Because no one uses the Other Games Forum: X-COM

[Guynemer]

Man, the "in the zone" upgrade for the sniper isn't even fair. It means shooting enemies flanked or out of cover doesn't require an action. Chryssalids and floaters can be annihilated and I can still scoot and reload in the same turn.

Looking forward to using that. Just got my first colonel before I shut it down last night (er... 2 AM this morning), and that was the upgrade I picked. Can he/she actually fire twice (or more) in such a situation?

[Wiglaf]

Anyway, nobody answered my question. Can you play this on a smaller screen, say a 13" Macbook? And can you play it with a laptop graphics card (albeit discrete graphics)?

There's a demo you can try. I've heard it will run on a MacBook.

[regexcellent]

Looking forward to using that. Just got my first colonel before I shut it down last night (er... 2 AM this morning), and that was the upgrade I picked. Can he/she actually fire twice (or more) in such a situation?

You can fire until you run out of ammo, then run away and reload. It's amazing. However it only works if you kill the target I think.

I've been using and abusing it with abandon.

[Guynemer]

Oh lord, I was hoping that was what it meant.

Those scanner grenades and squad sight will come in extra handy. Way less nervous about terror missions now. Still think I need to improve my equipment before I try to crack an alien base, though; my squad is still just using standard weapons.

[regexcellent]

Something I forgot to add: the pistol has no ammo limit. If you have a powerful enough one, and the pistol upgrade for the sniper, use that against enemies with very low hit points like thin men when they're out of cover.

[snoopy369]

Thanks, Wiggy, I will try that.

[kentonio]

Just had one of those beautiful X-Com moments..

Had to escort someone back to the Skyranger. Mission was going pretty sweetly, my guys were dropping Thin Men on sight, the Sectoids were falling like flies, and apart from a few light injuries, the Skyranger was in sight. The final sectoid abandoned his beautiful vantage point on the roof and dropped down to engage us more directly. This was feeling like a cakewalk. Then Cpl. Mensah makes a terrible mistake. As the wall in front of her crumbles, she stands her ground for an easy shot on the nearby alien instead of ducking back under cover. A criminal miss, and suddenly she is exposed and taking hits from the alien. 3 turns until she bleeds out, but no fear, the landing site is right here, we can kill this peice of **** Sectoid, get the escort onto the ship and get Mensah to the medi-bay in plenty of time. Sq. Golubeva races up behind the alien and dispatches him with a cool shotgun blast to the face.

Ok, this is it, lets get this ****ing civilian onto the Skyranger and get the hell out of here!

But whats this..? A message comes over the radio..

"New objective received, Kill all remaining aliens"

Oh you son of a *****..

Mensah has 2 turns to live, and just happened to be our only medic.. Ok, let's hustle people! The team run out into the nearby buildings, trying to balance the impending death of our medic against the risk of more casualties. There can't be many more aliens though right? The team advance, but there's no sign of anything, and Mensah slips away.. Filled with a new resolve, the team slow their approach and navigate the length of the map looking for the stray bug. Before long we're back where we started, and still no sign of anything. Was this whole thing just bad intel?

Cpl. Astrid Thomas, our French sniper has been moving with her pistol out, keeping careful overwatch. At the first sight of the Thin Man, she snaps off a shot, but he barely reacts. She seems safe behind the tight angle of the wall, but the Man coldly shoots her in the head with an impossible looking shot. Suddenly the tone of this mission has completely changed, from a clean run we've lost half the damn team!

Sq. Golubeva and our South African heavy weapons expert, Cpl. Lewis Hall grimly set out to avenge their lost comrades. They're seperated, but now they know where the alien is, and they're in perfectly position for a flanking manouvre. Move, overwatch, move, overwatch, caution's the name of the game now. The surviving team are at the entrance of the alley now, and if the Thin Man is where he was, Lewis has the distance. He can pop out, draw fire and reveal the bugs position so Golubeva can step out from behind and let her shotgun do the talking. Almost in position, one more overwatch and we'll be ready to rock and roll..

What the ****!?! The Thin Man has moved up onto the high roof of the building we're scouting around, and drops down right behind Cpl. Hall. All the overwatch in the world is no use, and the alien spreads Hall's body parts across the sidewalk. Is anyone going to get out of this alive?!? If Golubeva gets out alive whatever brass hat mother**** gave this extra order is going to get the reaming of their life, but even survival is looking increasingly unlikely.

Sq. Golubeva creeps towards Lewis Hall's final resting place feeling very much like the tables have turned. The confident hunter is now the skulking prey. She reaches the corner, and it's now or never. No grenades left, nothing to do but step up and peek around..

****, ****, ****!! The Thin Man is standing there as if he read her mind! The distance is virtually nothing and a hail of green energy disintegrates the wall beside her head, another scrapes her shoulder, how is she still alive?!!?

But she is..and now it's time for her shotgun to do the talking.

Within minutes Sq. Golubeva is back on the Skyranger, and on the way home to have a very serious conversation with her commanding officer..

[Hauldren Collider]

I got this game this morning but can't play it tonight. I have to do matrix algebra and start building a buggy. Does it have co-op multiplayer?

EDIT: Nevermind, saw kuci/MRT's post

[Wiglaf]

The second in command guy is beyond useless. Doesn't tell you about objectives, gets your first squad killed, and occasionally talks to himself in the situation room. Too bad there's no way to shoot him and piss on the corpse.

[kentonio]

That would be satisfying. Also Little Miss Science.

[Wezil]

I have to ...start building a buggy.

[Hauldren Collider]

Best sport ever

[Wezil]

I don't know about that but it looks like a lot of fun.

[regexcellent]

In stark contrast to Kentonio's post, my team now consists entirely of colonels and this game has become ludicrously easy. I just faced a squad of 8 mutons supported by 2 floaters and three thin men. I came out not only with everyone alive, but at full health. They did take hits but I was able to heal them.

Having 3 smoke grenades, 4 frag grenades, 2 rockets, and 4 healthkits (3 on my medic support and 1 on my buffs support) is kind of awesome.

[snoopy369]

Aren't you playing on some ridiculously easy level, though?