Take-Two has released a 20 minute XCOM gameplay walkthrough first shown off behind closed doors at E3 in June.
Narrative director Jordan Thomas - who also served as creative director on BioShock 2 - said developer 2K Marin felt it was time to put together a video update in order to lift the curtain on why the game has "been flying under the radar" for so long:
Our first crack at adapting XCOM to a more personal, real-time experience was way too much within our creative 'comfort zone'. It was kind of a run-and-gun affair, without a lot of focus on the command of your squad, or indeed on tactical play itself.
Candidly, it just wasn't 'XCOM' enough for the hardcore fans of the original games at 2K Marin, who serve as our creative conscience. So over the past year, we've made some pretty aggressive design changes, in pursuit of the feelings that we experienced when we played the original games. I'll cover those in the video itself, but a quick note about story:
Narratively, XCOM is an all-new origin story in its own timeline; a deliberate reimagining along the lines of something like Battlestar: Galactica or Batman Begins. What that means in practical terms is that while we take narrative inspiration from the original games, we have also deviated in a couple of key ways. For example, our game is set in 1962 within the continental United States -- at the moment the XCOM organization is formed.
We wanted to tell the story of the first man on the ground -- exaggerating cold-war fears about invasion from within -- via this alien threat for which there is no precedent. And we felt the best way to express that kind of intimate take on the XCOM universe is from that character's perspective: limited information, overwhelming odds, and direct personal involvement.
In our XCOM, you play William Carter, Special Agent in Charge of field operations at XCOM. So as you start up the video, I'd like you to slip into his shoes as he reviews a piece of evidence which was discovered somewhere out there in mid-century America.
Hope you dig it -- there's a whole lot more to come.
It was revealed in June that a PS3 version of the game will launch alongside the previously announced PC and Xbox 360 ones.
Comments
13 comments so far...
pRM8 on 26 Aug '11 said:
Video wont work and cant find an alternative
Black Mantis on 26 Aug '11 said:
Looks pretty cool, the overhaul looks to have paid off.
gmcb007 on 26 Aug '11 said:
Here's a Youtube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xp_kJuukP3k
I must say after watching this that my intrest has peaked dramatically!
StonecoldMC on 26 Aug '11 said:
Looks like X Com has the X Factor!
Ill get me coat again!
pRM8 on 26 Aug '11 said:
Ta.
aawells07 on 26 Aug '11 said:
Video wont work. CVG you guys are doing a really good job with the videos
Theres no way id let this continue if it were up to me.
ingy on 26 Aug '11 said:
I still pine for the old style X-Com, but this is looking good, thank goodness the developer has steered this away from the traditional run 'n' gun, and the result is something with a little character and strategy, bring it on
Codename21 on 26 Aug '11 said:
That looked fanstastic!
Now, package it up with the original UFO: Enemy Unknown and X-Com Terror from the Deep for XBLA and I'll pay anything for this!
ingy on 26 Aug '11 said:
I still play the PS1 versions of both of those titles on my PS3, I love the turn based strategy with time units and XBLA would be perfect for this with improved graphics......one can only dream
Soviet1918 on 26 Aug '11 said:
Oh god yeah, First played UFO: Enemy Unknown i think it was on the old Amiga A1200 with beefed up memory or else it ran realy slow lol ..
The_KFD_Case on 27 Aug '11 said:
That looks fantastic IMO! Even better than I had hoped for.
Well, hello XCOM! I do believe you will be the next Xbox 360 game I purchase (The Witcher 2, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and Skyrim have, or will be, purchased for the PC).
Mmmmgrolsch on 27 Aug '11 said:
I know its a f**king joke. Its like they're deliberately ignoring the issue
Why don't the use youtube 
Fr33Kye on 27 Aug '11 said:
I really loved the demo. Put the game on my radar, that and the tears of fans. Heh it's kind of like dmc.