I played the original at least 20-30 times, and towards the end I had to invent new limitations to make it a challenge, so yeah I know the original quite well! I was quite sceptical about this release, but then tried the demo and looked at some gameplay video and I was hooked. I am not convinced yet that it will be as good as the original but I very much support this initiative so I prepurchased the game. I hope this signals to publishers that we want more games of this kind.
I got the game for 28 euro at GMG, and that includes the Civ V bonus too. I am not sure about the TF2 hats though, since all I can find is that GMG says that they cannot promise that we get those, which might be a salesman's way of saying "not a chance". Nevermind, I usually play TF2 one hour every three months these days...
What I liked about what I saw in the demo is first of all the updated graphics, effects, sounds, action cam etc. What a difference compared to the original! Also I really like that it is back to turn based, where the dual action mode replaces TUs. Instead the movement is conveniently displayed on the battle grid, so it has a simplified interface without loss of tactical consideration. Win-win! And doors, destructible environment and multiple floors are back on the menu again!
What I am not so happy about is the small map and small squad, and that it seems like you move from one side of the map to the other. If all missions are like that it can quickly become repetetive. Also research, strategy game play and story line is yet largely unknown, so that can be a hit or miss.