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Xenonauts base background8/9/2023 ![]() Xenonauts brings back TUs (time units) as movement mechanic (action points reserve with full movement freedom). Perhaps fill them up with more elements or use more irregular shapes. I think they can do better with the maps, to give them more flavor and make them more interesting-looking. ![]() But, right now, everything feels a bit too empty and simple perhaps. The tractors, the vans, the different buildings to some extent, the barns, the cabbage fields and all that. The individual map elements are quite nice. A bit barren, or empty is perhaps the best word. The thing is that the maps still feel a bit, how can I say it, dry. From a pure graphical standpoint, Xenonauts is indeed years ahead of X-COM, as it should be. Don’t get me wrong, the maps are nicely rendered and all that. The other factor why I think Xenonauts is still not quite there in terms of immersion, is due to the maps themselves. Perhaps a few more art injections (including more and better music and sounds) could help overcome this lacking. In my experience it’s harder to get an immersion effect in a more realistic environment. X-COM is more cartoony while Xenonauts is more realistic, so to speak. First, the art style is completely different. Some aliens look quite grotesque and odd, as they should.īut, I don’t think Xenonauts is quite there yet though.Why? I suspect it’s because of two main things. You get the feeling of chaos when playing a terror site mission. You do get a sense of fear when facing the enemy, because they indeed feel powerful (well, at least their weapons do) and their behavior is a bit unpredictable. Let me say that Xenonauts succeeds in all these fronts, to some degree, in this Beta. It really is a gaming experience landmark. The sounds when people, or the aliens die, and the fact that you can’t see much of what’s going on but only listen. While the strategic layer is, no doubt, a very important and fun aspect of any X-COM type game, the ground combat is probably what the majority of players considers X-COM to be best known about. Soldier equipping screen (part of planned major UI overhaul) But, the UI changes seem to be for the best, although I’m not so sure about the amount of white used, maybe a bit darker would be preferable? But, at the time of these impressions, between the 12th and 13th of June, these UI changes were not yet in place. They seem to have been preparing this change for a long time now. A few more tooltips wouldn’t hurt.īut, Goldhawk seems to be preparing to make a major UI overhaul. For example, the UI doesn’t tell you what a new armor does exactly, besides letting you know that you can carry less weight. Overall, readability is not very good either, and intuitiveness could be better. For instance, sometimes, the UI still gives you a hard time with the drop boxes’ selections, which you tend to miss sometimes. It’s pretty and slick at places, like the majority of the soldier’s equipment screen (as seen above), but it’s still a bit blurry and clunky in some areas. Soldier equipping screen - Detail and flexibilityĬoncerning the base UI, it’s functional but I think Goldhawk can still do better. The original X-COM is an acclaimed game due to its tense and frightening atmosphere mixed with a sense of wonder when you meet the aliens and get in contact with their highly advanced technology. But, when more direct action is required you also play the role of a tactics officer in charge of controlling a squad of elite soldiers that will face the aliens on the battlefield. ![]() You must manage this organization, which, among other duties, includes hiring personal, acquiring interceptor planes and conduct advanced research and development. If you’re not familiarized with X-COM or Xenonauts, these games let you play the role of the commander of a secret organization assembled to face a sudden alien threat of unknown origin and purpose. So, if you’re familiarized with X-COM, you’ll feel right at home playing Goldhawk’s remake because while the setting and the art styles are completely different (X-COM puts you in a futuristic 1998 where Xenonauts puts you in the middle of the Cold War period), the game concept, and the main mechanics, are basically the same. The title is highly inspired by Julian Gollop’s X-COM: UFO Defense (aka UFO: Enemy Unknown) from 1994 (X-COM from this point forward), for which Goldhawk wants to create a “spiritual successor”. Xenonauts is a sci-fi turn-based squad tactics strategy game being developed by indie studio Goldhawk Interactive.
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