So, I downloaded, installed and played some of the latest build of 2.5. I can say that I am both impressed and depressed with an about it, in the two hours or so I've played.
Combat: I was worried about the 'combat rebalance' which usually means it's be skewed well and truly out of proportion, but you guys did well. I love the fact that it's now possible to hit a target with sniper rifles from beyond arms reach. I tell them to shoot, the alien gets hit more often than not, instead of the bullet wandering off to try and murder some random part of the scenery. Reaction fire is also much more reliable, which is fantastic. The downside is that it works more often for the aliens. Haven't gotten past the basic weapons, but at the moment it's no issue. I find that rather comforting. Even the Machinegun is still useful though no-where near as dominant a weapon. The fact that it will now hit a target once in a while is also nice.
The downsides I've noticed are two fold. First, the Rocket Launcher is now too expensive to be more than a one shot wonder. It's been pushed way too high in TU cost for it's accuracy, plus the lack of mobility to fire it means that I fire one shot at the start of a mission then drop it and pull a pistol. Should be about 18TU to fire, instead of 24.
The other problem is the new 'damage' system. I don't mind bleeding damage, it makes sense, but the medi-kit heals way too little and costs way too much to be of any use. I had a soldier hit once by the aliens ending up at 58 health, and ended up dead, because even though there wasn't much distance between her and the nearest squad member, upon moving to be healed, she got shot again, dropped to 14 health, and didn't quite reach the healer, who couldn't reach her and have TU enough to use the kit. I killed the alien with a burst of assault rifle fire, but lost the soldier. That's flat out insane. 'Heal' should be renamed Staunch, heal no HP but stop the bleeding and cost only 5-8TU.
Research: Am I supposed to research more than just continuous wave laser to get to man-portable laser weapons? Or am I experiencing an issue with the research system? I like the rebalance of how fast it goes. It means I can get lasers sometime before the end of April, rather than sometime in May. Even with only ten scientists it no longer feels like such a chore to get any research done.
On the other hand it looks like it might be more efficient to kill a mission worth of aliens then go to the plasma weapon research instead.
Base: I like the redesign for the initial base. A more compact one, with more room to expand those 1x2 pieces, without having to destroy the alien containment to have room.
UI: Not a bad UI, though I prefer the Alternate, which needs one minor change. The Morale/TU's remaining meter in the lower left hand corner is hard to see in front of the portraits. If it could be moved up, that would be very useful.