This first DLC underwhelms me too, but maybe there’s more to it than it sounds.
Rezaf, yes, there’s some linearity, in that we now have “quests” or “goals” that are always pursued in the same order. If every decision I made were in pursuance of such a goal, I suppose I’d lose interest fast. But it’s not like that. Most of the time I’m doing something other than pursuing a particular quest. In fact, the vast majority of one’s time in this game, as in the original, is in the tactical battlefield, is it not? The core gameplay there is the same.
Even in strategic mode, where the goals present themselves, more often than not I’m doing something other than directly pursuing a goal. E.g, in my current (Classic/Ironman) game, I ignored the game’s recommendations that I research an Arc Spanner early or that I build an Alien Containment Facility. I have a friend who is ready to do the final mission but is having fun shooting down UFOs and farming Ethereals, so that’s what he’s doing instead.
All that said, I would certainly play a mod that scrambled the goals, or varied them more from game to game. That would be great. (I have no idea whether it’s feasible.) But as it is, I rather like them.
As for boardgame-iness: I’ve read the arguments here that new XCOM is more like boardgames, whereas X-Com was more like a computer game. There’s something in that. But I play lots of board games, and in particular I’ve played wargames my whole life. Some tactical board wargames do involve one or two actions per turn, a la XCOM: e.g., Conflict of Heroes (which is now also a PC game, published by Matrix). But other tactical boardgames have something more like TUs, a la X-Com: Advanced Squad Leader. In my youth, I preferred ASL, with its number-crunching and minute calculation of movement points and terrain costs. In my middle age, I gravitate more toward games like Conflict of Heroes, which often give a greater feel for tactical combat, at the loss of a bit of detail (and rules load). Maybe that explains why I’m more interested in playing XCOM than X-Com now.
Anyway, I think the distinction isn’t so much PC vs boardgame, but rather a choice of how to represent tactical warfare. Both methods are fun and workable. ASL (X-Com) has the advantage of greater detail and control and brain-cramping goodness; CoH (XCOM) has the advantage of greater fluidity, less emphasis on mechanics and rules, more on tactics.
