UFO Extraterrestrials Scores 4.25/5 on Gamepro.com!

[Krasny]

as a 'no death' walk around, we could fire any incapacitated soldiers

PLEASE CHAOS GIVE US DEATH!!!!!!!!!!

[ezzler]

If you want death , get your fix from UFO Afterlight.
Soldiers die
they can be taken over psy soldiers and fight against you.
The reasearch is pretty good too.
Afterlight is a MUCH improved version of the previous ufo series and if you like xcom you should give it a look.

As for this , having recently played  this afterlight ufo game I confess to Very Rarely letting anyone die. Too much investment and too few replacements , but I gree they should be able to die.

[JudgeDredd]

I'll chime in here if I may.

I was never a player of the X-Com game, but had a friend that was nuts about it. I was looking forward to giving it a go...and I may still do so...

Howevere, I'd like to point out my thoughts on this "no deatH" thing if I may...and my thoughts are on tactical games of this level, regardless of whether it's called X-Com or not.

It seems to me, from my perspective of having a dozen or so troops, that I will get "attached" to them and, as I see them grow, look after them. But it also seems to me, very, very obviously, that I will be less likely to "be as careful" with them if I know they are not going to die. That, to me, removes the "personalisation" and attachment one may feel towards a small group of troops. Also, it does remove some of the tension and tactical edge because you will be less careful and take more risks knowing you are not going to lose you prize posession.

So, from my "external" point of view, it does remove somewhat from the game. I never played the original to know how much it affected that game...but I do know that playing a game of this tactical size will remove some of the attachment to your troops and leave you with less of a dilema at times regarding tactics.

[Arctic Blast]

[/quote]

I wish the review had more detail, it really lacks any info on what exactly happens, it's sort of vague on what factors are involved when a soldier goes on a injured list. how long?..is it random how long, do aliens ever die? Do soldiers never get taken over by aliens anymore?..if so then can they be killed?...so many questions, so few answers. I have a feeling he only played it for a short while. It just makes the aliens seem rather lame that the're not even powerful enough to kill anyone. Why not just make peace with the buggers if their weapons are so weak. Dumb. Not that a game about aliens invading a planet is realistic anyways, but you know what I mean..it just kills the atmosphere a bit. I'll wait and see I have too many questions first. it's to bad the developers have been in hiding for some time now..not very supportive to the community.
[/quote]

Yes, more detail is definitely something I will also be waiting for. I'll hold off and see what a few more reviews say, and hopefully there will be a demo I can try, before I lay down my bucks for the game. And don't get me wrong, I DO agree with you that it was a very strange decision to have soldiers be unkillable. I really can't imagine what was said in a design meeting to come to that conclusion, as it just really doesn't make a whole lot of sense. And yeah, I'm with you on the whole "If the aliens are this weak...why are they such a threat???" thought as well.

[orogogus]

well I registered just to complain!

I was waiting for this with baited breath based on the 'look and feel' of the original XCOM. It is going from 'must buy' to 'wait and see, maybe the devs will patch it or the community will'.

Just an acedote of why I think your guys should be mortal. When it first came out, my good friend wanted to show me the game to get me interested and so he fired it up (I think it was on a 386 16Mhz back in the day LOL) and in the very first alien turn of the first mission, when my guys hadn't even full cleared the transport ramp, an alien runs up and tosses a grenade into the middle of the squad. BOOM. Everyone dead except 1 HW guy way in the back who promptly panics, drops his weapon, and flees back into the corner, no doubt quivering and shrieking like a school-girl. That was one of the most awesome moments of my computer gaming history. Yes, the same thing could happen with them all being injured, but knowing they would all come back and just be laid up in the hospital for a while just doesn't have the same viceral response as shaking your head and going 'OMG! that was so freaking totally awesome, this game is HARDCORE!'

And I totally agree with the loss of the fear of death in the tactical game. I was stoked to hear about fully destructable environments since going through doors was always a death-trap. I looked forward to breaching walls to protect my guys. Now, why bother other than some inconvience?

At least add in a iron man mode... but in the very least I'll see what the reviews and mods say before ponying up any cash.

[pzpat]

     If you read the Gamepro review itself, you will notice that they consistently rate the game in the 3's, and only use 4.25 for the insubstantial "fun" element.  And this from a group that has an in with Matrix, according to one recent post.  They complain twice about "unfortunate design choices," with which we all seem to agree. And it didn't seem that the reviewer would buy the game himself, or be as avid an X-Com fan as the writers on this thread. 
     My vote has gone this morning from a definite buy at first opportunity to wait and see and maybe just stick with the original.  Taking away the deaths of the troops does change the character of the game, and I fear not for the better.  Years ago I was describing X-Com to a friend of mine, telling him that after 10 or so missions my most experienced surviving troops had gone on only 2 or 3 missions.  He remembered that his experiences in Viet Nam were much like that.  I wouldn't want to give that up if I don't have to.
     Given that 1-there are so many people who have contributed to this thread and the related one, and 2-there has been so much emotional intensity evident in the posts that have appeared, it is disappointing that there has not been greater response from the Matrix people responsible for having modified the game.  In the Forge of Freedom forum there have been EXTENSIVE interactions between the Matrix people and the gaming community that have resulted in updates to the game that make it much, much better.  There is a "Wish List" of over 20 pages, other threads of suggestions to heighten the historical accuracy, to alter the game balance, etc.
     At this point we can only trust in the flexibility and continued commitment of the Matrix people to doing the right thing.  After all, they market a lot of games, and not every one of them can be a blockbuster. 

[Widell]

ORIGINAL: pzpat
In the Forge of Freedom forum there have been EXTENSIVE interactions between the Matrix people and the gaming community that have resulted in updates to the game that make it much, much better. There is a "Wish List" of over 20 pages, other threads of suggestions to heighten the historical accuracy, to alter the game balance, etc.

As well as in HTTR, COTA, TOAW and WITP...... This kind of interaction is one of Matrix most important "brand images" in my opinion

ORIGINAL: pzpat
...After all, they market a lot of games, and not every one of them can be a blockbuster.

Well, it would be a shame if UFO did not make it

Still, this could all be a complete hoax, just to add to the build up before the release [;)]

[Bromley]

A mini player review by Feygan on the developer site:
http://www.ufo-extraterrestrials.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1465

[CSL]

ORIGINAL: pzpat

If you read the Gamepro review itself, you will notice that they consistently rate the game in the 3's, and only use 4.25 for the insubstantial "fun" element. And this from a group that has an in with Matrix, according to one recent post. They complain twice about "unfortunate design choices," with which we all seem to agree. And it didn't seem that the reviewer would buy the game himself, or be as avid an X-Com fan as the writers on this thread.

[&:]

The "fun" element is not insubstantial as its the most important part - what are you doing other than having fun during games.

[GalacticOrigins]

For those of you who do not own the game and are stuck on 'Soldiers Not Dying'.
 
Yeah, I played the original and kinda miss death. However, consider ...
 
If you evacuate a mission gone wrong, anyone not on the transport (including those 'wounded and dead on the field') are deleted. As in gone. You know, Dead. Er, DED, (dead, extremely dead).
 
Oh, and by the way, you will be on hundreds of missions with this team. The XP requirement for the highest ranks is very high. Not that it matters. The higher ranks only help offset your training decisions early on (it is possible to max out the AP and shooting skills far earlier). You will EARN the rank, trust me. And it is a nice reward once you get there. What does this mean? Well, if a mission goes horribly wrong, you can a) go back to an earlier save (not for those of us who are diehard core X-Commanders) or b) lose the soldier forever.
 
My main point is that it takes a lot of time to build up the squad. There are limited soldiers available. On any mission, things can go way wrong. And being in sickbay for 20+ days is to miss 2-10 missions. You can expect enemy flybys every 3-5 days, if not more often (there is the occasional lull, thankfully). So being in sickbay for a month is a very long wait. And death by evac is permanent. So, losing 100+ missions worth of experience is a major setback. The original game was way too easy and this is a very nice improvement. Not buying the game because of 'limited recruitment or no base building' is missing the point entirely. I think this game is actually better than X-Com (I do miss the music, tho).
 
I would also like to see a Kill Stat Page for my squad.

[ravinhood]

I have to say if it's not like the origional X-Com to the tee, then it just ain't X-Com to the tee. This is more of a watered down edition although made for XP. That might hold some water since as I said it's a watered down version. It's one of those whatif type of games. Like whatif we change this and this and this and this and toss it to the dogs and see what happens. Well even dogs know the difference from a milk bone to just a bone. Even X-Com Terror from the Deep didn't escape from the origional game except for underwater combat sequences and using aqua versions of gear and aliens. This I could accept, didn't mess with the origional engine of how the game PLAYED. But, this game certainly messes wit it. To be able to save every trouper just because one makes it back safely to the ship every single time is just rediculous. There's no life lol pun intended in a game that has no death or death so rare it won't even be noticeable.

Let's put it this way it's more believeable that there are practically an unlimited group of trained merc/military troups just waiting to get into X-Com services (as in the previous X-Com and X-COm TFTD) than it is to believe Sigorney Weaver is commanding every battle situation and will drag every solider out before taking off. lol I even know where they got this silly idea of a sick bay from. Watch Starship Troopers lol One of the main stars had to spend several days in some cooler of chemicals after being "wounded" during battle. But, watch starship troupers again, you won't see a lot of troupers coming back to sick bay either. Those bugs chewed 100's of them to pieces and funny even in the movie more troupers kept joining in as reinforcements. Guess 40,000 credits is a lot during that time.

Now I can accept the ability to blow stuff up. Something added to the X-Com game instead of changing or taking stuff away. Also, when you sell junk (as in the other X-Coms) you don't worry why they are buying it or what they are using it for. You sell it because there is a market for it. Now, I could have excepted some market changes in prices like in Spartan when you sell a load of the same stuff over n over. But, taking away our fun in manufactoring and selling our goods was bad for this new game as well.

Looks like Gamespots review is more on the money for those that have played X-Com before and this other review site is good for those that never heard of it, though not really, because the best X-Com was the real X-Com of the 90's.

[Erik Rutins]

Ravinhood,

Tough to judge though unless you've actually played it, no? [;)]

Regards,

- Erik