![]() ![]() ![]() The challenge, of course, is that though you have fairly massive funding (in the original game, your budget starts out around $6 million/month), and the best technology humanity currently has to offer.that budget and that technology pales in comparison to that of the alien race(s) hell-bent on conquering you. Formed in the wake of rumours of alien abductions, bizarre terrorist attacks, and strange sightings in the night sky, you represent humanity's last, best hope of survival. In other words, you are E.T.'s worst nightmare. The story behind XCOM is simple: you are in charge of the XCOM organization, a shadowy international body that protects Earth from threats that are beyond the scope of any one nation. With XCOM, though, I feel that the key to enjoying the difficulty lies in the narrative. If the difficulty is a direct flaw of gameplay design (like, for instance, the execrable Superman on Nintendo 64), or simply starts hard and remains hard (or follows a bizarre pattern of easy-hard-moderate-hard-easy-hard etc.), then it's just frustrating. The key is in design if a game is difficult because the designers apply a steady curve of aggression, and the player has a chance to become accustomed to that curve, it feels like we can conquer that hump with practice and perfection. At first blush, if a game is too difficult, it seems like it won't be enjoyable. I'm not sure what it is exactly about classic PC games and difficulty curves, but the two always seem to go hand in hand, such that the "Hard" mode of Firaxis' 2013 game is nicknamed "Classic" in recognition of the 1994 original's teeth-grinding frustration. ![]()
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