Anyone who has spent a decent amount of times playing games (which I'm guessing are most of the people on this site) knows the pain. It may affect some of us more than others but we've all felt it. Being passed in the final seconds in a racing game, resulting in a shameful second place after driving for what felt like an hour. Yelling at your screen after losing to the same annoying boss five times in a row. But I have never felt the pain like I have with XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

According to Steam, I have played XCOM for 16 hours already, the last time a game consumed by time so aggressively I was sitting at home with a part time job. Where as now where I have school and social obligations, but I still find time (usually while I SHOULD be sleeping) to battle the alien scourge. And I don't know if it is the sleep deprivation or the reliance I have on my soldiers but the anger that swells in my soul that occurs when my fully leveled support hits the ground, blood pooling around him, is unmatched.

Never having played the original XCOM, and only hearing stories, I surmised a few things about the game. One, it was awesome. Two, it was about aliens. And three, it was stinkin' hard. I heard your men will die, having been sniped by little grey men who are off screen. I heard countries will jump ship and you will be without funding with an alien invasion on the horizon. After hearing the tales I thought those people just sucked, I was wrong.

I know, I know. This is the dumbed down, streamlined version that pales in comparison to the difficulty of the original, but the core concepts of chaos still apply. You never have enough resources for all the things you need. There are difficult choices of choosing which countries to help and which ones to leave in the lurch. And as much as you may protect them, hunker them down and move them from cover to cover, your soldiers will die. Often the best ones.

It is a feeling that I can't really compare to other moments of video game rage. It is the combination of the time commitment, the reliance you put on those familiar faces, and those damn bagpipes, that makes losing one of your men so heartbreaking. I have been playing without reloading, I have kept multiple saves with the thought of going back after something bad happened, but I never have. Only having reloading a save when I literally couldn't have made it through with the two rookies that I had left. And I encourage all to play this way. War is hell, and you must live with the pain. I also encourage you to play with a shot glass and a bottle of whiskey next to you. So go forth bombers, continue the good fight against the alien scourge. Know that men will fall, countries will flee, but when all seems bleak, alt tab and play some Saints Row The Third.

Anyone who has spent a decent amount of times playing games (which I'm guessing are most of the people on this site) knows the pain. It may affect some of us more than others but we've all felt it. Being passed in the final seconds in a racing game, resulting in a shameful second place after driving for what felt like an hour. Yelling at your screen after losing to the same annoying boss five times in a row. But I have never felt the pain like I have with XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

According to Steam, I have played XCOM for 16 hours already, the last time a game consumed by time so aggressively I was sitting at home with a part time job. Where as now where I have school and social obligations, but I still find time (usually while I SHOULD be sleeping) to battle the alien scourge. And I don't know if it is the sleep deprivation or the reliance I have on my soldiers but the anger that swells in my soul that occurs when my fully leveled support hits the ground, blood pooling around him, is unmatched.

Never having played the original XCOM, and only hearing stories, I surmised a few things about the game. One, it was awesome. Two, it was about aliens. And three, it was stinkin' hard. I heard your men will die, having been sniped by little grey men who are off screen. I heard countries will jump ship and you will be without funding with an alien invasion on the horizon. After hearing the tales I thought those people just sucked, I was wrong.

I know, I know. This is the dumbed down, streamlined version that pales in comparison to the difficulty of the original, but the core concepts of chaos still apply. You never have enough resources for all the things you need. There are difficult choices of choosing which countries to help and which ones to leave in the lurch. And as much as you may protect them, hunker them down and move them from cover to cover, your soldiers will die. Often the best ones.

It is a feeling that I can't really compare to other moments of video game rage. It is the combination of the time commitment, the reliance you put on those familiar faces, and those damn bagpipes, that makes losing one of your men so heartbreaking. I have been playing without reloading, I have kept multiple saves with the thought of going back after something bad happened, but I never have. Only having reloading a save when I literally couldn't have made it through with the two rookies that I had left. And I encourage all to play this way. War is hell, and you must live with the pain. I also encourage you to play with a shot glass and a bottle of whiskey next to you. So go forth bombers, continue the good fight against the alien scourge. Know that men will fall, countries will flee, but when all seems bleak, alt tab and play some Saints Row The Third.

Duder! Nice post. I play with some Canadian whiskey on the side, and that's always a good idea. So far I've yet to reload but I'm not quite as deep into the game as you are, so we'll see. I played the original XCOM on and off for a decade, but never excelled at it or beat it. Really hard game, super super amazing and addictive. Enemy Unknown maybe isn't every last thing I wanted it to be but it's a really stellar game, and if anybody knows addiction, it's Firaxis.

I too haven't been attached to a game in ages like I have to XCOM, and yeah, losing your soldiers is bittersweet in a way. Of course it sucks but on the other hand it just feels right. There's a much better balance in this game anyways, versus let's say Final Fantasy Tactics (sorry, all I could think of) where losing a soldier permanently could feel like an insurmountable defeat. I rotate rookies in all the time to keep the base levels high.

I hope we see mods take the memorial to another level. Wish the game would take a snapshot of the soldier at some point so we'd have a visual record of their service too.

It is a game that I swear and say "well that's just fucking stupid" and turn off. And then turn back on 8 minutes later. Because fuck you, Mutons. Goddamn instant hit grenades.

@Brodehouse said:

It is a game that I swear and say "well that's just fucking stupid" and turn off. And then turn back on 8 minutes later. Because fuck you, Mutons. Goddamn instant hit grenades.

I am guilty of doing this. I throw up my hands and exclaim "FUCK THIS ENTIRE THING" pretty regularly, especially when I miss a 90%+ shot that, if failed, will lose me a very very good soldier.

I done myself a favor and started the game playing on Classic Ironman - twice - and failed the earth miserably both times. Now I'm playing Normal Ironman, and I'm pretty much a demi god. Had 2 loses in the first 2-3 missions, and have since not failed another soul - other than abandoning the whole subcontinent of Asia that is... China don't care.

The whole rest of the world loves me though, and so do my troops - what's all of Asia against the adoration and trust of my fellow warriors? Exactly. Props are going out to 'Gunslinger', 'Hawkeye', 'Quickdraw', 'Hammer', 'Nuke', 'Hellfire' - may your firepower never fail me. Because seriously - NO BACKSIES!

I attempted to get through my first playthrough on Classic Ironman.

21 games later, I buckled and just did Classic. The only time I reloaded was when my first alien base assault ended in my entire squad dying.

I still feel like a pussy.

@david3cm:Play Ironman, man. Consequences make this game way more fun and you have no way to back out of it. Losing missions isn't the end of the world (depending on the doom clock). I learned a fun little mechanic from losing a terror mission: any time you lose one (or maybe my panic was high enough?) that country automatically withdraws from the council. Lost two nations that way!