Author’s Note: For our take on the PC release of XCOM 2, check out Reid McCarter’s review from earlier this year! “That's XCOM, baby!” has become a minor meme in the XCOM community in recent years, and for good reason. It’s a response to the randomness that the games can throw at... #firaxis #xcom
Amazon Prime subscribers can claim more than a dozen games to keep this month.
Firaxis veteran Jake Solomon hasn't seen mass layoffs like this in his whole 25-year career.
Alot’s changed in 25 years. We have games with $300 mill budgets, people not interested in games other than Fortnite and Minecraft, the older generation of gamers giving up the hobby or dying off, a period of super bad inflation where the industry decided to hike up prices on games, Gamepass harming game sales, GaaS games being pushed left and right with obnoxious monetization and worse looking/playing (Suicide Squad vs Arkham Knight).
The industry is just shite right now. Games ain’t selling, games cost massive amounts, businesses can’t bleed money and this is what happens. Part of it is on them and part of it is on consumers not buying.
Consumers ain't buying because of what they're selling; There is no new SSX or Burnout, everything is now Online Required, everything is 'service', etc.
Indies are still delivering the goods, perhaps even better than ever, because those are often the guys and gals who know what they want to make and just make that and hopefully we dig it as well and support it ...
... but when you look at those multi-million budget AAA games, are they improving on what we have had before? Is the new Forza Motorsport better than a Forza Mototsport 4? Is Halo Infinite better than Halo 3? Is Dragon Age 2 such a huge improvement over the first Dragon Age? Etcetc.
Yeah, graphics have gotten better, worlds have gotten better, but I think a gaming generations stands or falls with diversity and experiences, and a few gens ago we had access to whatever we wanted, so if we wanted a boxing game we picked up one of the boxing games, if we wanted snowboarding we'd pick up one of the snowboarding games, if we wanted to do a rythm game we had DJ Hero, or Guitar Hero, or Rockband. If we wanted to sneak around we had Splinter Cell or MGS or whatever.
We had variety and we had options, and that makes or breaks a generation, imo. You're in a foodcourt of games and they're serving all kinds of different cuisines, and so you'd pick and choose whatever you felt like that day.
Right now, you're in a restaurant, and you're only allowed to pick from one menu, and there's a dress-code, and you have to register, and you have to stay in your seat, etc etc.
The PS5 is an incredible console, and if you're lucky enough to have one, or have just received one for Christmas then you'll already know there is a host of great games out there.
What you may not be aware of is that if you subscribe to PlayStation Plus Extra or Premium, you'll actually get access to a huge catalogue of titles to play at any time. Many of which you can stream without having to do any downloads. If you have a PlayStation Portal you could even play these titles from your bed.
Damn the only one I’ve played so far is Miles Morales, although I do own Control and Rift Apart.
Odd list. Where is Horizon Forbidden West? Ghost of Tsushima? Demon’s Souls? Returnal? And fun indie games like Superliminal? Where’s “A Plage Tale Requiem” and “Evil West”, the current PS+ Essential offerings?
Like seriously? Those are games Extra Tier can get - so not worth upgrading to Premium
I'm on my 8th New game. Viper King Hurts so good.
I will grant you that this version of XCOM 2 is not the superior version, but we all know that Firaxis won't allows this game to wither on the vine.
I know it's an opinion piece/review, but it seems rather harsh and may turn away potential customers. That's all I'm saying.
I would ask potential XCOM 2 buyers to buy the best version of this game to accommodate your lifestyle and platform of choice. It's just a great game with much to offer.
No mod support for PS4 though, hmmm.
Saw it for myself recently on console(X1) and the framerate was pitiful. Consoles are quickly outdated so I can see why they need upgraded models.
On PS4 there is some seriously long loading times and some stuttering intros before missions now and again but for most part I could overlook that as game plays well enough when you're actually "playing".
If you're a fan of xcom (new one) and don't want it on PC, it's fine but hope it gets patched up a bit too.
It's pretty much what i wanted.