Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Masterpiece"

Can you imagine anything scarier to a game developer that trying to remake or continue an old beloved franchise? I remember when Bethesda took over the Fallout franchise and announced Fallout 3 - you'd think fans were going to froth at the mouth and burn their offices down! Well, Firaxis decided to try their luck and by jingo they've NAILED IT. This game could have so easily been an awful mess, greedily trying to take money from old fans. It's not that at all, and it's superb in every way.rnrnThe original XCom was all about defending the Earth against really pretty terrifying enemies who were mysterious, outnumbered you, had terrifying powers and numbers, and who desperately needed killing. It gave you a game where you had grand strategy to worry about (research technology, train Soldiers, find and respond to UFOs, build new weapons, build your base, and all while balancing your budget), as well as a robust squad-based tactical turn-based game where you had total control of how your troops took the fight to the enemy. All of those core components are in XCom: Enemy Unknown. What's NOT in the new version is a lot of the pointless micromanagement. The old Turn Unit system made sense... in 1994. In this version, it makes a lot more sense for the game to visually present you with movement rings. Basically it shows you, "With a normal movement, you can move anywhere in this area and take cover in these areas. With a full "dashing" movement, you can move anywhere in THIS area, much further away." It's the same old XCom, but without any of the 1994-era user interface or the boring micromanagement. Some really huge additions are a cover mechanism that ACTUALLY works, a system that explicitly rewards tactical thinking of flanking your enemies and gaining the high ground, and a rich Soldier development system where you pick skills for your Assault, Sniper, Support or Heavy to specialize in. Do you want your sniper to be more versatile and able to move-and-shoot within the same round, or would you rather she be able to make long range shots on targets too far away for her to see, but that your other troops have spotted? These are the kinds of skill choices you get, and they make a huge difference in gameplay and tactics. Short answer: If you loved the micromanagement in the old XCom, you'll be angry. If you loved everything ELSE about it, or if world-saving strategy and tactical turn-based asskicking is your thing, you'll be an instant fan. Go play it!