Since the announcement of XCOM 2, IGN has been pushing article on 2K and Firaxis’ XCOM sequel with regularity. There’s a lot of information on the title available, painting a fairly good picture of how it differs from the first and what it recaptures from the 1994 classic.
First of all, there’s general preview of the game that explains the basics, including the new premise, which pits the XCOM organization as a resistance against the aliens, now in control of the earth. Apparently, this change will also alter the structure of your run-of-the-mill missions:
The bigger change is that the structure of a typical XCOM 2 mission will be dramatically different from what we’ve seen before. For comparison, let’s recap the typical Enemy Unknown encounter: we arrive on the scene of an alien incursion and, upon spotting something that didn’t belong, immediately engage in firefights until one side or the other is dead. It’s a guns-blazing, all-or-nothing kind of fight. If you’ve played for a few dozen hours, you’ll probably have a good idea of what the map you’re fighting on looks like and where the enemies will be, which eventually makes it routine.
Solomon wants XCOM 2 to turn these concepts on their heads in several ways. (In XCOM 2, the idea is that you have the jump on the aliens. They’re already there, and they’re not hiding.) That means we’ll have the element of surprise: our small squads (still in the four to six range) will arrive unseen in enemy-controlled territory, at which point we’ll be able to scout out the alien positions and move our troops around the battlefield for as long as we’re able to stay out of hostile units’ detection radius and behind cover. Thanks to a new concealment system and waypoints that’ll allow you to precisely guide your troops’ movement within their two-move radius, setting up the battle will be a big part of what Firaxis intends XCOM 2 to be about. (You have a lot of control over when the engagement starts,) Solomon explained. (Of course, a lot of times you’ll blunder or do something wrong, like come around the corner and get revealed. We give the player the ability to jump the enemy first, and that feels very resistance-y, very guerilla tactics.)
As we see in the trailer, XCOM sometimes gets to take the first shot and that’s a huge deal. Except in certain situations (Stealth Suits and Battle Scanners), the aliens have up until now always seen us the moment we see them and when they do, they (scamper) to cover and deny us the chance at a clean shot. In fact, the scamper is probably the most common complaint I’ve seen from other XCOM players, some of whom see it as an unfair advantage for the aliens. Those people will be very happy to hear that they’ll have the opportunity to cancel out that advantage in XCOM 2. (The first enemy that you get to jump on, obviously they don’t get to scamper anywhere,) said Solomon. That’s not all: (Enemies will get surprised, so that prevents them some of them, based on some factors from fully scampering into cover.) Between that and hinting at further, yet-to-be-disclosed ways to counteract the scamper, Solomon makes it sound like if we play our cards right, setting up an ambush correctly could turn what would’ve been a losing fight into shooting fish in a barrel. Don’t expect to be backstabbing aliens or picking them off one at a time like Batman stealth is useful for getting into position to ambush the enemy, but does not replace combat.
There’s also an interview with the developers, who explain why they ultimately decided to focus entirely on the PC version this time around, and how that will benefit the game:
(When we have our meetings, when we talk about stuff, we only talk about PC,) said Solomon. (We talk about ‘˜What is the experience like on PC? What does the mouse feel like in this experience?’) The most obvious change resulting from those conversations is how the team is optimizing the interface to be mouse-and-keyboard friendly, moving UI elements and grouping them logically so that buttons we’re likely to press one after the other aren’t placed on opposite sides of the screen. (It will certainly be recognizable, but there isn’t one UI widget that’s the same,) said Solomon. We’ll also see more tactical information (such as detailed explanations of why your chance to hit is increased or decreased) displayed on the tactical interface, since Firaxis can now count on players sitting closer to their PC monitors and being able to read smaller text. And though Firaxis plans to add it in the future, the current plan is to launch without gamepad support.
As one might expect, procedurally generated maps are the focus of another article. In it, lead producer Garth DeAngelis and art director Greg Foertsch explain why they could implement them this time around but not with the first game, and how he’s hoping they’ll affect gameplay:
Here’s how the metaphor works: imagine a map in XCOM 2 as a quilt, with holes where a pre-constructed modular building will be placed those are the parcels. The holes are big, small, and medium-sized, with a range of unique buildings that could fit into each size. These buildings, and the holes in which they’re socketed, are the parcels of the system.
Though modular in nature, buildings in XCOM 2 aren’t procedurally generated, but crafted set pieces, and almost entirely destructible including their ceilings and floors. (They’re actually high-cost to make,) said Foertsch. (There are a lot of steps that go with them. Then there’s the visibility stuff. And there’s a lot of things to iron out when you destruct these things.)
However, with the addition of mod support in XCOM 2 — which we’ll be diving into next week — and the modular nature of building design and creation, there’s no telling how many different variations and original buildings you’ll soon be blowing holes through. But in the meantime, Firaxis is planning plenty of variety in each map layout.
(You might get a gas station next to a park, next to a parking lot in one playthrough, and that’s your experience,) DeAngelis said. (Even though the ‘˜quilt’ is the same, all of these elements are procedural, mini set piece bases.)
The plot portion of that system comes into play in the space between our buildings. At the risk of mixing our metaphors, think of the plots as the connective tissue that links one parcel to the next. The plots could be a street, or a park area, or train tracks, or a river bed, or an empty tract of land, et cetera. When you begin a mission, the map reaches into a bank of options and fills it up.
Finally, creative director Jake Solomon and lead producer Garth DeAngelis were also available to comment the trailer together with IGN’s Dan Stapleton. The video includes a lot of insight into the ways the trailer is meant to showcase the game’s atmosphere and mechanics.
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