Xenonauts

Imagine playing the X-Com reboot, but everything that you like is gone and everything that infuriates you is ramped up to the maximum. - Higher chance of soldiers shooting each other than the enemies (I hid two soldiers behind a tank and they shot it every time, instead of hitting the enemies) - Terrible cover system, where the cover itself is an obstacle which soldiers somehow cannot even lean over - PANIC! A lot of it, your soldiers will panic for no reason. No because someone is dying, or getting hurt, or even they themselves getting hurt. Expect panic to rise from nothing in the first few moves you play. - Terrible soldier controls, where an accident click next to a soldier will send one of his teammates (that you have already selected) running towards him) - Abosultelly no explanation of crucial game mechanics, such as weight, base management, aerial battles and more. - Equipment loss even after you have succeeded in the mission. If someone has died carrying a weapon and you did not go there to pick it up, it is lost, even though you have succeeded in the mission. - No explanation on terrain, collateral damage and the possibilites which the game offers in using these to your advantage - Many, many, many more infuriating problems. This game is a cheap rip-off of the original X-Com, with just a little (barely any) graphical update. Just a bland, blatant repetition of game mechanics, ideas and concepts, without a single thought of their function within the original X-Com and whether they are beneficial to the gameplay experience, or jsut infuriating. It is a prime expamle of a "I will let you copy my homework, but chnge it a little" situation, where someone mindlessly copied everything without a second of though about the final product. Fans of the original X-Com would probably love it. As for the rest, avoid this as the plague, as the game itself is moraly dead somewhere in the early 90's and the developers did nothing to improve on it.

My unorganized thoughts on the game: I haven't played the previous X-Coms/UFO games, but I am a friend of turn-based games like Jagged Alliance 2 and Silent Storm. I bought this game and after a short try I let it rest on the hard drive for over a year. One day, during a time of unemployment, I gave the game another shot and fell in love with it. I just loved how hard it is to figure things out yourself. I think it was on my 6th or 7th try starting the game over (after being completely overrun time and time again), that I finally completed the game. And even then, it wasn't the best possible outcome, but a good one nonetheless. The atmosphere in this game is awesome. The music adds to the eerie feeling of something really strange and unusual happening. Encountering new types of aliens for the first time is quite a frightening experience: "Are my primitive boomsticks even going to make a dent on this one?". It was truly a rewarding experience finally finding a sufficient plan and balance for technology, research, bases etc. to complete the game. I've no complaints about the graphics, they represent things and people well enough. Places and settings vary enough to keep things interesting. I've also tried the new X-Com games, and was somewhat disappointed with them. I am waiting for Xenonauts 2 though. If you like a challenge, buy this one. I should add: I played the community edition version of the game. It was bundled with the GOG download.

The good: - You can build more bases and need to pay for both scientists and engineers; the strategic component is therefore stronger than the X-Com reboot and closer to the original UFO. - You can break more alien bases. - Soldiers can jump over small walls. Yea, I know, sounds crazy. - Good ambient music. The Bad - Lazy graphic. Not expecting Firaxis use of 3D engines but, cmon, not even a progression bar on researches? Feels like a spreadsheet. Male and female models looks all the same and there is no room for customization, makes it harder to recognize the units. - Bad use of sound effects. No sound clue on alien positions, no sound clue on alien types on the map. X-Com Apocalypse had those already and it was 20 years ago. - Soldiers are deaf and blind: they enter a room, they won't see aliens standing on your side. they won't hear approaching steps in the nearby room. Did our specie lose hearing and peripheral vision all of the sudden? - No psionics. Can't even understand why, it was the coolest thing of the original games. Such a letdown. In the end, it's not a bad game. But is there any reason to play Xenonauts rather than the classic serie? Because if the only one is "it fits modern-day resolutions better" then I fear it's missing something.

This is relatively faithful remake of the original Xcom. It improves on the original in some aspects, for example. in aerial combat you can now order fighters around RTS style. However,IMO it is also lacking in other aspects, for example, the scanner from Xcom, which would be very useful during night missions, is missing. The user interface is also missing some controls, such as fly up/down. Maps are not randomly generated and with less than 10 mission maps, it gets boring after a while.

First thing I've noticed is that the game is unnervingly buggy. I got so many crash-ups with "program not responding" messages, that I allmost broke my screen. It resembles a browser-based flash game, and still hammerging resources like a goddamn Vista. The research is a mess; researched projects are popping up at random it seems. One time I'm researching Laser weaponry, and then suddenly, out of nowhere Alien Biology pops up... and after the project finishes, I still have Alien biology on the list. Even though I already have results of that research. And the simplicity... On one hand I receive freebies like aircraft/vechicle armanent, and on the other I have to manufacture soldier weapons and armor... Still it's a X-com clone, and those are so few and far in between, so I'm giving it +1. I can't believe I'm saying it, but UFO: Extraterrestrials is better...,