XCOM: Enemy Unknown Previews and Interview

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Written by WorstUsernameEver on May 27th, 2012

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Much of this challenge will be presented by the game's new approach to small squad tactics. After what Murray describes as a "eureka moment", lead designer Jake Solomon introduced "a completely new approach to combat, based on a move/action paradigm". The currency of time units favoured by older XCOM games has been binned in favour of a more streamlined system that represents the simple and yet critical choices a soldier makes in the heat of battle: moving and firing; sprinting forward; hunkering down to provide covering fire; reloading; assisting a squad-mate.

Each of these is a decision and the idea is to make the game's combat an ongoing series of such tactical decisions, to keep the player examining the battlefield, picking their moments, considering their deployment and the risks behind their next move. Murray describes every turn as a puzzle based around three simple questions: "How am I going to solve this problem tactically? Where are my soldiers? Where are the enemies?" Poor positioning, poor use of cover and a lack of awareness are the shortcuts to failure.

Hunkered down and unable to flank the two aliens hiding in the building, I pulled out the big guns a rocket launcher, to be precise. Having leveled one of my men previously to the heavy class, my solider gained access to the rocket ability. After picking the ability, the reticle turned from a single point to a dome that covered the front entrance of the building. With one pull of the trigger, the aliens as well as most of the front of the building blew up into bits of flaming debris and roasted gray meat.

Fans of the series will instantly recognize the destructible environments in the game. When you don't have time to go around a building, sometimes it's easier just to bring it down. The same goes for cover. That parked car might save you from a couple of bullets but a well-placed grenade makes it a ticking time bomb. Be careful what you hide behind. It might not always be there when you need it the most.

The simple act of moving around is entertaining in XCOM, thanks to some great camera and animation work by Firaxis. The story unfolds dynamically as you play, and the camera cuts in close to show whatever you're doing. Whereas you can feel a bit detached from the units in a typical strategy game, the intimate direction of XCOM makes it feel far more personal. Seeing enemies respond intelligently--getting into flanking positions, setting traps, and taking advantage of the environment--makes the moment-to-moment gameplay all the more exciting. If you have a unit that's exposed for just one turn, the Sectoids will find a way to take advantage of the situation. And in XCOM, when a unit dies, he stays dead. Forever.

There's good reason why you want to ensure your squad gets out of each mission alive. Every member of the XCOM can earn experience points and level up. At the start of the game, you'll be able to set up your HQ at a locale of your choice. For example, do you station yourself in America where research might be faster? Or do you station yourself in Russia where aircraft might be cheaper? Once you set up your home, you'll be able to develop your soldiers, change their loadouts, and tweak their abilities. Some of the later abilities will prove to be quite useful--for example, "In the Zone" will allow you to shoot twice in a turn. So, keeping your soldiers alive is quite helpful.

Lots of game have taken the name, but have failed to live up to expectations. How do you intend to succeed where those games have failed?

PM: First and foremost, you have to make a game that's fun. If you make a game that's not fun, nobody is going to enjoy playing it new guy or fan of the original. We want the game to be strong and stand on its own and I really think it does do that. I think our game is a lot truer to the original maybe, than some of the other games. In the sense that the strategy shares certain elements gameplay-wise.

In regards to the XCOM shooter, there's something very cool there in the sense that the 2K Marin team looked at the same game that we're looking at. They recognised that X-Com produces a certain set of feelings in them, a certain set of emotions, a sense of fear and overwhelming dread. So they're exploring what how that could translate into a shooter. I think it's a very cool idea and I'm very excited to see what they can do with it.

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How hard is it to get publisher support for a turn-based strategy title on this scale?

PM: You know, full credit to 2K. We went to them with this game and explained about the tactical combat and the base and the research and the alien technology. So they asked us what game it was like and we said, "well, it's not like anything!" And they embraced that, they really encouraged us to go out there and make this game.

2K are a very brave company from a creative standpoint. They're willing to take chances on games like this. And by the same token, greenlighting a shooter based on the emotions of a strategy game set in the 50s? That's a risky, gutsy move and I think 2K is a great company for that. We've got nothing but love for them and from them.

We've also got a lot of resources for the game. We've been working on it for about four years now, about 60 guys that rolled straight off Civ Rev and started on this. Thanks to 2K's support, plus the amount of time and love we've put into the game, we're confident that XCOM: Enemy Unknown will be a really, really great.

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