UFO: Aftershock

 PC
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 43 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 43
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 43
  3. Negative: 4 out of 43
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  1. JW
    Feb 4, 2006
    4
    After reading Andrew H's review (if you like Xcom, Jagged Alliance, Fallout etc.) I had to post. I loved those games - they are still on my shelf. Unfortunately, UFO: Aftershock comes nowhere close to these elite titles. The graphics are bland, muddy and, with no adjustable camera, often in the way of the gameplay. The enemies are nondescript, poorly rendered and there are only a After reading Andrew H's review (if you like Xcom, Jagged Alliance, Fallout etc.) I had to post. I loved those games - they are still on my shelf. Unfortunately, UFO: Aftershock comes nowhere close to these elite titles. The graphics are bland, muddy and, with no adjustable camera, often in the way of the gameplay. The enemies are nondescript, poorly rendered and there are only a handful of "types" - there is very little variety or imagination in the opponents. And, while some repitition is okay in maps, most games offer the repition primarily in the random encounters while offering stellar unique maps for the story arc - er, not this game. So, do not waste your money. I was suckered in by these user reviews (desperate for a good tactical game? I am, but refuse to accept this dreck) and now have a coaster. Do not get it except after it reaches $14.99 or below - then it's worth a rainy day's afternoon (barely).… Expand
  2. Muz
    Sep 25, 2007
    6
    Unlike UFO: Aftermath, Aftershock is a long way off X-Com style gameplay. The game concept is solid and it has one of the best storylines I've ever seen. However, the game tends almost impossibly hard quite early on (before you get proper weapons) and in the late-mid game up to the point where I'd be happy that my soldiers even survived. In most other parts of the game, it Unlike UFO: Aftermath, Aftershock is a long way off X-Com style gameplay. The game concept is solid and it has one of the best storylines I've ever seen. However, the game tends almost impossibly hard quite early on (before you get proper weapons) and in the late-mid game up to the point where I'd be happy that my soldiers even survived. In most other parts of the game, it simply got too easy and repetitive. The game has an excellent tactical concept, but many missions can be resolved without tactics. And worst of all, it tends to slow down badly if you have too many units on a mission and the base management can be frustrating late in the game. However, it's a great, fun game with an interesting storyline, worth a look if it's in the bargain bin or purchased as part of the trilogy.… Expand
  3. CameronM.
    Jan 15, 2006
    8
    A huge improvement over Aftermath. Criticisms about repetitiveness are valid but hold across the genre and this game makes up for that with good graphics and improved RPG and strategy elements. Must mention : The Gamespot review is anomalous, ill-informed and written by a game-journo-hack who had no idea how to play this style of game. He certainly got no more that 10% of the way through A huge improvement over Aftermath. Criticisms about repetitiveness are valid but hold across the genre and this game makes up for that with good graphics and improved RPG and strategy elements. Must mention : The Gamespot review is anomalous, ill-informed and written by a game-journo-hack who had no idea how to play this style of game. He certainly got no more that 10% of the way through the story. (Read the review to see what I mean) With this release perhaps now people and shoddy reviewers will abandon XCom comparisons and treat this and future UFO After* titles as elements in a solid independent series and worthwhile addition to the genre.… Expand
  4. tk
    Jun 26, 2009
    4
    The game WOULD be cool if it wasn't buggy to the point of being unplayable. I mean, this game is totally unfinished years after it's release. You can play it, but many of the games strategies and development paths for soldiers don't even work. The game crashes a lot and has bugs that can bork your whole game.
  5. Monde
    Nov 18, 2005
    9
    Great game...I played AS for about 3 hours and am not starting again. I did exactly the same thing in XCOM. This is the first game in a long time that has kept me playing until the early morning on work nights.
  6. MichaelR.
    Dec 30, 2005
    5
    For the genre, the graphics are very good. The game is detailed and has long term gameplay. However, it is repetitive; at the start of the game you will see the same map over and over again with little variation.
  7. OllyC.
    Oct 31, 2005
    10
    Great game, very addictive, a great successor to the xcom series.
  8. Wizyy
    Apr 24, 2006
    9
    Excellent game! Finally a strategy game that got me hooked after some years of MMORPGs. It's so incredibly underrated, it's really such a shame. I didnt play 1.0 version, just 1.2 and its almost bugless. I think horrible rating are coming mainly from those who reviewed 1.0, but also from the ones who played UFO: Aftermath which was really very poor game from the same publisher. Excellent game! Finally a strategy game that got me hooked after some years of MMORPGs. It's so incredibly underrated, it's really such a shame. I didnt play 1.0 version, just 1.2 and its almost bugless. I think horrible rating are coming mainly from those who reviewed 1.0, but also from the ones who played UFO: Aftermath which was really very poor game from the same publisher. Maybe they just didnt have the patience to give it a chance. THEIR LOSS! Anyone who enjoyed XCOM, Fallout and Jagged Alliance MUST play this!… Expand
  9. RobE.
    May 19, 2007
    2
    Very sorry, loved X-COM in 1995, but copying it exactly in 2007 is not a good idea. Especially when you have everything you need in UFO: Afterlight. Stay away from this. Bad graphics, terrible interface.
  10. JS
    Oct 22, 2005
    9
    Finally a worthy succesor of the XCOM franchise, buy this game now if you love combat stratergy games.
  11. PaulC.
    Oct 24, 2005
    9
    Got this Friday, played all weekend. Substantially better than Aftermath. Combat is slicker, and the base building is well implemented. Laughably they say the game is not inspired by X-COM games.....If this isn't a better implementation of X-Com Apocalype - then it's a small dog called Colin. (Aftermath was inferior to the flawed Apocalypse - Aftershock is IMO superior, and Got this Friday, played all weekend. Substantially better than Aftermath. Combat is slicker, and the base building is well implemented. Laughably they say the game is not inspired by X-COM games.....If this isn't a better implementation of X-Com Apocalype - then it's a small dog called Colin. (Aftermath was inferior to the flawed Apocalypse - Aftershock is IMO superior, and corrects some of the gameplay issues both Apoc and Aftermath had) Only many hours play will see how the game balancing works out - and this game encouraged me so far to invest that time...so far so good. :-)… Expand
  12. RichardC.
    Apr 22, 2006
    10
    Great game very addictive but hard to get used to so controls but that is all preference.
  13. VictorVictor
    Jun 26, 2008
    9
    UFO: Aftershock is far better then Aftermath. XCom is something, UFO is something else. TBS, RPG and classical strategy in one single game. A good 9 from me, not 10 because I know other games far better then this one. Anyway, it's not borring, very good graphics and a good game!
  14. UNI
    Nov 15, 2005
    6
    A good ideas but awful graphics and gameplay, old UFOs were much better.
  15. TiagoS.
    Nov 18, 2005
    9
    A bigger improvement from the Aftermath, id say a huge improvement actually,less boring altho it gets a bit repetitive after a bit when you have your soldiers all decently trained it gets too easy, the camera and the pauses are still a bit odd and the tactical realtime isnt as good as the one in apocalypse but its getting very close, the strategy part is great, altho i found the game A bigger improvement from the Aftermath, id say a huge improvement actually,less boring altho it gets a bit repetitive after a bit when you have your soldiers all decently trained it gets too easy, the camera and the pauses are still a bit odd and the tactical realtime isnt as good as the one in apocalypse but its getting very close, the strategy part is great, altho i found the game quite easy and the research tree HUGE wich makes the game last longer but also gives alot of useless or outdated weapons or tech comparaded to others you allready have, it may look hard at beggining but with a couple training and as soon as you figure the money income (i dont like manuals) it gets realy easy...… Expand
  16. NikosF.
    Oct 26, 2005
    10
    I 've finished ufo defence,terror from the deep and apocalypse, I bought but never played aftermath because wasn't good.Although I was preoccupied with Cenega I bought UFO Aftershock. Yesterday I played for 5-6 hours and it gave me the old filling .This game really worth to be among the old Microprose games.By my opinion this game is highly recommended.
  17. AndrewH.
    Jan 14, 2006
    9
    Critic's Negatives: Buggy - Patch 1.2 fixes it. I have had no problems in 40 hours of play since I patched. No random maps - There are at least 20 maps with multiple start points and where enemies are clustered randomly (it does play quite different every time) No Enemy Variation - This is just not true. I count 4 enemy weapon/skill types per faction * (Humans, Psionics, Cyborgs, Critic's Negatives: Buggy - Patch 1.2 fixes it. I have had no problems in 40 hours of play since I patched. No random maps - There are at least 20 maps with multiple start points and where enemies are clustered randomly (it does play quite different every time) No Enemy Variation - This is just not true. I count 4 enemy weapon/skill types per faction * (Humans, Psionics, Cyborgs, Mutants, Reticulans, Wargot) = 24 Boring/Ugly maps - This is just not true. The maps are well designed, have multiple heights to work from, have destructible objects, lots of cover points. Ladders work for getting onto roofs. You will have a blast exploiting the strategic elements of each map. Personal Review: This game is everything I have been looking for as a sequel to the Xcom series. This is what you get. Huge research trees Dozens of different weapons Weapon/Item/Armor Upgrades You can build your own mechs Strategic base building. Build: Factories, Defense, Labs, and Schools (and multiple types of them) Strategic world conquest layer on top. Excellent tactical shooter Rag doll enemies - beautiful RPG style character development If you liked the following game series, you will like this game. Jagged Alliance, Fallout, Xcom. Final Note: For this game not to have had a minimum rating of at least 85 is a crime. This is the first time I have been so disgusted with the critics that I have had to post.… Expand
  18. Julius_Sneezer
    Dec 26, 2005
    10
    Great graphics! The most highly underrated game ever.
  19. Tb87670
    Jan 27, 2015
    8
    A good classic. There are only a few things that should have been done differently, namely the random maps the first game had this game did not. But I will admit back when this was released was right before multi-cores existed on the market. They upped the graphics and made the levels multiple-layer where you can shoot from cover above down below. This was extremely complex back in the dayA good classic. There are only a few things that should have been done differently, namely the random maps the first game had this game did not. But I will admit back when this was released was right before multi-cores existed on the market. They upped the graphics and made the levels multiple-layer where you can shoot from cover above down below. This was extremely complex back in the day and the dev team admitted they couldn't get the map-gen to run well nor look well with the added map complexity. This game is still great, and with the Weapon Rebalance mod still plays like vanilla but improved. A good classic you can now get on GOG. I wish a modern remake was in the pipeline, so much more could be done with this style of gameplay.… Expand
  20. FRIST_008
    Jun 14, 2021
    8
    стратегия детства, которая смогла побороть мою не любовь к космическим стратегиям

Awards & Rankings

63
#63 Most Discussed PC Game of 2005

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
67

Mixed or average reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 20
  3. Negative: 1 out of 20
  1. Pelit (Finland)
    88
    Much better than Aftermath. Geoscape and RPG elements are excellent. Tactical fighting is far better than before, but still needs some work. Battlefields should be generated randomly, and structural damage is not good enough. Take Silent Storm for a role model, please. [Nov 2005]
  2. GameZone
    72
    If you are aching for a good and highly challenging strategy game, then look notfurther then UFO: Aftershock.
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  3. Four Fat Chicks
    60
    But the fact is "X-Com" is twelve years old, and memory has a way of polishing off the burrs and nits that flaw a game, leaving you with only the hard candy shell of perfection. UFO: Aftershock cannot measure up any more than "UFO: Aftermath" did, but it hits a lot closer to the mark.
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