The discovery portion of XCOM matched with the dreadful mystery of XCOM, overlaid by unknown levels of complexity, is what makes the game feel real/alive. It makes the gamespace feel much more wide-open than it really is. When you first experience your own base under attack, the feeling is "holy shit I didn't even know this could happen and wow I did not plan appropriately for this eventuality!" In the reboot, it mostly just feels like another mission, where the layout is totally decoupled from the actual decisions you've made. And you're much more likely to have trained commandos at homebase rather than a ragtag bunch of rookies with "failed experiments" gear (eg laser tech and maybe some grenades lying around).
That's just one more example to illustrate how the original XCOM was as much about creating tension through the limitless possibilities of the unknown. Each and every decision was less like a chess game and more like a desperate gambit.
My every soldier carried an obligatory Laser Rifle in his backpack, taking it out and firing it every chance he had, achieving 3 objectives at once:
- the more stuff you carry, the faster strength and TUs of a soldier grow
- he always has a backup weapon with infinite ammo and decent damage
- everytime your other units are searching for that last alien, you must choose some barn or cabbage and SHOOT at it at full auto, RAPIDLY rising shooting accuracy.
In addition to laser rifles my commandoes always carry autocannons with HE or Incendiary ammo, creating havoc every time they can and scaring enemy to death. Later you can replace autocannons with Heavy Plasmas and those Blaster Launchers, but before that, it's the best way for heavy loading soldiers.
The only downside to this is somewhat reduced TU count in the beginning, and you also have to set up the gear for every mission, which is a drag. Unfortunately, original XCom doesn't have loadout templates.
Unfortunately, original XCom doesn't have loadout templates.
X-Com (the organisation) truly feels like a hastily slapped together ragtag bunch in the beginning. Governments have thrown money at a problem with no real plan or strategy and whipped up something ASAP. They want results and it's your job to deliver them. You're the expert, they're more than happy to pull out if you fail. You are probably unprepared, but no one had any idea how unprepared, something you very quickly learn after your first encounter. That elite squad you outfitted with all of mankind's best aircraft, armour and weapons? Just got owned in their first encounter. Medkits? Basically useless when you're being melted by a single plasma rifle charge.
The clutter and disarray really drives home just how vastly outgunned humans are in the beginning and the story driven by player experience would suffer greatly if all the "useless" stuff was pared back and the starting condition pre-optimised.
Otherwise a great article.