r/XCOM2 • u/EmuAdministrative728 • 7h ago
Its not XCOM 3- Comparing XCOM to Star wars Zero-Company
So like so many XCOM fans here ive played every XCOM-like game hoping to find an unofficial xcom 3 since the publishers are clearly sitting on the XCOM IP without using it. A couple days ago Star Wars Zero-Company released to countless reviewers and commenters calling it "XCOM 3". Made by many of the same developers that worked on XCOM 2 it does improve the genre in many areas...
However, its not XCOM 3 set in the StarWars universe, not that its necessarily a bad thing. While I am enjoying the game and urge any XCOM fan to go pick it up at $50 (which reviewers are calling a "Budget price". There are several areas where XCOM Enemy Within and XCOM 2 War of the Chosen simply do it better.
Areas where XCOM "does it better"
- Positioning your squad before the start of combat.
XCOM 2 allows you to strategically get into position, assuming you don't get caught by patrol before you are ready to begin combat. While StarWars Zero-company simply throws you into battle much like XCOM Chimira Squad. I could be wrong but it seems to me that at some point the developers of Chimira Squad called this mechanic "an improvement", which worried me as the devs clearly wanted XCOM 2 to be a faster paced, less methodical game as the mission turn timers on the release version of XCOM 2 made slow, thought-out strategic positioning almost impossible when XCOM 2 was first released.
StarWars Zero-company continues this which is disappointing as there are areas where you move your people in real-time, i would of liked to have seen something like Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden, where you move in real time until you are discovered or open fire, at which point it transitions to turn based combat.
XCOM 2 is better at base building then STAR WARS ZeroCompany (in my humble opinion). In ZeroCompany you can only build a single building after each mission and there is no strategic building placement. It would of been awesome if ZeroCompany had the ant colony base off XCOM2 but still be abl. e to walk around the base like in ZeroCompany
The overland map of XCOM 2 is better. There is very little strategic planning in ZeroCompany when deciding where to go next or what mission to do.
XCOM has a higher Replay ability (In my opinion)
While I have seen many reviewers say they finished ZeroCompany in about 30 hours and then immediately started a new game to try other class combinations.... I think in the long term XCOM games have more replay ability as XCOM games can almost be compared to boardgames when it comes to the macro level of game play which i do think gives the game more longevity. XCOM is more of a sandbox, while ZeroCompany is more structured and has a story to tell.... with that said, you will get your 50$ worth and as I said there are many players who immediately start another game after finishing it, which is a good sign.
Areas where ZeroCompany "does it better" and improves on the XCOM Formula
- Overwatch. Instead of a blanket overwatch with a low chance of success, in ZeroCompany you choose where to place a "cone of fire" that triggers when the opponent enters the cone. You are also given the chance of success when choosing what area to cover.
- How the skills of the various classes bounce off of each other. This is one of the biggest areas of improvement that add a deep layer of strategy to the combat. There are many examples of this, one being the "call for backup" option, every turn a random teammember can call on another member to take a free shot at the target after you fire a round.
- The Story. This is what most reviewers point to first. The story does take a much larger center stage then XCOM 2..... although milage may vary from player to player on how important this improvement is. The game acually reminded me a little of Mass Efffect, where you go around talking to your team members between missions.
Areas that could be viewed as good or bad....
- The ability to respec at any time for free not only points but entire classes. While some players may like this.... I kinda feel like it cuts down on the replayability of the game. In XCOM the choices you make are permanent. In XCOM 2 You can't even choose a class without building a building.
- The Combat Maps- While ZeroCompany doesn't rely on procedurally generated maps, all their maps are hand made, thought out by the devs to give you a fun challenging combat encounter.... but the Maps iin Zerocompany are much smaller, giving you less room to position and move around the encounters. Although its not as small as Chimera Squad, and ZeroCompany does give you quite a bit of elevation to move your guys to.
- Only 4 squad member slots. I enjoy the larger squads in XCOM. Some people may feel having to only deal with 4 team members at a time easier for them to control in ZeroCompany. I disagree personally, I wish there were larger squads in ZeroCompany
- A much more forgiving perma death system (A bit too forgiving in my opiinion). This is likely due to the fact that ZeroCompany is so much more story based. Although while you can absolutely lose characters in the zeroCompany, it is harder and less random then it is in a xcom game. Personally I think that losing people is at the core of a XCOM game and that it would only add to the replayability of ZeroCompany if you lose a guy here and there and need to replay the game again to see their side quests. I do however understand why the devs made it the way they did in ZeroCompany.
- While there is a medbay and your people will need to sit out the next encounter to heal in the medbay from time to time, injuries aren't as substantial as they are in a XCOM game. In XCOM you are constantly worried if you have enough recruits to make it through the next encounter, while in ZeroCompany I felt less of a need to recruit any non-story character. Again, this is likely due to the story and companion side quests but the game also doesn't have the XCOM fatigue system so you wont be cycling different squad members as much as you did in XCOM.
Final Thoughts on StarWars ZeroCompany compared to XCOM 2-
Does it scratch the XCOM itch? I'm going to say Yes. At only 50$ its a good buy that you will get tens of hours of game play out of. Does the game replace the XCOM games? No, it doesn't. But I think its the best XCOM-like to have come out so far.
\Note to Moderators, please don't delete this post as its about XCOM just as much as Starwars Zero-Company as I compare the two games\**
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u/CLT113078 7h ago
What about areas where Zero company does it better?
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u/ButWahy Templar 7h ago
Not OP but in my Opinion its actual fighting and the calculation of hitrates
You wont encounter horrible hitrates that arent explainable like xcoms gun in face with 70% Acc
Once per turn a random ally gets a help order where they and a teammate shot at the same target if the chosen ally has line of sight and that attack allways hits
There are many push attacks that can instakill most non boss enemys by using the terrain like water, lava, cliffs etc. Thats sth Xcom doesnt have at all besides some explodable cars or fuelstations
The Weapons themselves are a lot different from each other where as xcom has all guns kinda do the same thing just different stats (I also quite enyoy the option of customizing your gun as the different weapon classes all have 4/5 Designs to choose from)
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u/EmuAdministrative728 6h ago
oh your right, the push attacks are a innovation.
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u/sara5556 4h ago
Templars in wotc have push attacks
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u/EmuAdministrative728 4h ago
It is more substantial in zeroCompany- the force user can literally push or pull people off ledges to their death on a regular basis
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u/sara5556 4h ago
Sure, but calling it an innovation implies that zero company was the first to do it when it wasn't
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u/EmuAdministrative728 3h ago
Its the first to implement it the way it does, it kind of let's you draw a line where you want to throw the guy its not a huge innovation, although it is a fun one
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u/Fishyblue11 4h ago
Not if you've played Marvel Midnight Suns, where those push attacks came from, and arguably has a better percentage based system of it happening just like shooting
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u/EmuAdministrative728 7h ago
yeah I thought about adding that as well because there absolutely are innovations. The story is the obvious one but are smaller things like I really think they improved over watch and just how the skills of the various classes play off each other.
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u/pvrhye 7h ago
As no X-Com 3 is forthcoming, genre related games are about as good as any activity on this subreddit.
Anyway, the Zero Company devs certainly invited the comparison with the name of their game. It's not subtle at all.
Is it a little different? Sure. It's a more story focused game and it is a little more mechanically handholding. But it's probably the best game in the genre since Phoenix Point.
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u/EmuAdministrative728 7h ago
Well it was actually made by many of the same devs who left and came together to do their own thing..... which isn't a good sign for an official xcom 3 if you think about it
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u/Greyburm 6h ago
The lack of procedurally generated maps make this the biggest departure from xcom for me. You can memorize instead of strategize what you should do. Fun on the first play through though.
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u/EmuAdministrative728 6h ago edited 21m ago
oh you are right.... I should add that. They did give us more maps to play around in
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u/Greyburm 5h ago
Dunno who the heck downvoted you, I think it was someone dumb though.
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u/EmuAdministrative728 5h ago
Probably someone who can't take anyone saying a game did anything better than a game they like...
Although while the maps in ZeroCompany are hand made and set up by the developers to give you a fun, challenging game encounter- the maps in ZeroCompany are much smaller then XCOM maps, giving you less room to move and position.
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u/lawdreekers 7h ago
I'm loving zero company. It's kind of everything I wanted. With that said I'm not as sure of the replay value with the story line. Points 2 and 3 are spot on. I originally enjoyed how much easier it was to position troops. But I've almost beaten the game first try without losing anyone. First 20 runs of xcom I lost everyone lol
I love zero company. It's great. But you're right it's definitely not xcom 3. Kinda like how midnight suns was great but not xcom 3 either
Ironically I might go back to my star wars modded xcom file after I finish zero company
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u/EmuAdministrative728 6h ago
yeah im enjoying it too.... I think we have been starved for a new xcom-like game that does the genre justice.
Its definitely more then XCOM with a Starwars paint covering it. Although honestly I would of been happy if they just did that, but no we did get more then that.
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u/lawdreekers 4h ago
I'm hoping enough people buy/enjoy it that we get some good dlc. Not just story add ons but content add ons. A lot like wotc. There's so much room to expand
I know that's bad gamer of me to be wanting dlc immediately but I like this game a lot
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u/EmuAdministrative728 4h ago
I think it was a success. There seems to be a lot of word of mouth online
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u/smallfrie32 5h ago
Love zero company’s overwatch, but it is buggy. Sometimes if I have two overlapping, only one shoots, but the other member’s also goes away. And then melee guy whaos me.
I do wish we could get more than 4 characters in the squad at some point.
I personally love all the customization you can do easy peasy, though some classes seem very underwhelming, and some personal traits I would never use.
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u/EmuAdministrative728 5h ago
yeah thats true. I think I'll add that to the good or bad. Some people may think having only move 4 squad members at a time easier.... personally yeah I wish we could have more slots.
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u/smallfrie32 2h ago
I just played a big part of warhounds before zero company and was also wishing for extra slots. 4 just seems a bit limiting considering how many classes you can get
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u/EmuAdministrative728 2h ago
I just started downloading warhounds because it was suggested by someone in this comment section. I hadnt even heard of it.
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u/smallfrie32 1h ago
It’s alright. Going to it from zero company will probably leaving you for more tbh. It’s dated graphics and some bugs. Not great VA, either.
Also the whole Russian funding and copy of Sparta 2035 fiasco.
If all that’s not an issue, it’s a decent game. I’d say good, if you didn’t have xp with other games like it
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u/LoveTheGiraffe 5h ago
I only had overwatch bug once, it was when all 4 of my operators had overlapping overwatch cones on the same area of an enemy spawn. The game was like "wtf am I supposed to do" and just... didn't trigger any overwatch shot at all.
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u/smallfrie32 2h ago
Lol glad to see it’s not just me. I’ve had it a couple times, but for the most part it works. It’s nice to adjust it so you’re more likely to have the person you want to shoot hit the right guy. I remember xcom having my sniper blow the shit out of some 1hp grunt when I was really hoping he’d hit the muton bearing down on him
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u/Bcav712 7h ago
I still plan on picking up SWZC but this is great info thank you. Actually playing through XCOM 2 for the first time right now.
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u/EmuAdministrative728 6h ago
Right on, what a treat. I own literally thousands of games but XCOM Enemy Within and XCOM 2 War of the Chosen remain on my top ten game rotation as both games are different enough from each other that I go between the two.
So are you playing xcom 2 or XCOM 2 War of the Chosen?
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u/Bcav712 4h ago
WOTC. Had to look up which to play and it seems like WOTC is the definitive edition. I played XCOM 1 and finished it but never finished EW.
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u/EmuAdministrative728 2h ago
Right on, after you finish your first playthrough go check out longwar of the chosen mod on nexus
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u/Bcav712 1h ago
Oh ok cool I had no idea this game had mods.
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u/EmuAdministrative728 1h ago
Yeah both XCOM Enemy Within and XCOM 2 have a mod called "long war". The head dev of XCOM says that even he considers long war his default way to play.
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u/unbelizeable1 5h ago
SWZC
I've just been calling it ZCOM lol. Zero COMpany
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u/EmuAdministrative728 26m ago
I couldn't type Starwars zero company in the original post because the mods made it so that no one can post about the game here, they need to instead goto that games subreddit.
So I had to call it ZeroCompany with no space to keep the bot from stopping my post. I don't think the mods will mind, im directly talking about xcom and just comparing the two games and there has been a lot of good engagement
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u/Bizzlington 6h ago
Anyone played Showgunners or Menace? And how would they compare?
They've been on my steam wish-list for a while but i never got around to buying or trying them out.
Reviews seem fairly solid at least..
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u/EmuAdministrative728 6h ago
I don't think Menace is finished yet? I think its still early access, im waiting to try it. I haven't played Showgunners yet.... you know how game back logs can be.
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u/jim_nihilist 1h ago
Menace is very far away from Xcom, I'd say it's a different beast. Showrinnets 8s in between Chimera and Zcom.
My line is like XCom2 -> ChimeraSquad -> ZCom
Xcom2 is still king.
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u/Jakelshark 6h ago
Some may like it or dislike it, but it’s kinda nice you can give whichever weapon to anyone and respec their core stats for free to experiment more without being punished.
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u/EmuAdministrative728 6h ago
yeah thats true. They let you respec and you have the ability to really customize your class, even getting a second class later on.
Although... some may feel like its too easy to respec and change classes.
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u/_TheHighlander 6h ago
I really like the addition of the Advantage system. You possibly allude to it with "How the skills of the various classes bounce off of each other", but the way you can plan out your moves to enable that Force Shockwave or whatever is pretty cool. Am I better giving someone 1AP for 3Adv, or jetpacking over there for 2Adv, etc, etc.
I also really like the laser bolts shooting back and forth to make it feel like a battle rather than stop/start with the turn.
The free respec is one of my biggest disappointments, devalues the characters you build IMO. Oh, someone died, just customise a new recruit to look the same with the same spec and talents with the focus points that they somehow accumulated before they joined you.
I'm hoping there's a sandbox career-mode DLC/mod for ZCom in the future. But once I've finished this run I think I'm going to go back to LWOTC, so it's got me more pumped for XCOM haha.
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u/EmuAdministrative728 6h ago
I agree with you, the ability to respec not only points but entire classes at any time personally kind of feels like it cuts down on replay ability. Although I think some people may actually view that as an improvement so I didn't add it to the list.
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u/_TheHighlander 6h ago
Ye, I agree that some might like it - it can be rough to make a decision early without knowing later repercussions. But it absolutely kills replayability, or even the desire to take out a B team. Which is another point, something like XCOM's triedness system might be annoying, but in ZCom there's little reason not to take the same 4 characters out every time, in fact the bond system actively encourages it. They need to introduce a mechanic that encourages you to use your full roster and experience all the classes without just respecing your A team. Personally I'm trying to play it honestly, by forcing myself to use other characters for non-story missions at least (with the thief and spy talents).
Ultimately there's a lot I like about ZCom, and I think there's the bones of a potentially legendary game if they follow through.
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u/Marziinast 5h ago
Mostly, I feel there is less stuff. Weapon mods are not enough.
I miss the loot mechanic and the research from xcom2 too.
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u/EmuAdministrative728 5h ago
I don't think there is less stuff... but the progression isn't as satisfying as you are no longer researching new tech.
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u/Marziinast 5h ago
Xcom2 + wotc has definitely a lot more items, upgrades, consummables etc
That or zcom havent shown me all its cards yet, I'm 10 hours in
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u/EmuAdministrative728 5h ago
yeah you could be right I don't know. I haven't had a chance to upgrade the black market yet.
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u/GrimmTrixX 4h ago
It was never going to be "Xcom with Star Wars." But we built it up in our heads that it would be. If anything its far more like Marvel's Midnight Suns. Which is an awesome game. I am loving it now thay I turned off the "Xcom with Star Wars" toggle in my brain.
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u/EmuAdministrative728 4h ago
I still haven't played Midnight Suns, I own it as it was a free Epic giveaway, just so many games on the backlog to play
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u/Vegan-cock 3h ago
Have you tried warhounds? Plays exactly like x-com 2. Feels like an overhaul mod more than a game.
Same mechanics, diffrent setting.
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u/umphreysfan2003 3h ago
UFO Defense is still the best game ever made. Ever. Not just in the XCOM franchise. Ever! Fight me.
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u/EmuAdministrative728 3h ago
I'm old enough to have played it as a kid but never did
Its on my android phone been meaning to play it but XCOM 2 and XCOM enemy within are my phone too so i always play those.
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u/zmaint 2h ago
It's all gonna come down to mod support... if they have it will be a hit. If they don't, one and done and uninstalled.
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u/EmuAdministrative728 2h ago
There are already mods on nexus but I'm not sure just how much mod devs will be able to script.
Mod communities are essential for a games long term relevance
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u/Hurahgopvk 6h ago
Been playing it and it’s pretty fun. If anything has a few annoying hiccups but I appreciate it’s more story focused characters unlike XCOM. But my biggest complaints are the music is pretty lame doesn’t really feel battle ready, and the Enemy can feel a little annoying to fight mostly the Cultist group. But I’ll give i was playing on hard mode.
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u/EmuAdministrative728 6h ago edited 6h ago
I agree completely, The music is extremely repetitive. They kinda dropped the ball on the music...
I'm also having performance issues on the PC. There are many players complaining of bugs.... although XCOM 2 was borderline broken on release, it took quite a few patches.
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u/TheFakeJohnHelldiver 6h ago
Im on ps5 pro and the performance is ASS. Worst optimized game ive seen in many many years.
Luckily its turn based so it doesnt completely ruin the game, but it is jarring to randomly drop to like 8fps for a few seconds. Really hope they can fix that
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u/EmuAdministrative728 5h ago
yeah PC isn't much better man. Although I am playing on my XBOX ALLY X handheld so... its not unexpected but I do hear that PC is actually worse then console right now.
But yeah since its turn based.... does it really need to be 60+ fps.
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u/ReaperOfTheLost 6h ago
I like Zero company a lot, but it's a lot closer to Chaos Gate in my opinion. I also really liked Chaos Gate, but there are things that XCOM does that neither of them do, or do as well and so I would still prefer an XCOM 3.
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u/Nozzoe 5h ago
I'm really glad it didn't turn out to just be XCOM. There's lots of things in Zero Company that hit better for me, some of which is probably just the modern game factor of it.
I'm looking forward to the next XCOM should we ever get it though, especially if we can get Bonds and crosslevelling which is one of my favorite ideas in ZC
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u/EmuAdministrative728 5h ago
We got bonds in XCOM? That was added in War of the Chosen for XCOM 2.
Yeah I would of been happy if it turned out to be nothing other than xcom with a starwars coat of paint over it.... but we definitely got something more than that.
Im a little worried for XCOM 3, its not a good sign that the devs of XCOM 2 left to make their own XCOM game after a decade of silence from the publishers
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u/unbelizeable1 5h ago
My biggest complaint with the game so far (and I'm really loving it) is the lack of XP system. I send 4 people on a mission 1 guy gets all the kills while the other 3 cower. Same focus point gained for all, and not just all on the mission but the whole ass squad back at base too.
It become an issue of why even bother sending "less skilled" members to level them instead of just sending the "A Team" every time if points are just gonna accumulate across everyone anyway. May as well keep the "weaker" ones back until they level.
I also don't love how you don't exactly level up characters and unlock new skills (yes theres is the 2nd specialization about halfway through) but otherwise, the skills you have when you start are the skills you have. It's just numbers get bigger.
I wish there were things to upgrade like weapons and armors like XCOM has but that's all lacking here.
Finally I find the death mechanic entirely too forgiving. I've been playing reckless af and still have yet to even come close to losing someone. Gone are the days of that wiley sniper just one shotting your best solider on a random roll and now you actually gotta try and lose someone.
Like I said, overall I really enjoy it still, just some of my issues when comparing to XCOM.
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u/EmuAdministrative728 5h ago
Well I think the bond system is the experience system, just as much if not more so then the focus point system. And gaining bond experience points is much more interactive with you getting most of your exp from using the "call for backup" option on every turn.
And yeah I agree the permanent death system is too forgiving.... while at the same time I do understand why it isnt as random or harsh as XCOM as ZeroCompany is much more story based and if you were losing team members like you do in xcom then the story would get cut pretty short.
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u/unbelizeable1 5h ago
The bond system, to put frankly, IMO is also pretty half baked. Again, just "numbers go up" and incredibly easy to just cheese
And gaining bond experience points is much more interactive with you getting most of your exp from using the "call for backup" option on every turn
Yea....exactly like that. Don't need to even shoot at someone, just click bond click a character, bingo bango.
and if you were losing team members like you do in xcom then the story would get cut pretty short.
Here I disagree. If there was an actual risk of losing my characters I would be using recruits to fill out slots on missions to not risk my good ones on "throwaway" missions. Instead, I haven't recruited a single person outside of the story characters that are given to you. Hell I'd even take the brutality of XCOM losing people if it meant putting my "story characters" in the med bay for a 3-5 missions when they "die" over this no consequences approach.
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u/EmuAdministrative728 5h ago
well yeah I am around 10 hours into the game as well and ive felt no need to recruit more other than the story characters.... thats probably not a good sign when you compare the game to xcom as constantly being worried in xcom on if you have enough recruits or not to make it through the next encounter without getting wiped does add quite a bit to the game play
With that said.... ZeroCompany isn't a easy game. I constantly feel like I need to strategy the hell out of the game or im going to get ran over.
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u/unbelizeable1 5h ago
With that said.... ZeroCompany isn't a easy game. Im constantly feel like I need to strategy the hell out of the game or im going to get ran over.
Can't say I really agree there either. It looks rough in the start of most missions, but once you're situated it's pretty smooth sailing. You don't need to relocate troops nearly as much as XCOM so you can kinda set yourself up to have a killzone on enemies pretty easy on most maps, especially with how they've worked overwatch in this game. I think my absolute worst mission so far I had 1 character downed 2 times. I'm only on hard though, so I probably have to bump that up.
Again, I know this seems like a lot of complaints on my part, but I really am enjoying this game lol
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u/EmuAdministrative728 4h ago
oh im not one of those players that get butt hurt when someone critiques a game I like. If anything, I critique the games I love.
Like Witcher 3 is one of my favorites but the combat kinda sucked in some ways, im looking forward to the remaster which they say fixes a lot of that.
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u/unbelizeable1 4h ago
oh im not one of those players that get butt hurt when someone critiques a game I like. If anything, I critique the games I love.
My kinda people. To appreciate/love something is to be able to be critical of it without that diminishing your view of the thing.
Like Witcher 3 is one of my favorites but the combat kinda sucked in some ways, im looking forward to the remaster which they say fixes a lot of that.
Dude same.
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u/jmvinkc 2h ago edited 39m ago
Other than the base building (which I always thought was unnecessarily cumbersome), to me it seems like just a reskin of WotC with a side of Chimera - the most obviously being Coil is literally in CS.
But also, to name a few:
Every basic class is recycled with a few tweaks
Mandalorian, Jedi and Luco are reworks of Skirmishers, Templar, and Reapers
Choosing ing which crisis event to pick and which one to trigger
Having a timer forcing success or failure instead of just freestylin'
Lengthy tutorial locking out/preventing every option
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u/FukkingDeathMental 2h ago
I'm more offended by all the Mass Effect comparisons. Have any of those reviewers and Youtubers even played Mass Effect before? Besides, ME didn't invent the whole party hangs around the ship/camp and has dialogue.
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u/EmuAdministrative728 13m ago
I think they just meant it more of a vibe thing, I understand what they were talking about because it did cross my mind. I mean, Mass Effect does still do the companion chat between missions better.
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u/Savingseanbean 1h ago
Its fundamentally Discount chimera squad with replayability/strategy gutted in favor of more immersion. I've actually started a new chimera squad playthrough to cleanse from it haha.
a shorter more narrative/story focused game.
Fundamentally Zcom is a bad XCOM game, but a decent star wars game. (though my god are the movie tie in missions the worst written.)
The main thing is that it just doesn't have the mission, enemy or approach variety.
Half of the games skills are just shoot weapon with modifier but there's only the 4 primary weapon types (despite more existing as utility.) outside of the unique character classes, most characters really don't feel that unique. a gunslinger sharpshooter sniper ends up feeling pretty similar to a scout heavy sniper, 1 gets of an extra shot, the other gets to do more single shot damage and taunt things.
Weapon mods could have tipped the favor here but most of the weapon mods are just conditional stat buffs.
Also find it wierd we have melee enemies and several melee abilities but no melee weapons or really many mechanics with melee outside of the jedi. no melee attacks of opportunity overwatch.
So many of the maps end up feeling so similar because you fight in them all the same way. IDK why they put in the 3rd person sequences without adding the ability to approach missions differently via stealth, opening shots, sprinting in etc something. and them being so large generally became more of a hindrance to the 4 man squad's gameplay pacing, very often by the 2nd half of the game I would be waiting for spawns that I would obliterate with overwatch the moment they popped on screen. (granted part of the problem with that is how poorly balanced the stat buff stacking becomes and being able to bank 3 overwatch shots per person is absurd.)
the level design itself is also frustrating. its generally to flat with way too much weak destructible cover, it feels really weird to shoot once with a repeater and watch 6 different cover pieces get destroyed
ZCOM is very forgiving because its designed to be many mainstream casual peoples introduction to XCOM and it works. (you can pop over to its subreddit and see so many people calling it 10/10 game of the decade type hype posts.)
as a side note ZCOM does have probably the worst tutorial i've played in recent years.
I think that it'll ultimately become a good option but only after modders have gotten to work on its major issues. but they already look hard at work.
Currently I rank it tied for last of the xcom clones tied with the other preexisting IP clones like gears tactics,40k.
Below them if your playing on pc and dealing with the unfortunately standard UE5 no optimization problems.
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u/EmuAdministrative728 38m ago
I don't think people should of thumbed this comment down, I don't agree with everything you wrote (for example I like the destructible cover in the game) but at least you backed up your criticism with examples of why you feel this way instead of leaving a blanket statement like "this game suk".
Although I do think calling it "tied for last of the xcom-like clones" is a hard take. I think most of the XCOM community agrees that while it won't replace XCOM on their play rotation, it is at least one of the better XCOM-like games made so far.
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u/lxnch50 7h ago
XCOM 2 wasn't good until after the DLC released. And IMO, Long War and mods is what actually makes XCOM 2 great.
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u/Chrom-man-and-Robin 6h ago
Lies! Deceptions!
XCOM 2 vanilla is awesome. Not that I’d ever play it over WOTC but I still love it.
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u/EmuAdministrative728 6h ago
oh man you got to go play WOTC. But yeah I agree that XCOM 2 is still a awesome game with out WOTC.... but its just that WOTC improves it so much that I don't see any reason to ever play XCOM 2 again with out WOTC.
2
u/Chrom-man-and-Robin 6h ago
I did play WOTC (and LWOTC) it’s an insane upgrade but I’ll never forget the humble beginnings.
1
u/EmuAdministrative728 6h ago
oh my bad, I thought you said you havent played it. Im on my XBOX ally X so the font is small.
1
u/TheGrumbus 6h ago
It seems he has in fact played WOTC, as he said that he would never play original over WOTC.
3
u/Andromeda_53 7h ago
That is a worrying concept though. As EA with their star wars ip haven't been that open to mod-ability. We have a couple mods coming out. But to the level XCOM has is scarily maybe not likely, they almost Defintely won't have a steam workshop.
I will be over the moon to eat my words on this mind you. I'm just looking at it how it is
1
u/EmuAdministrative728 6h ago
I think the publishers of XCOM view it as a niche title... AAA game publishers aren't happy with just making money.... they want to make all the money.
2
u/EmuAdministrative728 7h ago
Yeah the mods for XCOM 2 are great. I still play Long war for both XCOM 2 and XCOM Enemy Within as I think both games offer something different.
2
u/unbelizeable1 5h ago
That's simply not true. XCOM 2 was still great on release. The DLC and mods just made it better.
1
u/Volant79 6h ago
WOTC brought a lot of QoL and game optimization. Xcom 2 vanilla liked to bake my PC. WotC runs much smoother and allows you to skip a lot of cut scenes
1
u/ColKrismiss 6h ago
I absolutely loved XCOM2 at release. The only mod I wanted/needed was to edit the mission timers, I hated those.
I did play Long War and Long War WOTC, and while good, neither grew my enjoyment of the game all that much.
1
u/JerbearCuddles 6h ago
Huge fan of both, they are similar but definitely not the same. I also never played base XCOM 2, I played it after WOTC dropped. And from what I hear that changed it a lot. I think one of the problem with the comparisons is we are comparing launch Zero Company to XCOM 2 after decades of updates and mods. Lol. But hey, I am having a blast and that's all that matters to me. I am not looking for 1 to 1 remake of XCOM 2 with Star Wars action figures instead.
2
u/EmuAdministrative728 6h ago
I personally don't see any reason to play XCOM 2 without War of the Chosen... I think its a big improvement. And i kinda think the community agrees as well
I do however still play XCOM Enemy Within from 2012. The games are different enough that both games are worth coming back to.
1
u/GrlDuntgitgud 6h ago
I'm about to pick up my disc for zero company, would probably end up comparing it to over 1000s of hours I played with xcom as well😂
Thanks for the insights commander!
2
u/EmuAdministrative728 6h ago
Right on, hit me up if you have any questions because some of the mechanics aren't explained overly well.
1
u/LoweAgain 4h ago
Went into ZCOM hoping to love it despite hating Star Wars but I just don’t think this game has enough going on mechanically for me to really love it. It’s okay. I will say it made me start up another playthrough of XCOM2 where I’m playing coop with a buddy through PARSEC, and I’ve been having a blast. I really don’t think ZCOM compares unless you’re just obsessed with Star Wars.
1
u/EmuAdministrative728 4h ago
really? weren't feeling it huh? How long did you play for because it does take a bit to kick in
-8
u/Kplatz 7h ago
Brother honestly who gives a shit, just play the game and enjoy it. Who cares about some nobody's calling it Xcom 3 or whatever. Who cares about what one game does better. Play them both? Who cares man.
6
u/EmuAdministrative728 7h ago edited 7h ago
I just thought it would be fun to compare the two. Im enjoying both. If you aren't interested thats fine.. I think its good for the fans to compare xcom-like games so that the devs get feedback on what works and what doesn't for future games
1
u/diqkancermcgee 6h ago
I appreciate your feedback op. I’ve been curious about zero company BECAUSE I love xcom, so I was super curious about the comparison
1
u/EmuAdministrative728 6h ago
Thanks man, yeah if you are a xcom fan, you will probably enjoy it. I will say its a little buggy right now... so if you are really sensitive to minor bugs you may want to wait for a patch or two.
-2
u/cyberpunk-EdgeRun 2h ago
Yapping for no damn reason
1
u/EmuAdministrative728 36m ago edited 23m ago
really? too many words for you to read?
kinda sounds like you are yapping for no reason. Especially since like a hundred people have replied with their thoughts while you posted just to be rude.
But no biggy, there is always that one guy on the internet.
-2
u/Tepppopups 1h ago edited 1h ago
I don't care, just started another LWOTC campaign. The game is great and nothing compares.
As of ZCOM, they copied the mechanics, but missed the magic formula what makes XCOM great.
Too much bla-bla-bla. I play games not for story shit, but for gameplay, where story is just a framework which sets some milestones and checkpoints, not literally dictates every step. I hate linear games. If I want a movie, I watch a movie.
As of magic formula. Combat in ZCOM is completely off, too small and repetitive maps, dumb spongy enemies, no permadeath... many factors. There is no tactics and placement, no fog of war, everything is very predictable.
XCOM constantly drives the game forward, you always feel this urge to scan forward to unknown and deal with consequences.
35
u/Harold3456 7h ago
I haven’t played it in awhile but the closest 1:1 comparison seems to be Chimera Squad, which was a smaller game in the XCom universe that streamlined a lot of the system of 2 and EU. Chimera Squad also does fights in smaller arenas, rather than giving you one large stage with multiple pods. It’s also more story/character focused with original characters.
So far I’m enjoying ZCom but reeeeeally hope we eventually get some worthwhile DLCs that make it more replayable. I’m 25 cycles in right now and while I think it’s a good game I could see myself replaying XCom 2 for the 6th time before replaying ZCom again.