Let's Talk... XCOM: Enemy Within

XCOM: Enemy Unknown was an excellent success. A deep yet accessible re-invention of a classic  franchise. A game that served as an excellent introduction to a very specific kind of turn-based strategy whilst also offering a deep and rich experience that had the potential to be extremely difficult. Enemy Unknown's first major expansion introduces some key improvements that enrich the original formula whilst also adding an array of significant changes and updates that make it feel like a much richer game.

The biggest and most obvious change comes from the introduction of a new friendly unit: the MEC trooper. On top of the original four classes, soldiers can now undergo an irreversible "augmentation" process to become MEC troopers, badass human-robot hybrids with far more potential than your average soldier. The MEC trooper gains a small bonus that reflects their previous class, and, much like the regular classes in XCOM, MEC troopers get their own respective skill tree that offer various trade-offs, typically aimed towards improving either their defence or the offence.

The shiny new MEC trooper fighting the shiny new alien equivalent, the Mechtoid

MEC troopers can also be equipped with a number of powerful and wholly unique skills that make them stand out nicely from the rest of the classes. The ability, for example, to choose between an area-of-effect flamethrower, or a devastating punch attack that can cause immense damage to both the environment and any poor alien dumb enough to get in your way. The increased health pool and incredibly strong abilities make MEC troopers a force to be reckoned with, and with the potential to use a variety of different MEC suits in combat the MEC trooper is easily the most dynamic and versatile class of them all.

Further changes to the original formula include the addition of a renegade human faction, known as EXALT. EXALT is a (presumably crazy) pro-alien cult that seems to want to put a stop to those pesky XCOM folk and serve as generous benefactors to the alien invaders. Dealing with the EXALT threat isn't nearly as complex as dealing with the aliens, but it still involves carrying out a series of covert operations (which add a number of new mission types) and trying to discover EXALT's base of operations. The covert ops typically involve deploying a soldier for a few days and later carrying out a mission to recover both the soldier and their uncovered data. The introduction of non-alien enemies is certainly an interesting thing to add, and dealing with multiple threats simultaneously adds a tense new dynamic, one that makes managing the alien threat that much harder.

EXALT, the new pro-alien faction

Other major changes come in the form of two new enemy units: Mechtoids and Seekers. Mechtoids are, naturally, the alien equivalent of the MEC trooper (apparently both the humans and the aliens developed the technology for MEC suits at the exact same time?), and are basically the weak and fairly pathetic Sectoid creatures strapped into MEC suits. Mechtoids are, of course, considerably stronger than regular Sectoid enemies and serve as a fine match for your shiny new MEC troopers. They're a force to reckoned with and go hand-in-hand with the rest of the game's tougher, late-game foes, such as the Cyberdisc and Sectopod enemies. A fine addition to the alien army.

The other new unit, on the other hand, is the Seeker, an interesting unit that unfortunately doesn't seem to suit the rest of the alien's armada. The Seeker is a weak but stealth-oriented unit that will turn invisible on first sight. The Seeker will silently roam the battlefield waiting to pounce potential victims, disabling them and putting them into a strangulating hold that will slowly deal damage if not dealt with. Thankfully, Seekers are incredibly weak and can be killed immediately once they reveal themselves, the only problem is waiting for them to do so. Sure, it's possible to de-cloak Seekers using certain items or by having particular upgrades, but the easiest way to deal with Seekers is simply to put everyone on overwatch until one appears and watch it get subsequently smoked. And that's pretty tedious to deal with. It's certainly an interesting concept, and one that punishes otherwise untouched isolated units, but it feels very much at odds with the very aggressive, in-your-face behaviour that other alien units display, and can be a little frustrating to deal with.

Further changes still include a new resource to gather during missions, MELD, which can be spent on MEC-related upgrades, as well as a variety of new types of upgrades. MELD adds a sort of urgency to every mission you take that simply wasn't there in the original game. Since MELD canisters are on a timer before expiring, they must be collected with a certain degree of haste, adding an extra layer of tension to every mission. The upgrades come in the form of genetic implants and can hone and improve a wide array of areas, from the ability to jump incredibly high to simple improvements to a soldier's aim and crit chance. On top of these genetic upgrades, Enemy Within introduces a series of attainable medals that can be given to soldiers in order to lightly improve various stats and skills. 

The new genetic implants soldiers can get, all of which cost MELD, the new resource

These options add an extra layer of complexity and depth that allow soldiers to become immensely powerful in a number of unique ways, rather than simply doing a lot of damage or having a large health pool.The introduction of new and more dynamic ways to improve your soldiers allows for much deeper customisation, further than simply their equipment and fairly static skill tree choices, and completely changes the "best" way to build certain classes. Other changes Enemy Within brings include new maps and new mission types to make even the content of the original game more interesting and less repetitive.

Ultimately, Enemy Within is a rich and deep expansion that adds much to the original game without losing that made Enemy Unknown such an excellent game. Although not all the changes are well-executed, the vast majority of the changes and improvements are interesting and unique and serve as smart additions to the original game's formula. Enemy Within is a fine example of how to make a great game better with just a few smart and well-implemented changes.

The reasons for FIFA's immense success

FIFA is one of gaming's longest running and best-selling series, running annually for over 20 years and boasting lifetime sales of over 100 million. The FIFA series also enjoys being the flagship video game series for the world's most popular sport, football, or "soccer" if you're so inclined. There a number of reasons why the FIFA games continue to celebrate such immense success, such as the fact that FIFA as an organisation is an extremely well-known household name, or the fact that FIFA owns the rights to use hundreds of real teams and thousands of well-known players. 

The most important reason for its on-going success, however, is simply that EA has completely cornered the market on football games. Other series have come and gone, and other developers and publishers have tried and failed to make a lasting impression on video game football. Series such as Sensible Soccer or Winning Eleven are prime examples of this, series that simply disappear into obscurity after failing to compete. Even FIFA's prime competitor, Pro Evolution Soccer (PES), struggles to remain truly competitive with football's gaming juggernaut.

For over 20 years, and especially in recent years, FIFA has built up its reputation of being the football game. The most authentic, the best-looking, the most successful. FIFA is extremely successful not just because its a great football series, but because they're also good games in a much more general sense. They play well, their systems are accessible and easy to understand, and they can be enjoyed without any prerequisite interest in football. You only have to have a loose grasp on the rules of football to play and enjoy FIFA games.

Another reason for FIFA's incredible success is that the games are inherently social, making them extremely easy to enjoy with a small group of friends, whether local or online. Their various systems and game modes make it extremely easy for multiple people to play at any one time, and the quick and easy way in which a flexible tournament can be set up further facilitates this social element. 

Furthermore, the fairly recent "Ultimate Team" system also creates an element that is both competitive and social in nature. Effectively a virtual trading card mini-game, the Ultimate Team system allows players to buy, trade and flaunt their player cards, which can be organised into customisable teams. Each card has varying degrees of rarity, and naturally each player has their own unique strengths and weaknesses. The Ultimate Team has very cleverly created an on-going economy that can be transferred between games, meaning that when FIFA 15 was released you could easily transfer your personal "FIFA points" from FIFA 14. This system of continuity between games gives players an extra reason to remain loyal to the FIFA series, beyond simply brand loyalty or purchasing habit.

These are just some of the varying reasons why EA and the FIFA series has experienced, and continues to experience, such remarkable success, and why it holds its place as the go-to football video game series. The odds of FIFA ever losing its place as the king of football games to a competing football franchise seem extremely slim at this point. FIFA's formula for updating and releasing new iterations is far too robust to ever really fail: minor gameplay tweaks, improved visuals and updated rosters. All players really want from their football series, and FIFA nails it rather impeccably.

Let's Talk... Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor

Comparisons to the various systems of Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and the Batman: Arkham games are extremely apt when describing Shadow of Mordor's core mechanics. The movement and parkour-like traversal are essentially identical to that of Assassin's Creed, only tighter and more responsive. Elements of exploration and a number of stealth systems feel very reminiscent of the Far Cry games. The combat is quite literally taken from an Arkham game. And yet, even though so many of SoM's core systems are so blatantly cut from major franchises, Shadow of Mordor still manages to feel wholly unique in its execution, due mostly to its truly remarkable "Nemesis system". A system that feels so concisely designed and so smartly implemented, the nemesis system adds so much to every moment of the game.

The narrative arc follows protagonist Talion on his journey to avenge his family, who were slain by the Black Hand of Sauron, and discover the past of Celebrimbor, the spirit of an elf living inside him. Talion seeks to simultaneously cure himself of the curse of immortality, which afflicted him after he was killed alongside his family. The story in Shadow of Mordor is well-written and well-acted, and the character of Talion is concisely and effectively humanized thanks in large part to Troy Baker's excellent voice-work and emotive mo-cap
performance. However, parts of the narrative feel a little tonally confused, whilst others just feel disjointed and unnecessary. 

Troy Baker's motion-capture performance really helps to bring Talion to life, concisely and emotively

The story attempts to blend appeal to the wider Lord of the Rings audience (i.e. people who watched the films) with deep lore callbacks that only Lords of the Rings fans who read beyond the books would appreciate. For example, one of the main characters in the story is the aforementioned Celebrimbor, a key figure in the LotR lore, but not a character that appears in any of the movies. The deep fiction cuts are well-executed and handled rather gracefully. The parts that are trying to appeal to the wider audience, however, are clumsy and feel very fan-servicey in a way that's very much at odds with the rest of the game's tone. Things like Gollum appearing for a couple of missions for no real reason, for example, feel poorly executed and wholly unnecessary. The story is well-done but perhaps a little thin, the real draw should be the game's variety robust and extremely effective systems.

The game's combat, for example, will feel immediately familiar to anyone that's played any of the Batman: Arkham games. You can dodge, you can counter, you can vault over enemies. Racking up and maintaining chains of uninterrupted hits allows you to pull off numerous special moves. It's impossible to deny that the combat in Shadow of Mordor is that of the Arkham games, but that's certainly not a bad thing. The Arkham combat is some of the best melee combat done in a long time, and to see another game replicate it so effectively and maintain the impressive fluidity and satisfying responsiveness is most certainly not a problem. Of course, there are elements of SoM's combat that are unique and novel. Enemies can be grabbed, interrogated for information on other Orc captains, or even be converted to fight on your side. Although the basic feel of the combat is in no way unique, these various elements add a lot to the combat, especially later on when converting multiple Orcs into allies is extremely necessary, and taking advantage of a captain's weaknesses is crucial. 

An example of a captain's combination of strengths and weaknesses, along with noticeable scars caused by previous encounters with the player

Early on, the game is rather forgiving with the combat, offering generous timing on counters and allowing you to cancel an attack to counter another enemy. However, it's extremely easy to get overwhelmed by the huge number of enemies that can appear, and higher rankings captains and warchiefs (the highest rank) can be extremely tough to take down. Especially once their various strengths and resistances (invulnerability to ranged attacks, for example) begin to stack up. A major part of dealing with captains and warchiefs is adequate preparation, which mainly takes the form of intel you can gather from various sources. This information informs you of a captain's numerous strengths and weakness, fears and loathings, as well as their location, power level, rank etc. 

Preparation for such fights is when the nemesis system really shows its fantastic design and impressive variation. Every encounter with a captain or warchief is different from the last. One captain might have a fear of betrayal, and so converting one of his minions might cause him to flee. Another might hate Caragors (large, warg-like beasts) and the very sight of one will send him into a frenzy, making him even harder to kill. In some instances, a captain or warchief might flee and get demoted, or they may actually kill you and grow stronger and get promoted as a consequence. It's the unique combination of strengths and weaknesses that every captain seems to have, and the impressive volume of factors that can affect a captain's behaviour that make the nemesis system work so well. The elegant and dynamic design and its volatile and completely unscripted results are what give it such a profound impact on every aspect of the game. Every side mission you take, every encounter you have with a captain, every victory and every defeat. It all feeds into the ongoing, and potentially endless, meta-game that the nemesis system sets up. A meta-game that is, in many ways, far more interesting than some of the game's somewhat stale and repetitive story missions.

A visual representation of the game's nemesis system

Alongside the fluid combat, the game also features a robust and fairly forgiving stealth system. It's nothing revolutionary, and may even feel a little too basic for those expecting more intelligent AI or more complex systems, but it works pretty well and the variety of visceral stealth takedowns are endlessly satisfying. Enemies will follow the fairly typical phases of alertness: unaware, searching, and fully alert. Furthermore, the game features the Splinter Cell "last-known position" mechanic, which gives a visual display of where the enemy thinks you are. The game also does a great job of giving you incredible mobility for getting around the reasonably-sized map, between the huge burst of speed you get after vaulting over an object and the ability to teleport straight to a target, alongside fast travel options available after activating various watchtowers. The incredible mobility perfectly compliments the fast and fluid feel of the combat, and really adds to the constantly reinforced idea that you're just a total badass.

Ultimately, Shadow of Mordor relies on admittedly well-established systems and mechanics to deliver on an excellently designed and extremely unique idea. An idea that improves on every aspect of the game, good or bad, with its sheer prevalence and the constant, on-going meta-game that it establishes. The nemesis system easily elevates Shadow of Mordor from a solid-but-unoriginal open world game into a unique, well-executed and extremely dynamic adventure that is one of this year's strongest titles.