Posted January 16, 2015
Under the videogaming point of view, this year had a strong start already with the excellent Xenonauts!
WARNING: Xenonauts is not a videogame. It's a damn addiction!
Let me review it briefly: there is enough material to talk about it for days, but I'll try to be essential.
Xenonauts is a turn-based strategy game inspired by the classic X-Com, born with the clear intent to improve the formula of its predecessor. After starting as a compeltely independed project and then being supported by a successful Kickstarter to cover some of the smaller details that couldn't be implemented with the original budget, I must say that it definitely does not fail to deliver.
Earth, 1979. In the middle of the Cold War, the planet is attacked by an fleet of space invaders floating just above the atmosphere. It's obvious that their goal is not the extermiantion of the human race, yet they keep sending landing teams to accomplish unknown mission for unknown purposes.
Your objective: as the leader of the newly recognized Xenonauts oragniazation, an agency supported by a world now united to resist the threat, you must find out the alien's goals, study their technology, improve humanity's defences, foil the baddies' plans and untimately avoid the global catastrophe.
The game is basically organized in three phases: economic manageament, interception and ground engagement.
During the first phase, you'll have to choose the destination of the financial resources the funding nations send to you at the beginning of each month; you'll have to choose wisely how to distribute them between facilities construction, scientists/engineers/soldiers hiring and weapons/armour/vehicles building. During the first in-game months this will be you main problem: you'll need to quickly expand your world coverage with new bases and radar arrays, otherwise the enemy scouts will do what they please undisturbed, worsening your relations with the funding nations they strike and hence lowering your next incomes.
Initially, you will see your finances dive: only an effective interception system will allow you to survive -remeber, if you don't pay for wags and expenses, the game is over- so in a certain sense"who spends more, spends less". Holding the action to save money will almost never help you.
Moreover, starting form the middle stage of the game, the ETs will start to build bases in the "dark" zones and conquer entire continents, so an efficient operative net is needed.
During the second, you will send your interceptors against the ufos with the intent of shooting them down on land for your strike teams to investigate.
You can either auto-resolve the sky enocunters or manually engage the targets; if you choose this second option, you can control your fighters like you were issuing orders whatching a radar screen in a real time with pause gameplay style.
Many underestimate this mode, yet I found it compelx enough to be very entertaining during the entire game and very useful to turn the tides of the battle in my favour. When the encounters start to be 3 vs 3 and your tech three is still way under the new alien battleships, having direct control on the strategy is vital; I have won several battles with the autoresolve indicator signing less than 20% of possible chances -it was not an easy task, but in the end the losses were much more acceptable than those following the automated resolution.
During the third, you will send your soldiers to investigate the Alien wreckage, recovering new technology for the science team to study, scavenging special materials and terminating the remaining invading forces.
This is where the game really shines: a brilliant AI will chase your team relentlessly in turn-based combat while they explore the (partially) randomly generated maps, and only a very good use of tactics could allow your men to survive.
The possibilities are many, increased by a susbtantial number weapons, armours, soldier's stats, altered mind states due to Alien's psionic powers, ground vehicles and different opponents with peculiar features.
Mind this, though: the game is HARD. During my first hours of play I had to save-scum several times to better understand the mechanics and avoid being slaughtered, yet even after lerning them well enough the flow of combat was far from easy. Each error wil cost you dearly, and losing an experienced soldier is always a tragedy.
The three phases will keep on like this for the whole game, yet the developers never give you the time to get used to the encounters: the invasion will escalate quickly, and whenever you will feel comfotable enough against the enemy, apparently being able to tame it with your new tech and expecting no more surprises, the attacking forces will deploy more advanced ships, new troops and more powerful weapons, always keeping you on your toes so that things do not get repetitive.
Depending on how you play, the invaders may start Terror missions to conquer or destroy cities: those particularly difficult mission will put you to test, having dire negative effects in case of failure.
If they feel particularly confident they may even try to attack your base, so be sure to build AA guns and always keep a garrison ready: the sneaky taffers may surprise you when you are busy with another operation.
I found the game as a whole really impressive, my only complaint being due to the excessive hastiness of the ending (considering the fact that this is a game based on mechanics, this is not a big issue, anyway).
Its "just one more turn" appeal guarantees that I will play it more times -after the new 1.5 patch is out with all its improvements- especially at higher difficulties or with the masochistic "Ironman mode" (which prevents you to have free control of multiple saves for a painfully realistic experience).
That said, let me award Xenonauts with the Enebias' Official Seal of Approval™!
Absolutely recommended, if you are a stragegy fan get it asap: you will not be disappointed!
WARNING: Xenonauts is not a videogame. It's a damn addiction!
Let me review it briefly: there is enough material to talk about it for days, but I'll try to be essential.
Xenonauts is a turn-based strategy game inspired by the classic X-Com, born with the clear intent to improve the formula of its predecessor. After starting as a compeltely independed project and then being supported by a successful Kickstarter to cover some of the smaller details that couldn't be implemented with the original budget, I must say that it definitely does not fail to deliver.
Earth, 1979. In the middle of the Cold War, the planet is attacked by an fleet of space invaders floating just above the atmosphere. It's obvious that their goal is not the extermiantion of the human race, yet they keep sending landing teams to accomplish unknown mission for unknown purposes.
Your objective: as the leader of the newly recognized Xenonauts oragniazation, an agency supported by a world now united to resist the threat, you must find out the alien's goals, study their technology, improve humanity's defences, foil the baddies' plans and untimately avoid the global catastrophe.
The game is basically organized in three phases: economic manageament, interception and ground engagement.
During the first phase, you'll have to choose the destination of the financial resources the funding nations send to you at the beginning of each month; you'll have to choose wisely how to distribute them between facilities construction, scientists/engineers/soldiers hiring and weapons/armour/vehicles building. During the first in-game months this will be you main problem: you'll need to quickly expand your world coverage with new bases and radar arrays, otherwise the enemy scouts will do what they please undisturbed, worsening your relations with the funding nations they strike and hence lowering your next incomes.
Initially, you will see your finances dive: only an effective interception system will allow you to survive -remeber, if you don't pay for wags and expenses, the game is over- so in a certain sense"who spends more, spends less". Holding the action to save money will almost never help you.
Moreover, starting form the middle stage of the game, the ETs will start to build bases in the "dark" zones and conquer entire continents, so an efficient operative net is needed.
During the second, you will send your interceptors against the ufos with the intent of shooting them down on land for your strike teams to investigate.
You can either auto-resolve the sky enocunters or manually engage the targets; if you choose this second option, you can control your fighters like you were issuing orders whatching a radar screen in a real time with pause gameplay style.
Many underestimate this mode, yet I found it compelx enough to be very entertaining during the entire game and very useful to turn the tides of the battle in my favour. When the encounters start to be 3 vs 3 and your tech three is still way under the new alien battleships, having direct control on the strategy is vital; I have won several battles with the autoresolve indicator signing less than 20% of possible chances -it was not an easy task, but in the end the losses were much more acceptable than those following the automated resolution.
During the third, you will send your soldiers to investigate the Alien wreckage, recovering new technology for the science team to study, scavenging special materials and terminating the remaining invading forces.
This is where the game really shines: a brilliant AI will chase your team relentlessly in turn-based combat while they explore the (partially) randomly generated maps, and only a very good use of tactics could allow your men to survive.
The possibilities are many, increased by a susbtantial number weapons, armours, soldier's stats, altered mind states due to Alien's psionic powers, ground vehicles and different opponents with peculiar features.
Mind this, though: the game is HARD. During my first hours of play I had to save-scum several times to better understand the mechanics and avoid being slaughtered, yet even after lerning them well enough the flow of combat was far from easy. Each error wil cost you dearly, and losing an experienced soldier is always a tragedy.
The three phases will keep on like this for the whole game, yet the developers never give you the time to get used to the encounters: the invasion will escalate quickly, and whenever you will feel comfotable enough against the enemy, apparently being able to tame it with your new tech and expecting no more surprises, the attacking forces will deploy more advanced ships, new troops and more powerful weapons, always keeping you on your toes so that things do not get repetitive.
Depending on how you play, the invaders may start Terror missions to conquer or destroy cities: those particularly difficult mission will put you to test, having dire negative effects in case of failure.
If they feel particularly confident they may even try to attack your base, so be sure to build AA guns and always keep a garrison ready: the sneaky taffers may surprise you when you are busy with another operation.
I found the game as a whole really impressive, my only complaint being due to the excessive hastiness of the ending (considering the fact that this is a game based on mechanics, this is not a big issue, anyway).
Its "just one more turn" appeal guarantees that I will play it more times -after the new 1.5 patch is out with all its improvements- especially at higher difficulties or with the masochistic "Ironman mode" (which prevents you to have free control of multiple saves for a painfully realistic experience).
That said, let me award Xenonauts with the Enebias' Official Seal of Approval™!
Absolutely recommended, if you are a stragegy fan get it asap: you will not be disappointed!
