GrE's Preview: XCOM

GrE writes, "Fans of playing games with a mouse and keyboard have many fond memories of the X-COM franchise. So when rumors began circulating that the franchise was getting a reboot, the masses rejoiced. However, in a twist that is beyond the imagination of even the best fiction authors, it was announced that the game would be a first person shooter. As spoken best by the great Obi Wan Kenobi, “I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.” In order to attempt to put our minds at ease, 2K Games were kind enough to let us sit in on one of the first previews of XCOM at E3 2010. What we found may not shock you, but just know that the series is in the competent hands of 2K Marin."

[CrAppleton]

This game reminds me of Destroy all humans.. from the humans perspective

[Neco512]

wow. I didn't realize how close they really seem

[bgrundman]

Except it doesn't seem to be all that impressive from the preview.

[starven]

I'm holding out judgement on this game. Taking this game to an FPS just seems wrong on so many counts.

[DaRockSays]

yeah, it's a twist in the series for sure, but you can't go wrong with an FPS

[Neco512]

that's not really true. a change in the genre isn't going to mean an instantly great change

[Neco512]

Xcom has been gone a long time, it's good to see it back, but FPS? We'll wait and see.

[bgrundman]

I am against this coming to FPS... It seems like it should be an abomination of some sort.

[goku32359]

and here i thought i was the only one

[callahan09]

Did all of the people at E3 who are putting this at the top of their lists actually play it? Was there hands-on? I haven't seen any hands-on previews or videos... I'm interested to see some, because the trailer and screenshots and the concept of it being an FPS have got me everything BUT excited. It just looks horrible from the little I've seen so far. What has all these people from E3 so excited? If there's some in-depth previews and footage I haven't seen that someone can link me to, I would love to see it. As a big UFO Defense fan, I was excited for XCOM when it was announced, but so far from what I've seen, this looks like a complete disaster. What the hell has got people so excited?

[bgrundman]

Press were not allowed to have hands on with it. The game was demoed for them. That said, there was nothing truly to get excited about other than the potential for what 2K Marin can do with this proven franchise. Too bad that wasn't enough to garner anyone's full support.

[WiFi Pirate]

... Waiting to see how this one pans out.

[ExPresident]

They should have kept the same style/genre as XCom UFO defense with obvious graphics overhaul, and level setups. Would have been AMAZING. Long live traditional XCOM :)

[pippoppow]

So disappointed this new X-com game is going to be a FPS. Could only imagine how a modern take on the original X-com would be like.

[iceman2885]

At first, I was dismayed by the fact they decided to turn X-COM into a FPS, but after reading this article I'm a little comforted.

Basically I'm comforted that they are keeping strategic elements of X-COM in the game even though it's an FPS. Picking and choosing what missions to take on and collecting and researching alien tech was of paramount important in the original X-COM game. The fact that they are not ignoring this and incorporating it into this FPS game shows they aren't just gonna ignore us old X-COM fans.

I'm still curious how the game is gonna turn out, but I'm a lot more optimistic after reading this than I was before reading it.