does that mean equipment will be harder to acquire? So, retcons? really? **** i hated that power. I still hate the Enemy Within final mission where your team is instantly mind controlled by enemies you can't oneshot. laziest piece of difficulty ever. As long as they don't return to the absolute bullshit that were the Grunts, i'm fine with it.
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2015/06/05/why-xcom-2-had-to-be-pc-exclusive It's honestly nice to see Firaxis admit that their small team really couldn't handle porting the game to Xbone/PS4. A few people seem to be bummed out by the PC exclusivity which is understandable, but I heard that the XCOM games were craptastic on console anyway. Which honestly doesn't come as that big a surprise, even as someone who plays FPS's with a controller, a strategy game with a controller sounds like it'd be awkward as hell.
Info on modding, and it's sounding pretty awesome. http://ca.ign.com/articles/2015/06/08/xcom-2s-exciting-modding-potential-ign-first
Considering Advance Wars and Fire Emblem control smoothly I don't see the issue with strategy games using a controller. Controls should be possible to make work. It might not be worth it if they have to rewrite all the UI logic, but it should be possible.
