XCOM: Enemy Unknown (on 360/PS3)

[Hatta]

It's another grid based tactical RPG, a (spiritual) sequel to the classic RPG Wasteland from 1988

Which is odd, since combat in Wasteland was not grid based. It's more like The Bard's Tale/Wizardry/Dragon Warrior. I've heard that style called "blob combat", because position is poorly defined. But I'm OK with that change, Wasteland's overworld is grid based, so why not combat?

[Menegrothx]

Yeah in blobber RPGs your whole party moves as one and there's no tactics considering movement apart from who's in the front row and who's in the back. And I'm not expecting a game released in 2013 to be exactly like 1988, there were mechanical limitations on the genre back then that don't exist now.

[noiseredux]

took Popo's advice and ventured on last night. My intention was to play "just one mission" before firing up Sonic Racing Transformed. Instead I played for like 2 hrs. The first mission I played was crazy though, and probably lasted nearly an hour on its own. Almost immediately we get jumped on by 6 (that's SIX!) Mutons. Now remember, these are all brand new recruits. All of them, their first mission. After a few rounds we've got a couple of Mutons knocked out, but I'm down to 2 (that's TWO!!!) soldiers. One of them - a sniper - she has only 1 HP left. So yeah, it's not looking good. Luckily the other dude has full HP. Anyway, as we're taking out the rest of the Mutons, slowly, now 3 Thinmen appear. No biggie, as these are one-hit-kills for my sniper. Now here's where it gets crazy, all the shots being fired, everything is missing my sniper. Eventually the enemies wear down the other guy! It's down to just the sniper and her 1 HP. F'd up. Slow and steady... she takes out the last Muton... takes out two Thinmen... she approaches the ship. Three little grey aliens come out of the woodwork. Fine. These are popcorn. She takes one out who's controlling another so they both die. She point-blanks the last one. All three of them fired and missed. It's nail-biting. She goes around the side of the ship to find one more Muton hiding in the woods. Another shoot-out, and every shot misses her. Kills him after a few rounds. But still... still this mission will just not end! She goes into the ship. Slowly. A few steps then overwatch. Rinse, repeat. She opens a door and two of those aliens appear (I don't remember what they're called. You only see them on ships. They're kind of orange or yellow and materialize out of thin air?). Anyway, they're usually easy to kill. But not when there's two of them and you just walked in unprepared and have no cover and only 1 HP. Mission failed.

But after that sadness I did start to win a couple again. And what was odd, even though I had been on that losing-streak of a half-dozen missions I still was able to finish the third chapter with a B rating! No idea. But I've got A, A, B so far.

[MrPopo]

Those are the kinds of stories that really go into just how amazingly awesome the game can be.

Just a thought; you are using grenades, right? That guaranteed damage and area damage can go a long way to getting enemies down before they can retaliate.

[noiseredux]

Those are the kinds of stories that really go into just how amazingly awesome the game can be.

I KNOW!

Just a thought; you are using grenades, right? That guaranteed damage and area damage can go a long way to getting enemies down before they can retaliate.

I usually have 2 or 3 of my squad w/ grenades. But I usually only use em in a pinch. They only do 3 max damage right?

I like the rocket launcher better.

[Jmustang1968]

I don't really use grenades.

Depending on my party make up, I typically have a mix of scopes, armor, and medkits.

[MrPopo]

Those are the kinds of stories that really go into just how amazingly awesome the game can be.

I KNOW!

Just a thought; you are using grenades, right? That guaranteed damage and area damage can go a long way to getting enemies down before they can retaliate.

I usually have 2 or 3 of my squad w/ grenades. But I usually only use em in a pinch. They only do 3 max damage right?

I like the rocket launcher better.

They also remove cover, which makes hitting aliens MUCH easier. And they're great for setting up explosions using cars or gas stations; rather than waiting a turn when it's on fire it immediately sets up the explosion. I found I was most successful when I realized that I should be using all of my damaging consumables before the mission ended (if possible, no making stupid moves to do so). Remember that your grenades are not a limited resource; if you get your hands on some alien grenades having one in base inventory means only one soldier can be equipped with them, but you can throw them out every mission and they don't run out.

I do agree that the rocket launcher is better. But you probably have less of those in a mission.

[noiseredux]

They also remove cover, which makes hitting aliens MUCH easier. And they're great for setting up explosions using cars or gas stations; rather than waiting a turn when it's on fire it immediately sets up the explosion. I found I was most successful when I realized that I should be using all of my damaging consumables before the mission ended (if possible, no making stupid moves to do so). Remember that your grenades are not a limited resource; if you get your hands on some alien grenades having one in base inventory means only one soldier can be equipped with them, but you can throw them out every mission and they don't run out.

Very good points, man. Will keep in mind.

I don't really use grenades.

Depending on my party make up, I typically have a mix of scopes, armor, and medkits.

I don't think I use enough armor. I think I usually have 1 armor or arc, 2 grenades, 1-2 scopes, 1-2 midkits.

[Jmustang1968]

I don't really use grenades.

Depending on my party make up, I typically have a mix of scopes, armor, and medkits.

I don't think I use enough armor. I think I usually have 1 armor or arc, 2 grenades, 1-2 scopes, 1-2 midkits.

Yeah I usually use armor on the lower ranked guys for survivability.

[Hatta]

And I'm not expecting a game released in 2013 to be exactly like 1988, there were mechanical limitations on the genre back then that don't exist now.

Well, Pool of Radiance was released the same year as Wasteland, and it was preceeded by Wizard's Crown and Demon's Winter which have similar battle mechanics. So it's not hardware limitations that made the original Wasteland what it was, but a stylistic choice. One that's very out of style now. Which leads me to wonder, are there any modern blob combat RPGs? Is Dragon Quest still a blobber?

Those are the kinds of stories that really go into just how amazingly awesome the game can be.

I'll plug Silent Storm again, it excells at providing those kinds of stories.