Difficulty Poll

[xv_lee]

Personally after the 2nd Russian mission the game I was loving becomes far too frustrating; every mission my soldiers are mind controlled and killed with repeated rocket attacks, even if I take it slowly with ambushes and suprise tactics I'm getting massacred. It would have been nice to have met a stronger opposition more gradually (ie only one rocket alien or mind control psi alien at 1st, not a whole mission of them), and maybe have some better form of protection, especially against psionics.

[zowrath]

Just a note to all that finds this game difficult, remember that when you install and just play this game the difficulty setting defaults to Hard.

 

Z.

[xv_lee]

yeah i went back and changed it to normal and it still seems a lil' hard

[Basilisk]

Certain missions become incredibly frustrating. I suddenly found myself avoiding downed UFOs and alien bases because I was getting consistently creamed. The few times I have HAD to take these missions I wind up loading up to a dozen times as i die AGAIN! UFO's: I can normally get to the entry square easily enough, but I rarely have enough ammo left to mount a concerted defense once inside, and the way the greys ALL set up right next to the 'airlock' takes the mickey, especially when my own troops appear scattered all over the base when they attack me.

In fact, base defense missions are what's upsetting me most at the moment. I am having to fend off wave after wave of base attacks, but find that only about one in three are even remotely possible, simply due to where my troops start off. A single trooper having to fend off the entire attacking force dies horribly quickly, and I find myself being whittled away before my troops can rendezvous with each other, allowing me to mount an effective counterattack. Psionic contol + loads of other weapons = dead men.

The missions vs transgenics are about right, they get better weapons, they're still a threat if you treat the missions too lightly (I've seen what a firetick can do to my squad if it gets too close, and as for deathbellows...) but each has a weakness that can be exploited. The same is not true of the greys, who have superior tech, speed and greater numbers. Add to this the cramped conditions of the UFO's/alien bases, and the fact the greys seem to be stationed in larger rooms that these narrow corridors open into, and you have a killing ground with all the advantages in the aliens favour. I wouldn't mind quite so much if there was some parity with my own base defence missions, but there simply isn't. Anyway, I still think it's a great game, and although some missions are horrifically difficult, you only have to do a few of these, and there is normally some way to counter the advantages of the enemy. It just get's a little frustrating when you're re-loading a mission for the umpteenth time...

[bulldogc]

ive found it easier to just ignore base missions(ill do the this looks like a good base spot missions sometimes for easy xp) the comp gets them done 80 or 90% of the time so its no biggy to do them.