![xcom long war research order xcom long war research order](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/xcom/images/c/ce/ResearchTreeDiagramV7.png)
I don’t mind the war with the aliens lasting longer, but the mod makes each battle (and the preparation for it) such a long, drawn out and tedious affair, that I just lose interest. There are some positive changes and additions here, but a lot that makes the game tedious or which damages the experience for me.
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I wanted to like the Long War, but I just don’t. Its madness to expect a squad of rookies with the most basic weapons and armour to overcome obstacles like these, even under an experienced commander. This is a scenario that they actually try to defend on the FAQs page on their site, and I was able to beat them (though I lost four of my six soldiers in the process), but (particularly compared to the excellent balance and difficulty curve of the proper game) this just feels unfair. Instead, I found three Outsiders, each of whom had 10 health points AND regenerated 3 health points each turn. These aliens normally have three or four points of health and just basic attacks. I got to the bridge of the ship, expecting a fight with an Outsider. One example happened during one of my very first missions. I appreciate a challenge, and love that they’ve mixed up the types of enemy you will encounter, but it is too random and there are scenarios that seem cruel and unfair. The other major problem is the lack of fairness or balance. I know that modding the files of a game that wasn’t designed to be modded can’t be easy, and technically none of these bugs actually break the gameplay, but it’s hard to look past so many niggling little issues. Also, the mod introduces a lot of bugs – makes load times longer, causes models and textures to load late, causes the camera to jump randomly around the map during the aliens’ turn and causes animations to frequently stall… – all errors that rarely appear in the core game. Its kinda nice that there is a wider range of soldier voices, but the delivery of the lines can best be described as ‘mixed’. It may not be fair to expect lots of polish from amateurs, but there are a lot of little things that bug me. For me, this is too fiddly and it quickly became tedious, especially when you consider that most of them are probably going to die anyway! This means lots of micro-management to make sure that each soldier has the most suitable equipment.
#XCOM LONG WAR RESEARCH ORDER PLUS#
One thing is the item management you start with multiple types of weapon, grenade and accessories, plus each soldier has more item slots, plus you start with six solders (instead of 4) and can boost squad size up to 12 (instead of 6). However, there are also lots of things about the mod that I don’t like. This change in perspective can make the maps feel a little fresher, and the fact that you no longer know where the aliens are likely to be makes you a little more cautious, restoring some of the game’s tension. There aren’t any new maps, but your squad (and the aliens) can now start in a wider range of places. The other thing it does is to mix up the gameplay a bit. This stuff is not essential, but its good to know in order to understand how the game’s mechanics work and the implications of certain actions. It also presents you with more information about how factors like height, cover and injuries affect your soldiers’ chance to hit or evade enemy attacks. For example, each soldier’s health meter is now colour-coded to distinguish between armour and health, so you know when a solder is actually injured or when their armour has just been damaged. The mod does some simple things that I really felt added to the XCOM experience. It also extends the length of the campaign, changes the aliens’ stats and powers, and adds extra depth to some of the games features, such as the UFO interception mini-game. All of these things succeed in changing the feel of the game, although I’m not sure if it is always a change for the better. There are new classes, extra soldier slots, more weapons and items, and it mixes up the gameplay a bit. The Long War mod changes a surprising amount of stuff. After a few playthroughs, you find yourself in familiar scenarios, knowing instinctively where the aliens and objectives are likely to be, and so the game loses some of the tension that is such a core part of the initial experience. The problem with XCOM: Enemy Unknown (XEU) is that, while the game has a lot of ‘random’ elements, there are only a limited number of maps. However, there is a popular community mod called “The Long War” which aims to do something about that, so I decided to give it a try. I am a huge fan of XCOM: Enemy Unknown and with XCOM 2 due to launch on February 5th, I wanted to play this modern classic again, but there’s a problem after multiple playthroughs, the replay value of the game has greatly diminished.