KT7AGuy wrote on 2022-05-10, 14:08:

I first played XCOM back in 1994 when I got my first 486. I remember enjoying it and thinking it was a really difficult game, s […]
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I first played XCOM back in 1994 when I got my first 486. I remember enjoying it and thinking it was a really difficult game, so I got distracted and never completed it. Recently, I revisited XCOM (OpenXCOM this time) and finished the game. Here are my thoughts:

Nostalgia is a powerful thing.

The game is good, but in an Atari Adventure sort of way. What I mean is that it was amazing and excellent for it's time, but it's really not good by today's standards, even with OpenXCOM's fixes and changes. I would go so far as to say that anybody considering playing the original XCOM should just skip it. Again, it's not that it's a bad game, it's just that there is so much better entertainment out there to be had instead of this. It's like playing the original C&C or Dune; they were great and very innovative at the time, but there's so many other better games available now, so don't waste your precious time unless you're a hardcore fan of these series. Or, the nostalgia thing...

The interface and UX are pretty bad. Almost everything requires way too many clicks to accomplish what you want to do. Team management and crew assembly are just awful. This is a game that was designed for micro-managers.

The combat is tedious and boring. Maybe turn-based combat just isn't for me. It takes forever. Each turn consists of what would be the equivalent of about 10 seconds of realtime action. It takes way too much planning and setup to get your little guys to perform those few seconds of action. Battles that consist of a few minutes of realtime action can take over an hour to finish.

The difficulty curve is backwards. The game starts out insanely difficult, but then becomes a boring slog once you get going. The second half of the game became so easy that it was just a chore to complete it for the sake of finishing the game. I was so sick of capturing supply ships that I didn't even wait to finish constructing my bases or powering-up my guys. I just went ahead and did the final battle on Cydonia to finish the game and get it over with. Even with my guys only about halfway powered-up, I was still able to finish the game easily. The final battle and ending were a complete letdown.

Money and funding are a huge concern in the beginning of the game. Once you get a few workshops churning out laser cannons for profit, you don't need to worry about money ever again. This happens quickly when you're only about 25% of the way through the game. You don't even care if governments withdraw from the XCOM project because you just don't need their money anymore.

Psionics unbalance the game so badly that I felt it should have been left out entirely. The final battle should have been like watching the end of Independence Day. Instead of blaster bombs flying and explosions everywhere, the aliens succumbed to my psionics and went down like bunch of sleepy kittens. It was very anticlimactic. Seriously, I didn't need to use any weapons other than psi-amps to finish the game. It's just that unbalanced.

There were good things about this game too. It was definitely original. I don't remember anything like it before XCOM. Jagged Alliance had the turn-based combat, but that's about it. Robinson's Requiem had the obsessively detailed micro-management, but none of the strategy or combat.

While micro-management in the game is really annoying, it's also the game's strength. You can go so far as to name each and every one of your little soldiers. The customization options are amazing and very detailed. You can plan your missions down to the type of ammo each soldier uses in their weapon. If you suffer from OCD, this is the game for you!

I really liked the feeling of being in charge of a secret organization of MIBs. It was fun to see various earth governments fall to alien infiltration, with the resulting reduction in available funds for XCOM. From top to bottom, you are truly in charge of and responsible for the entire XCOM project. Success or failure is up to you.
Losing a favorite soldier that you've been training for awhile is devastating. You feel like you get to know some of them after awhile.

I've read on some forums where people think that XCOM "cheats", but I never got that impression at all. While the game was very difficult in the beginning, once my soldiers started getting some tech, money, and experience, the aliens stopped being much of a threat. Indeed, if the game had progressively increased in difficulty it would have been a much more entertaining experience.

The randomness of the game ensures that no two play-throughs will ever be the same. It's just too bad that the game was so boring that I'll never play it a second time.

I'm glad I finally finished XCOM. I'll probably skip Terror From The Deep, since it looks like it's just a reskinned and re-themed UFO Defense. I'll give Apocalypse a try, and maybe some of the new games since 2012 too. The free and Open Source Alien Invasion also looks like it could be good too.

Tales from the Void also looks interesting with a similar gameplay style.

Personally I still reckon its a good game , I've beaten it a few times. Yeah the psionics are op , but you can avoid taking them if you want more of a challenge , though its going to be maddening having your troops get possessed while you can't do anything back.

I guess the whole concept was that by the end of the game you feel like a god , because you earned it by slowly fighting your way through all the muck whilst being on the back foot against these invaders who initially had a lopsided advantage . When you end up on the last level the shoe really is on the other foot so to speak and you can dole out punishment with divine retribution.

I still find it riveting when you begin a mission , not knowing where those little bloody greys are going show up and potentially ruin your day.
And Chryssalids are the stuff of nightmares , no quicker can your game go to shit then when they start converting your troops.
Though I agree the game can have its tedious moments like when trying to finish off the last few enemies on the map.

If you hate the slog of XCOM you could try laser squad which was made by the guy who made XCOM (Julian Gollop) and came out on DOS in 1992 , though it was also released on other platforms before that.
Its basically like a pre XCOM but the structure is just a few one off missions that you can sorta play at your leisure.

By comparison I tried the 2012 XCOM and I didn't really like it as much , I don't know what it was but something about the feel or gameplay irked me compared to the original , maybe the combat felt less sandboxy or less rng , I'm not sure.

Xenonauts which came out 2014 felt better however , its a somewhat modernized 2D XCOM clone with a pretty cool art style.

Fair enough though , if you don't like the game then that's how you feel , everyone has different tastes after all.

AppleSauce,

Thank you for your take on the game. I really appreciate your insight into this legendary sacred cow of retro computing. I had not considered that the god-like retribution I was able to unleash on the aliens in the final battle was my reward for the initial difficulty of the game. That helps to explain things a bit.

I actually liked the game. I'm sorry that my words didn't convey that. The point I was trying to make was that I also loved Atari's Adventure, but it's not a game that is worth playing in 2022. Both titles are legendary pieces of history, but I don't think either one is worth playing anymore except from a nostalgic perspective. Dune and C&C are more satisfying than XCOM, but I wouldn't recommend them to a newcomer either, ya know?

Some titles are timeless and without peer even today: Independence War, Descent FreeSpace, Red Baron 3D, European Air War, Total Air War, BattleZone, Longbow II, etc. Others have been superseded by better implementations. XCOM is one of those whose time has passed.