XCOM: EU/EW - Play it Again
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed replaying this masterpiece. Here are some recommendations for those who want to give it another shot.
I’ve played a lot of XCOM. Looking at Steam right now, I see that I have almost 7000 hours across all modern versions of the game. But until recently I had never completed XCOM: EU/EW at I/I difficulty. I’ve considered trying it again, but it just seemed trivial. As Jake Solomon has pointed out; the base game is the tutorial for Long War. Why would I replay the tutorial? Because its awesome, that’s why. Yes it is far simpler and shorter than Long War. Yes it is missing many quality of life improvements that were added in XCOM 2. But in spite of all that, the base game is still a masterpiece and if you have not yet beaten it, or haven’t beaten it in awhile, it is a fun and satisfying replay, that won’t eat up too much of your time.
I’m better at XCOM; and that makes all the difference
The biggest obstacle to your enjoyment of XCOM: EU/EW is the difficulty. I abandoned the game after a particularly nasty Portent mission. I remember the visceral feeling of unfairness. No surprise that I quit the game and moved on to something else. But now that I am a hardened veteran of the Long War, the base game is not nearly as menacing. It is still unfair, obviously, but I know how to deal with unfairness; grenades, rockets, overwatch creeping, sneaky flanking, memorizing maps, and most of all persistence. With these hard won skills I can finally beat the game.
In the TV show “Ozark”, the main character buys an old coin operated video game that had defeated him in his childhood. When he was a kid he didn’t have enough quarters to keep playing, and so he kept losing. As an adult, he has all the money he needs, and is finally able to win. That’s how I feel about XCOM; except instead of spending quarters, I’m killing rookies.
Game Settings for Veterans playing I/I:
After having toyed around with various settings, I have some suggestions. The Enemy Within DLC is highly recommended as it gives you the MEC unit, which is ridiculously fun. Collecting meld cannisters also adds some excitement to the game. Unfortunately, EW also adds the Exalt missions, which are not very challenging.
There are two optional mission packs; Operation Progeny and Operation Slingshot. Both mission packs add 3 Council Missions to the game. If you have never played through these missions they can add some new flavor, but some of them are extremely difficult, and require multiple attempts to succeed.
Operation Progeny Missions:
Portent (April)
Deluge (After Alien Base Assault, XCOM Base Defense)
Furies (One Month after Deluge)
Unless you remember the Portent mission, it may be a good idea to play without Operation Progeny. Portent is absolutely ridiculous. It requires you to defeat 15 thin men in April. This is only feasible by memorizing the location of each pod, as well as the drop-ins and when they activate. I can beat this mission consistently, but only because I have detailed notes from my failed attempts. You may prefer to avoid this mission entirely. Deluge is a fun mission, as is Furies. Both occur late in the game and have a modest reward that doesn’t alter the overall game balance.
Operation Slingshot Missions:
Friends in Low Places (April)
Confounding Light (May)
Gangplank (May - 2 days after Confounding Light)
Operation Slingshot starts off with a fun mission and a cool soldier reward (Zhang). Confounding Light is tough, as it requires you to push the fight against thin men, putting your squad in danger. Gangplank is extremely tough, with over 24 enemies in May, including an active Cyberdisc. This mission pack is perhaps too difficult; also the reward is just too good. You get an absurd amount of alloy, elerium, and ufo parts. And you get it in May, allowing you to build everything you could want. Unfortunately, this breaks the careful economic balance of the game. Still, I would recommend playing through these missions at least once for the challenge of it.
2nd Wave Options:
I haven’t played with many of the 2nd wave options, but don’t feel that they will improve game balance. Some options weaken your financial strength; but winning at the strategic layer was never all that difficult. Other 2nd wave options alter rules at the tactical level, making combat more difficult. These options might have been helpful if they could be applied only to the late game which is far too easy. Unfortunately these options only worsen game balance, magnifying the difficulty of the early game, which is already too punishing for most players. People say that XCOM has a “reverse difficulty curve”, but in truth it is straight up lopsided; the 2nd wave options only make it more so.
I will be writing a series of posts about playing XCOM: EU/EW at I/I difficulty.
/me checks Steam stats ...
1105.5 hours played.
Yup, XEW was a Masterpiece.