I finished the game on Normal. Overall, I really liked what the game did to the XCOM formula. I think overall the changes made ultimately make this a more playable XCOM: a lot of the brutal tactics in the original made it turn into a slog.

My biggest gripe of the game would have to be the final mission (spoilers):
Spoiler
Show
I didn't like having the Uber Etheral suddenly start blabbering exposition at you. Part of what I liked about the whole alien invasion theme in the original was that it didn't matter why the aliens were invading, they just were and it's a fight for survival. Having them try to explain themselves to you makes the aliens less, well, alien.

Other nitpicky gripes:
  • Inventory management was still a chore. Much less so than original XCOM, but it was a pain to have to keep stripping armour and weapons off soldiers to give to someone else.
  • If you're going to make a big deal about having an international force, to the point of putting flags on the soldiers backs, why are all the voice sets American?


Also, some questions:
  • Was it some weird dice rolls on my game's part that my Support soldiers were exclusively female (and that women were only Support, no other classes)?
  • I avoided S.H.I.V.s entirely - are they useful?