The lights are on
In the world of XCOM: Enemy Unknown, players will need much more than brute strength and Rambo tactics. Would-be generals will need to implement precise coordination between all of their elite soldiers. Take note as we walk you through some sample tactics, this time we explore flanking.
[This feature was written with the assistance of XCOM: Enemy Unknown producer Garth DeAngelis]
If you missed part one, read it here.
XCOM HQ has been getting reports of alien activity circling the skies over a small American town. Our team lands near a gas station and pushes forward into a fog-enshrouded battlefield.
In XCOM: Enemy Unknown, the player doesn’t control one hero. An entire squad is at their command, and it’s crucial to leverage squad and combination tactics to counter the alien threat.
One simple way to do this is by flanking your enemy. Flanking is a simple technique that always gives the aggressor the advantage. But taking the time to get behind a target has its risks…aliens could be lurking in the shadows or waiting to react to a player’s actions for a high percentage shot. However, the player can mastermind creative squad combinations, which will increase their odds against these devious alien tactics. In this example, an Assault squadmember moves to high cover to survey the fog-enshrouded battlefield.
...but a few Sectoids emerge!
The Heavy soldier moves into cover to prepare to support the Assault unit, scoping out the revealed Sectoids.
Our Heavy foregoes a standard shot on an individual Sectoid, and instead unleashes a devastating area Suppress ability. This won’t kill the aliens, but it will pin their movements and reduce their offensive capabilities.
As our Heavy distracts the Sectoids our Assault soldier is free to move about. She now plans her flanking maneuver.
Notice that her chance to hit the Sectoid is at 65%. This is because he countered our Suppression by Mind Merging with an unrevealed cohort. This alien ability has increased the Sectoid’s health and made him tougher. So let’s increase our odds of taking him out by going for the flank…
Our Assault unit plans her route to the coveted flanking spot…
…and she makes a run for it!
The Sectoid suppressed by our Heavy is still penalized, so his shot misses and our Assault unit makes it safely to her destination.
The flanking position increases the Assault’s chance to-hit to 91%.
Mission accomplished.
For more battle tactics, read part one here.
Email the author Ben Reeves, or follow on Twitter, Google+, Facebook, and Game Informer.
I've got to see this in action!
I cant wait for this game...
Really liking how they have kept the tactics of the first one. Can't wait to see some gameplay videos.
So far things are looking good. I have either overlooked it our it has not been said about the squad size per mission. Do we have an answer to the squad size? Being a 40 year old gamer and someone that played XCOM when the demo floppy disc came out and then the retail release. I have my fond memories of this and TFTD. My fear is that we are going to get a shrunken squad size like what some one did to a few Tom Clancy games from the originals.
The tactics look extremely polished and well thought out. I think the last strategy game I was this excited about was Age of Empires II. Looking forward to the developer podcast later this week!
Please do one more of these showing what happens when your tactics go horribly wrong.
Seems pretty awesome
It's going to be hard waiting for this game. I can't begin to tell you how much of my life I've wasted, more like enjoyed, playing the original X-COM. From what I have seen so far, Firaxis' take on the IP looks to have all the depth of the original, with the added bonus of almost 20 years of advancements in gaming.
Interesting ideas, could be new trend. I just hope its not one of those games that gets to much hype and falls flat.
I remember buying "Terror From the Deep" years and years ago when there used to be 100's of PC games at the game store.
I remember I bought it just because the box art looked awesome; I was probably only 10 or so at the time.
Thinking about it now, I can't believe my luck buying one of the best PC strategy games ever just based solely on the box art (back in the day when internet barely existed, so no game reviews or news). If I never made that purchase, I probably wouldn't be reading these articles, or at least I wouldn't be very excited if I were... can't wait! **nostalgia**