XCOM Strategy Outdated, Revelations is Missing 3DS AC Title, and Blog Updates

You know, there's been quite a bit of controversy of Take Two's reboot of the RTS series, XCOM, into an FPS game. I also questioned the wisdom of this decision in my E3 coverage noting that it looks too much like Bioshock (which already has a few clones of it's own and is itself a clone of System Shock 2) and that the change from a strategy game to a shooter was just too drastic.

Take-Two has responded to the complaints saying this:

Every studio we had wanted to do it and each one had its own spin on it. But the problem was that turn-based strategy games were no longer the hottest thing on planet Earth. But this is not just a commercial thing – strategy games are just not contemporary.

Okay, I understand wanting to have a commercial success with your reboot. I understand wanting to appeal to as many people as possible. I understand wanting to alter your game for modern times. What I do not understand is changing the ENTIRE FRAKKING GENRE of a series that had four successful games in the 90s and the thought that RTS games are completely out of style.

We had two notable examples of VERY successful RTS games last year and probably quite a few more but two of them stand out, each for different reasons. First there's Civilization V, a continuation of the Civilization series which was published by who? You guessed it, Take-Two. The game was both a critical and commercial success.

StarCraft II is another excellent example especially since it's the sequel to a game that came out in 1998 (2000 if you include Brood War). Blizzard did not change the formula for that game, they just gave it more modern touches. And it was (along with Mass Effect 2, Red Dead Redemption, and Super Mario Galaxy 2) one of the main contenders for Game of the Year awards last year.

In my mind, the notion that RTS games are "out of style" is just plain weak especially given the two examples above and quite a few others if you look into the PC gaming culture.

Last year, when the 3DS was shown at E3, an Assassin's Creed title was meant to be released for it at some point. The game, titled Lost Legacy, completely disappeared after that announcement (probably for the best as handheld AC games have sucked balls). The title eventually formed to become the final entry in Ezio's trilogy.

The basis for the 3DS game became the foundation for Revelations. It's not necessarily a huge news story, but I thought it was cool and decided to share it here.


Finally some updates on the blog. Unfortunately, not a lot of games that grabbed my interest have been coming out and I'm not seeing anything until Bastion and Deus Ex: Human Revolution come out next month. Because of this I'm going to be doing reviews of games that came out earlier this generation that I never reviewed because I didn't have the blog up (or because I just missed it in favor of another game).

Secondly, Baldur's Gate was meant to be my next retro review, but I've been having problems with it. Meanwhile I've been replaying Silent Hill 2 and I've also been playing the original Deus Ex for the first time. So those will be my next two planned retro reviews until I can get Baldur's Gate fully up and running.