And here I told myself I wasn't going to comment anymore, and yet here I am, thanks to you MetroidPrimeRib. [...]
And here I told myself I wasn't going to comment anymore, and yet here I am, thanks to you MetroidPrimeRib. Seemed right I guess.
So allow me to raise my hand and say "yeah...I guess I sorta cared about this game". But for different reasons than you might think.
For starters, I am an insanely devouted fan of the original X-Com. In fact, it's glorified expansion pack sequel Terror from the Deep never quite held me the way the first one did. I always felt I'd be better off playing the original.
And then years - decades! - went by as multiple C-list publishers taking the occassional crack at the precious formula X-Com invented. Most were well meaning and scored points there but ALL failed to measure up in any signifant way. They were all missing that "whatever" that made X-Com a permenant fixture on every PC I've ever owned since it's release.
And then this game gets announced. And I and every single X-Com fan I either know or can imagine stared it down with murderous contempt. But it kind of stared back. It was as if some part of it was saying "yeah, OK, so the publisher is strong-arming us into making us "relevant" to today's audience and you know that means First Person Shooter and I don't like it any more than you but check this out - we're at least trying to stay somewhat true to our roots". And in this age of thoughtless commercial garbage being chucked at us in all directions, the thought of an FPS with strategic gameplay even if only somewhat inspired by X-Com didn't sound awful. You see, I just sort of assumed that some big dog publisher was eventually going to scoop up the rights and fuck the whole thing up. Syndicate, anyone? Christ.
But then something wonderous - and miraculous - happened. A PROPER remake was announced. And the developing studio? Firaxis. Fucking Firaxis. Fucking Firaxis who - in my opinion - haven't ever really dropped the ball on anything Fucking Firaix who, well, they don't need an introduction them, do they? I honestly couldn't think of a single other modern day A-list developer who would be better handling the property. And there was much rejoicing.
So much rejoicing, in fact, that a certain "man, we were just getting to know you" FPS reboot thingy decided it might be best just to slip out the back unnoticed and lay low until this whole thing has blown over. I for one am at least curious to see if and when it shows it's face again. So in that sense I care.
But honestly I can't think of a single other case where something like this has happened in videogame history. It's kind of amazing, especially if you are a fan of the original. It's as if Michael Bay announced the first Transformers movie, only to be viciously trumped by the announcement of ANOTHER Transformers movie done by Joss Whedon (seems right these days), who turns out to be a MASSIVE fan of the original Transformers franchise (and thinking a mix of the early comics/cartoon's storyline, no less).
Incredible. It jumped from "well, I guess these guys might not fuck it up as bad as some others surely would" to "if anyone has the capacity to get this right - and I mean spot-on - it's these guys!" in a relatively tight timeframe. Seriously - when does that ever happen?
But the big question still remains, and this is the only question there is for a massive X-Com fan like myself:
While playing the new PROPER release - all things considered - will I still feel I'd be better off playing the original? Mostly I hope not. Mostly.
I really hope they don't make it too easy. The original on 'Beginner' was pleasingly hard and it would be [...]
I really hope they don't make it too easy. The original on 'Beginner' was pleasingly hard and it would be a shame if they streamlined all the fun out of the learning curve.
