XCOM: Enemy Unknown to appeal to action, RPG and RTS gamers

By Robert Purchese Published 24 January, 2012

"Certain stars were aligning," says Firaxis boss Meier.

Firaxis wants XCOM: Enemy Unknown to appeal further than to fans of real-time strategy games.

"In our dreams," Firaxis director of creative development Sid Meier told GameInformer, "we pull in strategy game players, we pull in action players, we pull in RPG players.

"There are cool elements of all those gaming styles in XCOM, and they're mixed together in an interesting brew.

"Our goal would be to really appeal to all those players, and to introduce them maybe to some gaming that they haven't played before. An action gamer might play the game for the action part and [think], 'Well strategy is pretty fun too.'

"It's not trying to conform to a genre, but trying to find ways to bring this topic to life in the most fun and exciting way possible."

XCOM: Enemy Unknown is the strategical and more faithful recreation of Julian Gollop's 1993 cult hit. Developer 2K Marin is working on an FPS version of XCOM named, simply, XCOM.

Sid Meier said his studio Firaxis, maker of the Civilization series of games, was a natural fit for the strategical rebirth of XCOM.

"We have people here that love the game, honour the game, revere the game - understand what made it great in the first place."

Sid Meier, director of creative development, Firaxis

"It comes down to, this is a game we wanted to make. We loved the original iteration of it, and we thought we could do a lot with this game," said Meier.

"That's essential to us: that we get excited about the project from day one. This is something that feels very cool to us. And when we saw what we could add to the original XCOM in terms of graphics and all the things that are available today that weren't available - it seemed like a natural game to us.

"XCOM was an incredible game to start with," he went on. "The original was on every top 10 list and is a fantastic game. The fact that that property was available was amazing. That combined with the fact that we have people here that love the game, honour the game, revere the game - understand what made it great in the first place. That made it a natural product for us to do.

"The amount of time that had gone by, the state of the market, the acceptance of strategy even in the console world. Certain stars were aligning that allowed this game to make sense for us."

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (37) Latest comment 4 months ago

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  • Timotei #1 4 months ago

    Please don't add things for the sake of it. The original had the perfect blend of strategy, management, research and role-playing. Just make it look nicer.

  • StolenGlory #2 4 months ago

    @Timotei

    I fear that the compulsion to fuck with the status quo may just prove too irresistable sadly.

  • Timotei #3 4 months ago

    I know.

    :(

  • Shikasama #4 4 months ago

    I hope there's lots of Day 1 DLC and pre-order bonuses. Even better if I have to put in a serial key or get less content.

    That's how I want to buy my games!

  • goldbug #5 4 months ago

    This is far more exciting to me than the FPS version, which looks cool but kind of misses the point.

  • antelopetube #6 4 months ago

    "Firaxis wants XCOM: Enemy Unknown to appeal further than to fans of real-time strategy games."

    Errr, does someone want to tell them that UFO: Enemy Unknown was a *TURN-BASED* strategy game. If this is going real-time (Like X-Com Apocalypse), absolutely no sale from me. And no, the geoscape sections don't count as "real-time" for me, as there wasn't a great deal that really took place in real-time (only the UFO combat or travelling to locations/UFOs).

  • Cappy #7 4 months ago

    No mention of appealing to turnbased 'fans'. :-(

    If there are any twitch elements I'm not buying, simple as that. Introducing twitch elements always leads to button mashing playing a part because of time pressure.

  • SilverInfinity #8 4 months ago

    The original is one of my favourite games of all time, I'm hoping that they keep what was great about the original intact ... if not I suppose I can always fall back on Xenonauts as that is also looking promising.

    Think I'll pass on the FPS though ...

  • riz23 #9 4 months ago

    I think it's EG who have got the wrong end of the RTS/TBS stick not Firaxis. Firaxis' Raison d'être is the TBS after all.
    EDIT: Screenshot reminds me of the ol' Blue Byte game 'Incubation'.
    Edited by riz23 at 24/01/12 @ 11:10

  • Po1ymorph #10 4 months ago

    There seems to be a fair few conclusions being jump too regarding this game.

  • sabrecheeky #11 4 months ago

    I'd love to be a FPS/Action game fan, just to see what it feels like to have what seems like the whole game industry bend over backwards to satisfy me every whim.

  • arcam #12 4 months ago

    @riz23

    True. If you read the story, Sid Meier doesn't actually mention real-time strategy, that seems to be something EG have added in.

  • figgis #13 4 months ago

    They've already said the game will be turn based in combat and real time in Geoscape mode. Exactly as the original.

  • patch #14 4 months ago

    @figgis This might help clear it up. As Figgis said, turn based for combat, RTS is confined to the global view.
    Edited by patch at 24/01/12 @ 13:52

  • Raiten #15 4 months ago

    If there's one thing i've learned through out the start of the current console generation. It is that when developers make games to appeal to everyone, or just to slightly larger crowd, it destroys the game.
    It ends up with simplifying the game, removing complex mechanics that work perfect with the game, making it something that anyone can just pick up and assumedly enjoy.. while it may sound all nice and stuff, regarding games it has proven not to be a good idea. Just please let this not hapen with this game.

    I mean, World of Warcraft is one of the games that displays this type of proggress the best, blizzard wanted everything to be available to everyone, everyone to enjoy it.. they've pretty much destroyed everything that anyone enjoyed about the game.
    You just can not appeal to everyone, people have way too different tastes to ever create something that everyone will like. Just seriously, stick with what works, improve it refine it what ever, but do not try to appeal to everyone.

  • ShiftyGeezer #16 4 months ago

    "There are cool elements of all those gaming styles in XCOM, and they're mixed together in an interesting brew.
    What action elements are there in UFO?! I'm currently replaying, and the game is almost perfectly balanced. The different weapons all have their roles (although nothing beats explosive-round autocannons early on to overcome rookies' poor aiming ;)). Only a couple of control issues have bothered me so far (click to move diagonally through a narrow gap and the character runs all round a long route). It's an amazing achievement of design.

    Just release a properly updated TBS for every gamer to have a chance to experience, and learn there's more to games than just action!

  • johnson81 #17 4 months ago

    Typical PR Bullshit.

  • PlugMonkey #18 4 months ago

    Is there anything that Firaxis can say that won't be met with much wailing and gnashing of teeth?

    Just because they mentioned action game players? In between strategy and RPG players?

    You want to know something? I WAS an action game player!

    That is, until UFO came along. That was the first strategy game to really draw me in. The tension and excitement of the battles and the setting, and the constant threat of sudden and rather violent death for all of my troops, drew me in where other, drier strategy games had failed. UFO was a pretty brutal and visceral experience. I still have 'nam style Chrysalid flashbacks.

    So what exactly about that statement indicates the automatic, instant, irrevocable failure of this project? That they're hoping it will do the same thing as the original?

    I almost wish they weren't bothering, just so I didn't have to sift through the comments threads of misery that every mention of the game brings.

    Almost.

    As it happens, I'm actually just deliriously excited instead.

    I know. Being excited isn't cool. Being miserable is cool.

    I'm loving being painfully uncool.
    Edited by PlugMonkey at 24/01/12 @ 12:22

  • Casserole #19 4 months ago

    Anyone else I'd be sceptical. But Sid Meier and Firaxis - I BELIEVE

  • Arsecake_Baker #20 4 months ago

    "In our dreams," Firaxis director of creative development Sid Meier told GameInformer, "we pull in strategy game players, we pull in action players, we pull in RPG players."

    Exactly! In your dreams, please for the love of all things gaming do not mess with this fucking title!

  • Lancezh #21 4 months ago

    Every Fanboy that just accepts everything Firaxis feeds us is ignoring that NOW is the only time we can change the course of the game if they read up on fans criticism (which they do). Those fanboys that try to shut down the skeptics are ignoring two things:

    1. The fanboys wont reimburse me when the game turns out unsatisfying.

    2. UFO:Enemy Unknown is my all time favourite game since 1993, and i've played alot of similar games that tried to capture the feeling, i dont see a reason why firaxis shouldnt fuck it up if they derive to much from the original premise i'm sorry. And as i see it they are, no time units, streamlining here and there... I've heard that story sometime... Dragon Age 2, Civ 5 (yeah that was firaxis), and they both didnt deliver. Oh and the fanboys back then that turned down all skeptics and true fans didnt turn up afterwards to say that they indeed were wrong.

    Its always the same story and i hope its going to be different but from what i've learned in my many gaming years its not easy to copy a good franchise, and its even harder if you try to enhance it in many ways. Theres always something that can and will go wrong.

    So if you flame me, allow me to get back to you when this in fact happens.

    Btw, i hope that i'm very wrong, but i just doubt it.

    I DONT doubt they have good intentions but there are no saints wether in real life nor in the gaming Industry. Ask anyone thats above 25 about how Peter Molyneux was celebrated as the gaming god back then and how he's perceived nowadays as Peter Dreamyneux.
    Edited by Lancezh at 24/01/12 @ 13:32

  • makariel #22 4 months ago

    Well, there is still Xenonauts...

  • SweetMrGibs #23 4 months ago

    @Lancezh

    UFO: Enemy Unknown and Terror From the Deep are my two favorite games of all time. But that doesn't mean I want them remade, with no changes to the gameplay, just updated graphics. I'm interested to see what Fireaxis bring to the series. Also, if you end up disliking the end product when it's released, it doesn't mean you were 'right'. Likewise, I'm not 'right' if I *do* enjoy the end product.

    Also, I'm over 25, and I think Peter Molyneux is awesome (never thought he was a god though, just awesome).

  • PlugMonkey #24 4 months ago

    @Lancezh

    1. Nobody is making you buy it.

    2. I don't see a reason why firaxis should screw it up either. Their track record in TBS is pretty good...

    Worst case scenario: they 'fail' and it's 'only' the best squad based TBS for a decade. I can live with that.

    BTW, design by forum committee is about the worst possible idea. That's how you end up with the bloated stodgyness of the fan service projects that have attempted to tackle this game in the past.

    I'm quite sure the guys at Firaxis believe strongly in what they are doing, and equally sure they won't be changing their minds based on any amount of internet wailing.

    The reason I think this is because the internet is always wailing. It's the default state.

    If they start listening to the forums, they'll end up making a clone with updated graphics, and that would bomb spectacularly.

    Incidentally, which group count as the 'fanboys' in this debate anyway? The people who have a well reasoned confidence in Firaxis' track record?

    Or the people who put UFO in a pedestal and arbitrarily dismiss anything that tries to bring it up to date?

  • uninspiredcup #25 4 months ago

    Will be consolized.

  • jeeweej #26 4 months ago

    First off, i'm REALLY looking forward to this game, let that be clear.

    Now, to be a bit more sceptical:
    I'm not sure if this game will really be comparable to the original UFO. The removal of timeunits in favour of 1 move and 1 action (or 2 move actions) sounds like you don't really have to think about what you're going to do with a unit anymore. Also, the removal of inventory management (no ammo etc) really sounds like streamlining ala Dragon Age 2 (although no mention of a "awesome button" here, so that's good i guess!). Sure, times change i guess and, no, the original wasn't the most user friendly game...but still...

    And the thing i'm most worried about is the simplified base management as it looks like we'll only get one base. For me this was one of the most fun things in the original! (besides shooting stuff ofcourse) Building bases in such a way that it could be defended by just a handful of troops with bottlenecks and such. Have lots of awesome memories from base defence missions! I'd like to get more of those!

    Now, they may say that they're making things more accessable for console gamers, but i think that bullsh*t, as with a good UI you can do things just as well on a console as on a PC. So that's a non-argument. Lots of people actually do like to use that grey-ish, jelly-like thing called a brain and i hope Firaxis realises that.


    However, as i haven't read the paper version of Gameinformer (not for sale where i live) all i have to go on is some screenshots, the info on the gameinformer site (and sites like EG) and the 2K forums... So i guess that a lot can change between now and release! So like i said at the beginning, so i'm still really looking forward to this game!

    And like someone else said, if this isn't the X-COM (as far as i'm concerned, thats still the proper way to write it.. ;)) fix i need (but just "some random" TBS game like Valkyria Chronicles), i'll still have xenonauts! (and if that bombs i'll still have the original UFO... :p)

  • RandomTerrain #27 4 months ago

    Just to clarify EG, this is regarded as a turn-based game, not an RTS. Big difference.
    Looking forward to seeing some trailers for this, still sounds very promising.

  • Vyggo #28 4 months ago

    Phew, was scared they were turning it into an RTS. Sloppy reporting mr Purchese.

  • DodgyPast #29 4 months ago

    <quote>uninspiredcup wrote:
    Will be consolized.</quote>

    Nothing wrong with that. I played it on the CD32.

    After civ v was such an improvement on 4 I'm pretty optimistic about this.

  • PlugMonkey #30 4 months ago

    @jeeweej

    Where have they said they are making things more accessible for console gamers?

    I've seen that they're making things more accessible, but not where they've said this is being done specifically to appease the sloping browed neanderthals we know all console gamers surely are!

    Is more accessible really that bad? I mean, remember the original? It didn't present the player with so much of a learning curve as sheer vertical cliff face.

    Now, you could argue that this was one of its charms (it was), but if this game is going to succeed, it needs to appeal to more than just the die-hard fans of the original.

    Here's an interesting experiment, and one I've actually tried: find someone who has never played the original - preferably someone under the age of 25 - sit them down in front of it and watch how they get on.

    It's not pretty.

    It's not 1993. Games just don't work like that any more. Dark Souls gets criticised for being inaccessible, and that has everything you need to do for the first hour written on the damn floor.

    I hope they don't over do it. I can barely play the new Zelda for it refusing to let go of my damn hand. But Firaxis have managed to combine accessibility with depth many, many times before.

  • nimzy #31 4 months ago

    The stars are right, eh?

    I for one welcome our new Elder God overlords.

  • Raiten #32 4 months ago

    heh, you got a good point plugmonkey.. and while funny, it's sad also.
    Current generation of gamers find games like dark souls inaccessible, because they've grown to be held troughout the game by their hands, give them a game that gives you the tools, but no pesky guide to tell you every second of your play what to do, and you end up in a situation where you're staring at a person who just vacated their mind. Yes i'm aware that's overly harsh, but it's not far from the truth either.

    Honestly tho, we need developers like those behind games like dark souls, creating games without compromises, not sacrificing the gameplay/mechanics what ever in hopes of garnering more mass market appeal etc etc. and you know what? that "old fashioned" way of making games IS better, the games are better like that.

  • jeeweej #33 4 months ago

    @PlugMonkey I believe it was said in one of those video interviews, or at least I (and I think lot of people with me) interpreted it that way.

    Btw, nowhere did I want to discredit console gamers (as I am one of them), but you must admit that this has been the excuse for a lot of "streamlining" in games the last few years. Also, Sid Meier saying they want to please like...ALL types of gamers (FPS, RPG etc.) did get me a bit worried, but i'm sure Firaxis has it under control.

    But its like you say, devs do tend do overdo the accessibility thing these days and I just hope/pray Firaxis doesn't, as I'm a bit fed up with these utra-linear "please don't think, we'll do it for you" games where you just have to press X a few times to finish it.

    And yes, I do remember the steep learning curve of the original but I can't remember me (or any of my friends for that matter) having any real problems with the basics (intercept UFO, kill aliens, BUY MORE GUNZZZZZ!!! repeat)... Getting to Cydonia was another matter though.. ;) But yeah, different generation..

    I feel old now. :(

    [edit]
    @Raiten totally agree with you!
    [/edit]
    Edited by jeeweej at 24/01/12 @ 19:16

  • PlugMonkey #34 4 months ago

    @Raiten

    I think there is a happy middle ground to be found. I think, for most people, Dark Souls found it.

    It's impossible for me to look at games like UFO with fresh eyes now, but if you see someone else doing it...honestly, I've no idea how any of us ever got going with it. We didn't even have any internet! Monkey Island is another one. I mean how, HOW I SAY, are you supposed to work out how to get past that damn spitting competition?!

    The answer, if I recall, is through a lot of trial and error, and frankly, tedium and grind. Do I really want my games to still be like that? Now that I've got considerably less time, and considerably more money, I'm not sure I would persevere with UFO the way I did 18 years ago. I'm not sure I'd have persevered with it the way I did if we'd had more than 4 TV channels! It's too easy for me to say it's perfect the way it is; I have the benefit of having put in all the grind ahead of time.

    Games like SpaceChem, and Minecraft, show that just because you make something accessible, it doesn't mean you can't make them enormously complex and deep.

    Accessibility doesn't mean stop building tall towers, it means put the first step within reach of the ground.

  • PlugMonkey #35 4 months ago

    @jeeweej

    Completing a mission without everyone dying in the first few turns took a bit of getting the hang of too, if I remember.

    I think we're coming from a very similar place. I agree with everything you say about the "press X to win" trend, although I think that is a trend that is now creating a growing counter trend. They said in the first press release that you will, very definitely, be able to lose the game.

    At the moment, I think the world's premier TBS developer being handed the world's premier TBS license is sufficient reason for justifiable optimism, regardless of what top level whiffle Sid Meier comes out with. I don't think he'll actually be doing the designing.

    And I was only teasing about the console gamers, really, but I don't see the issue with this either. There's no point making this a "consolified" take on the license. They're already doing that. They announced that one first. This game is in direct response to the overwhelming demand for there to be another game that isn't that one.

    Firaxis are doing a TBS game based on UFO: Enemy Unknown.

    Reasons to be cheerful: One, two, three.
    Edited by PlugMonkey at 24/01/12 @ 19:29

  • Raiten #36 4 months ago

    Game that requires trial and error aproach might not be tedius, depending on how the game is built, if it is rewarding or not.
    Such a game might not be for all, especialy to those who lack the time, but shouldn't such games be made? they should, ofcourse you can screw up while making such a game, making the whole process of playing through it tedius and not fun, but the opposite is true also when succeeding and you know what? we just descriped what dark souls is in essence, a game about trial and error.. done well.

    Weirdly enough, i think if minecraft had appeared back in the 90's, it would've came in a box including a manual which would've contained the craftable objects.

    ps. if you played and liked dark souls, you obviously want your games to be like that still ;)

  • sir_tripod #37 4 months ago

    Yep, fair enough, Firaxis could do a good job on this given how good Civ 5 is (and 4 was.) However, if the AI is anything like what's in Civ then the new XCOM game will be unplayable. The first couple of difficulty levels will see the aliens pretty much "come in peace" and give it up. As soon as you go past level 3 then the aliens will get super-giganto-death-laser-rifles with which they can shoot a leg off of a gnat from 500 yards and they'll know your every move even when in the fog of war.