XCOM going FPS is "almost ideal", says Pelling
2K's Jonathan Pelling, creative director for XCOM, has said that revamping the strategy series as a first-person shooter seemed like the right thing to do.
Speaking with VG247's Nathan Grayson at E3, Pelling told us that he was one of the original game's "biggest fans" and that turning it into a shooter was "a great idea".
"I sort of count myself as one of its biggest fans, so I guess I can understand why people might not think that a first-person shooter is a great idea," he said. "But I think it actually is a great idea.
"And you said that it doesn’t look anything like [X-Com]. I agree with that. But it does feel a lot like it. It’s one of our primary objectives: that feeling. I loved playing the original game, and I loved the tension and the fear and mystery. All those things – the pillars of this game – it’s going to be a scary game. It’s a game where you’re in charge. You’re gonna make decisions. You’re gonna go out into the field and face really deadly enemies. You can never expect where it’s gonna come from, or what it’s gonna do next.
"So I think it’s really preserving the essence of what was great about the original game, while bringing it in a new and exciting way. I think the first-person shooter is almost ideal to get those diverse feelings across".
Pelling also said that the "decision to go with the 50’s" for XCOM's setting and look was not based on anything taken from BioShock 2, and is instead based on "its own merits".
You can get the full interview with Pelling through the link up top.
XCOM's slated for release in 2011 on PC and Xbox 360.