Firaxis reveals never-before-seen XCOM: Enemy Unknown gameplay

[@daimon5459]

"I promise not to make another video on Enemy Unknown for at least a couple of months" Excellent, next video confirmed to be on Enemy Within then.

[@Znijik]

Sectopods are already bad enough, and now you're telling me they were almost like THAT?!?

[@dud5606]

It wouldve been awesome if they at least looked like that. One thing I wasnt too impressed with was how alien tech looked.

[@red_cosplay]

well, there's ADVENT sectopods...

[@phoebe5]

Valikdu advent sectopods? You mean Chinese knockoff at -st? You would think advent would be a bit more original, no?

[@KnightofDark00180]

that fucking profile picture goes so well with this comment

[@JohnSmith-ox3gy]

Chris Bloomer Tried and true design.

[@Ashpolt]

Please never stop making XCOM content, Chris. (Also Jake.)

[@OptionalZero]

Where is THAT game!? I loved the X-Com Reboot, it's fantastic! But seriously I would have loved this version too, loved the atmosphere.

[@gunawanwibisono5899]

that eerie atmosphere, cold, and dark.. but in a strategy game!

[@BennyDYT1]

I think itis cool to see their earliest concept for the game, i like it too, it reminds me the UFO series which had exactly that cold atmosphere style in it.

[@alexoelkers2292]

Optional Zero yeah the first mission of xcom enemy unknown had a real horror element to it and then that died off. Came back a bit with that fishing village.

[@flaminginferno6641]

Yea also if squad members reacted to a mind controlled person killing them, that was awesome

[@MrPrice2U]

@@gunawanwibisono5899 like THE original!

[@echos7506]

Let's hope that some of these survival horror elements return in XCOM 3

[@red_cosplay]

Jake Solomon, while being good at his job, is also critical of himself and can accept criticism. ...Is he like the ONLY fucking person in aaa game development with these qualities?

[@grailw9221]

how is self deprecation a positive trait? by everything i heard about this game's development jake solomon started out wanting to do a straight remake, of the original ufo defense with more features. but decided to trash or dumb down everything he originally came up with, just because other people thought it was "too complicated" . to me it just feels like a case of a man giving up his creative vision, and passion just so that he can hopefully conform to the standards of his peers. even though it's not his fault that they did not share his vision

[@the_tactician9858]

@@grailw9221 -While I have never played the old XCOM's, the new ones don't feel dumbed down at all, so either your standard of difficulty is different from mine or one of us has a wrong vision of the other game. Also when has it been a bad thing to act on remarks of other people? You make it sound like someone got wrecked by criticism, while in reality, probably things went wrong in the code, or people felt it wasn't intuitive enough, or bugs made it impossible. Jack Solomon went for certainty over sparkly ideas that don't work, and I applaud that decision. It honestly is far better than a developer who thinks he knows what the player wants because it lines up with their own vision on quality and profit.

[@deathrabbit8710]

@@grailw9221 I agree with you that there's a problem with companies lacking "creative vision". The industry is filled with standards that churn out an incredible amount of trash. You're 100% right about passion being damaged and hampered. I played the first 3 games growing up. They were brilliant, and they are difficult. But so far as the complexity? A lot of it wasn't stuff that actually added tactical depth. In my opinion, many of the things they dumbed down weren't necessary, and they didn't provide a challenge in the sense of compelling interesting strategic choices, it was more so that they were just obtuse. They made the product more consumable, yes, but I genuinely believe that they did so without making it "easy". WOTC is HARD, and it's not hard because of a UI choice, or hidden mechanics, it's hard because you're needing to make compelling decisions and consider the consequences of your actions. I'll always love the originals, but they show their age in a lot of ways. X-Com 3 is absolutely unplayable. It's not hard once you understand all of the moving pieces, it's just difficult because the interfaces are obscene, the environments are unreadable, the mechanics are unintuitive, every activity is a chore that punishes you with death if you forget about it. It wasn't fun. I love the game in the sense in that it has interesting concepts and ideas, but the mechanics just weren't good enough and the implementation was poor. Sometimes things need to be streamlined a bit, and as a hardcore fan for more than two decades now, I can wholeheartedly say that I appreciate the progress they've made.

[@Codcraft187]

While all this stuff looks sick, I think people here are refusing to accept that gameplay wise this stuff would suck. 90% of xcom 2 players use mods to REMOVE cinematic moments or at least speed them up. Having xcom 1 as this consistently dark and cinematic game would killed the enjoyable gameplay and replay value and possibly of reduced the impact the reboot has had on the strategy game market. Solomon’s teams ability to realize, “yeah this stuff looks sick, but won’t work” and proceed to scrap everything is seriously commendable, his eye for what makes a game both enjoyable and practical is why he’s a great dev

[@DragDenDFO]

Indeed. Those scary and cool cinematics could work first few times, but when you see them for a n-th time, they'll just be tiresome.

[@javiermercado1996]

You have a long beard, so your words must be wise.

[@Snoupity]

If you like Xcom 2 vanilla then you have no ground to stand on and speak opinions l000l. Xcom 2 has some of the most plain, brainless game design ever. Holy shit.

[@OshMMf]

"That Croke product" Lol they should make that a in-universe soda brand in future X-Com games xD

[@Romans-3-23]

OshMMf lol indeed

[@Lord_of_Dread]

PLEASE BRING BACK THE HORROR FOR TFTD (XCOM3). I used to have nightmares about the first 2 X-COM games after playing till like 4am as a kid, and as much as I love the new ones, that horror vibe; the terror of seeing some new intimidating monster that looks like it fucking hates you and moves in some nightmarish unnatural way, the dark tinge in the older games and fear of whats round the corner just isnt there in the new one. Writing this is making me want to play TFTD again but god damn was that game broken. Literally printed off the research tree at school to avoid researching my way into a game breaking bug (the only X-COM game I completed once and only once). And holy shit those cruise ship terror missions were terrifying for all the wrong reasons.

[@Lord_of_Dread]

And make more XCOM videos! More XCOM! ALL THE TIME

[@ConradProteus]

Search for chromosome evil if you like tactics and horror

[@VindensSaga]

Horror XCOM could be cool and fun

[@RedSntDK]

18:11 WHAT?! Psyonix made the prototype for Xcom?! That's amazing!

[@eurogamer]

I love that story! Yeah, Psyonix are really experienced with the Unreal engine and did contract work for a number of studios before Rocket League blew up. -Chris

[@CyberViking97]

While watching this video i got an ad for XCOM: War of the Chosen with a Eurogamer quote in it.

[@BlackAngus69]

Get the "idle suppression" mod for XCOM 2. Makes the battles look hella cinematic.

[@Linkolnverse]

two story sectopod. Dear God.

[@Zushi_Tsunami]

Advent made that thing.

[@dragonslayerornstein2834]

Civ with XCOM Ufo Defense world map, XCOM combat shown in the video and some Civilization bits. This is one Civ/XCOM spinoff that I want.

[@leeboy26]

Phoenix Point is closest you'll get probably.

[@dragonslayerornstein2834]

Lee It's looks pretty interesting

[@alexoelkers2292]

Dragon Slayer Ornstein or a multiple player xcom game with base building would be cool.

[@passionofthecrust9173]

Age of wonders Planetfall is kind of close

[@mrchoochoohead9033]

You can tell Jake is both a very cool guy and brilliant because he's so deeply invested in his work and also too harsh on himself

[@grailw9221]

how is self deprecation a positive trait? by everything i heard about this game's development jake solomon started out wanting to do a straight remake, of the original ufo defense with more features. but decided to trash or dumb down everything he originally came up with, just because other people thought it was "too complicated" . to me it just feels like a case of a man giving up his creative vision, and passion just so that he can hopefully conform to the standards of his peers. even though it's not his fault that they did not share his vision

[@MalevolentSpirit234]

@@grailw9221 Solomon cared more about that the players at least enjoyed even a fraction of the vision he set out to make. That's why he listened to his peers - they helped him gauge a potential response to the game, and he decided to, of his own initiative, to change the game into something more palatable to other players instead of waiting. I also don't agree with the whole "self-deprecation" thing being good, and it's clear to me that Solomon a lot of the time uses it more for humorous effect here to help the audience understand his own personal frustration for when he was working on the game. But kudos to him - watching someone play XCOM EU, I understood that this is a game that I MUST play for myself too, and it was one of those rare moments in life where it was a life changing experience. I doubt it would have been the same if Jake completely stuck to his original vision instead of modifying it, so I really appreciate his own willingness to change and adapt without completely losing the intent - just like the XCOM organization itself, in-universe!

[@nightcatarts]

Great interview again; thanks. I wonder how many of these old ideas will inspire modders going forward..

[@thecastawaydc]

Chris Bratt likes XCOM: Enemy Unknown? He's never mentioned that before...

[@eurogamer]

YEAH, ALRIGHT. -Chris

[@toastybread0413]

The CastAway DC Has anyone mentioned that Chris likes XCOM: Enemy Unknown?

[@jarjarbinkssithlord834]

I don't know man he seems to really be trashing on it with the whole couple of months thing Jesus. Expect me to wait that long to get my X-com video fix....

[@mdavies97131]

Am I the only one that wishes the game's feel had turned out more like this concept?

[@themagistrateclan]

I think the problem is it's very hard to realize a game that would be like that concept.

[@CarlosRodriguez-qe6ht]

It would have been better than to see everyone just standing there and taking burst shots to their opponent when their turn comes. I think that at least the shooting in between turns would be awesome to add a more cinematic feel to an already cinematic game.

[@leeboy26]

I'd much prefer this type, the one they released had zero tension thanks to the stupid pod activation thing.

[@TheCart54321]

mdavies97131 yeah except for the first scene they showed That was too dark for me

[@dipshwhelp]

+Forchinski I think he's talking about the art direction rather than the mechanics.

[@aurelienmarchadier6737]

Holy shit. The tension was amazing!

[@TheCart54321]

26:53 if you could've made XCOM look something like that making it look like an intense firefight the entire time even when you're still thinking about the turn and such that would've made it so epic

[@roaldhansen6568]

The mod "Idle Suppression" enbles it for X-com 2 (base hasn't been updated to wotc), havn't tried it but the video on steam does look good

[@ChadVulpes]

@ Thomas Divelbiss I played XCOM2 with the "Idle Suppression" mod and I don't think it was as bad as you make it out to be. It made the battlefield feel a bit more like an actual battlefield. Made the game a bit choppy if you played with extended pods mods(understandably), but it made it feel more real, in my opinion.

[@Red-S-267]

From experience it’s cool till you get things without noise normalization

[@spudastic]

Basically Jake is saying Designing a game is like playing XCOM don't make too many bad decisions or you're fucked

[@calebs4792]

I lived that last demo. I would do anything to play a xcom like that, except with better walking animations instead of the funky penguin waddle.

[@HotCupOfEarlGray]

i could just sit and listen to jake talk about X-com all day long

[@verifeli]

From creators of Civilization series, comes a game about the land-version of Bioshock.

[@commanderpower79]

This was fantastic. Jake is so awesome. I love that he tells the truth and having his story stated really gives hope for people who are making games. Love this. Love XCOM!!!!!

[@pqfire0950]

constant combat looks rlly cool

[@FinalFantasyRainbowDash]

Enemy Unknown introduced me to the XCOM franchise. And it’s become one of my favorite game franchises since.

[@MrVitalic85]

wow that footage looked so so awesome. If it was released today I would definitively buy it.

[@ChaoticTabris]

I'm really curious about how the final game would look like if they kept the survival horror angle. I personally feel that the scripted narrative of the game is it's weaker point.

[@TheCart54321]

ChaoticTabris frankly I like how XCOM two turned out and I don't think I would've liked XCOM had it been a little bit like this because while I like turn-based games and such I just don't like it when there's a dark retrospect to it so in my opinion XCOM two came out perfectly because they showed humans as strong beings who knew what they were doing and such and had a chance while at the same time showing super tough enemies that had you on your heels the entire time

[@ChaoticTabris]

I think there was too little thought put in the plot. I know it's not hard sci fi, so they don't need everything to make sense but they could at least try.

[@OshMMf]

I hope that they will do a spin-off using those unused concepts

[@Goraka91]

Enemy Unknown did still have slight horror influences (Mostly the tutorial) XCOM 2 on the other hand is pretty much an Anime and it doubled down on that with WOTC. Not that that's bad or anything, hell look at UFO's intro and the iconic hair. Just a rather drastic theme change.

[@josharts4757]

XCOM becomes survival horror once you install the Long War mod, those fkin giant chryssalids, and worse... Thin men snipers...

[@themaster408]

Can I buy the original horror vision one AND the last super cinematic version? I'll pay for both.

[@korenn9381]

I think it's really interesting that Firaxis never truly fixed the flanking / pathing problems, yet a mod did.

[@Josearnaldomanuel2]

I like the lines. Maybe make it an option?

[@DouglasBrum]

Arnaldo Manuel Did you see Phoenix Point?

[@loveandpeace2765]

Hey i like this more dark atmosphere too. Also the idea of a countdown timer for some actions. I like to see the alien story more attached to the current stories in our society. Just connect the abduction stories, area 51, men in black, animal mutilation, military and government corruption, alien factions, etherical, psi, multidimensional, alien hierarchy, earth laboratory and alien empire in a way that is more darker and attached to individuals. We want to know who die and who suffer and the storie behind them. I would like to have a little more an story as a side mission for those victims, scientists, engineers, i want to know and see the suffering and reason for XCOM.

[@LoopBell]

Always love this Chris Bratt corner

[@Cameroo]

Damn man this was REALLY cool. Thanks for sharing this!

[@Xydonus]

Can't believe they dropped that early first contact mission. Amazing how much better that is. But Jake's comments give some insight as to why they dropped it... "This is very dark, very dark..." he says. Likely deemed it 'too dark' for mainstream, which is sad, cause the original Xcom had that dark depressive feel that none of the reboots have, not even Xenonauts.

[@grailw9221]

yeah it's sad. by everything i heard about this game's development jake solomon started out wanting to do a straight remake, of the original ufo defense with more features. but decided to trash or dumb down everything he originally came up with, just because other people thought it was "too complicated" . to me it just feels like a case of a man giving up his creative vision, and passion just so that he can hopefully conform to the standards of his peers. even though it's not his fault that they did not share his vision

[@patdo777]

I quite like the lines.

[@ingikratzer9043]

Did you ever play the original XCOM ? Ufo Enemy Unknown / Defense & Xcom Terror from the deep ?

[@paulknight2550]

Is it me or is the soldier on the left when they storm the room at 5:08 Central?

[@bradclovell]

6:27 Is that Randy Marsh?

[@ededdneddy4ever34]

Man this build of the game looks amazing. I wish chimera squad was this

[@TheExecutorr]

14:20 I find it funny how you have only killed 4/5 aliens here because one of them died because of the psionic thing sectoids do.

[@alexadamson1948]

Gameplay starts at 3:50

[@Astro-Vision]

And more again at 24:51

[@danny123451]

Bratterz i saw your mate Miller at egx positively covering a final fantasy game. Its one of the most surreal things iv ever seen.

[@mygaffer]

Didn't they show this video in a GDC talk or something?

[@jakestocker4854]

Make 3 play like this it looks fantastic

[@Lucifronz]

"gameplay" It's cool and all, but this isn't gameplay, it's a carefully constructed animation. There's a difference.

[@cheekybum1513]

Holy moly that pitch video was goofy looking. But I am glad and appreciative it lead to a great franchise

[@Blackster2008]

At 27:00 they talk about it being "too" cinematic and glad it wasen't like that. Thats what iam looking for!! a really cinematic gameply with heavy focus on eye candy and keeping everything alive while i think about my next move. But I guess iam the only game that want eye candy/cinematic focused games ihn this way. Ohh man... having all the guys shooting and acting in realtime while being a turned-based it is my dream come true. Iam a dying breed :(

[@crozraven]

Man, the Bran level is pretty nostalgic and more horror atmospheric they should totally make it again for the next game.

[@nazdhillon994]

27:23 that was actually a very cool idea imo

[@DaveScurlock]

Chris, you're awesome and did a superb job with this interview. I really like Jake based on this video and the story is super interesting. He sounds like Rick from Rick and Morty at times!

[@zethicalyt2406]

In this You Tell Me YOU CAN FBI BREACH

[@Baleur]

Im soooo happy they didnt go for that Sectopod design. The final game art and Advent aesthetic is much much better

[@FabrizioCARENA]

Hey, you were Preat in Gassengers!

[@Molly-vn2hf]

The farmhouse segment looks like one of the fake mobile ads

[@slavetrader1489]

THEY NEED TO MAKE THAT GAME IN THE VIDEO.

[@Rushtik9506]

damn! wish it was still included in the game!

[@randallcromer66]

Great video, I love everything about X Com. I wish they would make a X Com in VR, I think that would be awesome. I can't wait for Phoenix Point from the creator of the series, from what I've seen it's going to be a awesome game.

[@FinalFantasyRainbowDash]

I’ve actually bought UFO Defense, Terror From The Deep, and Apocalypse as well.

[@The_Burning_Sensation]

Do we get to see the questions from the audience part? :D

[@eurogamer]

You can watch the full version of the panel on the EGX KZbin channel. I just wanted to showcase the gameplay here. -Chris

[@Reece_Hart]

I kind of want that game as a spin off now

[@bencze465]

I rarely say this about reboots but xcom worked out pretty decent. 1 was okish, I just finished wotc, it's pretty great. But I liked the atmosphere of these movies as well, ok, constant gunfire is annoying, or those lines maybe not the best representation (current flanking markings are great) but I liked a lot that I seen. That sectopod was really really creepy it's my favorite! Time based actions are also cool actually and allow for more complex gameplay. Maybe we'll see them in some future iteration.

[@itwasmewasntit2448]

Damn,I'd love to play the 1st version.

[@EnterpriseKnight]

Grenades took time to explode. Damn.

[@catandfishfc]

In the original games, grenades exploded at the end of your turn, and you could put timers on them ("explode in 6 turns")!

[@morbid1.]

X-com with this dark creepy feeling would be amazing :F

[@Birdywar]

in the last video the only thing that bothered me was it saying fire grenade when you only throw it... but thats just me

[@DavidLopanjr]

Hey they might wanna make that game for the last video.

[@BigBroTejano]

"Civ but with aliens"... was really wishing for more from Civilization: Beyond Earth...

[@RisenChudJr]

I love Jake.

[@salehshb4859]

Is these game on ps4 ???

[@eviltigz]

This looked decent.

[@StaryBrudnyLis187]

Give us that x com!

[@TucoBenedicto]

I used to be rather lukewarm about the first Fireaxis XCOM. I liked it, but as a fan of the original UFO never loved it. I always found it a dumbed down version of the same concept with a half-baked strategic layer. XCOM 2 is a different story. The vanilla game was somewhat good, but War of the Choseni s what turned it into one of my favorite games of all times and arguably my "game of the decade". Aside from any debate about how I'd rank on a list of favorites, unquestionably the single player title where I invested the largest amount of hours.

[@derheadbanger9039]

The first draft looks very interesting. Almost like an ATB-System where reaction and fast thinking is required... in a turn-based tactical game. Did they ditch it because it didn't work? I want to Play that!

[@FatalJapan]

I want xcom 3 and midnight suns 2❤❤❤

[@TheCart54321]

I'm glad they never did the first scene it was kind of too dark for me

[@greatoverlordchikonmaster7226]

15:45 lmao, just 4 American cities, not even Canada/US/Mexico

[@ConradProteus]

Except for the interface this version looked a lot better, and the script was more horror and personal

[@thefinestsake1660]

Great end product. Glad they stuck to it!

[@grunt6799]

awesome

[@Noble6233]

Epic must play that version Now!!

[@SoulCrusherEx]

dude this looks amazing !!! please release something xcom related in that style !! i finished my xcom war of the chosen ironman run On Veteran so far yesterday after 20 tries ;O ... XCOM is best shit guys ;O even Nintento is copying u guys !!

[@lostfan10000]

Aka, how Jake has been fixing his game even before it shipped.

[@PaleandPastey]

Nice

[@RVGmetallicasaw]

Can we have a DLC for that?

[@late_privktorian_era]

EUROCOM XGAMER etc

[@inukrieger5206]

nice vid but i wish that X Com game where you have to build defense and stuff and research stuff where made sadly they finishtn it but in a way differnt way then game that was shown was so mutch better dont know the name right now but it was a 3rd eprson shotter wehre you can build defense and research stuff and fight the aliens

[@hamtier]

i'd honestly be fine with more xcom content and im sure a least few other people would agree.

[@Shedovv]

Also, I dont knwo about other people but I LOVED the idea of soldiers "shooting" each other for cinematic effect. I think all that would need to be done in order to make sure it aint annoying is add a slider in the optiosn that allows peopel to either lower or increase the frequency with which they do that.

[@josephetheredge1133]

They could've gotten away with releasing this Xcom. EU was great, but this is far from bad - from what I can tell.

[@stark1987]

he was drinking very very heavily over development issues? sounds like severe depression

[@eem5097]

They definitely should've kept the more cartoony look from 9:35. It should feel like like you're in a wacky xcom universe but instead they're trying to make it somewhat realistic. XCOM 2 is even worse than the current xcom:eu in this regard.

[@Kaldor_Draigo]

I want that flamer.

[@blizzardqc]

Well make all the stuff he removed optional and the game is even more awesome. Hey Chris, could you please tell Jake to realize how great most of his "shitty" ideas were? Just an optional timer (time units) for each action would more thrilling than the timer actual mechanics of XCOM. The first video, safe for the old sectopod, is so killer.

[@RRRRRRRRR33]

They color swap the aliens, AMAZING! ô_o This is almost as creative as Dragon Ball Super

[@HyperVegitoDBZ]

So instead of this, they released the linear as fuck enemy within? I love how years later they reveal what the game could have been, like fuck you, we could have given you this, but you would have payed the same cash for much less anyway ;)

[@grailw9221]

by everything i heard about this game's development jake solomon started out wanting to do a straight remake, of the original ufo defense with more features. but decided to trash or dumb down everything he originally came up with, just because other people thought it was "too complicated" . to me it just feels like a case of a man giving up his creative vision, and passion just so that he can hopefully conform to the standards of his peers. even though it's not his fault that they did not share his vision

[@Lumios_UA]

As for the constant gunfire: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gYa7hmCcjdqfotk

[@YorktownUSA]

I hate it when they dumb games down 😣

[@mocnijogurt]

That first video is stunning!!! Showing what we were imagining and experiencing while playing original games... dark tone, creepy atmosphere, elements of horror, suspense, almost like in alien movies... everything looks much more serious ... and XCOM1&2 couldn't deliver that at all... they changed the formula to much, to much colors, to much 'fuck yeah" moments, too much cartoonish designs, time limit, similar missions etc... AND XCOM1&2 are not bad games at all, they are very very good in their own ways, but I have to feel a disappointment especially after watching this first video :|