Yeah, I mean I can see the stats as being overwhelming for the average player today (Let's face it - old school gamers put up with walls of text and incomprehensible games way more often, thinking of classics like Master of Orion, Civilization, Colonization, etc.) but I hate the two move system so much. I think I'm going to wait this one out to see what reviewers have to say - but sadly I feel only those of us who played the original will have these gripes. Two moves per soldier removes all the thought out of tactical mode, and that was the charm with the old X COM. I spent so much time in tactical on the original UFO Defense, this new one seems like it won't take much time at all to complete. The action camera and everything are all about in your face excitement and less about the careful tactics - which seems like a grab to get the younger gamers and others who are bored by these kinds of games.

I wish Firaxis would've just done like the Total War series does - it doesn't try to put in some hyped up crap that no one really is interested in, it adds a few new features but overall retains the original core elements that make people enjoy the series so much. In the Total War series, you can love and enjoy Rome TW and also love Medieval II and also love Empire TW - the core gameplay is still great and hasn't been so rapidly changed that long time players won't get it. Imagine if Total War tried to implement some simplified things in that game to appeal to the younger generation. Simplifying strategy games is always a bad idea unless it's just a casual game - and I can respect that. Casual strategy games are quick and easy to pick up and play a whole match in maybe 15-20 minutes. But come on guys, games like X COM - you play through a campaign for days, weeks, maybe even months depending on your pace. I stopped playing Civ IV because it just sucked all my time. Like some kind of addict I buy all kinds of strategy games that I know I shouldn't because they'll just eat all my time - but I love the intricacy. Simplification is not fun, it just makes the game feel shallow and destroys replay value.

I could boot up UFO Defense right now and enjoy it because a new game will play different than the last. This new Enemy Unknown is looking to be too cookie cutter - the demo just raises more concerns that the game is not as good as the original. I'm not inspired to have confidence so I'll be holding off on the pre-order (Gosh darn it, I wanted those hats in TF2...shallow they may be :P).

I just played the demo, and now I see that the tactical mode has forgone TUs which I hate. So every unit gets 2 moves total, and if they even use one move they can't shoot? Only one of the squad members had some ability that let them shoot after they used 1 move. I liked the way the old TU system worked, it required a real trade off - do you waste all your TUs moving up, or do you advance slowly and reserve enough to take shots? Do you use one guy to scout and the rest cover him, or do you move as a giant cohesive unit?

I was almost ready to pre-order this...but I'm really leery now after the demo. The demo actually concerns me more for how the game will actually play than before I played it. The scripted nature of the demo really doesn't give me a good feel for what the game is like at all. I wish they'd just have given us 24 hours of in-game time to see what it's like to run a base, shoot down ships, and maybe have a scripted terror event or something toward the end. This demo hardly shows me anything, other than that tactical mode looks greatly simplified from the previous one - trading a bunch of skills/abilities for the old traits.

I mean, Firaxis also made Civ V - a game that dumbed down from its predecessor in great amounts just to create a more approachable game. I don't truly know how much they've changed in the X COM formula though. Anyone else feel like the tactical mode isn't as rich and diverse as it used to be?

I am so tired of this, why do you admins censor everything? I post something in my page about my dislike of something(I'm ALLOWED to dislike things aren't I or do you Nazis want no freedom of speech? I don't agree with you, but deal with it) and it's just deleted. People are allowed to fanboy all day about something and if I say "Yeah, I used it and I didn't like it, it's a piece of junk." that's considered trolling/flaming/insulting a user/insert some BS reason here.

What good does it do to have all these forums and USER opinions, if you don't want to hear them. You only want user opinions that agree with your opinions which is most likely by your sponsors who pay you. I guarantee you'll just delete this post, make up some reason I flamed or trolled or something, and no one will hear me, as usual.

I don't know where you're based, but apparently freedom of speech is not a right you have there. I would have sent all this to a moderator, or admins, or something but you know you all don't make ANYTHING like that easy. You want to censor and be hidden, you don't have the gull to let people contact just the admins to say they're having a problem.

I mean, I could say the truth:
"I hate iPhones, they're overpriced and Steve Jobbs is just trying to monopolize and have a product in every field until he can take over all of them."

and that is considered bad and OOH better delete that comment, it was flaming/trolling/whatever. Had I posted this:

"I love iPhones, they're great and Steve Jobbs is doing a great job and makes wonderful products that everyone likes and uses!"

That would be totally fine, wouldn't it? Gee, better never have a different opinion. Only thing missing here is a gulag, or at least as far as I know. Is that what's in your all's basement?

Either change your policies to include that you must not differ in most people'sopinion and/or the adminsor you'll be censored like you lived in Soviet Russia, or simply allow freedom of speech. No one is going to get offended by reading a comment that says something that isn't what everyone else is saying.