Done with this game. Not because I beat it or anything but because it's uninstalled and I'll be just getting my money back tomorrow so no harm done.

Gave it a go but there's really one single thing that has ruined it for me and a few others - and it's the pathetic panic system. It's mental and it just needs to go. The game would be quite the cakewalk without it and that in itself is pretty telling as it's the SOLE RESPONSIBLE "feature" that has caused me failure every time. They've really ramped it up since last release and it's obnoxious. In a game where "89% chance to hit!" is merely a goddamn suggestion and you will miss 4 out of 4 shots all the time, we need all the help we can get, and bullshit gimmicks like "omg panic mode everyone!" only make it more frustrating.

Fuck it. Seriously. It's a total cop-out mechanic to give the illusion of challenge (and realism, I guess) when it really just needlessly sabotages your carefully planned tactics which would have otherwise went smoothly.
Some examples:

Veteran soldier gets poisoned. 1 point of damage. Panics. Runs 5 squares away from squad and throws back a grenade, killing a couple.

Soldier get attacked but is grazed, doing one point of damage. Veteran soldier next to him panics for the next 2-3 turns and is inevitably executed by incoming hostiles as he cannot be controlled to move away.

Soldier takes a hit from the enemy. PANIC. Runs away from squad into oncoming Overwatchers. Gets hit again. RE-PANIC (I guess this is a thing?). Runs BACK INTO THE SQUAD and shoots one, resulting in death.

Soldier gets hit. Minimal damage. PANIC. Then two or three nearby soldiers PANIC as well, and it seems contagious like a virus. All soldiers are now panic'd and I miss a turn due to first soldier taking minimal damage.

You've been with this squad for 10 or more missions, and you panic to that extent? It also doesn't help that the audio guys behind this game for some reason decided to raise the volume level of the panic sound queue by an additional 30 decibels so it just sounds like someone getting off to anyone who happens to be listening.



Maybe I'll remove panics with a mod sometime in the future when this goes on sale but right now I'd rather just play something without any bullshit mechanics, thanks.