But YES.
Maybe.
O Fortuna that Rock, Paper, Shotgun reports this interesting piece of news…
2K Boston, formerly known as Irrational Games (System Shock 2, Bioshock, Freedom Force, etc) is no longer 2K Boston. It is formerly 2K Boston! It is now known as… Irrational Games. Apparently 2K realized that there’s a bit of a legacy from Irrational, and simply naming all its wholly-owned studios after their home cities is dumb.
Why does this matter? Because Ken Levine and his team at Formerly 2K Boston have been working on a secret project for the last two years. A project so secret and so important that Levine didn’t even make much fuss when 2K handed control of Bioshock 2 to another developer with the creative name 2K Marin. What is this secret project, you ask? No one knows!
But the grapevine has been whispering for 24 months, and the whispers say… X-COM. A game Ken Levine once described as his first love. Poor Mrs. Levine.
Is it true? No one knows! Well, no one outside 2K Boston Irrational Games, that is. And probably some other people. And Game Informer magazine, which supposedly will have more details in this month’s issue. Check out www.irrationalgames.com for absolutely no more information.
Yeah I read that earlier today and man is that some great news because I always liked the sound of ‘Irrational’. 2K Boston… tch. Give me strength.
And please please be XCOM. I played the original for the first time about 4 years ago and even though it was through an Amiga emulator it blew me away which is incredible really. The elegant game design just shone through the (still) serviceable graphics and the soundtrack was appropriately creepy. Man, that low, humming drone that accompanied combat drops and the noises as the enemy (unknown) scurried around in the darkness. Brr. 4 years ago and it had that effect on me! The reason I stopped playing was because the interface I found a little clunky but it’s still a classic and one of the finest turn based games ever.
Thanks for the link to Irrational Games. I read about as much information on XCOM there as I did on Bioshock 2 over at the Bioshock 2 site. It’s much appreciated.
There was a 3D XCOM in production quite some time ago, but was subsequently ‘canned’. I would be very surprised if it was another. The original game looked incredibly in depth. However, I doubt very (much besides the core original fans) that a 3D turn based version would sell well.
It’s more likely they would turn the game into a real-time squad based shooter, or all out shooter. Or, fan hysteria aside- it could turn out to be something entirely new 🙂
They included a real-time combat feature on XCOM: Apocalypse (the sequel to UFO: Enemy Unknown) and it just didn’t work.
In truth Lew, there’s been a ton of XCOM inspired games (like these here, here, here, here and here to name the big ones) but none, somehow, have ever come close to replicating the slow burning dread of the combat drops, the fine blend of turn based strategy, resource management, equipment loud-outs, research and development, risk and reward. I remember wanting to capture an alien to research, so I equipped one of my newly recruited soldiers with a stun/cattle prod. He was a brave man. As one particular combat drop progressed I was positive that an alien was hiding behind a door and promptly ordered him over to jump the big headed bastard and well, bugger me, it worked. We had an alien ripe for research. Now tell me how THAT isn’t appealing? What about leaving a city to be ravaged by an invasion purely because you didn’t have the nuts (or resources) to go in at night? And what about the nation of said city being totally pissed off with you and cutting your funding? Seriously I don’t know any game that has blended so many different elements together so well.
Remember that bit on Aliens where Lt. Gorman is sweating because his marines are getting torn to pieces in the dark? Well that’s you on XCOM. Honestly brother, you should check it out. You can buy it for next to nothing these days from places like Steam and Impulse.
Not to mention the levels were procedurally generated so no two drops were the entirely the same!
I’ve watched you play XCOM, and although in my shallowness I hate the graphics, the actual game play is appealing. However, I do not think the same feeling will transfer well to 3D.
How would they create such a tactical restriction (based on Line of Sight), when the game is in 3D?
Would they add a huge fog of war like C&C and justify it with some outlandish story?
Could the current gaming audience cope with a turn based restriction?
How could they possibly implement such game play depth in 3D? The game was only as in-depth as it was thanks to its simple graphics.
I’m just not convinced XCOM in its current capacity could be remade into 3D – it would have to be significantly changed which would instantly draw criticism from its fans.
Then again, the remake of Alien Breed went down well…
Dwarf Fortress could never be made into 3D due its insane complexity but XCOM: UFO Defense is a much simpler affair and had many elegant emergent systems that bounced off each other making all sorts of memorable situations. These systems are present in todays games but they’re not usually employed in a way that creates as compelling an experience. Whether it’s somebody not being able to reload because they have a Motion Sensor in their other hand or their morale giving way to wanton terror and shooting everything (and everyone) these little systems don’t stand by themselves, they interact with each other. For instance, building a base on a grid system which is interpreted into a combat landscape when aliens invade isn’t something I would expect modern technology to be incapable of. The game was made in 1994 Lew!! 16 bloody years ago!!
What I loved about X-COM was the politics. The fact that every decision you made, no matter how minor or how significant, was watched and judged by the Council. It was like you were fighting a war on two fronts – a war with enemies you didn’t understand, and with sponsors who didn’t understand your needs. If there were a remake/update of X-COM, I’d like to see politics have greater significance. The ability to take control of soldiers and go to first person during a drop might be cool too, if it were Rainbow Six tactical rather than Serious Sam silly.
Actually now you mention it the political side could be very interesting. There could be some real tension between countries trying to get X-COM to favour their interests. It could work out to a be fine political balancing act with certain nations making tough requests like HQ relocation or zero incidents in return for funding or other resources. Helping a certain nation too much could work in your favour or strain relations with others. Yeah that could be really great and add yet another dimension to the proceedings.
The first person cam would be a pretty sweet little feature and could become a creepy means of seeing the enemies turn.