XCOM: Enemy Unknown Steam pre-orders will progressively unlock rewards

XCOM: Enemy Unknown is now available for pre-order on Steam, and comes with some sweet bonuses – as long as enough people get on board.

Firaxis and 2K are offering three tiers of rewards for those who pre-order on Steam, with each tier unlocked by a set number of purchases.

The first reward is an Elite Soldier Pack – a classic XCOM soldier, soldier deco packs and complete color customization option.

The second is a cross-promotional affair, awarding three items for Team Fortress 2 – crafty hair, a Badlands alien skin for the Pyro and a Vigilant pin. Finally, the third reward is a free copy of Civilization 5.

It’s not clear how many pre-orders are required for each step, but the gauge currently sits at just 9% so go ahead and bully your friends into buying; assuage your consumer guilt by telling yourself you’re building a ready-made multiplayer community.

Visit Steam to pre-order and check the recently-release system requirements. XCOM: Enemy Unknown will also launch on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, on October 11.

http://www.vg247.com/2012/09/07/xcom-enemy-unknown-steam-pre-orders-will-progressively-unlock-rewards/

I'm so hyped for this game. After nearly 20 years, I finally beat the original X-com last year. It was epic. Everything I've read about this game has only confirmed for me that this will be a worthy successor to the original. I've played lots of tribute games, remakes, fan makes, etc for UFO: Enemy Unknown. All of them were disappointing in some way or another. No destructible enviroments in this one, bad squad management in that one. So far, this one sounds perfect. Except for no base invasions. That's the only thing I wish they had kept that I know they removed.

What is the over under on base invasion DLC you think? 

I don't think its going to happen.  The way the base is laid out is like a 2D cutaway.  Antfarm, they call it.  It was designed to be a "safe haven" from the get go.  They'd have to completely alter the way bases are laid out in order for base invasions to be put in.

But honestly, it isn't a big deal.  Of the 100s of games of original X-com I played, I can remember a base invasion only 2 or 3 times.  It doesn't come up that often; and the game is usually lost long before a base invasion will take you out.

It could work wity the current base layout. And they could have it so you had to defend the entrance to the base, so you would have a big battle to defend the entrance against waves of enemies, thjey could sdo a lot of diffent things with the concept.

Just pre ordered it on Steam. Can't wait !!!

Great news

'XCOM' for PC will be a familiar experience for fans of the original game

The PC version of XCOM: Enemy Unknown will be a familiar game to those who played the original back in the 90s, the developer promises.

"The PC version for us is a big deal," said Firaxis game designer Jake Solomon. "With a shooter or an action game you may be able to fall into the dangerous trap of porting the UI, but for us that was never an option."

The team was so concerned about how their remake of the original 1994 turn-based strategy PC game would play on the computer that they split the user interface design team in two from the get go.

"We've had two separate teams working the whole time on the UI, one on PC and one on console," Solomon said. "We're pretty excited that they look very different and feel very different."

While the console version looks a bit more like an action game, with much of the data and tactical interface of the original title stripped away, the PC version drops a lot of that back in to the look of the game.

The most noticeable difference between the two is the ability to bring the original game's chessboard like grid back into play.

"We don't have a grid in the console version, it's all free movement," Solomon said. "But on the PC version it was such a pain in the ass to not have a grid that we went back and added it."

That grid isn't always present, but holding down the right mouse button can pop it up. Mousing over an enemy alien's head brings back a lot of that missing data, like hit percentage. And the game's "phone box," the glowing transparent box marking which grid coordinate is currently selected in the game, is back as well.

The PC team also went back in and added some more details and increased the game's maximum resolution, all amplified by the ability to zoom the game's view in and out more than you can on console.

A lot of the additional touches and polish coming to the PC happened in the tail end of the game's development thanks to the console's longer certification process, which gave the entire team a couple of months to mess around with the PC build.

Solomon said the entire team is very aware that expectations for the PC version of the game are very high, driven by the fact that this is beloved PC franchise for a shrinking genre developed by the team behind some of PC game's biggest strategy titles.

This morning the team officially announced Steam support for the game. That means it will be sold through Steam and get all of the Steam benefits, including achievements, auto-updating, multiplayer matchmaking and cloud support.

The team hasn't yet decided if the game will include Steam Workshop support, which allows for user-created content, like maps.

The Steam version of the game includes an Elite Soldier Pack, which allows players to customize their troops. The pack comes with the iconic blond, flattop soldier from the original game and a couple of aesthetically different armor kits.

Solomon said that the PC version will also come with a unique achievement called "bubonic." Currently only Solomon has the achievement, but anyone who plays him will get the achievement as well, and then anyone who plays them receives.

"It's a disease," he said. "I'm going to go out and start playing people and see how it spreads through multiplayer. I'll be patient zero."

http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/9/7/3300027/xcom-for-pc-will-be-a-familiar-experience-for-fans-of-the-original

Despite being dumbed down from the original X-com i'm still crazy hyped for this game and don't know why.

A great preview 

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/09/13/hands-on-forty-hours-with-xcom/#more-124165

"I’ll finish by saying that my biggest concern has completely evaporated. I wasn’t sure how different the game would feel on each playthrough, whether it would be as replayable as the original. I’ll need to answer that when I’ve got the full game and spent almost two decades with it, but I’ve started from scratch at least ten times in the last week, and it’s felt like a different experience every time.

When I wrote about Crusader Kings II back near the beginning of the year, I said this: “If it doesn’t wind up being among my very favourite games of the year, spectacular things will occur in the next ten months.” Well, CK II will still be up there, but XCOM really is something spectacular. With all the burden of expectation and doubt, it manages to be both a hugely respectful reimagining and, all ties ignored, one of the best turn-based tactical games I’ve played in, well, forever."

The demo is live if anyone wants to check it out.

I will update the OP soon