What do you think of UFO:ET so far?

[Liandriel]

Ive been a long time lurker here and check up on a few threads just about every day but did want to see how people felt about this game.

 

I remeber when I FIRST loaded up X-Com, and from the first mission I have been hooked. Ive played nearly every similar game on the market and none have captured that feel for me (though I think Apocalypse or Afterlight were the closest).

 

UFO:ET is extremely close to the original X-COM in set up and feel with a few interface changes and rules changes as well. Although the graphics are not cutting-edge, they are an improvement over X-COM.

 

I know a lot of people are complaining that it is another X-COM, and I feel I am too far into the game to argue against that. At first glance, it is very similar to X-COM or all of these types of games in the genre and I am hoping that it is something that matures into its own.

 

So far I am very happy with the game and look forward to delving into its story line even further.

[Knan]

"Complaining" that it is another x-com? That's what we on this board have wanted for years and years, dammit!

 

Won't have it for some time yet. Sigh.

[Hurlshot]

Hmm...I'm enjoying it so far, but there are a few Xcom type things I miss.

 

1. The kill counter. How many kills do my soldiers have? I have an experience bar, but I loved knowing confirmed kills. Also, the experience tracker seems a bit odd. Guys used to go up in rank just for being in a firefight, at least from rookie to private. Now I need at least two kills to lose the rookie title. Seems a bit odd, I'd say you are no longer a rookie after you cap your first alien.

 

2. I've only fought in a few tactical missions, but so far I haven't seen multi-level houses, and no aliens hiding in dark corners of them. Also, are there terror missions?

[Slaughter]

Right, after figuring out how to change the resolution I feel better. I've only plated two missions so far, so can't say much yet.

 

1: In the equipment screen I haven't found any way to see weapon stats. That is probably just me not knowing the interface yet however.

2: In tactical missions I tried saving action points for reaction/interrupt fire, but didn't get any. I hope that is just due to the soldiers lack of experience.

3: I haven't found the shortcut key for attack yet, so I have to click the weapon every time.

4: It's sort of difficult to see what square you're aiming at (that you're actually shooting at the alien).

5: Interface and graphics is nothing spectacular, but they are minor niggles and with the size of their team I can forgive it easily.

 

Anyway, most of these "problems" are most likely due to me not knowing my way around yet. Will get back with proper impressions later.

 

@Hurlshot: You think 2 kills is MUCH to advance from rookie? Regardless of how X-COM did it, I think 2 kills is the absolute minimum. Regardless of what you're job is, you're a rookie until you've done it quite a few times in my book

[flark]

Fear not Slaughter, the interrupt/reaction fire does work exactly like XCOM if you reserve enough action points and have good enough reactions.

 

I agree that it is occasionally quite difficult to be sure if you are actually aiming directly at the aliens or not.

 

I haven't noticed any weapon stats either, only the written information in the Ufopedia. To be honest that doesn't bother me at all. I hate being overwhelmed with trying to compare too many weapons statistics. In fighting unknown aliens I think weapon trial and error is all part of the fun.

 

 

Hurlshot, believe me there are muti-levelled houses with more than enough aliens lurking in dark corners.

 

I've played about six or seven missions now, all of which have been 'crash sites' and 'ground assaults'. I'm totally hooked, but I really hope there are more mission types to come such as 'terror sites', 'alien bases' 'base defence' etc.

[Liandriel]

Hmm...I'm enjoying it so far, but there are a few Xcom type things I miss.

 

1. The kill counter. How many kills do my soldiers have? I have an experience bar, but I loved knowing confirmed kills. Also, the experience tracker seems a bit odd. Guys used to go up in rank just for being in a firefight, at least from rookie to private. Now I need at least two kills to lose the rookie title. Seems a bit odd, I'd say you are no longer a rookie after you cap your first alien.

 

2. I've only fought in a few tactical missions, but so far I haven't seen multi-level houses, and no aliens hiding in dark corners of them. Also, are there terror missions?

 

1-I do miss the kill counter, just kind of nice to reflect back on. I love the experience part, its nice to be able to choose where to specialize. Im trying to figure out how other skills go up as I level though (the ones I do not put points in). That way I can find out if its worth it to max out AP or accuracy in the beginning, or will just shooting a lot do it. Any suggestions from anyone.

 

2-- Ive had multi-level buildings but not houses. Also have had nasties hiding in them, but they do not seem to use them a whole lot. Havent seen any terror missions, but have fought some nasties that look like they should be in some.

 

I've played about six or seven missions now, all of which have been 'crash sites' and 'ground assaults'. I'm totally hooked, but I really hope there are more mission types to come such as 'terror sites', 'alien bases' 'base defence' etc.

 

Actually, according to the manual you can assault bases and defend them. Each territory can only have one base (human or alien), so if you find their base you can fight over it. Also you have 10 days to retake your base should it fall or the aliens will have gutted it.

 

However, I havent had any experience with it yet.

 

ALSO = anyone able to build things like living quarters, labs, or workshops in your bases? My new base is just a hangar and radar station with some missile defenses. Granted I dont need a ton of bases, but I like to keep a backup base somewhere usually.

[Azrael Strife]

No terror missions that's a big bummer, that was, IMO, an essential part of X-Com's atmosphere.

[baby arm]

Someone at Quarter To 3 said he came across a terror mission.

[Azrael Strife]

Excellent, then there's still hope! *goes back to playing*

[Liandriel]

One thing I am really missing right now is ammo - I hate it that I use one round out of a magazine and the whole thing is wasted - especially when Im running low on the ammo in the first place . At least, for the most part, it has not been too much of an issue.

[flark]

ALSO = anyone able to build things like living quarters, labs, or workshops in your bases? My new base is just a hangar and radar station with some missile defenses. Granted I dont need a ton of bases, but I like to keep a backup base somewhere usually.

Yeah I have the same problem. How am I supposed to defend my base if I am not allowed to put soldiers in it?

 

Playing XCOM in the past I never used to bother with Missile Defence type buildings, I used to just make sure I had enough soldiers to defend should the aliens come knocking at my door.

 

If someone figures out how to build more buildings in the new bases please let me know.

[Slaughter]

Are the issues posted in #13 in this thread true? If there is no keyboard shortcut for attack... (amongst the many concerns posted there)

[flark]

Are the issues posted in #13 in this thread true? If there is no keyboard shortcut for attack... (amongst the many concerns posted there)

Everything he says is true, but I really don't agree with many of his whinging, nit-picking issues.

 

 

"first of all, the combat on the globe is prety poorly done, because it's not in a separate window but it happens in real time now. since you can't investigate ufo's, if they fall into the ocean, it means you'll gothrough a lot of pain to shoot them down on the land"

We already knew globe comabt was going to be in real-time, CC told us about this from the start. I see absolutely no problem with this. Would he be happier if UFO's floated on the sea? Often I am happy to down a UFO over sea as to limit the amount of Crash Site missions I have to complete.

 

 

"soldier managment is not that great either, now you can't hire new soldiers, but you receive one ever now and then; if you lose soldiers in combat, they don't actually die (??), but are instead moved into hospital for a freaking long time, which is relaly disturbing"

 

Yes I agree it would have been better if soldiers died just like in XCOM. This issue has already been covered enough times I don't need to relay how it works again.

 

 

"in tactical part, the combat animations are pretty slow and crappy as well (the shooting animation is the same for standing and crouching mode for god's sake! it just look stupid when the bullet flies out of thin air; grenades have no throwing animations either) "

 

Yes, when crouching the bullet seems to fire from the height in which it would have if you had been standing up and there is no grenade throwing animation - exactly like the original XCOM. Does this take any fun away from the game? Not for me it doesnt.

 

 

"i don't know why, but the camera always centers on the action (even if that "action" is a bullet being shot, or a moving character), which can be really annoying and disorienting"

 

I really like the fact the camera automatically centres in on the action. I like the fact it scrolls to follow the flight of my bullets. How can this possibly be annoying or disorientating? Would he prefer the bullets to fly off screen and leave him guessing if he hit his intended target or not?

 

 

"posibly the worst part is the interface, i'd really like to see more logical arrangment of buttons in menus"

 

I have absolutely no issues with the arrangement of buttons. They are all completely fine in my opinion.

 

 

"also in a game like this i definitely want to have hotkey interface, but in this game theres none; don't ask me why, but the need for it is so blatantly obvious that i'd gladly punch the designers in their head for not including this it's very annoying when you have to click 3 times just to shoot once; could use hotkeys for crouching, switching members, etc"

 

I never ever use hotkeys unless there is no other option. I don't recall there being hotkeys in the original XCOM, and if there was I never used them. 3 clicks to fire a shot is exactly like XCOM and perfectly reasonable. ONCE on the weapon you want to fire. ONCE where you want to fire. ONCE for type of shot (aim,snap auto etc). I really can't think of a quicker/easier way of doing it?

 

 

"the context menus are missing, for everything you need to look into ufopedia"

That's what the UFOpedia is for. If the information was listed somewhere else there would be little point in having the UFOpedia - which I might add is what all good XCOM fans are familiar with and love.

 

 

"the MAP is missing in the tactical part (???)"

 

True the map is missing, although playing an almost overhead birds-eye-view style of game does anyone ever really need to use the map anyway? I know I never bothered using it in the original XCOM and I certainly don't miss it now.

 

 

"the option to conserve AP for crouching or interrupt attack is missing"

 

Again true, but this was yet another option which I never ever bothered to use with the original XCOM and am not missing now.

[Liandriel]

MOST of the issues from the above poster are not really issues, more like annoyances at worst in my opinion. I played X-COM I dunno how many times and this experience is VERY similar in all the right ways.

 

I did notice that someone earlier mentioned it was confusing to know what you were shooting at. Granted X-COM used BIG targetting symbols that changed color and UFO-ET does not. Instead, if you target over a baddie, the center target part turns GOLD. Hope this helps someone down some aliens.

[Slaughter]

I really like the fact the camera automatically centres in on the action. I like the fact it scrolls to follow the flight of my bullets. How can this possibly be annoying or disorientating? Would he prefer the bullets to fly off screen and leave him guessing if he hit his intended target or not?

I put the camera where i want it when I fire. There should at the very least have been an option to choose.

 

I never ever use hotkeys unless there is no other option. I don't recall there being hotkeys in the original XCOM, and if there was I never used them. 3 clicks to fire a shot is exactly like XCOM and perfectly reasonable. ONCE on the weapon you want to fire. ONCE where you want to fire. ONCE for type of shot (aim,snap auto etc). I really can't think of a quicker/easier way of doing it?

Well, making a X-COM clone is superb, but it wouldn't ruin the game to improve and smarten up the interface. Shortcut keys for the attack modes would be a great addition, and it should be possible to change the shortcut keys.

 

That's what the UFOpedia is for. If the information was listed somewhere else there would be little point in having the UFOpedia - which I might add is what all good XCOM fans are familiar with and love.

Would be much smoother if context menus showed up with the weapon stats. If I read the UFOPedia, it's to read the details or story elements. Having to open it just to find out what stats a weapon has is anything but evolution.

 

True the map is missing, although playing an almost overhead birds-eye-view style of game does anyone ever really need to use the map anyway? I know I never bothered using it in the original XCOM and I certainly don't miss it now.

Seeing how your soldiers is stationed and so on is rather practical in my opinion. Would have been a nice addition.

 

None of these things are game breakers, but if you gather enough little "problems" like that it may break the game after all. I take your word it's fun, but some of these things should be included in a patch at the very least.

[baby arm]

Well, making a X-COM clone is superb, but it wouldn't ruin the game to improve and smarten up the interface. Shortcut keys for the attack modes would be a great addition, and it should be possible to change the shortcut keys.

Someone is working on a hotkey mod as we speak.

[Slaughter]

Excellent, thanks for the heads up!

[Praetoris]

My quick and dirty opinion on the game so far:

 

Being a X-Com veteran and enthusiast (as most of on this forum) I was delighted to hear about a new version coming out. However, as much as I'd like to, I'm finding it increasingly hard to actually like this game and to find any sort of appreciation for what the creators have done in the end. I'm not going to scream "rip-off" and rant about the horrendous visuals, there are plenty of threads and forums filled with that already anyway, but seriously - what's special and new about this game in the end? I'd say not much, borderline to nothing.

The more I play it the more I just feel like firing up the original UFO', simply because it's done -right- and without that subtle kind of wannabe-feel to it.

For comparison; I find Altar's "spiritual successor", the After-series, much more enjoyable and I can appreciate and like for what it is - something more unique. ET just feels broken and fails to entertain me in the long run.

 

I'll see if my opinion changes any after I've played some more though but, sadly, I doubt that it will..

[Knan]

Bah. Ran out of steam on the After* games after 2/3 of the first one. Those are more of real-time tactics games. Afterlight seems to have save/reload as a must, since you have a very limited pool of soldiers... which ruins the fun and tension a bit.

 

I prefer classic turn-based, destroyable terrain, mystery and terror. This seems to deliver what I want. *hoping for a boxed version in stores, soon*

[Space Voyager]

I prefer classic turn-based, destroyable terrain, mystery and terror. This seems to deliver what I want. *hoping for a boxed version in stores, soon*

I've stated more than once how much the limited pool of soldiers in AL bugs me, but it is the only problem I see in the game. That can't be enough to ruin the game. ET can be a great symbiose-game for AL though...

[Zarkov]

I really like Ufo:ET so far. It does a fair job of capturing the excitement I felt as a kid when playing UFO:EU.

 

The good:

The graphics are great. Not from a technological point of view but from a design aspect.

I really like the way the weapons, armor, aliens and vehicles are designed. It gives me a real 80

[Praetoris]

I don't enjoy coming out as a whining kind of guy , usually I'm even overenthusiastic about games like this, but this time I just can't hold it:

 

Zarkov:

"The graphics are great. Not from a technological point of view but from a design aspect."

- I don't agree at all on this - the graphics aren't good in my opinion ... no whater what kind of aspect. Take me for it - I design stuff for a living and some of these designs are downright laughable. They do succeed fairly well with most of the aliens though (although I haven't seen too many of them yet).

Sad thing is that I've seen a couple of the concepts from this game and I don't think the in-game assets give them justice.

"Music: I also really like the game music, it's fairly simple eerie stuff. But it does get the job done when your scouting by your self."

- To me it sounds like they copied the music from X-Com right off and added some similar tunes to it. Not much of an accomplishment in my opinion, but what worked back then still works now . Can I give credit to them for not breaking it?

"Gameplay: The destructible terrain, coupled with the different weapons systems works pretty good. It opens a lot of tactical situations."

- Nothing new from X-Com either. It's still nice though, although it looks quite awcard when a shot from your average rifle rips a solid wall apart in a second.

 

"The bad:

Sound: All sounds except music are fairly lackluster, laser and gun shots are fairly flat and aliens never really scream out as they fold into a pile.

 

Animations: Animations are quite limited, When ever something gets shot it just sort of falls over on the spot. Also walking, shooting and crouching animations are simplistic at best,

 

UI: No keyboard shortcuts, This is a big annoyance for me, every action requires multiple clicks to perform. Crouch= select soldier, hover 3 seconds on soldier, select crouch. Take a shot= select soldier, click weapont, click alien, select shot type."

- Agreed

 

"I'm giving the game an 8/10"

- I'd given it a 4/10, mainly because it's value as a tribute.

 

(god, I feel like a pessimist - just can't help it)

[Space Voyager]

Ok, I know a serious review shouldn't mention X-COM too much, but in a forum not much is forbidden. So could somebody plese "review" ET from with a comparison; what is better and what is worse from X-COM?

[Liandriel]

Ok, I know a serious review shouldn't mention X-COM too much, but in a forum not much is forbidden. So could somebody plese "review" ET from with a comparison; what is better and what is worse from X-COM?

 

ET vs XCOM

 

PROs

-=- I think ET's AI is stronger. Enemies in tactical combat seem to use the best attack for the situation and do not always just sit around in their ship watching the Galactic News (though that does occasionally happen). Aliens are not always in the most remote building with a book, either - they are looking for the humans looking for them.

-=- I like the real-time of strategic spaceship fights. Always was difficult to get reinforcments for those battleship size UFOs.

-=- Not having to buy ammo for your interceptors. You still pay for it, but dont have to have the ammo on hand.

-=- Unlimited storage. No storeroom per se, so you just have room.

-=- In the short time I have played, difficulty increases constatly. First fight the rookies can hit an alien one time for it to die, by May/June it may take multiple rifle shots.

-=- Experience counts. No free rank advances for showing up, and you can pick what skills to specialize in.

-=- Aliens can take over areas, but you can take them back. Reportedly you can "free" an area from alien occupation- though I cannot yet confirm that.

-=- One barracks is enough for the whole army.

-=- Cannot sell laser pistols (or anything for that matter) for a 900% profit - guess you really do have to protect the planet to make money.

 

SIMILARITIES

-=- Still have to down ships to do tactical combat. I havent seen any landed ones.

-=- Heard rumors of terror missions, but havent experienced one yet.

-=- Beginning storyline sounds familliar to XCOM, but only time will tell.

-=- Research & Development remains similar - kill mob, dissect him, learn to use plastics (or how to counter his psionics).

-=- Bases remain similar. Instead of the ubiquitous elevator, you have energy controls, but its basically the same.

-=- Just like in XCOM, a rifle can bring down the whole building if you work at it hard enough. Course I havent tried to see if the 2nd floor will fall down in ET yet - we all know that buildings in XCOM didnt ever actually fall to the ground.

 

CONS

-=- If you TORE UP a spaceship in XCOM, there would be dead aliens, doesnt seem to affect it in ET. Guess they all know where their space suits are.

-=- Graphics engine could be upgraded. Definately not 4-color or 8-bit graphics, but nowhere near Doom3 either. Mulitipositional changes should be shown (ie if someone is kneeling have dont have them go from standing to kneeling immediately).

-=- Same goes for sound. Music and sound effects could be better and original.

-=- Many people complain of lack of hotkeys, I dont see it as an issue personally.

-=- Inability to hire new staff. Soldiers will just show up.

-=- Inability to have workshops /labs in other bases. Reportedly advanced workshops can be built, but I havent gotten that far.

-=- Use one shot from a magazine, you throw out the other 19 rounds when you get to base. MAN I miss that from AL.

-=- No overhead map of the tactical arena. Doesnt affect me much really, but some complaints about it.

 

Hmmm... Thats all I can think of right off hand.

 

ET is VERY similar to XCOM, even moreso than the AS/AL series. However, I feel it is a good game in its own right. If you are a fan of the series, you should give it a shot.

[Space Voyager]

Hmmmmm... Some pros aren't pros for me... Like unlimited storage and barracks. Meh, I won't be able to pass on this game anyway.