What is Ironman mode? Ironman mode is XCOM's 'no-backsies' mode. One savegame. Auto save every turn. Permanent consequences. Eventual ultimate failure.

I most definitely will play it from the get-go on Iron Man mode. It took me forever to beat XCOM way back when, and I've restarted it plenty times before I got the hang of it. Failure is part of the experience. An alien invasion scenario where-in humanity loses? So much more interesting. It's going to happen. I'm going to be in charge, and I'll doom humanity - and I'll be a happy videogame player for it.

What about you guys? You going to ironman it? From the start, or on a consequent playthrough? If not - why not?

Is it like Torchlight, where the perma-death option is separate from the actual difficulty? If so, I'd definitely play on that mode. I've been hooked on games with consequences recently, sparked mostly by the snap-judgement decision process in The Walking Dead.

I haven't actually thought about it but know when you mention it, yes, I totally will.

Not the first time because I am a wuss. Ivan Stewart is shaking his head.

I didn't know it was going to have that feature, but now that I do know, I think I'll use it from the get go.

Hell yes.

Just not on the first playthrough. But definitely once i know all the ins and outs of the system and can game the shit out of it. Then bring ironman on!

Its the only way to go. I always try the harder difficulties and settings of a game before lowering it in case I don't find it enjoyable. A game is ruined if you play it on a too easy setting, that's my experience and opinion anyway.

Most definitely but not on the first playtrough, I'm not crazy.

@AndrewB said:

Is it like Torchlight, where the perma-death option is separate from the actual difficulty? If so, I'd definitely play on that mode. I've been hooked on games with consequences recently, sparked mostly by the snap-judgement decision process in The Walking Dead.

So it is. Seperate from traditional difficulty settings.

A good gaming experience should have some ups and downs. If you just load up every time someone dies where's the real experience in that. If someone dies, you'll have to cope without them and the game will feel more engaging that way. Its like playing a BioWare game, but quick saving before every dialogue and loading up again if you don't like the outcome of the choices you picked. Just my opinion. :)

No, but I'm definitely going to spiderman it.

shit yeah. twice as stoked for this now. i love iron man modes, ramps the intensity way way up.

Probably not, but if there's a trophy in it for me, then I might.

Absolutely.

The stories I've read about X-Com in days gone by essentially require that events have meaning.

If a soldier's death is to be mourned, I can't just load a save beforehand... or even have the option to.

So hype! 3 weeks and counting.

@Tennmuerti said:

Hell yes.

Just not on the first playthrough. But definitely once i know all the ins and outs of the system and can game the shit out of it. Then bring ironman on!

I assumed it was going to be permadeath and you can't go back to a previous save, similar to Dark Souls. Making it optional seems less appealing, but I guess it will allow more people to play it. I will Ironman it.

I thought this was where you played the game drunk.

=( No. It makes me sad when characters permadie in tactical games. Having said that, I'll probably play it where it lands 90% of the time, but if a really good character dies, then I'm likely going to reload.

Not on my first playthrough, possibly on my second.

I think I am going Classic difficulty + Iron man mode because I hate myself.

@Maajin said:

No, but I'm definitely going to spiderman it.

I think that's against the EULA.

Sounds like the way to play it, I just don't have time anymore.

Not the first time. I'd rather figure out how to actually play the game and learn the mechanics instead of getting extremely discouraged, ESPECIALLY considering you will constantly be losing men.

Definitely not on my first playthrough, but eventually yes.

Yes, but on an easier difficulty my first time through. I see it as something akin to Civ - the experience is in playing the game, not necessarily completing it on your first playthrough. And if you're just going to reload every time a turn doesn't go your way, then to what extent are you even playing a tactical game at that point?

@Gooddoggy: I can understand that some players just want to complete it to experience the progression from start to finish, and losing troops can be a considerable speed bump in that regard.

@Funkydupe said:

@Gooddoggy: I can understand that some players just want to complete it to experience the progression from start to finish, and losing troops can be a considerable speed bump in that regard.

I can't play without Ironman, if games make it really easy to reload from a quicksave my OCD for perfection kicks in and I end up reloading everytime I miss a shot. So im glad there's something like Ironman mode to just keep me from doing that, and making all these chaotic stories as I play.

Really good example Gooddoggy, just like with civ5, I never reload because of stuff going wrong; I like rolling with the punches. And some games (like civ5, xcom) are designed for that playstyle. Other games you need to be reloading all the time (like Hitman, Deus Ex, MGS4, etc), and they're perfectly good games, but they're stories about awesome badasses who never screw up, and that's what makes XCOM so special: An alien invasion isn't about just slaughtering aliens, its supposed to be scary and tough, and challenging. The more real consequences there are, the more tasty the victory.

Not the first time.

I'll man up and live with it when one of my dudes die, but if something real raw happens, I want the option to try a different approach.

No thanks, I'm a complete wuss I see many, many, many reloads in my future. Yes am I robbing myself of an experience but I don't have the time I used to, and will most likely only time for one play through.

Not the first game. Probably every game after that. Gotta learn the mechanics, first.

I don't think so. It would stress me out to much, and I enjoy playing my games relaxed. Also I'm kinda obessed with not letting a single unit die (that's probably why I never finished any of the Fire Emblem games), soooo.....

This is pretty much how I was planning on playing it, through self-restraint. Knowing there's a mode specifically for this? Sure!

Yes but not my first time through

Hell yeah I am! Will probably start off on normal though, then switch to classic if it feels too easy.

Of course, and from day one too, that is the way to play the game, why have consequence when I can just replay it over and over.

I want to see my decisions fuck up everything and let everyone die because of my incompetence, and then experience the sweet success when I later return on a different playthrough and everything goes smoothly because I am better at the strategy of the game.

You know what? Sure. I mean if it ends up being too hard I can always start over.

On my second play through.

Probably not. I'm a real min/max-aholic. In almost every tactical RPG I play, if things don't go the way I need them to go, I invariably quit/reload even if it means doing the entire battle over from the beginning. Playing this game in Ironman mode would essentially suck all the fun out of it for me.

@ShaggE said:

@Maajin said:

No, but I'm definitely going to spiderman it.

I think that's against the EULA.

supahman dat ho

@AndrewB said:

Is it like Torchlight, where the perma-death option is separate from the actual difficulty? If so, I'd definitely play on that mode. I've been hooked on games with consequences recently, sparked mostly by the snap-judgement decision process in The Walking Dead.

This is my question. I'll probably play it in this way if I can do it on the normal difficulty level. Unless it's FE, I enjoy permadeath in games. You really feel the loss. I don't want to be tempted to back out and restart if I lose Captain BoG the Magnificent, no matter how studly and heroic he may be.

Not on the first playthrouh, on that one everyone (or almost everyone) is going to make it home. After that probably yes.

I'm going to try it Ironman style but if the game starts to fuck me over old X-Com style I'll probably rage quit and do a normal playthrough. Especially if the classic situation arises that half my crew gets blown up on turn one, but I have confidence in Firaxis doing something to prevent that.

I'm not good at these types of games so I dunno. I like the idea of it, but maybe not for a first run. I imagine if I got far in and lost everything it would put me off coming back again.

My willingness to play games like that tends to depend on the amount of cheapness that the game throws at you. Ideally it won't be very much in this case.

Ironman: For manly men.

Twilight Sparkle will be the first one off the skyranger.

Nothing but Ironman for me. I'll probably start with classic difficulty. Tough wait, but only 2 weeks to go.

Eventually, but once I get a better feel for the game.

@Seppli: My concern is that if I went Iron man and lost 10 hours in to the campaign a few times, I'd get burned out before I ever beat it.

With FTL I can lose 2-3 times a day and come back the next day. Why? Well when you lose in FLT, even if it's at the last boss, it isn't such a time sink. You can kind of say, "Well, there went a hour. Let's try again."

With X-COM, I'm afraid I'd just say fuck it if I lost 10 hours of progress. Would I be better off not playing in Iron man?

It depends. I want to Iron man it as I know I don't have the willpower to force myself to not reload the game, but I don't want to play the game on some super hard difficulty as I know that I will become super frustrated with the game and not enjoy it. I hope they realize that ball bustingly hard difficulties and the extra immersion that Iron Man mode adds to the game are separate things and not mutuality exclusive to each other. Ideally I plan to play my first time through on Iron Man with gameplay set to whatever their equivalent to normal is.