Great review Kevin and a great game too. I'm not very good in turn based tactical games that use a board (Final Fantasy Tactics style), but with this game I think I'm going to overcome my prejudice towards this genre.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown Review
Game Emblems
The Good
Tension runs high in the excellent XCOM: Enemy Unknown.
A great strategy isn't foolproof, however: you still need the numbers on your side. Each offensive action has a chance to hit, and while it rarely makes sense to gamble when you've got a 1 percent chance of landing your shot, the choice isn't always that simple. Triumph can hinge on a dice roll. Your ability to maintain proper distance is the best way of maintaining supremacy, but you're still at the mercy of mathematics. You might shake your fist and curse when you miss a shot that had an 85 percent chance to hit--but you'll breathe a sigh of relief when the numbers aren't on your side, yet you land a critical hit that shifts the tide of battle. The tension of the dice roll is further drawn out by the cinematic animations that accompany the action. The camera closes in on your sniper and you hear the rifle charge. The fear rises and your heart skips. The anxiety might be relieved by the sight of a sectoid erupting in a gusher of green goo. But it might also be exacerbated by watching the laser fire miss the target, which means finding a new way of handling the danger--and the stress.
The glamorous camera angles that dramatize the successes and failures often contribute to the excitement, but the glam-cam occasionally glitches out, as do other aspects of Enemy Unknown's presentation. Along with close-ups of mean mutons beating their chests and thin men looking as if you caught them in the middle of something insidious, you get close-ups of plasma rifles clipping through walls, laser fire shooting through vehicles, and leafy bushes obscuring the entire screen in all their leafiness. A soldier might lean out from behind a wall and bug out, pointing her empty hands in one direction while her still-holstered weapon fires somewhere else. These seem like small considerations, but the game goes out of its way to look cinematic, so the visual problems really stand out.
Back at the base, in the meanwhile, you must manage a global array of countries that provide funding to the XCOM project. Their funds are important, because you use them to perform research (alien autopsies, for instance), enhance your squads (unlock another squad slot, perhaps), and purchase new facilities at your base. You view your base from a side cutaway view, ant farm style, and add facilities by excavating outward and downward. Those facilities fit into the bigger picture in a number of ways, producing engineers that you need to research upgrades in your foundry, for instance, or allowing you to place satellites over more regions of the globe.
Satellites are your way of keeping tabs on the state of the globe. Should a satellite detect a nearby UFO, you're engaged in a brief minigame in which an available interceptor attempts to take down the flying menace. Those interceptors--as well as the actions they perform, and the advanced weapons they can equip--also cost you funds, so it's well worth your while to keep different countries well protected. Should a country's populace panic, they may very well withdraw from the project, which negatively affects your monthly income. You can sell off various alien parts you earn after each battle should you need the funds, but those bits and pieces are used to both research and manufacture upgrades. You must always be aware of how your decisions impact future options. Buying titan armor for all your soldiers is tempting, for instance, but would those funds be better spent on more uniform satellite coverage, or foundry projects? There are consequences for every choice.
If you want to exercise your strategic skills outside of the core single-player experience, you can face friends and strangers online in one-versus-one matches. Players are given an equal number of points to spend on units. Soldiers can cost any number of points depending on how you equip them, while alien units are a set number of points each. There is no base management involved in multiplayer games, which are quick-and-dirty deathmatches in which the best (and sometimes, the luckiest) player wins. The matches have the same tense qualities as they do in single-player, with the added tension of not knowing your foe's play style, or the unit makeup of the opposing team.
You'll see strategies here that you won't see in the campaign. The opponent might use ghost armor to go invisible and then use the overwatch ability to spew plasma at you while you reposition yourself. Or he might buff up powerful human heavies even further by using a sectoid's mind merge. The multiplayer is enjoyable as a result, though its one-off nature doesn't have the long-lasting charms of the full-fledged campaign. You can save a go-to squad for easy use in multiplayer battles, though it's a shame you can't save more than one. Having multiple slots for various squads would be a really handy time-saver.
The limited number of multiplayer maps also takes some of the edge off of online competition, which echoes a limitation in the campaign. While you encounter a healthy number of maps when playing offline, Enemy Unknown does not feature the randomly generated maps of the game that inspired it. You eventually start to see maps repeat, which can be noticeable when you're traversing a map in Russia that you played in North America. The enemies may be in different spots, and you might begin battle from a different corner of the map, but the element of surprise isn't as strong in this game as it was in the 1994 original.
Don't be too concerned by the minor drawbacks, however. XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a wonderful and worthy strategy game with a layer of campy charm that makes the stone-faced seriousness of the game's characters all the more endearing. It's also remarkably accessible, thanks to a great interface that feels comfortable whether you're using a keyboard and mouse or have a controller in your hand. Enemy Unknown packs dense amounts of dramatic tension into each turn. And so it's time to eliminate the alien threat, commander. Select a location, build your base…and save humanity.
By
Kevin VanOrd, Senior Editor
Kevin VanOrd is a lifelong RPG lover and violin player. When he isn't busy building PCs and composing symphonies, he watches American Dad reruns with his fat cat, Ollie.
353 comments
Seems to be poor usability is becoming the norm. Windows 8 and this monstrosity can vie for the title of "least user friendly experience". User satisfaction=zero. Poorly implemented and unnecessarily complicated strike team controls rob the game player of the opportunity to truly influence the course of the game. The net result is a dull point and click experience that feels a lot like Battlefield 3.
I'm a gamer from way back and remember the original XCom well. This simply does not compare in any way. Its akin to remaking a classic like Gone with the Wind and casting Stallone in the role of Rhett Butler.
I like the game as I am a fan of the original X-COM series. There are a couple of things that this game does not have that I miss (ability to sell items u built and sending out more than one interceptor per alien contact) other than that though, I find the game enjoyable.
damn, that game is bad! I've played ~50h and it's so monotonic and boring, god I wish I got something else to play...
2 Like You guys are crazy, this game is terrible. I love strategy games and difficult ones too but this game is just frustrating and awful. I seen a photo today with a picture of the xcom game cover and it says "The worlds top soldiers and the last hope for humanity, can't hit an enemy from 5 feet away" lol it made me laugh cause it's true and this games garbage save yourself money and don't buy it.
@JamieMacInnis16 Might not be the best idea to recommend not buying it, when you apparently don't understand and aren't into the concept of the game.
People who are into these types of games should definitely play it.
@Zevvion @JamieMacInnis16 I understand the game, as I've played other turn based games with action or time points. I like those kind of games but I just find this game has too many cons and not enough pros. Just because the first Xcom was good back in the 90's doesn't mean this game will be good, and it's not. Just like the new Jagged Alliance isn't nearly as good as the Jagged Alliance before. I stand by what I said first. This game is terrible, download a free trial or demo first and hopefully you'll see it for yourself before you waste your money.
@JamieMacInnis16 @Zevvion Actually, I have played this game for almost 200 hours now.
All the 'cons' you list in your original post make it seem like you do not understand how the game works. It's like saying there is no first person perspective in Gears of War and therefor: it sucks. You squad misses because of any number of reasons that originate from bad tactics.
Of course it is possible you do not like it. But I do not like GTAIV. That doesn't mean the game is terrible. This game didn't receive GOTY at allot of respectable sites because it's terrible.
It's really, really good.
2 Like I think this tactical game is incredibly good despite some camera issues. It kept me really focused in making the right choices from the beginning, by launching the satellites at the right time to prevent countries from leaving the council too early, and so postponing the end of the game.
3 Like Are you lot PAID to give this a good score? Its TOTAL and ABSOLUTE GARBAGE. Binning this crap right away.
8.5 is good enough. I still think the original ('94 ?) is still deeper in the strategy level and that is a game that worked on a 386.
This game should have been thought with aliens having a real plan for earth invation. For instance I would have made them react differently depending on your XCOM actions. But to do that you would have to implement the original geoscape game. You need the liberty of creating other outposts (to have only one soldier base) which would have the manufacturing and research locations. And aliens should be able to raid your bases. Ammo should be needed otherwise you can live without needed Elerium forever.
I really wish the campaign didn't always hit the same plot progression points at exactly the same time. I know I'm always going to shoot down that first alien ship I come into contact with, I'm always going to be introduced to each type of alien at a certain point. It feels like it should be more open than it is.I only developed this critique after playing 30 hours, but honestly the game rushes to get to certain points, and it feels artificial. Additionally, the enemies don't quite introduce themselves into combat situations in the best way. If you move too far left and discover more aliens who only once discovered 15 tiles away attack you, then that might be the difference between death and an amazing result. That the cloud of fog is so vital is a little annoying. I wish that they would even attack on their own, it would make planning much less annoying.
I'm enjoying this game currently. I'd say that it doesn't conjure the same ideas of fun as most any other game I'd play; it's sort of an old-man game where the enjoyment is derived purely from making the "right" decision....as a re-introduction to the series it is solid...like people have said there are certain hold-ups to the game's rigid cutscenes and straight-to-point action but it's also a highly streamlined and well made game. There is merit to games that are able to do this level of streamlining...and keep your head up and hope for another entry into this newly minted series.
2 Like Never in all my years of gaming, have I ever seen a classic out of a Classic. They took the original, and keept what made it a great game, updated it, refined it, and made a classic of their own.
8.5 is too low of a score for this game.
8 Like I have played the original X-Com extensively and I must say I love this new version.
I really don't understand why people say it's dumbed down. Because you can't crouch & prone? Because you can't equip a grenade with a bp vest?
Come on. This game is about making decisions. Why would your heavy need a grenade? Strap on that bp vest!
They took out most of what made the original frustrating and polished the rest. It's simply fantastic.
My only gripe so far is that I can't choose which soldier will be a sniper or heavy, etc, the game chooses for me. Other than that, geez BUY THIS GAME!!!
@astr0creep I totally agree! I also played the originals and I am enjoying this "reboot" hope they re-make some of the others in the series.
@astr0creep they say its dumbed down becasue they removed most of the stats and the number of weapons and enemies.
1 Like @ajac09 Well, then "they" haven't played it.
The game retains the original feel, the essentials AND it's tons of fun! :)
2 Like @astr0creep @SgtStrungOut @ajac09 In this case, the change here is...well...not really good, and don't make it sound like many people don't like this new version simply because they "cannot get used to it" etc etc. It is frankly just a dumbed down version made to suit the xbox and playstation, instead of being a full PC game.
2 Like @astr0creep @SgtStrungOut @ajac09 Id rather have the same old game with the updated graphics. Maybe even MORE weapons and stats heck!
@SgtStrungOut @ajac09 So you wanted the exact same game as the original with updated graphics?
This game is not mediocre in any way. They changed things but that's not a bad thing in this case. Change is good, get used to it.
1 Like @astr0creep @ajac09 BS. Removing stats is a form of dumbing down ESPECIALLY in a tactical game. You sound so stupid settling for mediocrity.
1 Like also someone said something about the cross platform issue. when i first played xcom i played it on the playstation under the name xcom ufo defence the pc version was named ufo enemy unknown and both games were identical for most part i dont even think that console really lacked any of the commands that were in pc version but it has been a long time since i played the playstation version
1 Like i like the game overall it is refreshing to see a new xcom that captures so much of what made the original so good. i also feel the way the game industry is nowadays that we are lucky to have even this stripped down version of xcom. now that i have said that i do have major issues with this game many i hadnt noticed till i read these reviews. first off i feel forced to progress a certain way i know i am supposed to have choices but most of those choices seem to be more drawbacks using up precious resources rather than help. the base while neat at first becomes boring and there is little you can interact with which is what made base invasions so cool in original and stressfull since you could be destroyed. i miss being able to sell goods i have engineered from alien materials back to the government for a profit and being able to shoot down ufo's before they ever land. the cutscenes while cool at first become repetitive and u start to get aggrevated every time u spot an alien and it beats its chest or how the sniper always does the same thing when he gets a crit. i have many more issues with the game issues i hope they correct through patches dlc's and expansion packs which is the standard for the industry now release a stripped down core game for $60 then make another $100 off of downloadable content and expansions to finish the game.
1 Like @Kamfau dude... you are so damn right... ive player terror from the deep and the original xcom and i couldnt have described this new xcom bettter, or the fact, that indeed, the way the game industry is (destroying) changing were damn lucky to have at last a streamlined new xcom... kudos to you man, i think we are mind merged!! :P
4 Like Personally, I think this game is fantastic. I can see why they'd make it easier and more accessible. To console players, games like this don't come often, and just throwing new gamers head-first into classic XCOM would be painful. And I'm not saying they should abandon their original, hardcore base, but I appreciate the effort put in to beiong able to draw in gamers like me.
I did not play the original X-COM. I like the strategic games of 90s and up. Also like the good graphics. I saw this game and love it even before playing it. I buy it in pre-oreder. I have play it every day since and thats something for me.
Well this is a remake of the original just because is called the same. But it looks like another game wich is base on the same but in another direction, so "re-imagination" of it as they called.
I can say this game is simple but fun. Looks like is too casual for some hardcore gamers but also a nice candie. For me is in the middle between casual and deep in aspects like base manage or squad combat plus the huge number of maps and cinematics as voice acting, so i really like it and right now i thinking in the steps i will do next time i play the game.
I hoping they release sequel with i more opcions in actions, little bit deeper result and with more overall things happening of side battles like Civilizations or Total War.
Finally, no one erase the original X-COM so you can always replay that. If they hurt you using the X-COM name is because they could and pay for it.
4 Like Watered down and frankly not even a strategy game. More like a turn based dice game. There's no strategy involved anymore, just point and click till you get to the next cut scene. Major let down for old fans, but probably a nice change for the Call of Duty generation of gamers who require instant gratification and hold-your-hand style mechanics.
2 Like @SKaREO I never played the other XCOM games, I wanted too, but never did. So when this one came out I jumped at the chance to try it out, and it is AWESOME! I know games like this never live up to all the fan's wish it could be... but this game made a fan out of me and a lot of other people who never tried the originals. BTW... I am not part of the CoD gen who require hold-your-hand style mechanics but I REALLY needed the tutorial. So I think 2K and Firaxis did a fine job.
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6 Like "but it would be difficult to accuse Enemy Unknown of "dumbing down" the core gameplay."
Sorry, but I have to accuse the reviewer of being too lenient in making this assessment. It is obviously dumb down -- every battle feels linear, aliens are alerted to your presence as soon as you spot them, and they never wander around the map into your line of sight.
Besides the rifle and pistol, each soldier can also be equipped with either a grenade, medikit, nano-vest, etc......wait, what? Only one slot for such an item? It doesn't make sense....you mean I cannot equip my soldier with a protection vest and a grenade at the same time? Too heavy?
2 Like ...It later made sense because it would make the game too easy! I play on classic and so far I've met with little failure in missions.
Maybe because I am a hardcore player who knows patience with these type of games. But with XCOM, I really need very little patience because there aren't many tactical choices to make. If this ain't dumbing down, I don't know what is.
Still a fun game nonetheless, but I shall call it XCOM LITE until some modders can beef it up to greatness. It's a shame really, since it has such great potential.
1 Like @Munstable I can understand your stance coming from someone who's played the older version of the game but can you understand why people like me who are being introduced to XCOM with this new version are so impressed. This game is a breath of fresh air in a market saturated with mmo's and first person shooters.
I'm sure you can also understand why the "dumbing down" of this type of game is necessary to make the game more accessible for console players as well as the casual audience who will pick the game up out of curiosity. I think Firaxis did a great job of reinventing and re-introducing XCOM to the masses.
@SgtStrungOut @IAMTYLERDURDEN @SKaREO @Munstable If he is a casual gamer, his opinion might actually matter more. Like it or not, the masses outnumber your kind of non-"dumbed down player." If you feel so motivated to correct this or judge gamers, then you are just the kind of person needed to help change them. You're either a complaining elitist with nothing to offer or a person who recognizes that the only people left to help are those who haven't been able to acquire what you'd probably call "hardcore gaming tastes".
I can agree that the game is not as deep as its predecessor, but come on. If games were made only for people who have been accessing games since before 1990, there would be no industry. Ah, but who am I? I haven't given any constructive criticisms to the devs of XCOM. lololol
@IAMTYLERDURDEN @SKaREO @Munstable You are a casual gamer. Your opinion does not matter. You are dumbed down.
@IAMTYLERDURDEN @SKaREO @Munstable Totally agree. And i think is a little price what we are paying (that its in fact "dumbed down") as it could bring back the genre as it was (now im really looking for a sequel). But we have to admit they really nailed it in the balancing between new comers, console, and the original game.
4 Like @SKaREO @IAMTYLERDURDEN I can understand your anger, but unfortunately money does make the world go round, just like in the game.
It's not just about games, it's about the society in which we live in, and that is sad. If you have any constructive ideas in how we might fight against the oppression and injustice happening all around the world, I would be most happy to hear it.
Maybe we can start by not being so self-centered? I dunno but it's a thought.
1 Like @SKaREO @Munstable The goal for any game is to make money and knowing ahead of time that this new XCOM was going to be cross platform, Firaxis had to take into account new players, console players, and players of the original like you. They had to find a balance and so far, it seems they were successful. There will always be hardcore fans that compare the new to old and it's almost impossible to please them.
@IAMTYLERDURDEN @Munstable Accessible? This is a PC game, why should it be made accessible? I'm so sick of that bullcrap, it's just greed. Simply greedy developers want to make more money by selling a game that already has a successful marketing image. It's shady and disgusting and this game is an abomination of the original and a disgrace for all strategy games. I can't believe Firaxis made this game, Civilization is such a great game, what happened here?
3 Like @IAMTYLERDURDEN I agree and I'm glad that you like the game!
Like I said before, this game is good but at the same time, I couldn't help but spot the little flaws that is preventing it from being great.
But your take on it have just reminded me to look more on the bright side of things to come..
Hopefully, newcomers like you can help revive the genre so it's all good. :)
My tip for making a team go up the ranks is, save before you go into a mission, get a few rounds in save again. If you loose a unit re-load. I have 18 troops, all r upto Maj and Col ranks. I have a Major Sniper, takes them out with one shot, then gets in the zone and takes 3 shots. So I say save and save often.
@jayse1972 Man, thats kinda lame. Sure it's great having super soldiers, but that takes away half the fun! I think the game was meant to be played without the constant saving... Knowing that if you do something stupid and get your trooper killed they will be dead for good makes you MUCH more careful and attached to your soldiers.
1 Like @Lytmare @jayse1972 in fact if the game were to be played like that it would take forever to level up soldiers, and thats a critical game design error. 4 members troops (at start) with very limited resources (until past half game) makes it near impossible to stand 2 casualties and/or wounds (average) per mission! and its beacuse im attached to them that i dont want to let them die. And heck, it happend one time or two that having everything under control the A.I. spawned aliens right in the middle of my troops!! WTF!!! (in ufo missions) so what do you do then huh? i said F%CK IT, reloaded and put everyone on overwatch; last thing that damned cyberdisk saw was a bullet swarm down its freakin throat... i laughed my a$$ at that i must admit
3 Like @jayse1972 That sounds really boring. Plus, if you are playing on Iron Man, that isn't an option.
1 Like @Villimax @jayse1972 it isnt, and thats how you play an xcom game! if u care for your troops, theres only one rule: if the mission is under control, SAVE!
7 Like Ok, I am at the end of the game and I feel that this is a very dumbed-down, lazy rushed imitation of an XCOM game.
The geoscape is a glorified dialog box where you click on the "Present the next event" button or "Pick one of these 2 or 3 options". The XCOM mood is killed by talking characters. A 3rd year compsci student could probably program better game mechanics. And it's completely swarmed with bugs.
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XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Not Following
- Publisher(s): 2K Games
- Developer(s): Firaxis Games
- Genre: Strategy
- Release:
- PEGI: 18+
XCOM: Enemy Unknown Navigation
