Okay, not that I know anything about EU (or much else, for that matter), but doesn't it get old after a couple play-throughs? I mean, I can understand getting better at unit tactics, or trying to play at higher difficulties to test your mad skillz, but after a while, don't you pretty much get to see through the game and become able to exploit the AI?

I'm coming at this from having played far too much Morrowind, and probably too much Silent Storm. Silent Storm is a game where, regardless of difficulty setting, you can pretty much master the game mechanic and find the ultimate fighting force within two play-throughs. Morrowind is very different, in that it's so damn vast you can do a ton of stuff you haven't ever done, even if you've played it for hundreds of hours. And then there's all the mods for it...

So Silent Storm is sort of broken, out of the box, and is really only fun (once you "figure it out") when you start limiting your play style: Only the Main character; only Scouts; plant mines more often than chucking grenades; no Snipers; etc.

But is EU different? I mean, how many different ways are there to effectively utilize a well-rounded squad? Do you veterans of the Alien Wars have to limit yourselves--as described above--to enjoy it, or is it just so freakin' good that it is still challenging to someone who has played through multiple times?

Tawk umungst yuhselves...

Once you figure out the best research order, the game becomes much easier (which in my opinion involves getting the laser rifle, plasma cannon and hyperwave decoder to shoot down terrorship UFOs before they land).

I've still found the game very fun if I don't abuse the Psi ability.

The same argument can be said about any game. Once you've played through and found an optimal (well, optimal for you) method of play, things do become tiresome after a while. This is from someone who is enjoying and has not yet finished Morrowind because I've had so much fun playing it as opposed to winning it. (By the way, alchemy is way to powerful. Amazing stuff nonetheless.)

The best thing to do is to take a break in between games and revisit them after a while. I'm taking a long hiatus from Jagged Alliance II and Fallout II at the moment - I'm sure they'll entertain me again when I choose to revisit them later.

- NKF

I don't know of any 'ultimate squad' you can build in UFO.

If you make a team armed with blaster launchers, you'll run into psychic aliens who will use your own weapons against you (and those blaster bombs HURT).

If you make a team armed with pistols and heavy armor, psi isn't so much of a problem as your units can't hurt each other. They won't be able to hurt the aliens much, either.

You CAN develop a team of units who have nearly indefeatable psi defense, however, this takes a LOT of time, and a single stray shot can kill one of your carefully selected soldiers.

That pretty much sums it up. Any weakness in one team member can effectively stuff the whole squad up. No matter how much you invest in a unit, it's easily lost. No matter how good you are at the game, the dice may well roll the wrong way... And then it's a desperate race to the evac zone, it the hope that you can at least keep your drop ship!

That and I haven't worked out the AI yet. Even if I did fully understand it, I wouldn't be able to predict what units are doing, as I don't know where they are.

There are a few exploits available due to bugs in the game, but the only one I ever take advantage of the one that lets me drop a blaster bomb on the mother brain during my first turn of the final map.

I've said this before, but what makes EU so interesting is its randomness. Every mission is different and every campaign is different. You can't effectively predict what the aliens will do on a mission, nor can you predict what you need to do to win the mission without getting slaughtered.

I have personally led thousands upon thousands of missions. A good majority of these were my infamous alien base "smash 'n grab" missions. Not one of those missions was the same - even with the same aliens present. Most new players are oblivious to the fact that aliens have predetermined spots where they may show up (called spawn points). From the surface, it appears that the aliens are distributed randomly across the battlescape. But to some seasoned players, you can predict where the aliens may show up. Even so, it doesn't guarantee an alien to be in that spot. You still have to search the battlefield to make sure. For people that recognize this fact, missions become easier. But the aliens still fight just as hard.

The alien AI is surprisingly complicated for a game released 10+ years ago. The only thing that a higher difficulty level does is to make the aliens harder to kill. Their AI is for the most part, remains unchanged. Even veterans sometimes have trouble with beginner level aliens.

For me, this game is a classic that never becomes boring or monotonous. I could literally play X-COM for hours on end, if it wasn't for the fact that everyone needs to eat/sleep/go to school/work etc. And even after studying this game for 10 years, not everything is known about it. We are still finding out stuff that makes it fascinating!

- Zombie

'Working out' how a game works is always fun. You can't really do this with modern games, they're too complex.

Well said, Bomb Bloke.

I'd like to expand on DoomMunkeys thoughts on this subject:

How many ways? In one word: limitless. But this depends on the meaning of "well-rounded". What some people call well-rounded may actually be restrictive to others.

Case in point: for a while I never used Tanks (or HWP's) on missions because they curtailed my ability to formulate new soldier-based strategies. Instead, I utilized soldiers carrying similar weapons. But to other people, not using tanks could be considered restraining. Even at my age, I'm still open to new ideas and thoughts so I revised my current load out to include a HWP or two.

What I consider a well rounded squad is this:
A few veteran soldiers, a group of Rookies and/or Squaddies and possibly a tank. I suppose soldier armor could be taken into consideration, so I'd have to say a majority of Power Suits and a few guys with the Flying Suits and personal armor.

As for weapons, I always recommend that you mix-and-match the weapons to get a good diversity. For instance, if the first soldier off a ship is carrying a Heavy Cannon, the guy next to him (or behind him) should carry a weapon with Auto Shot capability (such as any type of rifle). One weapon will therefore compliment the other. It's also a good idea to mix up ammo types. If one soldier is carrying a Heavy Plasma, another should use AP, HE or Laser. Heck, even the Small Launcher is practicable. Need I mention that Grenades, Motion Scanners, Medi-Kits and Mind Probes help too?

Not every mission you go on requires all these items, so each load out differs. If your soldiers are on a night mission, you may require Electroflares or Incendiary ammo to brighten up the landscape.

Like I said, there are an infinite amount of combinations to create or use a well-rounded squad. In the end, it is us players who are responsible for this diversity.

- Zombie

Not limitless... But more possibilities then a sane man would care to count.