My take on Aftershock

[Space Voyager]

I have only played the game for a couple of hours, but I have to post my opinion. It just has to get out.

 

Ok, Aftershock is one of the best games I have played. Ever. And I am only tackling the "outer layers" now. The ammount of tech you can research I read about on these forums is just wild. Actually I can say pretty confidently that this is the first "X-COM-like" game to have surpassed the games of old. Really surpassed.

 

I approached Aftershock in the same manner I approach all games; start playing, learn as you go.

 

After a few hours of playing I started another game. One must definitely read the manual before you start playing... I threw a huge ammount of resources away for building tracks I didn't need. By the time I learned how to manage the labs, knowledge buildings etc. etc. etc. etc. etc., it was too late. When I got in contact with the cultists, I was only able to produce 9mm ammo and had no power cells.

 

This was the first time I reloaded a mission (I hate reloading). I tried to do it with using stealth and was doing well - it is a GREAT feeling seeing your soldiers on the ground, getting near the enemy soldier and preparing to throw a grenade, while he knows nothing about it - untill the damn cultists swarmed from all over and a maniac with a KNIFE killed half my team with single blows. I realised I wasn't going to be able to deal with them and knew it was becouse I didn't read the freaking manual, so I did that and started another game. This time investing much more into research, also much more focused research. Looking forward to playing all over, really do.

 

 

I don't want to be accused of praising the game too much and thus not giving Afterlight any pointers about where to go, so I'll write about the things that bother me as well.

 

First, the maps are really repetetive. You always play the same map in the same province. What, the baddies always come to the same spot in the whole region?!

 

The terrain diversity is incredibly low. I understand that the localisation of buildings etc. in Aftermath wasn't cherished enough, but I don't need a different type of buildings for each region. I just want something other than buildings. Or factories. And there is very little of that.

 

Maps are too small. While I'm certain this is true, I have a feeling that much bigger maps would kill my computer... But still, maps should be about 50% bigger.

 

The range of detection and the range of the weapons is too short. Ok, let's say that this comes with small maps and that it would ruin the game if you were able to see all across the map, so I'm not trying to make a big issue out of this.

 

Grenades take too long to be thrown. The only possible target are immobile enemies with crappy weaponry, so that your soldier isn't killed before he can throw a grenade. Oh, and the example I wrote about before - throwing them hidden.

 

The game features no trade. I can't sell my 30 laser pistols! Can I at least throw them away?!

 

And some smaller annoyances, like CTDs and so forth. But you know, with all these things bothering me, Aftershock is one of the best games I have played. Ever. I'm not being sarcastic.

[sandstig]

Well, it surpasses the original in MANY areas... but I really miss having 3 avengers per base and tons of squadies in each of those ships

 

Considering I'm only using a Mobility Radeon 9000, I'm surprised the game itself runs pretty well on my system, although the load times sure are pretty long and I've got 1GB of RAM.

 

Agreed that more terrain diversity, larger maps and the ability to get rid of excess equipment would've been great... I really hope that's something they put into Afterlight... that and maybe the chance to load multiple squads on multiple craft and really build the 12x12 bases we had in UFO: Enemy Unknown

[ShadowBlade]

Sorry to barge in, but I feel the need to intervene in a conversation whenever one of the UFO games is referred to as a sequel to the X-COM series... THEY'RE NOT!

 

Well, now that we have clarified that, I bought UFO:AS sometime ago but haven't played it that much, probably because I'm currently overwhelmed by other games. Now, I liked the small portion I played, but it's not superior to the X-COM games. It's a very good game by itself, but there are just too many things missing to be considered even on par with X-COM.

[sandstig]

Actually, I don't think either of us called it a sequel. I believe we're both well aware of the fact that this game is not part of the X-COM license... doesn't mean there aren't some things from the old X-COM games we'd like to see done in other games (such as the sequel to this one) in the future though.

[Space Voyager]

Actually, I don't think either of us called it a sequel. I believe we're both well aware of the fact that this game is not part of the X-COM license... doesn't mean there aren't some things from the old X-COM games we'd like to see done in other games (such as the sequel to this one) in the future though.

True. And all strategy/tactical games involving UFO's and aliens will ineviotably be compared to X-COM.

[ShadowBlade]

Oh, sorry, got that impression from this sentence:

Well, it surpasses the original in MANY areas... but I really miss having 3 avengers per base and tons of squadies in each of those ships

[Cpl. Facehugger]

but there are just too many things missing to be considered even on par with X-COM.

 

I think the biggest thing missing from Aftershock compared to X-Com is the nostalgia. I can't quite put my finger on it, but even with Aftershock (which is damn fun,) I still find myself being drawn back to the original X-Com UFO defense. Me, I blame it on the alien death screams. There was just something appealing about listening to the Xenos as you popped a heavy plasma blast in their head. Aftershock needs loud death-screeches like that.

 

Either way, Aftershock was, in my humble Xenomorphic opinion, vastly superior to Aftermath. The voice acting seemed better, but the main change for the better, IMO, was prettier environments. Don't get me wrong, Aftermath was fun, but all that brown just sort of got to me. Aftershock, with bright, vivid greenery makes me smile, even if we're talking about only eight or so maps for any particular mission.

 

My only problems were mainly minor ones. I, for instance, didn't like the story. It started off great, and it had enough twists to keep me playing (even if I didn't enjoy cutting through Cultists with my warp rifles like a scythe to wheat, I probably would have kept on playing just to see the story.)

 

*Spoilers follow*

 

 

 

*Highlite to read*

 

 

My problem with the story was the end. Humanity being nearly killed off just so that a giant alien space-ameoba can reproduce? I don't know, it just sort of cheapened the whole ordeal of Aftermath for me. I mean, in AM we were led to believe that the Reticulans were trying to actually create a god-machine, or at least something equally grand. But it was all a ploy by an evil alien space ameoba.

 

'Course, even though I may not like it, I've still got to admit that it was a decent bit of storytelling. It's a twist that came all the way out of left field, and it even incorporated a bit of irony, with the rebel Reticulians being turned into vegetables in their attempt to create what they thought was a massive ubercomputer.

 

That being said, I actually have a question about the story. The Biomass was 'killed' by the female Myrmecol's psychic beacon, summoning the male Myrmecols, right? (It'd served its purpose, right?) If that's the case, then why were the Starghosts dropping death-pillars that were expressly noted to be hostile to all life except biomass life?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Spoilers end*

 

 

I loved how you could customize weapons though. My only complaint on that angle was the (comparative) lack of addons. Yeah, there were plenty, but I would have really liked some more scopes, more than just sniper only, thermal, and motion sensing. How about a psi-scope?

 

Also, the weapons were for the most part very neat. Warp rifles not only crushed the opposition, but they looked helluva cool, too. But, am I the only person who wanted some sort of warp heavy weapon, like the warp resonator in AM? (A long range warp weapon that would require heavy equipment training to use.) In fact, the heavy weapons in general seemed a little sparse. Two machine guns... alien weapons that deal less damage than human built versions, and a short-range bazooka type gun made for destroying terrain and hardened targets? I would have at least liked a minigun, like AM.

 

That being said, the game was pretty good overall.

[sandstig]

Oh, sorry, got that impression from this sentence:

 

 

By original, I meant the original game in the genre of strategy/tactical games involving aliens and UFOs, as Space Voyager so aptly put. Much like I would use the term original to describe Command and Conquer: Tiberian Dawn when referring to RTS games that deal with current and near-future equipment such as Act of War: Direct Action and Command and Conquer: Generals.

 

Cpl. Facehuger, do you ever find yourself missing the Simultaneous Action System (SAS) when playing UFO: Enemy Unknown (X-COM: UFO Defense)? After playing both Aftermath and Aftershock, I've sort of gotten used to it, and although it takes a little away from the time you spend with your troops, I've come to appreciate the amount of orders I can give. I find it a little ironic that we have SAS in a game where you can manage seven units at most, wheras we were managing up to 26 in Enemy Unknown/UFO Defense without its aid.

[Cpl. Facehugger]

Cpl. Facehuger, do you ever find yourself missing the Simultaneous Action System (SAS) when playing UFO: Enemy Unknown (X-COM: UFO Defense)? After playing both Aftermath and Aftershock, I've sort of gotten used to it, and although it takes a little away from the time you spend with your troops, I've come to appreciate the amount of orders I can give. I find it a little ironic that we have SAS in a game where you can manage seven units at most, wheras we were managing up to 26 in Enemy Unknown/UFO Defense without its aid.

 

Not really. For me, turn based was part of the atmosphere of X-Com. Moving your twenty six troops one by one, calling in a blaster bomb strike if you see an alien... ahh, good times. Being able to pause the action, while I can certainly understand the need for it kind of takes away the danger. I mean, in X-Com, you could do whatever you want during your turn, but when you clicked that end-turn button, you were genuinely concerned for your troops' lives. The music helped foster this opinion, giving you the impression that another alien was just around the corner.

 

AS, while superb, didn't have that tension for me. I don't know, perhaps it was because your troops will so rarely die if you know what you're doing...

[Space Voyager]

AS, while superb, didn't have that tension for me. I don't know, perhaps it was because your troops will so rarely die if you know what you're doing...

IMO SAS makes the fight really tactical. More so than X-COM's turns. I somehow wasn't able to digest it in Aftermath yet, but now I did and I find it - as you said as well - superb.

 

The "fear factor" in X-COM was exactly that you simply weren't able to react during the alien turn. You were able to simulate real-time to an extent by leaving snap shot time points available, but usually I was simply trembling when I saw an alien, knowing that there is nothing I can do. That made it a bit scarier, but overall I like SAS more.

[-WK-]

Now this may be only me, but here is what I did:

I disabled every form of pausing and most of the logging/notice in Tactical Options. This way I'd solely rely on my own senses of what I hear or see for when to pause the game. During some missions I've seriously jumped when an overlooked foe sneaked up behind me and started gnawing/shredding my units. Damn you Flatsters and Stars!

 

I recommend this for every hardcore player to try. :mad: