Built almost twenty years, the XCOM saga is currently operating a comeback in front of the media scene. After Enemy Unknown, the strategy game Firaxis signed, it is the turn of developer 2K Marin deliver his reinterpretation of the monument 90s through The Office: XCOM Declassified. This time point turn, but a third-person shooter by making tactical assaults. This is a title that, against all odds, could attract more than one player. This is at least what we think after spending several hours in his company.
We October 28, 1962. On Earth, the United States, to be precise, anxiety reign. Strange signals that we know neither the source nor nature, are indeed captured for some time. However, the panic is not in the agenda. At least, not yet. But it will not be long. It suffices for a few minutes to The Office: XCOM Declassified ask for its plot and reveal the threat to our beautiful planet. Whoever is going to have to shut it is FBI Agent William Carter. A serious man, strong, angular face with the false airs of Don Draper, the character of Mad Men. Luckily since the American series is one of the references of the art department studio 2K Marin. At the end of a scene at the very least curious, Carter discovers that one of his colleagues is nothing but a malicious alien. Super, the invasion began and evil aliens are already stashed in the population. Their goal: to pump the Earth's resources while eliminating, where possible, any form of resistance. The XCOM body responsible to stop the massacre, the cut out.
When 2K Marin XCOM revisits
Like any good XCOM, The Bureau proposes to stop the alien invasion. To do this, the body which William Carter is the main armed moved into a base with advanced technology. This is the place that serves as the main hub during the adventure. In skin Carter, you can wander freely between each mission to discover the different departments. So you have the option to return to the hospital, laboratories, barracks and so on. This allows in particular to talk with some important members of the organization. The dialogues are multiple choice but what we saw, there is a priori no important decisions taken at this level. There is more to determine what questions to ask in order to glean more information or month depending on your level of involvement in the story. Sometimes through these conversations, you get access to side quests. Initially, you are asked, for example, cause you to shoot at targets to improve your accuracy.
Obviously, The Office: XCOM Declassified is not strictly a game of strategy, the base does not give access to as many activities as that of Enemy Unknown. However, you can hire different agents who accompany you on the ground. If you can have only two partners in the heat of battle, your team can perform much more. Death is permanent in The Office (a tradition in the XCOM series), it will also often have to go through the recruitment box. Basically, hire an agent is roughly determine which of the four available classes (Commando, Engineer, Recon, Support) we are interested in, the aim is to form a complete team. You then have the ability to customize each character by changing the color of his clothes. Of course, your teammates gain experience in progressively clashes. Each level crossing can choose from two capacities (an irrevocable decision) and thus slightly specialize agent. Finally, it should be noted that the base is also where you choose your next intervention via a map of the United States. Sometimes, several missions are available simultaneously. Some of them can be done by your team. In the way of what is happening in Assassin's Creed for example, you decide who is going to accomplish the objectives. If the agents left on the ground can not be selected for you during your speeches, they gain experience. For those who are wondering, know that contrary to what was happening in Enemy Unknown, you do not have to ensure the support of other countries. The adventure this time is linear.
Tactical TPS
Do not be fooled, you will spend most of your time in "fashion GST". Understand by this mission. In the heat of the moment, The Office: XCOM Declassified wants to be a tactical GST. Not turn, but the opportunity to play active break - and thus remain under pressure - at any time to place his troops and define their actions (eg use abilities or target an enemy, a percentage while indicating the chances of success). Long undecided about the interface would have to face during the fighting, 2K Marin has opted for a wheel showing all the possibilities for each character. It is really easy to use and it is thus possible to quickly do exactly what you want. For once, every movement must be considered, especially if you opt for the maximum difficulty (there are a priori four). Indeed, the enemies do no gift and remember, death is permanent. A deceased officer will never return. However, whenever a teammate fell on the battlefield, there is a possibility of cure for a short period of time. We can then go yourself or ask the third member to take on this often dangerous task. After recovering from his injuries, the agent can then start to attack. Except that famous last difficulty where it remains locked until the end of combat.
2K Marin says it is impossible to rush headlong and fulfill one's objectives. To be quite frank, this statement seems, to some extent, quite problematic. It is true that the difficulty setting, using the crew is required. Normal you tell me. Yes but also worrying because your partners often appear unnecessarily reckless. Let them fend for five minutes only means in most cases found dying on the floor. Artificial intelligence agents appears limited. They are stupid and sometimes expose themselves to danger to shoot anything, including when they are stashed behind a piece of scenery. The cover system seems flawed to AI for us. We then spent long minutes to make trips from one end to the other of the map to treat them. Suffice to say that your life bar can also take a hit. However, let us not be categorical. Perhaps this is also a question of method? One solution is we actually appeared rather quickly. You actually have to deal with them at all times, ie move constantly and define each of their shares (the ability to create a chain of actions and, if necessary, interrupt, exists). Basically, it is imperative to never leave their initiative. However, we doubt that this is sufficient for the entire adventure. To see. Anyway, the game allows very precise movements, a cursor indicating the exact point where your teammate instead. Make moves also helps to have a broader view of the battlefield. The maps are not open but still allow different tactical approaches (diversionary attacks by the side ...).
The consequences of a complicated development
2K Marin has encountered many difficulties during development. Would that at the choice of the orientation of the FPS game? GST? Nag? Tactic? The American studio hesitated. And in a sense, it paid off as many avenues have been explored and many mistakes avoided. The interface is rather clear and effective, even if the PC gamers râleront probably due to the "consolisation" of the latter. The position of the camera, quite far from Carter also proved to be a good decision. This makes it easy to see the battlefield. Developers confess that for the first person, the tactical aspect was harmed due to lack of visibility. We also appreciate the gameplay forces reflection. It must obviously make plans to escape the clutches of some aliens. The Muton famous enemy if any, demand for example some organization to be shot because of its power and its high resistance to bullets. Some aliens (often a kind of boss) were also weaknesses that it is imperative to learn to hope to eliminate. The research side however seems to have disappeared. Humans recover and use alien technology but so scripted. There really is no choice to make.
Unfortunately, the long and rather chaotic game development has also had negative effects on the technical side. While some environments and special effects are quite successful, but we can not really say that the game shines at this level (we played on a PC that is more). Overall, it appears quite dated. The animations are very rigid one example among other shortcomings displayed by the game In our version, many of the problems were a bonus tarnish the experience. It may not, however, appreciate the work done at the art direction. The sixties side is very well made. We really feel like an unlikely encounter between Mad Men and an action film about an alien invasion. Class!
0 commentaires:
Post a Comment