Where Is The Management?

[bowles]

Most fans of Xcom and TFTD will probably feel the 'strategic' and 'management' aspects of the originals have been dumbed down considerably in Aftermath. I don't think this is entirely a bad thing, but I found a lot of my fun in the original xcom from these aspects.

 

Like not using grenades on an alien spaceship, because you wanted to maximise the value of your 'booty'.

 

Or selling alien corpses.

 

Or setting up engineering facilities, just to make weapons to SELL!

 

Aftermath feels much less hands-on, much less in depth. You can't choose which team will fly to an engagement, which plane will be dispatched to down which craft, you can't design your own bases, you can't research or develop more than one topic at once. Why has the game been dumbed down like this? At times it feels like the magaement is a dispraportionately minor aspect of the game - and that really this is just a tactical squad based game.

 

What i liked about Xcom was that it was two great games fused together. This is one fantastic game and one, frankly, rather shallow game.

 

Please don't get me wrong - i love this, and i think it is a fabulous addition to the XCOM series. And i don't agree with all the comments made (I like the fact you see a brief description of an alien before you start research, for example. Thats realistic. People don't walk around with their eyes clsoed and their brains unhooked until you order them to do research!). Please psot your views on the 'dumbed down' management, and how it can be improved here.

 

PS I also love the new 'theme' as I am a big fan of zombie movies, and this game feels like a computer version of 'day of the dead' at times. Great!

[OG_Gleep]

While I agree that that would have been great, this is not part of the xcom franchize.

[bowles]

Well, techincaly no, it's nto part of the franchise. but.... somehow..... it does seem strangely familair..... almsot as though the developers had the Xcom series in mind when they made these games?? And, with the name and everything.........

 

My point is that the programmers clearly wanted to create a game in the tradition of UFO:Enemy...., but they felt that the management aspects would detract form the overall appeal of the game. What i want to know is what the fans think - should there be mroe management?

 

I say 'yes'.

[quasarstrider]

Actually I thought the management was fine. You spent a lot of time in X-COM with those things and it didn't add up very much.

 

The maps could be a bit bigger and have height. You should be able to enter inside buildings, since the close support weapons are so much better than the rest. Do not forget to bring motion detectors back!

I think the assault rifles should be beefed up a bit. They are too weak except for the G11. Also, the collapsible weapons should have a deploy option instead of constantly having to unfold them before firing. Some of the heads also could use some work, more detail, not to mention the voices of those fake southerners. Malcom... yuck!

 

Oh and the psionic attacks are just way too strong in this game. They should add those depletable bars of energy like X-COM had for psionic defense instead of just rolling some dice. That way it would take some hits before being posessed.

[Sinai]

I'm pretty sure there are invisible mental health bars. Notice that after someone's been possessed the first time, they get possessed the second time on the first attempt damn near always.