UFO Aftermath - Why did people hate this?

Sarkus · Post by **Sarkus** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 2:45 am

I picked this up for $20 the other day and am enjoying it. It has a lot of XCom appeal.

However, I remember people hating this when it came out. Why?

ChrisGrenard · Post by **ChrisGrenard** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 2:51 am

That's the first one in that series, right? Just wait till the aliens get rocket launchers. The game becomes pretty much unplayable. Up till then, pretty fun.

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 3:09 am

Complete lack of AI, too much pausing because of said lack. There's some bug or stupid balance decision where once you reach a certain point in the game, your squad starts off surrounded by 20 reticulans armed with rocket launchers and mind control attacks that cannot be defended against (psi shields didn't work in the game). Human weapon balance was also really off too.

If you can get over the lack of AI and stuff, you'll have fun in the early game, but once you hit the brick wall you'll regret spending that $20 on the game.

Zekester · Post by **Zekester** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 3:11 am

/cue dbt with suggestion of using cheats

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 3:30 am

http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin ... 13875.html

They've fixed most of the bugs,especially the major ones.After the Stalingrad run when the aliens get the rocket launchers you can go thru squadies fast,but then the "rookies" you hire are usually almost as high a rank as your dead guys so there's really no reason to get sentimental over the guys you've had since the beginning.

Zekester · Post by **Zekester** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 11:33 am

Which one of those did you find the most useful, dbt?

Butterknife · Post by **Butterknife** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 12:42 pm

I actually agree, this was a fun game. I also agree that the fun ended right about the same mission as everyone else quit.

Up to that point, though -- enjoy yourself. This is one of those classic games that is lots of fun, right up until the point that it isn't any more. Like Black and White or World of Warcraft. Just don't expect the longevity of WoW, expect the longevity of B&W.

Mithridates · Post by **Mithridates** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 12:54 pm

Butterknife wrote:
This is one of those classic games that is lots of fun, right up until the point that it isn't any more.

Well, for me, that defines every game I've ever played. Otherwise, I'd still be playing all of them.

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 1:08 pm

Zekester wrote:Which one of those did you find the most useful, dbt?

The one locating the enemies.
I don't enter the spaceships unless it's absolutey necessary.Early in the game you have to,to get some technologies and later in the game to retrieve a special item but otherwise leave em alone.
Late in the game I'll send in a guy in heavy armor and a minigun and a medic or two to keep him healthy and carry ammo.
Early in the game it's lots of smoke grenades and regular grenades.

Sarkus · Post by **Sarkus** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 4:24 pm

Butterknife wrote:I actually agree, this was a fun game. I also agree that the fun ended right about the same mission as everyone else quit.

Up to that point, though -- enjoy yourself. This is one of those classic games that is lots of fun, right up until the point that it isn't any more. Like Black and White or World of Warcraft. Just don't expect the longevity of WoW, expect the longevity of B&W.

Sounds a lot like Silent Storm, where it was fun until the Nazi's showed up in power armor.

It's too bad the flaws couldn't be modded out of it. It's pretty damn close to an updated XCom from what I've seen so far.

pad152 · Post by **pad152** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 6:14 pm

UFO Aftermath was the first Altar UFO game, unlike X-com there wasn't much to it, and it got boring rather quickly, same maps, same missions over and over again.

But did Altar learn their lession?

or Why people hated UFO Aftershock.

For those of us who paid full price to get the import UK version, which crashed so much the game was unplayable. They didn't release a patch for almost 2 months after it was released, by then the price of the game droped almost in half. Things like that tend to piss people off.

If you followed the development of the game then you would know the following. They released the game unfinished, they removed all sorts of stuff (missions on ships at sea, weapons, equipment, etc.) from the game just before release. The beta testers got thrown to the dogs, because they never tested the release version. The developers made a lot of noise claiming this and that (a working editor, automatic generated maps for each mission, etc.), then they failed to deliver. None of the removed game content was ever re-added. It seems they are saving that for their next game, now called UFO Afterlight.

The game although playable is still very unbalanced, buggy, will still crash when moving things around a lot in the squad screens, and has a unfinished feel to it.

It's gona be a cold day in hell

before I purchase another Altar product.

Sarkus · Post by **Sarkus** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 7:17 pm

pad152 wrote:UFO Aftermath was the first Altar UFO game, unlike X-com there wasn't much to it, and it got boring rather quickly, same maps, same missions over and over again.

But did Altar learn their lession?

or Why people hated UFO Aftershock.

For those of us who paid full price to get the import UK version, which crashed so much the game was unplayable. They didn't release a patch for almost 2 months after it was released, by then the price of the game droped almost in half. Things like that tend to piss people off.

If you followed the development of the game then you would know the following. They released the game unfinished, they removed all sorts of stuff (missions on ships at sea, weapons, equipment, etc.) from the game just before release. The beta testers got thrown to the dogs, because they never tested the release version. The developers made a lot of noise claiming this and that (a working editor, automatic generated maps for each mission, etc.), then they failed to deliver. None of the removed game content was ever re-added. It seems they are saving that for their next game, now called UFO Afterlight.

The game although playable is still very unbalanced, buggy, will still crash when moving things around a lot in the squad screens, and has a unfinished feel to it.

It's gona be a cold day in hell before I purchase another Altar product.

I guess if I'd had high expectations I'd be disappointed at some of the things left out, but I didn't so I'm not. As for bugs and crashes, not a single one in 6 or 8 hours of play so far. As for balance, so far the game is challenging enough to keep me entertained but not so insanely hard to piss me off. While the bases I've entered seem similar, though not identical, the outside areas have all been different.

I'm just playing this out of the box, so I don't know which version I have. Maybe it's a patched up version with a lot of stuff fixed.

Lassr · Post by **Lassr** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 8:27 pm

I really enjoyed the game after it was patched but i could not get through the final mission without a cheat. It's just damn near impossible to survive until I used GodMode in the very final portion of the last mission.

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 9:25 pm

About the only cheat I use much is the one showing where the enemies are.After that I can sneak up on them or shoot them from long range.Late in the game I'll have a guy or two with miniguns that can take out anything.
For the rocket launchers your best bet is to scatter and have one guy run to the alien until he's right next to him.The alien can't fire and can't track him that way.Of course if there is a number of aliens you can take your casualties while rushing and get more rookies at the base.
Smoke grenades are great too.The start lobbing other kinds of grenades in the aliens direction.

JonathanStrange · Post by **JonathanStrange** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 1:45 am

I am playing and enjoying UFO Aftermath right now! In fact, I'm near to finishing the game.

Personally, I never had any problems installing the game or with CTDs. I patched it right away and added the Combo Mod and the FPC mod (which enables a close camera view) for more weapons, aliens, and X-Com music. link http://www.strategycore.co.uk/ufo/

Although I haven't had the same wonder and amused surprise that I had with X-Com - remember the first time a trooper was mind-controlled? or when your soldiers became zombies and then chrysalids? I do and I can still smile at the memory - that's kind of hard for me to experience with any game now. I've played too many and could be a bit too jaded now.

The fun I've had with UFO Aftermath is not affected by the fact that there might be some repetitive missions or some game-balance issues; it is good enough to be playing a post-apocalyptic game with tactical combat. I enjoy the abandoned cities and alien bases. I like the tons of weapons and the ability to create unique squaddies. I like the pausable semi-real time combat also. A perfect game it's not; but I'm not going to wait for that perfect game to arrive when I can have some fun now.

The main thing that I wish had been added was more plot developments: once the game starts, it would've made for a stronger atmosphere and a greater involvement if there was even the occasional simple screen for bulletins from besieged bases, overrun cities, or breaking news.