AR Podcast #6a: To Catch an XCOM

The smell of gunpowder and plasma burn fills the air. We step once more into the breach. Will reaction fire cut us down? Or will our lightning reflexes carry us through?

Research the terrible truth in our only slightly late XCOM special, featuring a very special guest.

Podcast timeline

00:18 – “Who’s chairing?”
02:00 – Shaun summarises XCOM history
05:15 – Fireworks are set off
07:49 – AJ realises he hasn’t actually played the original X-COM
11:00 – Invoking vs. evoking
13:00 – XCOM war stories
15:00 – Shaun corrects another piece of information, the pedant
16:20 – Ommer Mustafa is a dick
19:00 – Iron Men don’t save-scum
23:20 – The No Potter in Team story is revisited with a personal account from Potter himself
26:30 – A joke about Bobby Kotick evolves into disturbing commentary on Shaun’s sex life
30:10 – Apparently Walker’s first instinct doesn’t lend itself to survival
31:40 – Damn it, soldier, you’re a number not a name
35:00 – Talking difficulties, exploiting God-tier cheesing and the bugs of XCOM
40:00 – AJ is a little too proud of his segue; Potter puts him in his place
42:00 – The death of Matthew Kelly
43:00 – Potential endgame spoilers! (Not serious but some might not like the hints)
47:00 – Shaun confesses to not having seen a number of films he really should have
51:00 – Potter summarises what makes XCOM great

55:40 – A break followed by pooping on a major console interface
58:10 – Arcadian Rhythms love a little bit of Way of the Samurai
1:02:45 – Inexplicable Mini-games, Jacob De Zoet and Mega Melons
1:07:35 – AJ mixes up Gothica and Gothic
1:12:30 – Shaun puts on his wank hat

Games mentioned & discussed

XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Every other XCOM game
Castlevania 2: Simon’s Quest
Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising
Faster than Light
Tokyo Jungle
Way of the Samurai 4
The Assassin’s Creed series
Risen
Dark Souls