New XCOM trailer

[Gimli]

2K Games has just released a new trailer for XCOM as part of its E3 2011 program. The trailer shows off some new enemies and other material.

 

Here's a few more details! from the 2K Games community manager:

 

I'll also be posting and streaming live during E3 - check https://www.2kgames.com/blog for all the details now and throughout the show and follow us on https://www.twitter.com/xcom and https://www.facebook.com/xcom to make sure you get all the new updates as they happen!

 

The game is slated for release on March 6, 2012.

[Gimli]

Sorry, I can't get embedding to work.

[Lysear]

Pretty much XCom: Bioshock think ill still pass lol

[The Veteran]

Oh wow, they've actually included an aspect of the original games after all this time. Using the aliens own weapons to beat them...

 

Still I think this discussion has gone far enough and I think it's time to make an official statement (on behalf of me lol)

I hereby decree that 2K's 2012 release titled 'XCOM' is not only noncanonical within the X-Com franchise of games but it is completely unrelated in every way. The XCOM unit portrayed is not in any way affiliated with the X-Com unit in the original franchise and there is not a single link between any of the histories in either case. This is therefore a completely seperate timeline where there is no X-Com, no Ethereal race and the Earth was NOT seeded by a higher form of alien intelligence. From this point forth there shall be no comparisons either direct or indirect between XCOM and the X-Com franchise. The two are completely seperate entities to such a deep extent that even the name of the organisation is different.

 

You've been told The hyphen is important and without that this game is nothing. So I'd urge people to stop saying 'it's not X-Com' because we always knew it wasn't. Now all we can do is try to make sure everyone else playing it knows, so consider that our mission from this point forth!

 

Additionally, buying, owning, playing and enjoying this game is completely without penalty. As a game completely unrelated to the X-Com universe, playing this new title is no different than playing any other new game on the market. Try it, love it, hate it, whatever you want, just don't compare it...

[Azrael Strife]

I think it looks nice and could be a really good re-imagining of the X-Com universe, hyphen or not The trailer is exciting, I can't wait for release

[The Veteran]

Wow anyone hear someone not being funny? lol

[lollersis]

While I understand that people is pissed at this game, please! Remember, it

[Jman4117]

I find it hilarious that there are way more dislikes than likes on the youtube vid

[The Veteran]

While I understand that people is pissed at this game, please! Remember, it

[Thorondor]

There's certainly no doubt this is a trailer for a first-person shooter.

 

Though there's some hand signaling going on, supposedly for directing the team, the 'gameplay' (cinematics?) on display doesn't stray from FPS fare. It's a short showing as trailers usually are, and that naturally asks for action - nothing strange about that.

 

My first impressions upon viewing the clip were that it reminded me most of the original Medal of Honor actually - the soldiers, the guns, the rooms (remember that game's main menu?) on the human side.

 

And it appears to be a cross between a conspiracy theory's 50's with foes that seem like a mix of Crysis (1, 2) and Tron in styling.

 

Here are some stills I've taken for perusal:

 

::

 

Anyway, thanks for posting the news Gimli.

[NKF]

From what I can understand, X-Com doesn't even exist in this game (at least, I suspect, not until the ending or after the credits). It's just the FBI (who are the heroes this time) fighting space aliens.

 

Hmm. They could've also slapped the X-Files title on it and call it "X-Files With Guns" or something and we'd not be the wiser.

 

- NKF

[Guest Mr_Mus]

I dont want any re-imagined X-com, I want to hunt sectoids in better graphics, more destructable terrain with a shitload of new technologies and weapons mass destruction. I had hoped to level complete city blocks to stop the alien threat. To be able to call in airsupport and artillery.

 

Now we get blob things and weird flying circles in first person view.

 

This seem more like some 50's Call of the Chutulu scenario, which might have been a little more interesting and fitting. But in no way has this anything to do with Xcom.

[Space Voyager]

I find it hilarious that there are way more dislikes than likes on the youtube vid

It is even more hilarious that even all the dislikes will buy the game!

 

I love the trailer and can't wait for the game!

 

EDIT: The fingerpointing and shouts smell suspiciously like some sort of squad commands!

[The Veteran]

From what I can understand, X-Com doesn't even exist in this game (at least, I suspect, not until the ending or after the credits).

 

The trailer does say many times 'deploy XCOM immediately' though so I think they must exist at the beginning You're right though, in this scenario XCOM seems to just be a bunch of guys with guns and silly hats... They aren't a special or secret organisation at all.My guess is they operate out of a city block next to the Daily Planet

[lollersis]

This is NOT a re-imagining. It's a different game with a different organisation, a different genre, a different timeline, different enemies, different weapons, different everything! You can call Aftermath or Extraterrestrials 're-imaginings' but they're not.

 

Oh yes, this is indeed a re-imagining. Aftermath & Extraterrestrials is also re-imaginings of X-COM. A re-imagining doesn

[Sunflash]

While I have some choice words about their handling of this, and even more choice words for the fanbase's reaction, I will throw this opnion out before I go back to ignoring everything but news articles:

 

I /will/ be buying this game just as soon as I can get my hands on it. I think 2K knew from day one that they could NEVER, /EVER/ live up to the expectations of the fanbase if they tried a tactical/stragety game.

 

So instead, they used the XCOM universe as a jumping off point to write a different story, with different stuff, and to tell it in a different way(FPS instead of Tactical-squad).

 

Honestly I think it's a good thing. It means it's going to have a much better chance of getting the attention of any "If it's not an FPS it sucks" gamer, and if they do well with the game, they can then excuse a few 'spinoff-in-name-only' silly tactical games.

 

 

Either way I am done listening to the fanbase myself, since the golden rule of anything is "Don't knock it till you've tried it." And unless 90% of the fanbase are secretly alpha testers, then the entire fanbase is talking crap about a game they haven't ever played.

 

And that's silly.

[NKF]

There is this automatic 'it's going to suck' reaction right from the start. But then again, many who think that are still leaving the door open to try it anyway in the hopes it doesn't.

 

I would definitely like to try it however it I might have to pass it up since I'm not inclined to buy a new expensive game console just for one game! Hope they reconsider and decide to release it on a few more platforms. The other option is to just buy the game and hold on to it until the consoles are cheap as chips many years down the line.

 

I do like the idea of a 50's retro styled X-Com. Stuff like that tickles my fancy. Gameplay will be the deciding factor though. I was quite surprised many years ago with the Battlezone series and how they managed to pull off a quasi Starcraft styled resource gathering, base building, peon pumping style game from a first person view. The same old stuff can certainly be done in new and exciting ways.

 

- NKF

[The Veteran]

I'm exhausted, and really want to be asleep right now but I'll leave a parting gift for the last few posters because I think it needs to be done

 

Oh yes, this is indeed a re-imagining. Aftermath & Extraterrestrials is also re-imaginings of X-COM. A re-imagining doesn

[ShadowBlade]

Oh yes, this is indeed a re-imagining. Aftermath & Extraterrestrials is also re-imaginings of X-COM. A re-imagining doesn

[Bomb Bloke]

1:32 - MORPHBALL UPGRADE ACQUIRED!

 

... Ahem.

 

I'll add my definition of "re-imagining" to the list:

 

This is what you're getting, and we're never going back to the original canon again!

Heeheehee...

 

Slightly more seriously, it means "we don't think we can sell the original, let's try and repackage it for a modern audience". How closely it matches the source material only matters in terms of sales. Note that this applies to just about any company and just about any game; the exceptions are those developers who have so much cash they really can just do it "for the art".

 

Actually seriously, I think whether or not the game will be any "good" has little to do with how closely it sticks to the original game. Yes, there are elements of X-COM which, if correctly applied to XCOM, would make it "game of the year" material easily - I'm kinda doubting they'll all be correctly applied, but with this new trailer I reckon we might get some of them. Expendable soldiers, for example.

 

I reckon the main thing to watch for will be multiplayer support. Could be really, really good if entire campaigns could be played in co-op over the internet.

 

Devolving back into sub-sillyness, these field agents really need to review their dress code. THEY WEAR TIES. Seriously?! Ties?! I reckon that's the whole reason the video got all those dis-likes. Show them in some sort of full body armour/camo, stick an X-COM/XCOM badge on it, and hey presto! I'm sure all the hate would go away!

[lollersis]

Ok, since my "logic" can

[The Veteran]

Just to save anyone else linking to wiki, here's the part of the article which lollersis is referring to and I must admit the first paragraph seems to back him up. But then you read the rest...

 

Reimagine or renovate

 

In recent years, the terms reimagine (or re-imagine) and, to a lesser extent, renovate have become popular in reference to remakes which do not closely follow the original. The terms are used by creators in the marketing of films and television shows to inform audiences that the new product is not the same as the old one. Reimaginings and renovations often contain tongue in cheek references to the original, with characters of the same name and similar concepts, while remaining significantly different from the original. In Tin Man, a reimagining of The Wizard of Oz, for example, the main character is named DG, a reference to Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz, and the land she enters is called the Outer Zone (O.Z.).

 

The imagining of a franchise often leads to controversy within established fan communities as to which is more legitimate or more popular. There are various examples of remakes which are most associated with the reimagine or renovate terms, and these include Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes, Nora Ephron's Bewitched, Marcus Nispel's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th, Rob Zombie's Halloween, Ronald D. Moore's Battlestar Galactica, David Eick's Bionic Woman, Nelson McCormick's Prom Night, Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead, and Kenneth Johnson V. Tim Burton has denied that his 2010 film Alice in Wonderland is a renovation of Lewis Carroll's classic novel; however, the plot line of the film bears very little resemblance to the original or derivatives of it, such as the classic 1951 animated film from Walt Disney.

 

The reimaginging or renovation practice has also occurred within other media, such as video games and comic books. One example in gaming is Bomberman Act: Zero, a more hardcore version of Bomberman, which was not well received. Another is Bionic Commando Rearmed, which changes some elements of the game and story to fit into a sequel, while paying homage to the original. In comics, the new Sgt. Rock, with the Rock character as a member of the U.S. 442nd Infantry regiment, and the unknown "Easy Company", as well as Unknown Soldier, which takes place in Uganda in 2002, both change the character's background or setting in order for the story to be more realistic and interesting for modern readers. The term reimagine has also been applied to music releases, such as Brian Wilson Reimagines Gerswhin (Disney, 2010) and Cirque du Soleil's "Viva Elvis: The Album" (Sony Legacy, 2010).

 

Look at the comparisons used here and how incredibly deeply linked they are to the originals. Tin Man is a recent remake of Wizard of Oz which is discussed here. Guess what, all the characters are direct re-imaginings of their predecessors (as explained in the text above) The land of OZ is now called the O.Z and the story remains almost identical with an evil witch, flying minions, and of course the wizard... The fact that all of these aspects are altered slightly is what makes it a re-imagining and not a remake. If the characters, story and location were all different but it was called the Oz Wizard, that doesn't make it a re-imagining of the original. It just has a similar name...

 

Just to cover a few more of the films mentioned; Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes is very similar to it's predecessor, Nora Ephron's Bewitched features all of the same characters with a single new twist added to the old story, all of the horror films listed have identical villains and locations as the originals and so on... All of these films and many more (I'm surprised for example that King Kong wasn't listed in this wiki) share multiple references with the original imaginings and therefore are RE-imaginings. Remember, most of these films began life as books so even the original films were re-imaginings of the text...

 

Moving onto the ever helpful paragraph 3 I think we can quite easily employ that to put an end to this debate so thankyou for providing it to us... Enter Bomberman : Act Zero... A poorly recieved re-imagining of the old Bomberman series. In this case not too much has remained the same but the name and main character survive, which in a game like bomberman is all there really ever was!

 

This closes the debate in two ways. Not only does it show that a re-imagining must reuse a great deal more elements of the 'original' game or franchise than you are suggesting. IT also goes to show that these re-imaginings are often set to fail miserably in the video game industry. Because Bomberman used enough of the old bible to still be classed as a Bomberman game it's spent every waking hour being directly compared to it's predecessors and met with massive amounts of Criticism. Thankfully, XCOM is completely dissimilar to the X-Com franchise so I would hope that people can use their brains and look past the name to realise it's a completely new and totally different game, judging it on it's own merits without comparing it to the original franchise.

 

It's still beyond me why anyone thought that giving this X-Files/Ghostbusters FPS the name of a 20 year old isometric squad based combat game was a good idea... It is however my opinion that it will do them much more harm than good. No X-Com fans will EVER buy it because it has the XCOM name, quite possibly they'll avoid buying it for just this reason... People who aren't familiar with, or are not true fans of, the original franchise really won't be affected either way so what was the point?

 

Shame on you 2k, you should've known better...

[lollersis]

-snip-

 

Right, you win. But my aim is that give it atleast a try. You know Fallout 3, I am a Fallout fan myself and when Fallout 3 was announced by Bethesda, I wasn

[The Veteran]

lolleris you seem to have somehow missed the underlying argument in every single one of my posts here. Every one of them is me explaining why people need to stop comparing this game to X-Com so it can be received fairly by gamers and reviewed as a standalone game rather than a botched attempt to capitalise on a far superior franchise.

 

Do me a favour and have a quick read back over my posts and you'll quickly see that I haven't once said 'this game will suck because of x, y and z.' Rather I've accused 2k of making the poor choice of licensing this game under the XCOM name when it really shouldn't be. Based on what I've seen so far, it probably won't be my cup of tea as it looks like a pretty mindless shooter. I imagine that's probably not the case though so we'll have to wait and see. No doubt I will play it one day and if I were to write about how I found it afterwards I would NOT be mentioning X-Com a single time because they just aren't similar games.

 

The whole point of my debate with you regarding a re-imagining is that anyone talking about this new game needs to completely forget about the X-Com franchise while they do so. There should be NO comparisons either direct or indirect. It shouldn't share the same name but then to be fair it doesn't thanks to their incorrect punctuation... I am NOT flaming this game, I am NOT a hater, I AM an old-school fan of the X-Com franchise and I HATE seeing it be compared to this new title. As far as I'm concerned they just got the name wrong, as for the game? Well maybe it'll be brilliant but rest assured it won't be X-Com...

[lollersis]

lolleris you seem to have somehow missed the underlying argument in every single one of my posts here. Every one of them is me explaining why people need to stop comparing this game to X-Com so it can be received fairly by gamers and reviewed as a standalone game rather than a botched attempt to capitalise on a far superior franchise.

 

Do me a favour and have a quick read back over my posts and you'll quickly see that I haven't once said 'this game will suck because of x, y and z.' Rather I've accused 2k of making the poor choice of licensing this game under the XCOM name when it really shouldn't be. Based on what I've seen so far, it probably won't be my cup of tea as it looks like a pretty mindless shooter. I imagine that's probably not the case though so we'll have to wait and see. No doubt I will play it one day and if I were to write about how I found it afterwards I would NOT be mentioning X-Com a single time because they just aren't similar games.

 

The whole point of my debate with you regarding a re-imagining is that anyone talking about this new game needs to completely forget about the X-Com franchise while they do so. There should be NO comparisons either direct or indirect. It shouldn't share the same name but then to be fair it doesn't thanks to their incorrect punctuation... I am NOT flaming this game, I am NOT a hater, I AM an old-school fan of the X-Com franchise and I HATE seeing it be compared to this new title. As far as I'm concerned they just got the name wrong, as for the game? Well maybe it'll be brilliant but rest assured it won't be X-Com...

 

Hehe...okey, sorry for that. I just easily get confused sometimes. But I will leave this debate or otherwise I will be stuck here for weeks to come Sorry for the babbling of mine...