With release day only a week away, I am starting signups for my Eyes on XCOM playthrough of XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Any Eyes on FF member who wishes to sign up merely has to post interest in this thread.

First, an overview of the EoXCOM playthrough: XCOM: EU, like it's 1994 predecessor, is a combination strategy and tactics game. Tactical gameplay involves commanding a squad of Soldiers sent on missions to defend the Earth from an alien invasion. These soldiers are fully customizable. Looks, names, nicknames, equipment, etcetera. And, when they die (and some probably will, it's that kind of game), they are dead for good. As such, I am looking for some volunteers to sign up to be troops in a playthrough of the game.

Anyone who shows interest will be given a soldier to customize how they see fit. You can put as much or as little effort into it as you please. Take note, however, that the more interest you show in the playthrough, the more likely your soldier is to be used on a mission.

As the missions progress, I will offer summaries of combat, details of character deaths, promotions, kills, and MVP status for each mission. If interest is high enough, I am considering buying FRAPS to record the playthrough and letting you all see how your characters did.




What follows is a brief list of things I will offer you control over during this playthrough:

Character name
Character nickname
Class
Gender
Customization
Equipment
Perks

Show an interest, and you'll get a Soldier. But you can provide all of the above if you so desire.




A detailed explanation follows:



---Character name: The game allows customization of first and last name, and spaces are allowed if you want to set up middle names (provided they aren't too long).



---Character nickname: Upon promotion to Sergeant, your fellow troopers award your character a nickname. This too can be changed to what you desire. In combat, it's displayed above a character's name, in the Barracks, it's displayed between the first and last name, as in Skyblade "nickname" Darkstar (and, yes, the quotes are included, so you can't just use it as a middle name).



---Character class: Each Recruit is randomly assigned a class, which is not revealed until that Recruit is promoted to the first rank (Squaddie). It seems that the first four units you get are one of each class. Beyond that, though, recruits get assigned classes randomly. Initial classes will be first come, first served. Beyond that, you can take a random class, or wait for a Soldier of the proper class to be recruited.


The Classes availible are:
- Sniper - My personal favorite, devoted to dealing death from long range. It is also the class most likely to use pistols, as the main Sniper Rifle deals less damage as enemies get closer, and cannot be fired after moving (unless you grab a particular perk, which I'll cover later). So the Snipers will likely switch to their sidearm if enemies get too close or they get a really good flanking opportunity. But, in general, they'll be in the rear, nailing things from a distance.

- Support - Don't let the name or Medkit perks fool you, Support is far more than just a medic. One of the most versatile classes, Support has access to smoke grenades (which act as extra cover, and can be buffed with higher ranks), improved medkits, and improved Overwatch and Suppression, which are some of the most tactically versatile abilities in the game. You can play as a medic if you want, but Fire Support is an important job, and these guys seem to be good at it.

- Heavy - The demolitions expert. This guy is the primary area of effect damage dealer. Three main focuses are rockets, grenades, and Suppression. While Support gets a more versatile Suppression, Heavies can get a more powerful version, and can buff it to affect more enemies. They also have the ability to wield rockets, dealing heavy damage and destroying cover, as well as expanding the number of grenades they carry and the range of said grenades.

- Assault - The shock troopers. These guys can wield one of two primary weapons, the standard Assault Rifle, and the Shotgun. They favor a very high risk-reward mechanic. They shine in being up close and personal, but if things go bad, they can die quickly. They get several perks that increase crit and survivability when in close range and facing multiple enemies, as well as abilities that let them rush up close to easily flank and still shoot when they're done.



---Gender: Character gender, similar to class, is randomly assigned. In my experience with the demo, females are rarer than males. But if you want to hold out for playing a particular gender/class combination, you are free to, and I will try to oblige you.



---Customization: You will get to control how your character looks. Describe overall looks (hair color, skin color, etcetera), armor color, whether you wear a helmet, all the good stuff. I'll provide pictures and try to oblige as much as the game will let me. You can also give me exact instructions if you have your own copy and know what the options are.



---Equipment: What equipment is availible will be determined by how my research progresses in the strategy game, and to some extent what I can capture by stunning aliens instead of killing them. But whatever I have availible, you can pick.



---Perks: Each class has a perks tree. When they are first promoted to Squaddie, they get a set perk (Sniper gets Headshot, which increases Critical Hit chance, but has a two turn cooldown. Support gets Smoke Grenade which increases the evasion of units in the smoke cloud by 20%, but can only carry one per mission. Heavy gets a Rocket Launcher which blows stuff up once a mission. And Assault Soldiers get Run and Gun, which lets them dash [take two moves] and still shoot). Every rank after that, with the exception of Major, the second to last rank, gives them a choice of two perks. You can take one or the other, and which you take is up to you. I'll provide a link to the full list of perks for each class later.
Things I will not be offering control of: Country of Origin (randomly assigned from about 30 diffrent countries, not going to wait for a particular combination to show up, odds are about 232 to 1 to get a particular class/gender/country setup, assuming even distribution of genders), Psi Powers (these aren't discovered until late game, and are really rare. If you have Psi proficiency once it's uncovered, yay for you. Otherwise, tough patooties [though if I have a spare Psi soldier not in use, I might let you switch to it]).


And that's mostly it. I'll be taking general advice about the strategy game from the participants as well, so you can guide whether you want better guns or better armor, what global perks I should get from the Officer Training School, etcetera.


If your soldier dies, you can sign up to get a replacement if you so desire. And remember, participation is the key to making this fun. I hope this wasn't too intimidating for those of you who read all of it. Trust me, once the missions start, things will get a lot more fun. This is just the setup phase. One week to first contact!