Should X-COM Fans Be Mad?

XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Weirdly enough, while both XCOM and this title had been in development for the same period of time, 2K decided not to unveil Enemy Unknown until just over a month ago. I have no doubt that Firaxis needed more time to build the actual game before they could show it off, but for many, it appeared to be a mea culpa by 2K for the jarring XCOM. Billed as a re-imagining of UFO Defense, complete with Skyrangers and Sectoids, it’s also being tangentially-related to XCOM, but their hesitance to marry the two games highlights 2K’s bet to keep the two separate in case one fails to catch on. But is it a hero?

Enemy Unknown streamlines many of the clunky aspects of UFO Defense’s combat system with what appears to be an emphasis on tighter squads, less number crunching (no time units, for one), and more fluid firefights. But while they may make the fighting simpler, will it feel as large? There are no longer any randomized maps as each one was designed and will be introduced in random order. This means that the game will be capped for length from not only the smaller conflicts but the smaller number of them. There hasn’t been much unveiled about its Geoscape aspects, but that also appears to be a tapered experience compared to the nearly infinite sprawl of UFO Defense.

I hate the art direction. Hate it. I even hate the logo. Firaxis claims that they wanted to have ‘action heroes’ wander around these battlescapes, but what they’ve done is created some genericized version of X-COM’s assets that feel dulled by a decade of Halo and Mass Effect’s science fiction. Everything is dark and shrouded with little signs of the contrasting daylight that made UFO Defense’s broad sunlight encounters almost as terrifying as the night ones. It seems odd that after twenty years, Firaxis is spending more money and putting more people to task to make a smaller game than UFO Defense. The aliens unveiled don’t seem nearly as terrifying as their original versions and maybe that was UFO Defense’s comic styling or just their designs, I don’t know, but Enemy Unknown’s new imp-ish Sectoids seem more souvenir shop than terror.

But…

Look, I love X-COM too much. I’m going to be in a store in Fall 2012 to acquire Enemy Unknown as soon as possible and XCOM in 2013 the same. I’m sure I can enjoy both of these game for what they are, but it’s what they’re trying to be that will be the most disappointing. I really want to love both of these games because I want X-COM to thrive for new gamers everywhere, but I’m also excited at the opportunity to see both in June.

I’ll let you know how it goes.