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Of course it's a matter of personal taste. But disclaimer, TFTD was indeed my first entry to the series. And yes, I hate the ship as well.

The atmosphere is absolutely terrifying. It really made me clutch for the life of my soldiers as if it was mine. It was unfair, but not without reason, as even today our submarine warfare would pale against T'Leth. So close yet so powerless.

The superb work on the graphics brings me deep into the abyss. Just look at how well the battle maps fade into the darkness. The various aliens are actually scary for once, and their shared past with the human species is realistic yet particularly disturbing. We all came from those same oceans, after all.

I already spoke about the music, but it really seals the deal.

I know this might sound it's all about the assets and the mood. But the game was already quite good, and TFTD gave that engine the content it deserved.

I will hazard a rough comparison – UFO Defense feels more like Starship Trooper, while TFTD is more like Alien. Intimate and downright scary.

discuss

AnIdiotOnTheNet|5 years ago

> Of course it's a matter of personal taste.

To a certain extent yes, but TFTD is objectively even buggier than the original. IIRC it is even possible to put the original game into an unwinnable state by simply researching things in an unintended order. Fortunately OpenXCom[0] fixed this.

[0] https://openxcom.org

GeorgeWBasic|5 years ago

Is it just me, or is that openxcom site down for everyone else, too?

JohnBooty|5 years ago

I didn't find TFTD to be scarier than X-Com/UFO Defense! Not arguing; just funny how different people have subjective experiences.

I think the game you played first will be scarier. Once you've played one, the other one is obviously just a bit of a re-skin, and just doesn't have quite the same fear factor. =)

the_af|5 years ago

> The atmosphere is absolutely terrifying. It really made me clutch for the life of my soldiers as if it was mine. It was unfair, but not without reason

I feel that way about the original X-COM ;)

TFTD crossed the line into unfair, in my opinion. And buggy, too!