XCOM 360

2K Marin have been taking a bit of flack for XCOM, before anyone got closer to the game other than the brief recent trailer. For those unfamiliar with the ancient X-COM franchise, it appeared in 1994 as UFO: Enemy Unknown, which many sources consider to be one of the greatest strategical and tactical games of all time.

Gamers have reason to be concerned, since it has been well over a decade since an X-COM game worthy of the original has appeared. The 2001 ill-advised action-game entitled X-COM: Enforcer failed to bring new gamers into the franchise, as well as completely alienating their core cult audience.

2K is already encountering these criticisms before the game has even been played, purely due to the first-person perspective. To partially alleviate these concerns, 2K focused on the deep story and mood framing the piece, as well as the huge tactical element to the game. Our developer hosts made note that the 1962 setting is to make the backdrop of the game the death of the 1950s baby boomer American Dream. Similarly, the X-COM organization is made up those who would be considered outsiders of idealized 1950s America.

 

This is strategic and tactical combat, you are not a lone wolf and have a party of your own creation. As in the original, you must research and harness alien technology to use against the enemy.

This technology when implemented by the humans looks almost Rocketeer-ish in its implementation, as opposed to BioShock's Steampunk grounding.

Just as in the original, you have a base where your scientists research and build weapons and you put together your team. There are numerous classes for your team and they get various perks as they level up.

Also an element of strategy is picking your missions, do you want your team to rush in and destroy an alien compound.

 

As far as looks go, XCOM perfectly represents its late 50s, early 60s aesthetic. In our demo we saw vintage America in a mild soft-focus with the warmth of film and saw the painted look to the leaves of trees as you fly in to your mission drop point. Also prominent is the alien terraforming of earth with black cubist objects, which he devs called "corruption". It's unclear what final role these play in the game.

Early in the level, sound and music become prominent. Ambient sounds are interrupted by the sound of a crackling Jukebox in an abandoned diner, a swelling of old cinematic thriller music, reliant on piano primarily, before you run into the remnants of an army battalion and the string section kicks in. There is a huge musical emphasis on mood.

In contrast to the shooter action were three encounters that use the "radio mode", which is where the tactical element comes in. You can command your party to use their various class-specific abilities, as well as send them to lay down covering fire and attempt to break down enemy force-fields. Using this mode can result in the enemy realizing you are the commanding officer, at which point you will become the primary target of their attacks. The developers stated this was the real-time version of the tactical Battlescape mode from the original X-COM games.

 

We also saw a couple of different enemy units; there are infiltrators that can masquerade as humans, and we saw basic alien infantry as well as a ghost-like creature that essentially telefragged an NPC through a wall.

We observed the capture of alien technology and its deployment against enemies as it destroyed their cover. The long-term implications of capturing their technology is that it will result in better weapons as well as defence against said weaponry. We saw a basic turret captured, as well as a Titan (a UFO B52 with a giant laser cannon) as well as being able to lay down lightning strikes forcing you to take cover.

Our demo concluded with our protagonist ending up on a floating alien concrete structure, surrounded by island-esque alien spacecrafts.

Original fans of X-COM may be disappointed, but this is a thinking man's shooter that can hopefully win back some old loyalists.