Guess they had rights to post it first.

Press has been saying it's awesome since it was originally shown at trade events, and this is the first confirmation I got that the whole game comes together. I was admittedly a bit worried about the smaller crews and some of the streamlining, but between GI's coverage and seeing the QL EX they seemed to have nailed it.

They took a good look at it in the video, as well. Sounds deep, intense, and different on each playthrough. Can't wait to play it.

I never expected anything but praise. Really excited to pick this up.

If Dishonored turns out to be horrible them I'm definitely picking this up :P

Heh, I guess this will give me something to read while I actually pre-load XCOM on Steam right now. Good timing.

Was there ever any doubt?

@Phatmac: Quite a bit, I guess. Course, that thread devolved into arguments pretty quickly and shouldn't be trusted.

@FancySoapsMan said:

If Dishonored turns out to be horrible them I'm definitely picking this up :P

From the hints that are being dropped by some game critics, GB crew included, Dishonored might be pretty damn good. So anyone only picking up one might have a tough choice to make.

I probably will be very surprised if we don't see two five star reviews on Monday. I have X-com preordered and will pick up dishonored during the steam holiday sale if the PC version is the shit.

@Chaser324 said:

@FancySoapsMan said:

If Dishonored turns out to be horrible them I'm definitely picking this up :P

From the hints that are being dropped by some game critics, GB crew included, Dishonored might be pretty damn good. So anyone only picking up one might have a tough choice to make.

Where's the impressions? I've only heard one hint and that was from Ryan when he did that Gamespot podcast thing and he basically alluded to it not being good.

At some point here... http://www.gamespot.com/video/quoted-for-truth-episode-14-6397419

@handlas said:

@Chaser324 said:

@FancySoapsMan said:

If Dishonored turns out to be horrible them I'm definitely picking this up :P

From the hints that are being dropped by some game critics, GB crew included, Dishonored might be pretty damn good. So anyone only picking up one might have a tough choice to make.

Where's the impressions? I've only heard one hint and that was from Ryan when he did that Gamespot podcast thing and he basically alluded to it not being good.

At some point here... http://www.gamespot.com/video/quoted-for-truth-episode-14-6397419

Yeah. But I think that was because he played it at E3 and didn't like it. The others did.

@Barrock said:

@handlas said:

@Chaser324 said:

@FancySoapsMan said:

If Dishonored turns out to be horrible them I'm definitely picking this up :P

From the hints that are being dropped by some game critics, GB crew included, Dishonored might be pretty damn good. So anyone only picking up one might have a tough choice to make.

Where's the impressions? I've only heard one hint and that was from Ryan when he did that Gamespot podcast thing and he basically alluded to it not being good.

At some point here... http://www.gamespot.com/video/quoted-for-truth-episode-14-6397419

Yeah. But I think that was because he played it at E3 and didn't like it. The others did.

Well Ryan's been talking about how much he liked what he'd seen of XCOM for months now, and given the stuff I've seen about it, good reviews don't seem that surprising. Most of the negative opinions I've seen about XCOM have been coming from people upset that it isn't exactly like the original.

I didn't catch the Gamespot thing, but from what I remember after E3, Brad (and maybe Jeff too?) thought Dishonored looked cool, and the way they were winking at "next week's games" on the latest Bombcast led me to think that they were all pretty pleased with Dishonored and XCOM.

This game is going to be awesome!

Having said that, im sure that the player score will be waaaay lower than the critic score for this game. This happens all the time with established franchises with a lot of die-hard fans.

The same thing happened with civ5, the meta score was around 90, while the user score around 60.

Its pretty stupid, and shows how most players can't be objective about games, and how they judge new games by how much they liked the previous one.

Off topic, I hope Ryan doesn't run the Dishonored quicklook if he's just going to shit all over it.

On topic, good, I hope XCom sells really well and reviews well too.

This is no surprise

I think the game will do well but man i always get a bad taste in my mouth with reviews that are allowed out before the embargo. I realize all of GI's reviews are because there a magazine but i guess it all seems a tad corrupt at times being there linked with the hell hole that is gamestop.

It would be good if we turned this thread into a general "XCOM reviews thread", rather than making a thread for individual reviews.

Also, I never quite trust early reviews like this.

Not saying anything about the quality of the game(I preordered it) but Game Informer also gave 8.25 for Double Dragon Neon and 8.75 for Resident Evil 6.

@Chaser324 said:

@FancySoapsMan said:

If Dishonored turns out to be horrible them I'm definitely picking this up :P

From the hints that are being dropped by some game critics, GB crew included, Dishonored might be pretty damn good. So anyone only picking up one might have a tough choice to make.

Ryan seems to be constantly taking a shit on the game...

What is the average score for a Game Informer exclusive review? Like 12/10?

Not saying anything about the quality of the game(I preordered it) but Game Informer also gave 8.25 for Double Dragon Neon and 8.75 for Resident Evil 6.

@SomeDeliCook said:

Off topic, I hope Ryan doesn't run the Dishonored quicklook if he's just going to shit all over it.

Pretty sure it will be Patrick in the pilot seat on the Dishonored QL, but I'm not sure who will be riding shotgun. On Twitter, Patrick said the QL and review would hit Sunday night at midnight EST, so we won't have to wait long to find out.

Early print magazine tests/scores are worth shit. Game Informer, Famitsu etc ... it's all just advertorial, when will people finally learn that?

*twitch twitch*

Oh man... XCOM and Dishonored can't come soon enough. And I'm still knee deep in Borderlands 2, and thinking about giving Torchlight 2 a second chance, AND I still need to finish Sleepy Dawgz. Not to mention NBA 2K13. This year's dry spell was brutal, and the floodgates have fully opened.

@Chaser324 said:

@FancySoapsMan said:

If Dishonored turns out to be horrible them I'm definitely picking this up :P

From the hints that are being dropped by some game critics, GB crew included, Dishonored might be pretty damn good. So anyone only picking up one might have a tough choice to make.

I am buying both and eating microwave pizzas for the next week.

I am informed!

I don't think I could say no to a Firaxis strategy game, even if I'm not as excited for this as I am for the Civilization franchise (and I feel bad for that, hearing from Sid yesterday how the rabid Civ fans have meant pumping out new Civ games instead of side projects).

Firaxis + XCOM?

No. Shit.

The score has been out there already - it is on the xcom trailer posted a few days ago.

@alternate said:

The score has been out there already - it is on the xcom trailer posted a few days ago.

Well, I posted it a day later to the actual review, or to people who haven't seen the trailer. I think my actions are justified.

Dishonored would have to be a critical mess for me to purchase a brand new real-time strategy. I'm not super into the genre and haven't been since probably the first couple of Command & Conquer titles. Still, I pay attention when one of them gets a lot of praise, so maybe I will check this out once we hit a dry spell.

@Kombat said:

Dishonored would have to be a critical mess for me to purchase a brand new real-time strategy. I'm not super into the genre and haven't been since probably the first couple of Command & Conquer titles. Still, I pay attention when one of them gets a lot of praise, so maybe I will check this out once we hit a dry spell.

Well, you're in luck! XCOM is turn-based.

@Dredlockz: I know this is kind of off topic but I disagree with your statement. It's not necessarily stupid for user reviews to be lower than critic reviews and I certainly would not rate Civ V at 60 (that's fucking nuts) but Civ V, while a step forward in some directions (Hex map - fucking awesome, one unit per tile - tactically really interesting) was a also a massive step back in others (the AI is fucked even by Civ standards, diplomacy is fucking nonsense and works very poorly, religion is locked into DLC and no fucking espionage !). These were all reasons that makes that game a poorer version of Civ than Civ IV.

I come at this as a huge Civ fan, I've played everyone of them as they've come out and I know them inside and out as I have about 20 years experience with Civ. A lot of reviewers don't know the series like that and so can't see the game as a part of the whole. Ryan gave it 5/5 on this site and he's never played a civ game before as far as I know, except for the console version (which doesn't count ;)). Shit, would you trust someone to review halo 3 if they'd never played an fps? Or tekken whatever if they'd never played a fighting game?

The Civ series constantly improved as it iterated until 5. For me that was a real bummer, it's not nostalgia or knee jerk reactionary nonsense, the game is not as good in several fundamental ways. Civ VI will be the one to watch, if they can combine the innovations of V with improved diplomacy, better AI (always a hope for strategy games) and reintroduce spies then I think they could do well.

@voltan said:

Not saying anything about the quality of the game(I preordered it) but Game Informer also gave 8.25 for Double Dragon Neon and 8.75 for Resident Evil 6.

You may want to keep in mind that websites can have more than one person doing reviews. Both XCOM and those two games were all covered by three different individuals.

@Arabes: You definitely have a point, and I hear what you're saying; If you're going to make a sequel for a game, and you're calling it the same but with a higher number at the end, then it will definitely be judged and contrasted with the previous incarnations of the franchise, specially by the fans. I shouldn't have called that stupid, it makes all the sense in the world.

Still, it would be nice if developers could have some more room for experimentation and expanding their IPs, like with the XCOM FPS. A first person shooter focusing on story, based on the XCOM universe? FUCK YEAH! that sounds cool. Sure, its nothing like the original XCOM and its not meant to, It doesn't have to be the same genre for it to become a great game. I just wish people were a bit more open minded and without so much hate that they could open themselves to new experiences and judge them by what they are, instead of by what they want them to be. does that make sense?

Even with this game which seems to be completely inspired by the original and trying to deliver the same experiences, people have all their panties in a bunch because the muton looks a certain way, or because the maps don't seem as big as they would like, its really fucked. Haters gonna hate, I guess.

@csl316 said:

@alternate said:

The score has been out there already - it is on the xcom trailer posted a few days ago.

Well, I posted it a day later to the actual review, or to people who haven't seen the trailer. I think my actions are justified.

It was a statement of fact, I was not being critical of your post. At the time I saw the trailer I didn't realise the review in the magazine wasn't out yet - firaxis clearly got advanced knowledge.

Gameinformer gave mass effect 3 a similar score, and withholding such information as import problems, crappy ending, lag etc. Xcom is easily my favourite game of all time on any platform, and i hate to be a nancy about this, but really, theyve changed so much from the game, its simply a shallow TBG with the xcom name on it. A max of 6 soldiers, one base, story driven game, no inventory which to me is shocking, ok some of i can live with like removing the turn units, but really they removed the spirit of the original its simply a watered down cashgrab which i will likely pick up from the bargain bin.

@Dredlockz: Absolutely dude, I couldn't agree with you more. It's such a shame that militant fan boys can hamper any possibility for developers to experiment with a franchise. I mean look at the post directly above mine, dude hasn't even played the fucking game yet. I've been a gamer pretty much since the dawn of gaming and it really pisses me off to see ass hats come out with shit like that. The game will certainly be well crafted and from everything I've seen comes from a team who love the original and wanted to bring it into modern era. It's not a cash grab, it's not cheap and they're not butchering the license but you still get these tools who just want to jump all over it because it's not identical, even though they haven't played it yet. You might like it or dislike it, but give it a chance before making sweeping comments about it. The fucking internet, it wearies me.

@Dredlockz said:

@Arabes: ...Haters gonna hate, I guess.

Im really looking forward to Xcom. Few things sound kinda weird like the 6 unit count, and no inv. 8-10 sounds better, but if they set up the game for it and it works, then fine. I can see the inv being taken out if the roles, IE heavy, sniper, medic are well done.

I dont have a lot of love for Firaxis, esp Civ games. Ive tried to like them, but I just dont. There are obviously a lot of options and depth to the games, but they always felt so superficial in their presentation that I just dont care about what Im doing. Regardless I do respect Firaxis. So Id rather see them doing the game then the next guy.

@Dredlockz: thats why i look more at the gamers reviews and try to see things in them that i can connect to since in most cases i relate to more on other gamers than reviewers except with the gb crew i usually pick up most of what they recomend accoring to my taste

@Spectrea said:

Gameinformer gave mass effect 3 a similar score, and withholding such information as import problems, crappy ending, lag etc.

It was even higher, got a 10. And I agree with it. The import glitch was a small cosmetic thing to me, I liked the ending, didn't experience lag, etc.

Since posting this thread I've come to realize that a lot of people are just down on Game Informer. Which is weird, a lot of their crew has been around for quite a while and they've been a trustworthy source for me since the 90's.

Dishonored would have to be a critical mess for me to purchase a brand new real-time strategy. I'm not super into the genre and haven't been since probably the first couple of Command & Conquer titles. Still, I pay attention when one of them gets a lot of praise, so maybe I will check this out once we hit a dry spell.

@evanbower said:

@Kombat

Dishonored would have to be a critical mess for me to purchase a brand new real-time strategy. I'm not super into the genre and haven't been since probably the first couple of Command & Conquer titles. Still, I pay attention when one of them gets a lot of praise, so maybe I will check this out once we hit a dry spell.

What if I told you it was turn based?

Go on...

I'm really going back and forth on the game. I am really intrigued on having a good turn based strategy game...although with just picking up NHL 13 and Need for Speed Most Wanted later this month...I may wait until Christmas.

So GameInformer's review is up and what was written does not make it a 9.5 game. Oh well. Having the announcement and early review status may have skewed some numbers. Repetitive maps, uninteresting research items, bad camera, dismissing the multiplayer. I don't see how that adds up to the score. Either it's a 9.5 to get you frothing before some so-so reviews hit, or the game will be awesome.

It always came off as they hit the mark way too late in development and it really isn't ready. I'm getting it regardless because it's filling a void and they're good developers. I'm just hoping they make enough money to make a properly done sequel.

I'm not cynical, am I?

Sorry about what i posted other day, most of it i still believe it to be true about gameinformer (and most other game review sites to be franc), they give ridiculously high scores on release for trailers and exclusive content and then bash the game months later. But i was just coming down off a night out and was nott really thinking, as a gamer for 2 decades i have known to only judge games when they are released so yeah. its subjective and was wrong.