Just playing this kinda retro, sci-fi game from the early 90's, X-com-terror from the deep. Kind of blends world management/research and the like, interception of alien craft, with tactical missions set in a turn based isometric type map, sort of lovecraftian theme, of a sort (even brings H.P Lovecraft's deep ones into it, alien-human hybrid soldiers, although, as it happens, the deep ones end up being the worst mistake the alien enemy ever made; in that capturing both a live specimen and bringing back a corpse, opens up certain critical research tech trees, which are vital to be able to get down to the gigantic, mega-city-state sized craft, deep in the gulf of mexico, where the ultimate enemy waits, not alive, not dead, but dreaming, (in this, having powerful psionic abilities on a geological scale). Ring any bells as to who might be the main suspect there?
Hint: big, ugly green motherfucker, kind of cephalopod-esque with tentacles for a face......dead but dreaming.
Combat is partially on land, when they raid cities on terror missions, hijack cruise liners, invade ports, mount attacks on islands to capture human specimens, resources and god only knows what other warped stuff, but mostly, its aquatic, with teams of combat divers.
And of course, they come actively searching for X-com aquatic base facilities, looking to destroy them. Although turret-mounted defense systems of various kinds are able to be built, from torpedo tubes, to gauss cannons, heavy duty ultrasound-based weaponry (a lot of the aquatic enemy offensive tech is based on sonic weapons, and while many of the alien citters can take it, as well as dish it out, and some, armored from ears to arse'ole, can really take a beating, even from tanks mounting torpedo launchers or heavy gauss cannons, their weaponry is just so far superior to anything available to begin with that can be bought from the worlds' governments to fight back, that any combat diver that gets so much as clipped by a burst from their lightest pistol is liable to end up as meat-mulch, and their rifles are almost guaranteed to kill with a single shot, so stealth is vital. And their damned grenades, long ranged stunning launcher weapons, can take out an entire squad if you aren't careful. They have heavier than that, too, ultrasound cannon type weapons that you've got absolutely no chance against, until late on when HEAVY, shielded armor is available through research, they aren't quick, but they can tear an unmanned drone tank to scrap metal with one pull of the trigger.)
Very much outgunned. And their submersible craft are pretty nasty customers to boot. But, it looks like it's going well for me right now, as I just happened to catch 4-5 craft, as well as a tiny 1-man (well, it wasn't a man, it was more...something like a 12 foot tall, cybernetically enhances, 6-limbed sentient, and extremely tough lobster, capable of seeing in multiple visual spectra, eyes hooked into mechanical targeting systems, and generally as vicious as the day is long, and tough as boiled boot leather. Even unarmed those bugs are dangerous, with two pairs of claws able to tear apart armor, even tank plating.
Shot the scout craft down, along with a medium-sized cruiser, also shot down, air patrols caught them at it building a base of operations too, which makes two of their bases now on my kill-shortlist, and one already exterminated, the nerve center that controls the entire facility fried extra crispy with a burst from one of their sonic rifles, captured and researched, and now being used against their former owners. Followed by several of their powerful sonic pulse grenades, before a team of aquanauts dropped in from above, and set about the base highest-ranking commanders with cryogenic tazer type shock prods, frozen solid and dragged back, alive as a lobster-man ice-lolly, first for interrogation, then for dissection.
And hung about, scouting their first colony, until I was quite sure that every single one of the enemy forces had been either killed outright, or captured, unconscious. Occasionally, just for good measure, if I'd stunned certain particularly hazardous breeds of critter, following it up with a high explosive shell, to make sure they would never be waking up again (which they can, particularly if hit hard enough to daze them with regular weaponry intended for killing them, rather than capturing them, they can shake it off in time and suddenly wake, to start raising hell again. So one specimen for certain kinds, the worst of the worst and any others brought in alive were made to be otherwise
)
Just found a HUGE craft, touched down of it's own accord, not shot down. Some huge bloody great big battlecruiser, dreadnought type monstrosity that I doubt every interceptor, assault craft in the fleet, from every base I HAVE, could have brought it down, if lucky, they might, by attrition, get a few shots off each, if using nuclear-tipped torpedoes, before the craft would have gotten lucky with it's own weapons batteries and evaporated my interceptor craft in a single shot, they might survive one, IF they were extremely lucky, and only got grazed, but nothing more, and the only way currently I can bring these super-sized assault craft to heel, is by sending in interceptors I expect to serve more or less as sacrifices, attacking in swarms, each firing torpedoes, then disengaging, for more craft to come in and rain down a nuclear holocaust on the bastards.
THIS one, is going to be a prize however, for my research and development teams, because it wasn't shot down at all, it landed on one of their own missions, doubtless about to start some major-scale kind of trouble. But I caught them at it with their pants down and their balls hanging out, so to speak, as they were preparing. Sent in a 10 man squad plus a drone tank, heavily armed, and now able to use their heavy cannon weapons, if I can capture them in the field. Can't send the cannons off in the dropship subs yet because I haven't finished researching the ammunition.
NOW these little fuckers are in for a scrap and a half (although so am I, this is a HUGE craft). But the technology that will be in and on it, will be worth a lot of research and development data, likewise potential for a lot of live captures (with a fan made hack patch that updates it and broadens the scope of the game, when capturing live alien forces, they shorten the time it takes to complete other research too, which is immensely valuable). To nothing of things like propulsions and guidance systems, armaments. And plenty of loot to sell off on the black markets to fund the campaign (X-com get funded by national govts. but a lot more money can be made by selling alien tech at ridiculously high prices to shady types).
Then it'll be a matter of taking out the trash, so to speak, dealing with the crashed medium-sized vessel, which currently I am just about armed well enough to take down, with several attack craft. There is one of their's, medium sized, landed too but I don't know if I'll be able to deal with it, just about, if I'm lucky, as all my attack craft are refuelling and rearming, and my troop transport will need to be refuelled too. It's landed, not crashed. I might be able to keep the enemy from destroying the crashed medium sized one, by repeatedly sending interceptor craft (they attempt to destroy their technology and will do so if they have enough time, but it doesn't happen whilst a craft is actively approaching a crash site, to prevent the game from just having missions disappear too quickly. So I'll keep sending relays of craft, one after the other forward and back, to keep it there. Pin it down. Not sure what I'm going to do about the mediumweight cruiser or escort, whatever it is, it's dangerous, but if I can just get the craft refuelled in time, two of them, maybe three, and get them to the crash site in time while the transport dropship refuels, I can have them hovering overhead. Don't think I'll be able to stop them completing their mission, whatever it is. But, I might at least be able to punish them for it in a manner they won't forget, waiting overhead for them to take off so the interceptors can meatpaste the buggers.
Well here goes nothing. This, is going to get ugly, I can tell, given the size of this bastard.
