Alright, I've managed to finish the game on normal and will play it on classic + ironman mode soon. Here's my thoughts on it:

1. The game is buggy. Real buggy. I mean if you launch two interceptors at same time the map freezes on zoom permanently till the end of game. Tanks (I really don't rememeber the new name for those) often brake as in I had few and they just bugged out so badly that I couldn't assign a single one to my Skyranger. Last mission... Had to re-star it cause last room entry bugged out on me allowing only 3 out of 6 soldiers to go in... It's buggy as hell but...

2. ...but it's good nonetheless. It's most definitely the best reenactment of original. We had some other UFO games over the years but all of them were lacking that *something*. Something that's hard to describe but is a pure definition of gameplay.

3. It's much much MUCH simpler and shorter than original. Not being able to run few missions at same time and also having all the reasearch run out half-way through the game is bit disappointing but does not brake the overall feel.

4. And overall feel is - it's a good game, bit too much console-oriented but still tactically demanding and fun. Also with some patching and possible DLC it could be the best turn-based tactics have to offer these days. :)

Yeah, I've given up all hope of Ironman until the bugs have been sorted out.

Best bug I've seen so far was on the geoscape/scanning map, when the skyranger was en route to a mission a ufo appeared.

I sent an interceptor to take out the UFO, but started the abduction mission before it reached the UFO.

When I had finished the mission, the interceptor continued to the UFO and then the game froze up. Had to start again (only save from ironman was at the mission end, so every time I loaded it the game froze on the geoscape).

Sometimes when I am at work in the weekend I have a lot of time on my hands.

I decided to go look for reviews of this game on the net. Incredibly high score all around, the lowest I've found was 8.5 on 10. I even saw 10 on 10 once or twice.

Then I went to Xenonauts site for completely another reason. I discovered a user rating thread there and their review was so abysmal it was just like we weren't discussing the same game anymore...

Well, if you were to just look at the negatives of XCOM then you might give it a bad score. (which is why despite my criticisms of XCOM in this thread I pointed out that I was playing and enjoying it, there's just stuff about it I wish had been done a bit differently).

It's all about the differences in design decisions, and you either accept them and enjoy the game, or reject them and don't play the game.

In other news, I got my soldier portrait the other day, which I uploaded to imgur: http://i.imgur.com/F9Jqs.png

I'm glad Xenonauts is still months away, it means that when I'm bored of XCOM I'll have something new to play! (in fact, thanks to my kickstarting, I probably wont be buying new games for quite a while).

I'm sure it's a decent game in its own terms, but probably not great? I find Firaxis a little like that, they make good sequels, but I don't find them at the level of the originals. And it's OK if I don't, people can be as dogmatic defending new games as bashing them. It's OK if some people resent that a game franchise loses depth--be it to adapt to the consoles market or for whatever reason--obviously a lot of us here do. I liked Sid Meier's Pirates! better than the previous ones, but that was an almost exact remake, with much better battles (but still very simple, which in this particular case was good).

I can't believe it's been almost a decade and you still are just a contrarian dipshit for the hell of it. The new X-Com is barely different from a mechanical and design standpoint to the point that its biggest issues are how the minor mechanical changes with the old design in contrast to the new don't exactly fit, but of course, without even having played it, you just spout generic bullshit that you've been screaming on these forums for years. What is wrong with you? Are you functionally retarded?
You understand less about game design than a fifteen year old and show about the general grasp of its concepts that can be expected from your average RPG-Codex dork.

Yes, yes... And you are still the annoying troll that you were in the past.

I guess nothing change, right? ;)

Pigggy, you know very well that your behavior has earned you a zero tolerance policy since 2010 and that any warning you receive will cause a one week suspension of your forum account.

The sort of language you used just now leaves me no other choice but to issue you another warning - and thus cut off your access for another week.

Please use that time to reconsider your behavior (though I doubt you'll ever change as a result)

Just popped by to see if my high school sweetheart of all websites is still rocking, and one of the first topics I stumble upon is this. Familiar faces...

I love how some things never change. :) Now I am waiting for Tom Henrik and Kosta to emerge from the shadows and I shall be complete!

That... may be difficult. :(