Is it possible to play vanilla EU in this by disabling all add ons, like in the console and PC versions?
Honestly on my iPhone 6 I've gotten some frame rate / jittering when playing inside the gas station level. Still playable though but it seems like the gas station is just too much for the new devices even.
Been playing this for a few hours now: Definitely a graphical and performance improvement over EU regardless of whether there are those who still think it looks like shite. Looks great to me, certainly the best overall* I've seen on iOS for the genre, but what do I know, just been playing TBS squad games for going on 3 decades now * There are some arguably better looking squad based TBS games on iOS, however, none with the size maps and complexity of encounters as this game has. In line with some of the comments about IB3, the more you've got going on gameplay wise, the less power you can dedicate to eye candy. A game like IB3 is almost rock paper scissors for all the depth and range the game play has, so it's not only possible, it's pretty much necessary to throw the remaining horsepower at eye candy to make up for that if you expect to achieve any sort of "wow factor". This game is rendering multiple units, buildings, and objects, most destructible, with multiple levels of elevation, indoor and outdoor zones, and constantly calculating line of sight throughout the complex 3D environment. Unless the "but this game looks prettier!" game is doing everything this game is doing, not a remotely apt comparison, particularly considering the RAM constraints even the newest iOS devices are forced to run under (still a whole 1 GB!) due to Apple's incredible need to maximize profits over the user experience. Still have no idea on the map count but it is very refreshing tackling things on what are, for me, brand new maps. Only real down side I can see to removing the more vanilla EU and making this one stand alone is there is seemingly a design assumption of familiarity with the vanilla game - definitely a "you're obviously here to play with the new toys" approach. Not so much that it would make the game unapproachable for new players, particularly with the easier difficulty below normal, but something that either wasn't considered or not considered as high a priority of avoiding confusion, double support duty, and inevitable review trashing. Considering the learning curve on vanilla was fairly steep, probably relatively insignificant. Too early to give an opinion on whether the new stuff changes things enough to justify "double dipping" for those who view the release that way, but no complaints here. I did immediately and gleefully change armor colors to distinguish classes.
Maybe we can have two XCom EW threads: an on-topic gameplay wise, strategies, etc. and an off-topic "why-on-Earth-did-2K-release-a-separate-app" thread. I just read the last 4 pages, and the few on-topic posts die in the ocean of posts discussing why did 2K create a new app and not an IAP. Why not just enjoy the game? I bought the first one at $20, played to death (single player only, btw) and bought this one this morning because I expect at least the same great gaming experience (hopefully with fewer crashes...) I had with the first XCom. I don't regret a single cent spent on 2K games. Hopefully I'll be able to play some minutes in the next few hours (if/when my children sleep and let me live! )
I haven't played a turn based combat game in ages as most of them used to devolve into who has the best Armour or has most strength with no actual or very little tactics required. If I was looking at trying a turn based combat game again would this or banner saga be best for difficulty, depth etc. Which would I get the most game time out of as well? Reading reviews for EU and Banner Saga make it hard to decide and with the extra EW content????? Thanks
This one. Banner Saga is a strategy RPG more than a squad based TBS. Still excellent, but not at being a squad based TBS compared to this. By the very end, of course, it still breaks down a lot in terms of depth due to the upgraded weapons, etc, but you will have earned your god like status (and will still need fairly good tactics in spite of them because there will be enemy gods as well) through many hours of tears and cursing as your best laid plans went to crap
Just bought this and begun training and the 1st mission and so far everything is identical to the vanilla version. How long does this go on for or are all the missions here the same as the vanilla version? I know there's supposed to be new stuff and missions and story but I feel I just bought the same game twice. I really don't want to play the vanilla version all over again but so far that's what I'm doing here. So far very disappointed as I wanted to get straight into the new content but I'm just playing missions I've already played. Don't like the way 2K have done this. It may turn out to be great but I'm not happy about having to play the exact same content all over again and paid an extra $17 for it. This is bad game design.
It seems to start with alien encounters just like EU, but the missions have MELD to pickup (used for all sorts of new stuff - like genetically modifying your soldiers to allow them to e.g. Regenerate health and other stuff). Also there's a new alien type introduced a few maps in. So even though it plays a lot like EU there more stuff from the beginning. Also nice little tweaks like a button for releasing equipment from soldiers not in you current squad to make it available for your squad. There are also graphic improvement but nothing major. I really enjoyed EU and this one seems like a great continuation. It'll be interesting to see if I have to do the whole EU mission first or how the new story is tied in. So far I'm enjoying it, and no crashes yet ;-) even though loading and saving games is slow in displaying the menu, so you think for a minute that the game is about to crash ;-) Also, it seems all soldiers speak English, regardless of their nationality:-(
This is nothing but a subscription based game. After a year they add a few more bells and whistles, bundle it with the base game and replace the base game with this. This is a pure mess that 2K have created. With icloud we shouldn't have to start the same game all over again. Epic stuff up. Unknown should have been left as is and this should have been made a sequel in a separate app. I've got Unknown on my iPad and this is the same except I have to start all over again to get the new toys. Giving this a 1/5 for the stuff up and rip off.
I've just begun a new game on easy, played two missions with the mixed tutorial activated, and it seems more or less the same game as EU, but with those new containers with the weird yellow energy. I just set it to investigate the yellow energy, so I'll know more when that gets done. I have the feeling EW is more stable than EU on my iPad 3, and I can understand why 2K removed EU from the app store, since it's the same game, but with more content. The only reason I can think of people wanting to purchase the original EU is to play on a 4S or an iPad 2/mini, since EW's minimum specs are a generation higher than those of EU. In any case, I have a feeling I'm going to get as addicted to this one as I got to EU On a side note, yes, the gas station level suffers A LOT of hiccups on my iPad, but the game didn't crash, and since it's turn-based strategy, I can cope with it. I disagree. It feels more stable, has more content, and you only pay once for it. Sure, it's not a fully new game but a cool add-on to an existing game, but that's possibly why it costs 12 on day 1 instead of 18 as EU. I have also begun the single-player campaign many times, and since mission maps and alien positions are random, I never get bored. I really prefer to begin playing again from zero. My opinion though. Agreed, feels better optimized than EU, at least on my device (JB iPad 3 with iOS 7.1.2).
I've got both EU and EW on my iPad. You said there was more content on EU so should I keep it but it's taking up an unnecessary 2 gb. Although I have a 128gb Air if I don't need to keep it then I won't. But I won't be playing both. Thanks for your opinion. I love most 2K games too but found this confusing. It looks like just the same game that we should of got in the beginning. Anyway thanks.
Mmm... Did I say EU has more content than EW? If so, I didn't mean that, sorry. I meant that EW (XCom "2") has more content than EU (XCom "1"). I uninstalled EU mainly because my device is 16GB, and I cannot have >6GB occupied with XCom. I have only left the new EW installed. Deleted EU to be able to install this new one
So I'm kinda confused here. Does Enemy Within contain all of the same content as Enemy Unknown, just with the extra bells and whistles? Because I want to be able to play v1 and then v2, not just v2 from the start without ever experiencing the original core.
It seems you are too late then.You had one and a half year to do it,where have you been?Waiting for it to go on sale for a buck? *
While snarky even by my standards , the reply may indeed be hitting close to the truth. If a game is 1.5 years old and been sitting at the same exact price point for 7 months, the same price point the lowest it went on sale in its previous 9 months, and having been through multiple holidays with no new lower sale, pretty safe bet that's where it's staying and there can be no reason to wait longer. To the OP that initiated the above response, if you really are looking to play vanilla or just upgraded vanilla (second wave stuff), look for Steam and/or Amazon digital sales. It's one of those titles that goes on sale for around $10 fairly often. Can't snipe aliens on the toilet as easily, but it is still available there.
Ok thanks a lot for that clarification. Must have been the way I read it. So is there any reason to keep EU? And how far in do we see any differences in the versions because I'm not keen on replaying missions I've played tens of times already unless there's some enhancements to them?
I thought you own both or did i misread it?Even without owning EW on iOS yet i can tell you at least from my play thru on console that hunting for Meld makes a difference in playing right from the beginning.Or what about the new alien enemies?EXALT shows up a bit later but for the new Alien(s) you don't have to wait long.And then there was all the new maps...
