Thorondor Posted April 27, 2012 Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 XCOM Enemy Unknown A familiar foe makes its appearance in XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and it's deadlier than ever. We remember him from his mid-air skulking days and now he's looking to surprise you with its speed and aggressiveness. https://www.strategycore.co.uk/site/assets/files/1658/news-thumbnail_xcom_eu_2012_floater_intro_01.jpg https://www.strategycore.co.uk/site/assets/files/1658/news-thumbnail_xcom_eu_2012_floater_intro_02.jpg https://www.strategycore.co.uk/site/assets/files/1658/news-thumbnail_xcom_eu_2012_floater_intro_03.jpg It's the Floater, in pain and looking to dish out some your way too. Acting fiercely and in packs these creatures are able to suddenly zip behind your front lines, in teleport-like fashion, to wreak havoc upon your more vulnerable squad members. The exclusive preview comes from GameTrailers TV in their latest episode, and the introductions are made by Firaxis' Mr.Jake Solomon himself. Head on over, place that video playhead at the 13:28 mark and get ready because it's payback time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silencer_pl Posted April 27, 2012 Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 You could post a link for some people are lazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted April 27, 2012 Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 I've seen people in the comments opposed to the new design (it is a bit of a deviation from the original after all) however I think it was necessary to make him a bit more deadly as they always seemed like laser rifle fodder to me rather than a serious threat. It's nice to see them giving each enemy more specific traits and Floaters, assuming they're still relatively easy to kill as an early-game bad guy still, will be far more deadly for hunting in packs. You could post a link for some people are lazy He did, unless that wasn't there before, but you can't link to the specific scene. Oh, and well done Thor for skirting around the whole "teleport" terminology until we know more - it doesn't sound right in the commentary that accompanies that specific video so we'll err on the side of caution and assume they just move very fast, which they do in the vid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FullAuto Posted April 27, 2012 Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 'Deadlier than ever' really isn't saying much, I've had more lethal teddy bears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorondor Posted April 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 He did, unless that wasn't there before, but you can't link to the specific scene. Now you see it, now you don't. It's the whole spirit of the thing. :: (...) I've had more lethal teddy bears. Teddy Krueger ?! FullAuto 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted April 27, 2012 Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 Indeed I'm liking the look of what I assume is the Plasma Rifle Could be a large pistol though - I'm unsure as to the scale of these guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorondor Posted April 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 https://ui01.gamespot.com/2890/quakewars3_2.jpg I don't know if it's something subconscious on the part of the art team at Firaxis or not, as influences go, but, as before, with Mutons, I see a lot of Strogg in Floaters here. :: It even brought back to mind Quake II's Icarus. https://images.wikia.com/quake/images/3/39/Icarus_2.png Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted April 27, 2012 Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 And then there's the Reaper units from StarCraft II... Still, the original game got in there first. Doesn't the Icarus look all cute and slightly comedic in comparison? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorondor Posted April 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 Don't you know it's rude to mock a creature's "disabilities" ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silencer_pl Posted April 27, 2012 Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 Man each video they present something more the more I love them and want this game on my PC right now this instant... About the floater - looks like cross breed between muton and assault space marine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bomb Bloke Posted April 27, 2012 Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 Is it still going to be called a "Floater"? I'm not saying the redesign is bad by any means, but I have a hard time meshing such a serene name with those things. I notice they seem to stick close to the ground, which opens them up to grenade attacks and would generally make it easier to use explosive splash damage on them. Will be interesting to see if they can maintain a decent amount of height above ground, or if their abilities boil down to being able to quickly "hop" over obstacles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FullAuto Posted April 27, 2012 Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 If they do actually use the vertical, you can expect your snipers to have a hard time getting good positions on rooftops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowBlade Posted April 27, 2012 Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 Like Thorondor, I'm a bit concerned about the "strogg-ness" of some aliens, which might turn up to be more forcibly cyborgized humans than actual aliens. I thought it was just the Muton, but now the Floater as well... Cybernetic 'enhancement' and genetic manipulation were definitely in the aliens' doctrine in the original games, but they mostly did it among themselves. I'd rather they kept the assimilation to a minimum: we should primarily be fighting aliens, after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Voyager Posted April 28, 2012 Report Share Posted April 28, 2012 True, quite some Q influence in the new X-COM. I'm one of those who does not really like the new Floater. Not only because it is a major deviation from the original - and I'm sure they could make Floater as deadly as they wanted, even if it was visually just the same - but also because it looks half a creature. Still, I'll have my guys shoot it down gladly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silencer_pl Posted April 28, 2012 Report Share Posted April 28, 2012 Well at least floater will be more dangerous and everyone complains Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted April 28, 2012 Report Share Posted April 28, 2012 They did look a bit comical before - "Look! We're aliens in capes balancing on exercise balls and our favourite past time is aiming badly and happily falling to barrages of gunfire" I'm not 100% sure about the redesign, but they do look like more of a menace now at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowBlade Posted April 28, 2012 Report Share Posted April 28, 2012 Well, it's not horrible and the old Floater wasn't perfect either, but at least it was an alien as opposed to a stroggy cyborg-ish half thing. But I can live with it, I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owen magnetic Posted April 30, 2012 Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 The old Floater wasn't really scary though - compared to the other aliens in the X-Com circus it was a bit of a joke. The new Floater might be a half-alien, half-machine cyborg.. but it's still half-alien. Come on now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FullAuto Posted April 30, 2012 Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 The original Floater looked like some sort of giant inflatable sex toy, bobbling through the air towards you. Wait, that's terrifying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted April 30, 2012 Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 If you bounce up and down on a space hopper too hard you turn purple and stay in a permanent state of levitation - they're not even aliens. How did Microprose not see a market for a space hopper based on the original floater? It's genius and you get to wear a cape as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FullAuto Posted April 30, 2012 Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 Examine the beginning of the trend that has sunk countless companies in our documentary: Shitty Tenuously-linked Products - X-Com, Microprose, and the Space Hopper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted April 30, 2012 Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 Segway + cape + purple face paint = awesome XCOM party Floater costume. You guys have XCOM parties right? It's a real holiday and a great way to pick up chicks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowBlade Posted April 30, 2012 Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 The new Floater might be a half-alien, half-machine cyborg.. but it's still half-alien. Come on now. No, it's half-machine, half mutilated human. I don't see any "alien-ness" beyond the technology. And yeah, the old Floater wasn't really scary, but then again neither was the Muton, being just a purple guy in green spandex. But scariness isn't really the point I was trying to make. The problem is I want aliens! The occasional modded human slave of sorts is good, but I really hope it's not a trend. We have two specimens of that already. Segway + cape + purple face paint = awesome XCOM party Floater costume. That's fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silencer_pl Posted April 30, 2012 Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 What are you drinking ? I want that stuff too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FullAuto Posted April 30, 2012 Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 No, it's half-machine, half mutilated human. I don't see any "alien-ness" beyond the technology. Er, quite a few of the original designs are open to that same criticism. Floaters, Sectoids, Ethereals, Mutons etc were all humanoid and very human in appearance. It's an integral fault with people's imaginations, because they can't be arsed to put any effort in, they just make aliens as basically "humans but a bit different." They want them to be an evil faction of humans rather than actual aliens, which makes telling the story easy. If real aliens turned up they would be so different that we could have difficulty realising they were 'alive' at all. Look at the biodiversity available on Earth. Despite the fact it has all sprung from the same origin, we've ended up with a huge variety of life. How much is a human like a squid, or a banana, or a virus, or a bee? Aliens would be many many times further removed from us than the most different Earth species you can think of. They wouldn't be like insects, or reptiles, or mammals, or anything you can envision easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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