Firaxis XCOM: Enemy Unknown Is More Tactical than the Original

The new XCOM: Enemy Unknown will be even more tactically oriented than the ‘90’s video game it is based on, according to one of the main developers working on it at Firaxis, and will challenge the player to a series of tough but fair fights.

Jake Solomon, who is the leading producer working on XCOM: Enemy Unknown, told VG247 that, “The original game wasn’t as tactical as this game. I mean, it was tactical in its own way, but we have things like abilities an explicit cover system, bonuses for elevation, perks, passive perks and we just put a big tactical layer over the experience.”

The developer talked about how the original XCOM allowed enemies to see farther than the player characters, which resulted in firefights that were unfair, and gamers were often frustrated because they could not understand why they were getting defeated.

The aim for the new XCOM: Enemy Unknown was to mix tactical challenges with a very fair core structure.

Solomon added, “It was a big struggle throughout development to give a sense of risk and tension. Because in the original you could run around a corner and be like, ‘aw f**k, there’s some guy standing there and now he’s going to shoot me.’ We wanted to make sure the game was tactical but that there was still a chance to gamble.”

I got some hands-on time with XCOM: Enemy Unknown during Gamescom 2012 and was impressed by its tactical elements, from cover to the way the enemies flank the player’s team.

In addition, the new game will deliver an updated take on the base development mechanics of the original.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown will be launched on the traditional PC, but also on the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 on October 9 in North America and October 12 in Europe.

Via: Firaxis XCOM: Enemy Unknown Is More Tactical than the Original