Lucas wrote:I was thinking about buying this, if I were ever to get time to play games...but now...
It was fun for a couple of hours, mostly I think for nostalgia purposes since it plays a lot like the original Xcom.
However, the bugs, crappy AI and out right shitty programming eventually pile up to make it a crapfest.
Very common situation:
You move your guys up, taking postitions behind walls, pylons and what ever cover you find, since not being in cover is pretty much a death sentance. Set all of your guys to overwatch if they haven't used their max move, so they'll shoot enemies that appear in their line of sight (necessary for survival or aliens will just walk up and eat your face.) Your last guy to move spots a group of aliens (they always spawn in groups of 3-5). Since the aliens always get a free move when spotted (thus you can never ambush anything) they all scatter. Due to a massive line of sight bug which allows you to target enemies through walls, the ground, trees or just about anything solid, all your guys use their overwatch reaction shot to try shooting at the moving aliens... thus shooting the objects they are hiding behind and destroying them.
Now, it's the enemies turn and all of your guys have shot their overwatch shots and are standing in the open.. you lose 3-4 guys right out. Hope you saved.
If it was a rare occurrence I could put up with it, but it's actually very common. In fact, it's so common the programmers have clearly abused it and will set up THE SUPER ROBOT OF DOOM behind walls you team is likely to wipe out in overwatch self immolation.. thus ensuring their doom is hastened. Several times I've ended a turn, had a group of aliens run onto the screen (note: already have to be moving to run onto the scrren), now they've been spotted... so they, get a free move (yay for two complete move turns for the enemy). Insert squad destroying their own cover... repeat as necessary.
THE SUPER ROBOT OF DOOM is evidence to me that the devs just lazy and programed bullshit to compensate.
Normally, every character gets two actions. It can be two moves, a move and overwatch, a move and shoot or (for only some characters) two shoots.
The super robot of doom gets a free AOE missle attack, then a full two moves, then two AOE laser attacks then overwatch... And it has 40hp. A normal attack with a plasma rifle does 8-10. So, if your get four of your team members to all manage to survive that damage, and all land max damage hits... you might take one down.
...and late in the game, these are normal mobs. Sometimes showing up three or four times in a single mission. Pretty quickly you learn that the only way to beat these things is to have saved right before you encounter one, and fight it/reload as many times as needed to come out with no dead players. Rinse/repeat until level is defeated.
I should have known the game was going to hell when a normal human can walk up and punch my guys wearing full power armor for the same damage a plasma rifle does...
I gave up and went back to playing Saints Row the Third.
We sleep peacefully in our beds at night because rough men stand ready to do violence on our behalf