XCOM: Enemy Unknown

 PC
User Score
8.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 2608 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,075 out of 2608
  2. Mixed: 329 out of 2608
  3. Negative: 204 out of 2608
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  1. Magical_Viktor
    Apr 30, 2023
    6
    Существуют просто Зло и Большое Зло, а за ними обоими в тени прячется Очень Большое Зло. Очень Большое Зло, Геральт, это такое, которого ты и представить себе не можешь, даже если думаешь, будто уже ничто не в состоянии тебя удивить. И знаешь, Геральт, порой бывает так, что Очень Большое Зло схватит тебя за горло и скажет: «Выбирай, братец, либо я, либо то, которое чуточку поменьше»Существуют просто Зло и Большое Зло, а за ними обоими в тени прячется Очень Большое Зло. Очень Большое Зло, Геральт, это такое, которого ты и представить себе не можешь, даже если думаешь, будто уже ничто не в состоянии тебя удивить. И знаешь, Геральт, порой бывает так, что Очень Большое Зло схватит тебя за горло и скажет: «Выбирай, братец, либо я, либо то, которое чуточку поменьше»
  2. Oshiri_Maeda
    Apr 10, 2023
    5
    It must have been amazing game back in 2012, but in 2023 it is just a famous name, nothing else. I'm glad they basically invented the genre - it spawned so many amazing games since then.
  3. Soullex
    Nov 29, 2022
    7
    Sonuna doğru biraz tekrara bağlıyor. Onun haricinde gerçekten çok iyi......
  4. Wrathzo
    Mar 21, 2022
    6
    XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a 2012 turn-based tactical video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K Games. The game is a "reimagined" remake of the 1994 cult classic strategy game X-COM: UFO Defense (also known as UFO: Enemy Unknown) and a reboot of MicroProse's 1990s X-COM series. Set in an alternative version of the year 2015, the player controls an elite multinationalXCOM: Enemy Unknown is a 2012 turn-based tactical video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K Games. The game is a "reimagined" remake of the 1994 cult classic strategy game X-COM: UFO Defense (also known as UFO: Enemy Unknown) and a reboot of MicroProse's 1990s X-COM series. Set in an alternative version of the year 2015, the player controls an elite multinational paramilitary organization called XCOM during an alien invasion of Earth. The player commands troops in the field in a series of turn-based tactical missions; between missions, the player directs the research and development of technologies from recovered alien technology and captured prisoners, expands XCOM's base of operations, manages finances, and monitors and responds to alien activity.… Expand
  5. dogeswillkill
    Apr 22, 2021
    7
    i liked it, honestly. i think it's an alright reboot - i love strategy so this was right up my alley
  6. derek_
    Oct 29, 2020
    5
    Game is decent but with some hard flaws for me. After few missions combat starts to be extremely repetetive and uninteresting, even boring. Skill set of your characters is very limited, hate that move and shot once per round system.. and those misses.. those misses.. its practically rnJesus fest. move, fire, try if you hit, reload, repeat.. that's all what combat is about on higherGame is decent but with some hard flaws for me. After few missions combat starts to be extremely repetetive and uninteresting, even boring. Skill set of your characters is very limited, hate that move and shot once per round system.. and those misses.. those misses.. its practically rnJesus fest. move, fire, try if you hit, reload, repeat.. that's all what combat is about on higher difficulty. Another thing I really hate is that enemy spawning system. Its ridiculous. No more aliens roaming through map, clashing with your x-com fighters as they dig deeper on map. They just spawn when you move, which makes really stupid situations like when you move with your last guy when others already spend all their atcions and accidentaly trigger spawning of another cluster of 3 enemies. It just force you to minimalize your movevement during combat because no, you really dont wanna accidentally spawn another enemies :D And why the hell can't i escape to menu durring enemy turn, forcing me watch those slooow animations watch over and over even if I know its rnJesus reload time? Thats really grrr...… Expand
  7. Sean-M
    Jul 24, 2020
    7
    Great game with an interesting story. Can spend hundreds of hours playing this game. But to be honest I prefer the second one.
  8. Shimmeywill
    Feb 20, 2020
    7
    A solid, tight tactical game. It's a little finicky with some of the UI elements and it was hard to stay motivated through the base building element. Still a quality game.
  9. dlcwolf
    Jun 14, 2019
    7
    I played both XCOM Enemy Unknown and XCOM Enemy Within. The games are 80% the same, same plot, same events, same actors, same stories, with the only difference in Enemy Within there are a bit more of new events, the human enemy Exalt, and few new enemies. There is no reason to play both since i see the second more complete and vast. If you want to play, just play the second. For the game,I played both XCOM Enemy Unknown and XCOM Enemy Within. The games are 80% the same, same plot, same events, same actors, same stories, with the only difference in Enemy Within there are a bit more of new events, the human enemy Exalt, and few new enemies. There is no reason to play both since i see the second more complete and vast. If you want to play, just play the second. For the game, i appreciated really, even if it is not at the high level of the original X-COM. But is well done and made modern. I had anyway the feeling that the authors tried to make more commercial and accepted by a wider range of gamers, exemplifying the gaming. For example, I found less researches es to do, and also the combats are made easier with less commands. So i say 7 for the first, and 8 for the second.… Expand
  10. Vanco
    Jun 4, 2019
    7
    Interesting additions to the original. Could not motivate me to complete another playthrough of the game though.
  11. Vectis99
    May 31, 2019
    6
    XCOM: Enemy Unknown fulfills a very specific niche with a very high production budget, but falls short in terms of mechanical and quality-of-life polishing. The game entails an extraordinary amount of downtime bundled up with arithmetic calculations on the RPG layer coupled with a plethora of lengthy, pointless animations; more than 50% of the experience is sitting back and watching theXCOM: Enemy Unknown fulfills a very specific niche with a very high production budget, but falls short in terms of mechanical and quality-of-life polishing. The game entails an extraordinary amount of downtime bundled up with arithmetic calculations on the RPG layer coupled with a plethora of lengthy, pointless animations; more than 50% of the experience is sitting back and watching the screen, worsened by the frequency the player must swap their attention between watching the individual unit animations execute and proceeding to issue new orders. This is worsened by the fact that for any given gameplay session, the frequency of meaningful decisions and risks is very low.
    The difficulty of the game does not scale well at all, scaling- for some reason- inversely with the player's performance. That is to say, if the game detects that you are doing well, it gets easier, whereas if you are struggling, it gets harder. This is especially frustrating due to the way the game recycles content; the main campaign can be "lost", which is especially cumbersome due to its immense length.
    I only ever played the game with the DLC "enemy within" so I cannot speak as to the quality of the base game.
    The game's storytelling leaves a lot to be desired. Whatever attempt this game makes at talking about transhumanism or whatnot falls entirely flat on its face. The aesthetic quality of the game is pleasant and refined, but it doesn't integrate with any sort of storytelling.
    For those interested in getting into the series for the first time, it would be a much better experience to play XCOM 2 twice instead of XCOM: Enemy Unknown once and XCOM 2 once. This games sequel practically resolves all of the issues with the original, save for the content recycling; and the quality of the content makes the recycling less aggravating.    … Expand
  12. Laer
    Mar 14, 2017
    7
    ¿Quieres un buen juego de estrategia, "difícil" y con una buena historia?, este es tu juego.

    Es complicado hacer un análisis de un juego de estrategia (sobre todo para un amante de este genero) ya que hay muchas cosas de las que hablar, pero intentare abreviar para no alargarme demasiado, pero siempre tocando cada uno de los puntos que considero esencial. Historia: Una historia, que    ¿Quieres un buen juego de estrategia, "difícil" y con una buena historia?, este es tu juego.

    Es complicado hacer un análisis de un juego de estrategia (sobre todo para un amante de este genero) ya que hay muchas cosas de las que hablar, pero intentare abreviar para no alargarme demasiado, pero siempre tocando cada uno de los puntos que considero esencial.

    Historia: Una historia, que sin ser muy original, cumple muy bien con su función.

    Control: Normalmente es excelente, pero tiene algún que otro problema cuando se trata de altura (quieres a un personaje arriba pero sin querer pulsas abajo...).

    Variedad: Hay bastantes unidades, tanto aliadas (humanos con diferentes clases, híbridos y robots) como alienígenas (tanques, voladores, guardianes, atacantes,etc), además de variedad de armas, armaduras y mapas.

    Dificultad: El comienzo es bastante complicado, las unidades mueren muy rápido, tienes malas armaduras y armas, por no decir que no tienes prácticamente opciones en cuanto a las habilidades de las unidades, y se hace bastante difícil que no mueran unidades en un comienzo, pero cuando consigues endurecerlas por los combates y por tener nuevo equipamiento, he de decir que en pocas ocasiones he tenido miedo de perder alguna unidad.

    Repetitividad: No nos vamos a engañar, es muy difícil camuflar la repetitividad en los juegos de estrategia, y aun mas difícil hacer que no sea repetitivo, y este juego... lamentablemente apenas consigue lo primero. Logra mantenerte enganchado durante bastante tiempo probando cada una de las cosas nuevas que consigues a medida que vas jugando, pero una vez que has visto todo te deja una sensación de "vacío", ya que siempre se juega de la misma manera, tener la mejor equipación posible y jugar lo mas defensivo que se pueda.

    Duración de la campaña: Yo he tardado 25 horas para ver y probar practicamente todo lo que ofrece el juego y terminando la historia, no obstante, se puede tardar menos si vas mas rapido, si simplemente te centras en la historia, o por el contario, puedes tardar aun mas que yo si quieres probar y hacer cada una de las cosas que ofrece.

    Multijugador: Esta parte suele ser "importante" en este genero (lo pongo entre comillas por que depende mucho del juego y de la persona que este jugando), y lamentablemente no os puedo decir nada de el, ya que no lo he probado.

    Gráficos: Este apartado es el ultimo por que es el menos importante en un juego de estrategia, pero siempre hay un mínimo aunque este sea bajo. En este apartado el juego cumple, y mucho.

    Todo esto se junta y hace de este un juego de estrategia prácticamente obligatorio para todos los amantes de este genero, he inclusive, es un juego que puede gustar a aquellos que no se suelen acercar mucho a este genero.

    No obstante, considero prácticamente obligatoria la compra de la expansión, ya que si no el juego queda muy vacío.    … Expand
  13. JustSomeGamer
    Oct 8, 2016
    7
    really cool and unique strategy game with a lot of depth. This is a must have for every fan of the strategy genre! It's really frustrating though when you lose that character that you had since the start of the game : (
    And sadly there are also some **** mechanics that can screw you over really easily : /
  14. justanhonestguy
    Mar 29, 2016
    5
    I wanted to like this game but ended up uninstalling after a few missions. I was spoiled by the original. way back when, I suppose, and this game barely pays homage to the original. Yes, it's turn based. Yes, it involves aliens attacking Earth and you sending "custom" squads to defeat them in various locales. Yes, it has limited action/move points per turn and makes good use of "cover"I wanted to like this game but ended up uninstalling after a few missions. I was spoiled by the original. way back when, I suppose, and this game barely pays homage to the original. Yes, it's turn based. Yes, it involves aliens attacking Earth and you sending "custom" squads to defeat them in various locales. Yes, it has limited action/move points per turn and makes good use of "cover" and "oversight" mechanics to determine firefight outcomes. I liked the level design even if I didn't like the style of the graphics, which i admit is entirely subjective and not a big determinant of the real objective value of the game. Yes, the program ran fine on my modest system, and seemed to be technically "clean" in my case. That gets it up to about 40% in my books, but to get higher marks from me, the game has to be clever, engaging, challenging, and most of all fun . I didn't find these things like others did. I found that the game relied more on "cheating" to make the playstyle challenging, rather than a real intelligent A.I. I found it to be frustrating to use the best possible moves, mathematically speaking, only to be defeated at the goal line by unbelievable and "cruel" odds. The choice of "dice-roll" success/failure as opposed to a real feeling of skill impact was the single most frustrating thing for me. I soon found the game to be frustrating rather than fun and ragequit/uninstalled after a particularly unbelievable run of luck on the part of the a.i. destroyed my (better by far) strategy in seconds. It was almost as if the devs were saying "Here, we just rolled boxcars 6 times in a row, and you LOSE, Jack... it's called STRATEGY...." it sounds childish, I know, but my frustration was that personal. Maybe it was just my particular taste, or my gamer's need to feel a sense of fairness in a strategy game, but I didn't like this one too much. Sorry, folks, not quite a pass for me as pretty as the game is. I get the feeling that this is another one of those games that you either "get" or you don't, and I am sorry to say that I don't. I am giving it a revised score of 50% because when i look back on it now, the engine, level design, interface, and game mechanics were quite well done in my view, so there was some skill and effort put into the game for sure, it's just that the fun factor wasn't ever really there for me personally.… Expand
  15. psylife
    Mar 20, 2016
    6
    There is a good game somewhere in there, buried under a thick layer of incompetence. The developer clearly lacked the brain power to flesh out the tactical aspect of the game. They reducedthe tactical formula to a roll of the dice. From a technical standpoint, the game is glitchy, with enemies capable of shooting behind walls, which essentially renders what is left of the tactical aspectThere is a good game somewhere in there, buried under a thick layer of incompetence. The developer clearly lacked the brain power to flesh out the tactical aspect of the game. They reducedthe tactical formula to a roll of the dice. From a technical standpoint, the game is glitchy, with enemies capable of shooting behind walls, which essentially renders what is left of the tactical aspect useless.An embarrassing effort.… Expand
  16. djbarker
    Feb 24, 2016
    5
    Great game on normal difficulty, but at classic and above it's hideously broken and causes bitter anger!
    I've carefully inched my way through a building, clearing it totally, then positionto hit the next room....Then BOOM!!! 3 Thin Men materialise right behind my sniper and one shot him.
    I've thrown battle scanners and they reveal a clear area, with enemies at the far edge. So I advance,    Great game on normal difficulty, but at classic and above it's hideously broken and causes bitter anger!
    I've carefully inched my way through a building, clearing it totally, then positionto hit the next room....Then BOOM!!! 3 Thin Men materialise right behind my sniper and one shot him.
    I've thrown battle scanners and they reveal a clear area, with enemies at the far edge. So I advance, then BOOM, 3 mutons materialise right in the middle of my squad. Enemies shouldn't jump from position to position, it makes it impossible to come up with a battle plan and instead makes you set up a shooting gallery and hope you survive the waves of attack.
    I skillfully and precisely position myself so that a precision grenade opens a killer shot, then interface error makes me grenade my own troops.
    90% arc thrower failing 3 times in a row. The RNG is awful - it feels more like it had to pick every number 1-100 once before it resets. I play poker so I understand chance and this does not feel at all random.    … Expand
  17. Businessman
    Jan 16, 2016
    6
    This game is decent as a whole, but suffers from hastly development and flaws such as dumbed down mechanics as well as limited options on the RPG side of things. The exciting part comes when you discover your new, good weapons, such as the laser ones and plasma, which are miles ahead your standard balistic weapons as well as leveling your classes for the first time and exploring the newThis game is decent as a whole, but suffers from hastly development and flaws such as dumbed down mechanics as well as limited options on the RPG side of things. The exciting part comes when you discover your new, good weapons, such as the laser ones and plasma, which are miles ahead your standard balistic weapons as well as leveling your classes for the first time and exploring the new skills makes you keep playing it.

    More specifically, some of the features I found sad were, having only 4 classes that are random while only 2-rows of skills to choose from when you levels up. Where's the variety in that if I can't have more stuff to choose for my specialists? After the initial 4 guys that are all scripted to have a different class each, your next rookies are sooner or later gonna receive a class you already got accustomed to. In addition to that, the story is something you expect and not anything different that older alien-related titles.

    Overall an okay experience if you're playing it for the first time, but gets quite boring as you advance on the story as well as on the next playthroughs.    … Expand
  18. BinaryRunner
    Dec 29, 2015
    6
    The game feels as "almost finished" - buttons for soldier commands change their position after a command is issued, positioning of camera is sometimes ridiculous even in static moments and nauseating when you try to point with mouse where you want to throw grenade or fire rocket - the viewport moves rapidly and the size of transition seems kind of random.

    The game does not push you to    The game feels as "almost finished" - buttons for soldier commands change their position after a command is issued, positioning of camera is sometimes ridiculous even in static moments and nauseating when you try to point with mouse where you want to throw grenade or fire rocket - the viewport moves rapidly and the size of transition seems kind of random.

    The game does not push you to use all possible technology advances to keep up with aliens, not at the normal level. You're constantly running out of resources and the scientists had nothing to research for about half and a month. The advantage from capturing live alines was quite limited.

    The visual style from research reports is shoddy - no alien picture, no details, no fun.

    The number of equipment slots for soldires is too low - why I shoud choose between a vest (worn on body) a scope (mounted on firearm) and grenade ? Does not make any sense.

    ...    … Expand
  19. iseeall
    Dec 14, 2015
    7
    This is a remake of 1993 XCOM UFO Defense which is very well done yet lacks some strategic depth of the original.

    The good: - in many things, the game tries to stay very close to the original - more alient types, including heavily armored robots - all aliens and your soldiers have new special abilities - more weapon types, including shotguns - great music, some tracks remind Deus    This is a remake of 1993 XCOM UFO Defense which is very well done yet lacks some strategic depth of the original.

    The good:
    - in many things, the game tries to stay very close to the original
    - more alient types, including heavily armored robots
    - all aliens and your soldiers have new special abilities
    - more weapon types, including shotguns
    - great music, some tracks remind Deus Ex Human Revolution
    - great graphics
    - the story is accompanied with many cutscenes and voiced comments from your staff, which helps build drama
    - great detailed tutorial
    - mind control requires the target to be in sight (no more mind controls at the very first turn)
    - you can research additional upgrades to weapons and other things in the Foundry building

    The so-so:
    - 2 action points instead of 50-70 like in the original, soldiers normally just walk once and shoot once. This takes away some depth yet makes you camp less
    - can only take 6 soldiers in a mission instead of 14 -> faster turns but fewer tactical options
    - night missions have the same visibility as daytime ones, no flares -> easier, but micromanaging flares was fun and night missions used to be real challenge
    - a strange cover system: when a mob is behind an edge of a wall, it still can be shot at, yet with a high penalty. Most battlefields are filled with tree logs, groups of stones, stairs-like elevation levels which makes the battles mostly about running from cover to cover and staying on Overwatch
    - critical hits are important -> more randomness
    - soldiers have no stats (which grew from "usage"), instead the game randomly assigns them to specializations (sniper, heavy, assault, support). Specializations offer a few special abilities though
    - after getting max rank ("Colonel"), soldiers won't improve anymore (only psi abilities, if they have psionic powers), which doesn't let you train super-ninzas and forces you to send new soldiers to let them train as well
    - a few new types of missions which are heavily scripted and linear, usually with a turn limit
    - can only build facilities in one base, no storage limit, no ammo -> less micromanagement but feels too casual
    - mobs' facing doesn't play any role: they see equally well all around them, and attacks from behind don't inflict more damage (though usually a mob won't have a covering object behind it and will be considered "flanked")
    - no arctic/desert/jungle maps but many varied urban maps
    - a soldier can take just 1 extra item (e.g.1 grenade) in addition to main weapon and pistol

    The bad:
    - most battles are scripted and not randomly generated. Enemies appear when you pass trigger tiles and take a free move to get behind cover right after they appeared. Some fall directly from above (out of thin air) behind your troops, switching to Overwatch and pinning all your soldiers down. Some will run very close to you, all while you're waiting for their animation to finish. This takes away much strategic feeling as all your battle plans are trampled by script. Worse, it makes playing on higher difficulty or iron man mode pointless, as it feels unfair to lose when you didn't know in advance a scripted situation
    - camera always tries to zoom in on the next selected soldiers which is very annoying if you want to keep camera zoomed out for a tactical overwiev
    - camera sometimes fails to correctly detect the tile under the cursor -> it may take many attempts to open a door with V key (and rotate the camera for that a lot), or sometimes the solder will run to a wrong tile which is on a different floor and visually behind the one you wish to go to
    - if a soldier sees an enemy during movement he doesn't stop and can even lose sight of the enemy by the end of the move (it was the same in the original XCOM but there you could walk tile-by-tile, and in JA2 soldiers stopped when seeing a new enemy)
    - no base defense missions
    - although everything is destructible you can't shoot at objects, except if your weapon misses an alien and hits an object instead, or you throw a grenade or fire a rocket launcher    … Expand
  20. Magnethead
    Oct 11, 2015
    6
    SO GOOD!...SO TERRIBLE! SO FRUSTRATING!

    The thing about Xcom is that the mechanics themselves are fantastic, they really are. The turn based squad strategy is fun, the overall research/building strategy is fine. The problem lies only in two elements: 1. Difficulty settings. 2. Random Number Generators. Let it be said, if you're fairly casual with strategy and you play this game    SO GOOD!...SO TERRIBLE! SO FRUSTRATING!

    The thing about Xcom is that the mechanics themselves are fantastic, they really are. The turn based squad strategy is fun, the overall research/building strategy is fine. The problem lies only in two elements:

    1. Difficulty settings.
    2. Random Number Generators.

    Let it be said, if you're fairly casual with strategy and you play this game casually on "normal" setting, the game is absolutely fine. No problems there. This review is not for you then, just ignore. That's just not for me.

    If you're very serious about strategy, you'll almost certainly find "Normal" difficulty too easy and "Classic" fitting in general (at least if you're only planning one playthrough). Sounds great, right? Could have been except for one thing: the variance on Classic. Everything is a roll of the dice, which is fine, but the variance is insane. You can do everything right and still lose the game in one brief moment of bad luck. I'll illustrate the problem with this one scenario that actually took place for me:

    Turn 1. Your squad arrives in the woods. You move them into defensive positions just in case you're being charged right off the bat. They're all in cover, they're all in Overwatch (guarding). Three aliens attack, the squad takes down the first one. The second one uses a skill that automatically deals 1 damage, it hits one guy.
    *BREAK* Let me here say that one damage is nothing, it really is nothing.
    So, the guy who got hit with the whopping 1 damage rolls a dice and panics. He panics by turning to his right and trying to execute his friend standing right next to him because... well, who knows. It's the standard panic reaction in this game. He rolls another dice and misses from point blank range. Just can't hit. Well, fine you think, but alas. Behind him is a seasoned veteran, a captain who has seen many battles. He rolls a dice too, he also panics. Now, he has taken 0 damage, he has merely seen one dude take one damage. Well, he handles panic in the same way and decides to execute one of his friends. He chooses your best solider (and medic) and nails her right in the back of the head with a critical hit, killing her instantly. End turn one.
    Turn 2. Bring up menu, quit game.

    Things like this just happen, they just do. You can restart the mission whenever they do, but it wears you out. Or it did with me. Worst thing is, they could fix everything wrong with this game so easily.

    1. rebalance panic.
    2. remove critical hits.

    Just those two things would limit the variance to a degree where the game would feel hard but fair. It's really all they needed to do and then the game would probably be a 10.    … Expand
  21. Luskack
    Jun 4, 2015
    5
    I just wanted to address this, that this game when ever I went into soldier loadout or customisation I could get out of it and had to quit my game. Even if I got sent there to promote the soldier I couldn't get out. I tried every button but it didn't work. I still loved the game but this just makes it "sad" since I want to customise my characters. It's sad. I hope I'm not the only oneI just wanted to address this, that this game when ever I went into soldier loadout or customisation I could get out of it and had to quit my game. Even if I got sent there to promote the soldier I couldn't get out. I tried every button but it didn't work. I still loved the game but this just makes it "sad" since I want to customise my characters. It's sad. I hope I'm not the only one that has experienced this.… Expand
  22. MR67
    Apr 2, 2015
    6
    OK, I haven't played the original XCOM, so you at least won't get to read about me harping on and on about how great it was by comparison with this version. XCOM Enemy Unknown is a fairly enjoyable strategy game where you are in charge of an organization tasked with defending Earth from mysterious alien attacks. You'll be spending most of the game controlling a squad of hand-pickedOK, I haven't played the original XCOM, so you at least won't get to read about me harping on and on about how great it was by comparison with this version. XCOM Enemy Unknown is a fairly enjoyable strategy game where you are in charge of an organization tasked with defending Earth from mysterious alien attacks. You'll be spending most of the game controlling a squad of hand-picked soldiers in various missions where you respond to alien incursions, and amidst all of this, you'll also be trying to manage your HQ and building up your resources while trying to keep your member countries happy by keeping their panic levels from getting too high, as well as trying to find out the ultimate reasons for the alien invasion.

    Pros:
    - Game plays smoothly and has been entirely bug-free for me over about 40 combined hours of gameplay or so. Not a single crash that I can remember.
    - Fun building up and developing a squad of soldiers with specific skills to suit your strategy. Fancy playing with two support soldiers, one a dedicated medic and the other a rifle jockey? Or a tank type assault soldier with 3 long range snipers backing him up? Go ahead!
    - Ironman mode is a nice extra challenge for people like me who don't believe in reloading from a previous save when a mission fails. This allows you only 1 saved game slot which automatically updates during the game and only allows you to save when exiting the game.

    Cons:
    - Limited number of maps for missions. There are a couple of forest areas, city areas, spaceship areas, factory areas, and that is about it. Maybe about a dozen different maps in total. No map randomization. Gameplay tends to get quite repetitive after a while, primarily for this reason.
    - Tedious movement in some areas. Some maps, like the inside of large alien spacecraft, have long empty corridors which can be an absolute pain in the butt to move all 6 of your soldiers along turn by turn. Some areas also have multiple levels which mean your soldiers are obscured by the floor from the level above until you scroll the mouse down to their map level to view them properly. When your soldiers get their next turn, the display has reset itself, meaning you have to scroll your mouse to view the level your soldiers are on again. Aarrrghhh!
    - Little freedom to play as you choose, as you have to advance the current date in the game and wait for events to happen first before responding to them. Panic levels high in the UK and you need to do something to reduce them? Tough. You can do squat about that unless you happen to get a specific mission there, such as an alien abduction to respond to. The game also forces you to follow the main storyline as soon as possible as the missions start to get more difficult (and repetitive) fairly quickly, so you are often left feeling a bit rushed throughout the game.
    - Limited soldier development and loadout options. Apart from cosmetic appearances where you can change the colour of their outfits and their haircuts etc, there is little to distinguish one Colonel-ranked sniper from another. Soldiers can be from a number of different countries yet all speak perfect English with a nice American accent (I believe this was addressed in the DLC XCOM Enemy Within though).There are only 2 skills you can generally choose each rank (sometimes just 1) and inventory is ridiculously limited to just a few slots, mostly for weapons and 1 extra slot for the backpack, which will typically be for a grenade, medkit or protective vest. A couple of the soldier classes grant an extra backpack slot at higher levels but that's about it. What makes it more frustrating is that the game mechanics do not allow you to retrieve gear from any fallen soldiers during a mission. Urgently need an extra grenade or medkit and your dead buddy just happened to have both in his backpack? Tough.
    - Unbalanced difficulty levels. The game has 4 difficulty levels - easy, normal, classic and impossible. Most people will play on normal or classic. The problem is that normal gets too easy after playing for a little while and classic is too difficult. All the aliens get bonuses to their aim and critical hit chances in classic mode and tend to one-shot your soldiers, especially in the early part of the game.    … Expand
  23. amontillado
    Feb 22, 2015
    7
    Overall: a good game but certain core mechanics stop it from being a great game. It is repetitive and in the late game it can become monotonous fending off an easy alien attack while waiting for a research project to get done.

    At times glitchy, the pacing is affected in both tactical and combat situations when short cut scenes play everytime your character misses or scores a critical    Overall: a good game but certain core mechanics stop it from being a great game. It is repetitive and in the late game it can become monotonous fending off an easy alien attack while waiting for a research project to get done.

    At times glitchy, the pacing is affected in both tactical and combat situations when short cut scenes play everytime your character misses or scores a critical hit. It's good for when you're in between games or want to do a casual tactical game. Otherwise, it doesn't present enough challenge, variety, or smooth gameplay flow to make it a strong, day in, day out game.    … Expand
  24. dj_cole
    Feb 19, 2015
    7
    Xcom enemy unknown is the newest addition in the Xcom series. While it remains a solid tactical squad based strategy game, it does not live up to the lofty presence of the original Xcom.

    The series, for those unfamiliar with it, is based on leading a secret covert operations group, known as Xcom, as it attempts to secretly defend earth from an alien invasion. The game does allude to all    Xcom enemy unknown is the newest addition in the Xcom series. While it remains a solid tactical squad based strategy game, it does not live up to the lofty presence of the original Xcom.

    The series, for those unfamiliar with it, is based on leading a secret covert operations group, known as Xcom, as it attempts to secretly defend earth from an alien invasion. The game does allude to all of this being top secret, which seems a bit ridiculous as you play through the game, but that doesn't really matter to the gameplay. You act as supreme commander of the Xcom project, managing and building up a base of operations, sending out satellites to detect alien presence, managing the happiness of funding countries, researching and leading squads of up to six soldiers into battle that can then be leveled up as they gain experience.

    The game, like any other game, has evolved with its modern iteration. It is a sharp, fun and responsive squad based strategy game that has streamlined a lot of the annoying micromanagement features of past games, but has also simplified things and put a cap on squad member leveling up. It is a more accessible, but simpler game than past generations. That is good for the casual player, new to the genre but a detractor to seasoned players who enjoy the complexity.

    The game, in the most basic sense, plays like this. You have a base that you expand with various modules that you can build into your secret mountain hideaway. As you research new technologies new modules open up for upgrades or more efficient research. You launch satellites to gain funding from the various nation groups across the globe and to spot alien incursions. When incursions happen you deploy a squad of soldiers into a tactical, squad based "seek cover and advance" type gameplay that dictates a methodical approach to combat. As missions are failed or ignored panic will rise. Victories reduce panic. There are a handful of main story missions for advancing the game that are unlocked by certain milestones in the game, but the vast majority of missions are procedurally generated battles with aliens. There are basic research items, but as you kill aliens and do autopsies, capture and interrogate aliens, or shoot down and capture alien ships more research items are unlocked to gain better weapon and armor and new gadgets.

    There are four basic classes. Assault, heavy (machine gunners), snipers and support (medics) which each have their own skill trees that you can utilize as they level up. All four classes are needed across the game to face different situations. Medics to stabilize downed squad members, snipers to provide cover, heavies to deal huge damage in short bursts and assault troops to act as front line combat soldiers.. Later in the game psionic abilities are added which add some more variety to your soldiers, but psionic abilities are rare and only have three tiers.

    The aliens you face are variations on a few base models, but the variations offer enough change that the game continually changes and evolves as you proceed. New challenges are thrown at you every few missions that force you to think more carefully about how you combat the alien menace.

    The game looks good. It won't blow anyone away. It has its own style, but nothing that really sticks out as uniquely distinct. The technical side of the graphics are good enough and slightly better than your run of the mill top down game. Sound effects are well done and add to the experience and the voice acting is well done with squad members reacting to the battle.

    The controls on the PC are very easy to work with. Consoles are also surprisingly good, though moving the cursor around with the joysticks can be slow. The iPad controls are cumbersome and you can end up moving soldiers to areas you don't mean to because you have to press an area twice to move there.

    If you like squad based strategy games you I would highly recommend Xcom, even in its simplified version. If you don't like strategy games I would say Xcom probably isn't for you. The game can be pretty brutal, and may frustrate you as your favorite squad members are killed. Overall, a good game for strategy fans that may fall a bit on the simple side for veterans of the genre.    … Expand
  25. praXis
    Feb 2, 2015
    6
    Constant crashing to desktop, a nonsensical save game order, uselessly fast and clunky mouse wheel scrolling, a WAY overcomplicated menu traversing process to obtain one simple piece of information, and occasionally glitchy camera spoil what is still a decently fun turn-based strategy game. Great quality models, animations, maps, music, and gameplay mashed together into somethingConstant crashing to desktop, a nonsensical save game order, uselessly fast and clunky mouse wheel scrolling, a WAY overcomplicated menu traversing process to obtain one simple piece of information, and occasionally glitchy camera spoil what is still a decently fun turn-based strategy game. Great quality models, animations, maps, music, and gameplay mashed together into something resembling a playable game by confused utter incompetents that obviously struggle with basic logic and the simplest fundamentals of interface design make scoring this game very challenging.
    The elements that are great are really impressive, but the stupidly bad elements are tooth-grindingly frustrating. Whoever supervised and approved the incredibly clunky HQ UI and obviously piss-poor coding that causes persistent grief throughout needs to be removed from the video game industry immediately and forever.    … Expand
  26. ratface
    Nov 21, 2014
    6
    It's an OK game. I guess it's the modern, console version of a great game. As such it's limited by the user interface and the attention span of its target market. Squad size is maxed out at six, and that feels difficult to manage with the 'click x to select next soldier', instead of clicking on his portrait. Research is very limited compared to the original. You are stuck with one baseIt's an OK game. I guess it's the modern, console version of a great game. As such it's limited by the user interface and the attention span of its target market. Squad size is maxed out at six, and that feels difficult to manage with the 'click x to select next soldier', instead of clicking on his portrait. Research is very limited compared to the original. You are stuck with one base and it does not get attacked.

    The tactical game is fun. Stances are gone and cover is much more important. Much better here than the likes of Aftershock. The balance is poor. On normal difficulty it's much too easy. On classic it's too hard.

    Not terrible but not great. Worth getting if it's on sale and you are bored.    … Expand
  27. sinadoom
    Nov 13, 2014
    6
    Having never played a turn-based game, I decided to take the plunge into XCOM after seeing so many positive reviews for it. At first, the experience was ecstatic. I clocked in over 20 hours' playtime in a weekend! I was expecting the gameplay to be very dull, not accessible and for all the base management to be confusing and overly complex. But I was wrong - this game couldn't be any moreHaving never played a turn-based game, I decided to take the plunge into XCOM after seeing so many positive reviews for it. At first, the experience was ecstatic. I clocked in over 20 hours' playtime in a weekend! I was expecting the gameplay to be very dull, not accessible and for all the base management to be confusing and overly complex. But I was wrong - this game couldn't be any more accessible and easy to get into. I loved the simplicity of the mechanics but the depth that it could present the player with. In terms of combat and variety in soldiers, aliens, customisation, level design etc. Enemy Unknown is fantastic. You will never play the same map twice, which is highly impressive - especially given the variety of areas. You really feel a sense of control and importance - the theme of being a commander during a time of crisis is portrayed nicely without being mundane. Every action, every turn, every decision feels meaningful. And that's perhaps the best thing one can say about this game. Later on however, you realise the flaws in its design.

    Now, I'm the kind of gamer that likes perfection - I will restart until I get the result I want. Naturally, this isn't well-suited to turn-based games. Although I highly enjoyed the concept of XCOM and its gameplay, some design decisions and bugs make the game unplayable without the so called "save-scumming" tactic. The most noticeable issue is that of finding the aliens. The fog of war is so thick, your soldiers have to practically walk within a few tiles of the enemy to see them. But this is the real kicker: THEY GET TO MOVE EVEN THOUGH IT'S NOT THEIR TURN! So many times I have been cheated by the game because I spent about 3 turns dashing forward not finding any enemies, and all of a sudden I move ONE TILE forward and a bunch of them appear out of nowhere and surround me DURING MY TURN! This is clearly unfair and really takes away from the tactical element. It's just plain cheap and bad design; although it's not game-breaking most of the time so I can cope with it. The second major issue I have is line of sight and chance to hit. I find that the percentage you see is almost compeltely random and counter-intuitive. So many times I have moved my soldier to a tactically better spot to increase my chances of hitting the enemy, only to lose sight of them or to lower my chances. Whoever did the calculations for hit percents clearly didn't test it in practice - there are so many ridiculous examples where you're next to the enemy and miss yet can have a high chance of hitting them from obscure angles and, in rare cases, through walls! Having played fast-paced action games for so long, the idea of turn-based combat did seem ridiculously novel at times. I mean, you can target an enemy that's directly behind another enemy but not hit the one shielding your target. The visual representation of the combat is horrific at best. Oftentimes, the games will show plasma on your character even if the alien missed you but it shows that it hit, and vice-versa. It's as if the graphics/UI team had no communication with the gameplay designers and those that code the mechanics. The camera issues in this game are inexcsuable. Especially for levels with verticality and those inside buildings, the isometric design really exposes how bad of a job the developers did of using Unreal Engine 3. First of all, framerate drops. Then, when you try to select your units or point to where you want them to go, it keeps moving about or there is so little consistency between what you see on screen and what's actually going on. It's kinda hard to describe, but once you play the game you'll see plenty of minor bugs and the occasional major one (e.g. my Hover SHIV got stuck in a wall and couldn't move). I have read reports of corrupted saves and problems with the autosave feature too.

    Although XCOM is an unpredictable game, it is still linear in progression. It also has some scaling issues with the campaign; where you get all the awesome gear and have a kick-♥♥♥ base with the best weapons, jets, armour, research etc. only to be able to use them for a couple of missions before the end. In the latter half of the game, I had full satellite coverage and was drowning in money I might as well have wasted it. In early game, resource management feels really important and meaningful. Towards the end, you just sit on your wealth and can't really use your resources to help you further in combat. Although I think that's my playstyle. Indeed, XCOM is perhaps the best attempt I have encountered when it comes to balancing progression rewards with length of game.

    Overall, XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a game which convincingly sells the concept of Turn-Based strategy to those unfamiliar with the genre. However, the quality of its in-engine execution is shody and at the micro-mechanical level, it's almost broken. In terms of design and its vision, XCOM EU is ingenius. It definitely has replay value.    … Expand
  28. iunewind
    Sep 22, 2014
    5
    Ita amazing - this piece of s... still playable and even not bad in spite of, ALL good what was in original X-com was failed, ruined or remaked in absolutly stupid way. My english too poor to describe all, but i try:
    - two-turn stupid system for stupid kids, i wonder
    - no aiming - no inventory - no casulty shots (you can shoot ONLY your target or you miss even if target stay in huge    Ita amazing - this piece of s... still playable and even not bad in spite of, ALL good what was in original X-com was failed, ruined or remaked in absolutly stupid way. My english too poor to describe all, but i try:
    - two-turn stupid system for stupid kids, i wonder
    - no aiming
    - no inventory
    - no casulty shots (you can shoot ONLY your target or you miss even if target stay in huge crowd and you soot from mashinegun)
    - ruined economic. All prices very funny. And stupid (like all other in game)
    - no more strategy, only one base and stupid "sattelite" instead another base
    - terror missons always theree and you alweys fail two. No, no more two or how you like ships for closing all mission.
    - "timer" mission its something from hell. Im cant remeber anything so idiotic and so not fitted ot plot like this.
    - hm,... "plot"... yes, its make you facepalm again and again
    - even video search report failed. Original 200x300pix ufopedia pages was much better. Im dont know, how firexis make this but its true.
    - and many more, i suppose, i just lazy to start game again for remember all of this.    … Expand
  29. mthrl
    Aug 17, 2014
    5
    Could have been a really enjoyable game if it wasn't for the many game-breaking bugs that make it just plain annoying. I'm on one of the last missions in the game and yet every time I go back to try and complete it I get a bug where I'm stuck in the middle of my turn and can't do anything. It's been ages since the game's release and yet there is still no fix for the issue.
  30. metamoth
    Jul 11, 2014
    5
    This is a review of the base game with all DLC except Enemy Within.

    XCOm is a very polished but ultimately after about the first 100 hours I was bored with it. The challenge and excitement is all in the beginning but once my research and engineering catches up and my soldiers become strong enough to become a match for the aliens the missions start to become a chore to play and I just    This is a review of the base game with all DLC except Enemy Within.

    XCOm is a very polished but ultimately after about the first 100 hours I was bored with it. The challenge and excitement is all in the beginning but once my research and engineering catches up and my soldiers become strong enough to become a match for the aliens the missions start to become a chore to play and I just can't be bothered to finish the rest of it. The original XCOM UFO Defence managed to keep me hooked all the way to the end because of its randomness, variety and customisability. All these attributes are sorely lacking in this version of XCOM.    … Expand
  31. Gixian82
    Jun 22, 2014
    6
    While nice looking and shiny on the first look and obviously fun for a lot of today's players, for anyone who grew on the old 1994, the new one is flat, shallow, repetitive and soon boring. I know the old game was not perfect, and a lot of micromanagement there was unnecessary, but still the remake is far too simplified and streamlined. While it looks like a strategy game, beside theWhile nice looking and shiny on the first look and obviously fun for a lot of today's players, for anyone who grew on the old 1994, the new one is flat, shallow, repetitive and soon boring. I know the old game was not perfect, and a lot of micromanagement there was unnecessary, but still the remake is far too simplified and streamlined. While it looks like a strategy game, beside the tactical combat (which may or may not suite you), there is no strategy involved in the game at all, as outside the tactical missions the game is fully scripted and ignores how good or bad you do. Anyone looking for a true XCOM game have much better choices around than this one.… Expand
  32. X-Abrupto
    May 7, 2014
    7
    This game totally went under my radar until recently. I played the original XCOM game back in the mid-90's and I kept seeing people talking about this game called XCOM: Enemy Unknown, not realizing they actually remade it a couple of years ago. As soon as I figured it out, I went and got it.

    I don't think there are comparisons to be made with the original XCOM/UFO Enemy Unknown game    This game totally went under my radar until recently. I played the original XCOM game back in the mid-90's and I kept seeing people talking about this game called XCOM: Enemy Unknown, not realizing they actually remade it a couple of years ago. As soon as I figured it out, I went and got it.

    I don't think there are comparisons to be made with the original XCOM/UFO Enemy Unknown game despite the various similarities.

    This game has two major flaws.

    The first one is that it doesn't look good. Its uninspired main screen menu tells you it doesn't aim to be visually beautiful. It's not a big budget game with mindblowing graphics. I even wonder why they didn't chose to do cinematics with real actors instead of poorly animated computerd generated characters. Live acting would've reduced the cost ( it's a 2 days work, really ) and it would've made the game look better overall. But that's a personal opinion, of course.

    The second flaw, and probably the most important one, is that this game is unforgiving and brutal. It's not a Ninja Gaiden Black or Dark Souls type of challenge that forces you to sharpen your skills by practicing - and ultimately defeating the game with a feeling of accomplishment. This XCOM game is just ruthless and you can't do a thing about it. There's only a tiny difference of difficulty between easy and normal, and the normal mode is very, very hard. The game doesn't tell you what to do to augment your chances of winning, especially concerning everything surrounding the base management. It won't tell you how to make profits and how to augment your chances of victory. There's a lot of stuff you get to learn by yourself at the cost of tens and tens of hours of gaming filed with what I'd call gamer rape. You are most likely to restart your game once or twice. By the third time you play, you probably will master most of the elements of the game, but it's still very hard to beat.

    The combat mode is probably the best part of the game. Those who like military strategy will fall in love with this game. It's the strategic aspect of the game that kept me from giving up on it after realizing I had to invest on satellites when it was way too late. The combat mode can be very gratifying if you come up with strategies as you fight your enemies. If you send your squad to random spots without thinking of the consequences, you're most likely to get a severe beating at the hands of a formidable AI that could reduce Garry Kasparov to tears.

    But then again, the difficulty of the game catches up and you'll find yourself in terrible situations more than once. Your soldiers will die and you will fail some missions unless you save and load repeatedly. The AI isn't to blame here, because if you have a smart AI, why make it dumb to alleviate the difficulty? All they had to do was to reduce their hit points and reduce the damage they could deal to you to make the game easier. But it seems the people who made this game really wanted to make it almost impossible to play for an average gamer who can't spend days playing a single video game before he actually manages to understand the mechanics of the said game.

    Many so-called hardcore gamers will tell you this game is just like the old school games and that it was made difficult willingly. Sorry, but I don't agree. The good ol' hard games were hard because they were poorly designed and had close to no beta testing whatsoever. Battletoads, Friday the 13th, etc. etc. they were hard games because the people who made them had no idea on how to reduce the difficulty - or they simply didn't care. There's hard and then there's hell-worthy hard. This game falls in the second category.

    There's also something that bugs me in the combat mode. Sometimes I put my soldiers in specific areas, thinking they will get a higher accuracy percentage, but it turns out they don't. I think this game required a little more tweaking here and there concerning this department.

    Scenario-wise, it's very boring. They missed the opportunity of hiring a good writer who could've come up with a respectable story. Instead, we get dialogues worthy of a 10 year old boy playing with action figures.

    The music is pretty good in this game. It's highly reminiscent of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, but it still holds its own. There are some good tunes in this game.

    Ultimately, this game is still amazing despite the harsh criticism I have on it concerning the difficulty. You end up getting the upper hand of it, but it takes so much time ( definitely 20hours+ required to know what you're doing ). I mean, we either go to school or have jobs. Sorry to put it this way but let's be honest here. This game will only be loved uncondtionally by people who don't have a life. Normal people who play video games a couple of hours once in a while will quickly give up on it. I think that commercially speaking, this game is a failure since it only appeals to a very tiny portion of gamers out there.    … Expand
  33. Hall7718
    Feb 21, 2014
    5
    Purchased this game in a Steam sale and spent about 6 hours playing it. The mechanics started feeling repetitive and unoriginal after the first 4-5 missions. Game mechanics are in every game, but for some reason this game kept reminding me that it was a game... not an action packed experience. Before others say I'm not cut out for turn based games... I've got hundreds of hours playingPurchased this game in a Steam sale and spent about 6 hours playing it. The mechanics started feeling repetitive and unoriginal after the first 4-5 missions. Game mechanics are in every game, but for some reason this game kept reminding me that it was a game... not an action packed experience. Before others say I'm not cut out for turn based games... I've got hundreds of hours playing Civilization V. XCOM wasn't the game for me.… Expand
  34. bocephvs
    Jan 7, 2014
    6
    Three words..... frustration, frustration, frustration..... going to have to go to easy mode to see if I can just enjoy this after a long day at work or if it still wants me to delete the game from my steam account and chalk up the time spent as lost time and find something else. For the masochist, have at it. I'll gift you my copy, you'll have to provide your own Tums. For thoseThree words..... frustration, frustration, frustration..... going to have to go to easy mode to see if I can just enjoy this after a long day at work or if it still wants me to delete the game from my steam account and chalk up the time spent as lost time and find something else. For the masochist, have at it. I'll gift you my copy, you'll have to provide your own Tums. For those looking for a relaxing but fairly challenging game, stay with the last version of XCOM.… Expand
  35. Roeratt
    Dec 29, 2013
    5
    I never played the originals, so I was able to go into this game with no expectations. It could have been solid and entertaining, and was to a point, but it was crippled by RNG. Never apply RNG to accuracy in games. Never do it.
  36. Thunderstorm
    Dec 3, 2013
    5
    Decent game, nothing special. The conceptually broken auto-save ruined the game for me after a day. Didn't feel like starting over or with all my main goons dead.
  37. suneater
    Nov 30, 2013
    5
    People who bash Dark Souls for its "Artificial Difficulty" haven't played Enemy Unknown. This game takes a well known PC series and consolifies it, dumbing down the base building to a single base, dumbing down the soldier customization into locked equipment slots with a shallow skill tree, and dumbing down the combat into praying you don't get flanked by enemies who get free turns and statPeople who bash Dark Souls for its "Artificial Difficulty" haven't played Enemy Unknown. This game takes a well known PC series and consolifies it, dumbing down the base building to a single base, dumbing down the soldier customization into locked equipment slots with a shallow skill tree, and dumbing down the combat into praying you don't get flanked by enemies who get free turns and stat bonuses. On Normal difficulty the game is too easy, with enemy AI being dumbed down... yet on Classic difficulty they get free accuracy and critical hit buffs. Ironman Mode is unplayable because one year after launch and there are still frequent bugs and crashes that will count your mission as a loss after you restart the game.

    While you definitely get your money's worth with EU's lengthy campaign, be prepared for a lot of frustration due to your troops getting one-shotted regularly in the early missions, 3 marines missing their overwatch shot in the same turn on the same enemy, your troops shooting each other while panicked (in cover!), and not being able to hit the broad side of a barn until your unit is so kitted out they look like a Space Marine from W40k.    … Expand
  38. IonDissonanc357
    Nov 20, 2013
    7
    Fun game but not worth the $40 i spent on it. I'd say you get around $20 worth of fun out of it. The line of sight is unpredictable and shooting down ufos is extremely boring and might as well not even be a part of the game. Maybe it's just my computer but the voice overs simply don't work.
  39. faceless-1
    Nov 18, 2013
    7
    This game is not bad, but original X-COM was better. No base battles, space ships got simplified (only sky ranger), no and team you waaay smaller. The good idea was soldier classes, but sniper class is way overpowered in compare to others. Still XCOM: Enemy Unknown is solid game and good tribute to original X-COM.
  40. demongoat
    Oct 27, 2013
    6
    tl;dr good game built on bad foundations, possibly wrong devs lots of bugs, heavily simplified, base game mechanics broken, but still a lot of fun

    XCOM is a series known for its difficulty, encouraging players to use tactics to defeat a considerably more powerful force. Though it's had some 'rocky' games in the past, the original was met with critical acclaim for breaking a lot of    tl;dr good game built on bad foundations, possibly wrong devs lots of bugs, heavily simplified, base game mechanics broken, but still a lot of fun

    XCOM is a series known for its difficulty, encouraging players to use tactics to defeat a considerably more powerful force. Though it's had some 'rocky' games in the past, the original was met with critical acclaim for breaking a lot of ground in the Turn-Based Tactics genre. For its time, UFO Defense: Enemy Unknown was very well developed, with cover mechanics bringing a whole new level of tactics.

    Since the release of UFO Defense, there have been a total of 9 games released to the series, with XCOM: Enemy Unknown being the 8th. One would think it safe to assume that great strides have been made to the gameplay since 1994, a grand 18 years ago at time of release. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

    XCOM: EU's improvements are decent updated graphics bring the immersion up noticeably, nice customization options to personalize your troops plus gameplay has been streamlined to accommodate for console releases.
    However, the issues are also numerous. Poor QA testing has left many bugs even a year after its release, a large number of features were removed for 'streamlining' (I assume), and the continuation of relying on RNG to decide the outcome of a match flying in the face of 'tactics'. Cover has little effectiveness, accuracy issues meaning a point-blank shot can display a 20% chance to hit, repetitive mission mean a player can lose interest quickly and a lack of randomly-generated maps removes a whole level of dynamic gameplay.

    What is interesting is that, despite these glaring issues, XCOM: EU is still a lot of fun to play. For that I have to give it merit it's clearly a very good game, but I wonder how much that has to do with it being part of the series.

    On my Realistic Review Scale it gets a 4, slightly below being an average game due to some glaring faults.
    However, on the Metacritic Scale where an 8.5 is average, I'll have to give it a 6.

    A very good game marred by poor design decisions and QA but isn't that the tune of strategy these days?    … Expand
  41. Afroman22
    Oct 23, 2013
    7
    X-Com Enemy Unknown is a wonderful turn based Real Time Strategy. It's got great options for your units you are controlling and has great ways to really make each battle a little more exciting.

    What's Here: X-Com as I said before is an RTS turn based. Planning and careful consideration of each move must be taken into place here or you could wind up dead. Aliens are coming to take over    X-Com Enemy Unknown is a wonderful turn based Real Time Strategy. It's got great options for your units you are controlling and has great ways to really make each battle a little more exciting.

    What's Here: X-Com as I said before is an RTS turn based. Planning and careful consideration of each move must be taken into place here or you could wind up dead. Aliens are coming to take over our planet and it's up to us to stop them learning from their technology to better equip ourselves to be better at the fight. Story is generic and boring so it's really just the gameplay that's keeping you here.

    Gameplay: It's turn based and it's hard to explain all the options there without it being long winded. Pretty much you can either decide to move twice move then shoot shoot right at the start take cover and so on. It makes you try to think things out and move cautiously because if you charge forward right away you can run into enemies and they can gun you down easily. You need to take cover consider your gear and consider your surroundings. You also need to consider what class to bring along with you to make sure you have a functional squad. It's really different and hard to take in for new people to RTS at first but everyone should be more than capable to learn what's going on. In the story you have to fight airships sometimes... but it's not really fighting it's just... watching wires duke it out. Which is dull and boring.

    Visuals: While they are not exactly eye popping they do have their plus sides to details on weapons on the characters in game. You can see the glow each marking and all kinds of stuff. The armors are well designed that's for sure. The alien designs too were truly outstanding. Each one was unique and full of color and life and some even scared the crap outta me when they popped up on my screen behind me. This was really well done. As for the maps it was ok. I mean they weren't eye popping but what really got me was how destructive everything was around it. The more you and the aliens fight the more torn up the map becomes. That really got me there.

    Sound: Music replays over and over again. I turned it off and started playing my own music. Gun noises well there is only 3 variety of guns regular, laser and, plasma and there is a sniper, assault rifle, shotguns, machine guns, and rocket launchers. They were good but it didn't really stand out for me So... not much there either. Voice acting was just a snooze fest.

    Controls: Well it's not hard it just takes time to learn but you get use to it fast. It even controlled with a gamepad but it is for PS3 and Xbox so I assumed nothing less if it's on those.

    Recommendation: This game is a 7/10 in my book due to the lacking music and sounds and the more detailed visuals as well as lacking story. Overall though the gameplay and dynamic field really help save it where it lacks in that makes this game a higher score then what I would have given it without seeing those things. While this game has it's flaws it's worth taking a look at if you are an RTS fan or just want to get into RTS.    … Expand
  42. Shadowbane
    Oct 22, 2013
    7
    Having played XCOM in the past I wasn't sure how this game would turn out. I read a lot of reviews saying the dumbed it down and it wasn't a true XCOM. I can see where they are coming from, but truthfully I really enjoyed this game in it's own right. I wanted more weapons, armor, and item, and was a bit disappointed by perma nades and medpacks, but I got over it. I enjoyed the grafx, musicHaving played XCOM in the past I wasn't sure how this game would turn out. I read a lot of reviews saying the dumbed it down and it wasn't a true XCOM. I can see where they are coming from, but truthfully I really enjoyed this game in it's own right. I wanted more weapons, armor, and item, and was a bit disappointed by perma nades and medpacks, but I got over it. I enjoyed the grafx, music and updates to the game. What really makes it shine is the well designed combat system that for the most part stays true to XCOM. Sadly they did not put in a random number generator and shots will always turn out the same no matter how many times you save and reload a battle. I would have also likes to see multiple bases in the world and the ability to dispatch more than one mission at a time if you had the forces and equipment. 7.5/10… Expand
  43. Outlier
    Oct 11, 2013
    5
    Summary: a fun (aggravating), addictive tactical game with a lot of surprises, but half-baked. The half-baked stuff: your squad will take missions all over the world from Africa to Russia, yet every map has English street signs and pretty much looks the same. Be prepared for cover and line of sight to be utterly meaningless and for enemies to drop out of the sky in your flank and in theSummary: a fun (aggravating), addictive tactical game with a lot of surprises, but half-baked. The half-baked stuff: your squad will take missions all over the world from Africa to Russia, yet every map has English street signs and pretty much looks the same. Be prepared for cover and line of sight to be utterly meaningless and for enemies to drop out of the sky in your flank and in the rear. Might as well have the hand of God come out of the sky and squish a squad member. Enemies will fire through solid objects and even whole buildings to make a mile-long shot against an soldier they have had no contact with and crit. Buggy in a "QA missed that" sort of way: ex: the interface for training psy soldiers has three slots, but will only take two. I beat this thing, but I won't say it was a fun experience-more of a trial by fire with a lot of loaded saves.

    I really enjoyed the fact that each individual squad member can be customized with a full on char gen, so that when they are slaughtered you know them by name and can scream "Not Crawford!!!"

    There is a vertical dimension to the game, with lots of rooftop climbing and flying, but I found the interface difficult to use for vertical movement, you never really know if you can scale a wall until you rush it and get stuck at the base pounding on the grapple button.

    The 'flight' mini-game is really just plain dumb. Now if we had some control over the interceptors, that would be something. Otherwise it's just a little cutscene where we find out how much you have spent on your air coverage.

    Base building is the usual tree-type thing, I found this aspect of the game pretty easy to beat.

    I had fun, but I'm looking for a tactical game where there are some understandable and logical rules that both sides play by. The whole 'aliens dropping out of the sky" thing soured me on this game, as did the line of sight and cover issues. There's nothing like losing a squaddie who was about to make Colonel near the end of a mission when he is swatted by the AI. That's just aggravating. A "C" game.    … Expand
  44. Truthserum
    Oct 7, 2013
    6
    This is my first review, and i'm going to promise all, when you see my tag, it'll likely be the only honest and critical review of a game around. I'm so tired of these fanboy responses, or hater responses.

    Anyway, here's the nuts of it. The new Xcom game is great in many areas (you'll read many of them in these lists: gfx, ambiance, sound, music, art, troop management, resource    This is my first review, and i'm going to promise all, when you see my tag, it'll likely be the only honest and critical review of a game around. I'm so tired of these fanboy responses, or hater responses.

    Anyway, here's the nuts of it. The new Xcom game is great in many areas (you'll read many of them in these lists: gfx, ambiance, sound, music, art, troop management, resource management, alien threat management, country management, etc all real nice). And it deserves play and praise (still overpriced tho, but all games are when they just come out :)

    Yes, it is a somewhat less depthful than the original (everyone who tells you "no it isn't" is a newbie fanboy who lacks objectivity. I promise). But its not so bad, as this new game brings a lot to the table, plus one its key "depth" failures is actually linked to its awful "enemy spawn gameplay design" which i'll detail next (and maybe its something they could improve on)

    Its "enemy gameplay spawn design" is awful because, essentially it works like an MMO grind. The enemies hang about in "spawns" of 3. Some "spawns" travel short patrol circuits which might cross paths without another spawn. Basically you inch forward, hook the "first spawn" in your way (which ALWAYS consists of 3). then pull back (so you don't trigger any other "spawns"). You kill them, then rinse and repeat. Sometimes a patrolling spawn maybe crosses the battle ground if you did not pull back enough and you might face upto 6 enemies, but this is rare. You also sortof HAVE to do this since the fights are pretty tough, and the percentages weirdly and repeatedly defy what they promise?

    After you realise this what the combat is about, after a couple of missions, it gets boring. Kill 3. move up a bit. kill next 3, move up a bit, etc. During a fire-fight sure some fun stuff can happen, but its always your squad versus 3 (or sometimes 6) enemies and you know more or less where they are. I can't give this game more than a 6 as a result, since the "on ground" conflict is key to the game. And as polished as the visuals are, it can't make up for the flaw of a poorly designed encounter mechanic.

    The original had a better, more natural, encounter system. The enemies patrolled around the map, sometimes near each other, sometimes not, all random i guess, following whatever script was written for them. You had to fan out to find them (a motion detector kit was there to help you) and you NEVER knew when you'd run into them. you'd get surprised, A LOT, cover was vital, but it could get blown away (fun), and you never knew when more aliens would pitch up (attracted by the noise or whatever script dictated them). So you developed strategies to deal with that. More work than this new version of the game sure, but never boring. never predictable.

    I like the newly released Xcom expansion, it certainly looks to add more cool features, etc, I just wish they'd modify the "enemy spawn system" to make the enemies more autonomous and surprising.

    Good Gaming all.    … Expand
  45. Spgsamuel
    Oct 7, 2013
    5
    at first i played it and it really sucked. its not x-com or aftershock or aftermath,

    once i came to terms with this i gave it a fair go, none expectationally like before. I started to have a really good time, soldier development is great. i really wanted them to live and they get really cool nicknames depending on their heroic encounters, kinda awesome. its full of awesomeness really.    at first i played it and it really sucked. its not x-com or aftershock or aftermath,

    once i came to terms with this i gave it a fair go, none expectationally like before. I started to have a really good time, soldier development is great. i really wanted them to live and they get really cool nicknames depending on their heroic encounters, kinda awesome. its full of awesomeness really.

    i did not notice the 'sucky AI' i never get gamers who demand perfection, like xcom had perfect AI it was easy to outsmart a grey with bug exploits etctec. its a freakin game you guys need to learn to use you imagination a little. i mean in a movie when captain fantastic goes all rubbery and wraps around dr doom you say wow that is so unrealistic that would never happen in real life, no you use a thing called initiative and try to accept that while a movie it has limitations and they rest is your problem.

    anyway like i said it was good. for mabey six hours... then i chuffing finished it.

    Ill never play it again theres nothing there... tooo play. i wish i hadnt bought it its kinda like a waste of time, dont get me wrong its good and fun when you commit. but them its over, poooof no replay value its more like a piece of junk, not xcom, good, but shorter than a fat guys appendage.

    Disapointing.    … Expand
  46. da040926
    Sep 24, 2013
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I spent a lot of happy time with XCOM:EU but truth is, most of it was due to learning how to mod the game without any modding support from the developer.
    This is one of those games you enjoy despite being annoyed by so many bugs or simply things which could have been done so better.
    I played all my games on Ironman being unable to reload wrong decisions or even bad luck situations created great suspension and emotional involvement for me. I recommend trying it for everyone as in my opinion it itself adds 1-2 point to my score.

    I would give it 6 for vanilla game, 8 with existing mods, so I make it 7.

    - absence of modding Support despite early promises
    This is really sad potential for modding improvements, tweaking and fixes is huge!

    - friendly panic fire is way over the board
    While a great idea, their implementation is terrible. The only thing deciding if you can beat high difficulties is if you can survive massive friendly fire during early missions.

    - research unbalanced
    Since one third (maybe one half) of the game, my scientists were just playing games 90% of time (and I even had no research lab built)

    - base management trivial and boring
    I never found reason to build expensive advanced buildings as basic ones were much cheaper and did the trick just as well and I never had issue with lack of space.

    - clumsy UI shameless and poorly done console port
    Equipping soldiers before mission disturbingly annoying as there was no un-equip all function and you need to select specific soldier, check his current equipment and change it one by one.

    - itemization trivial
    No need to think here as lasers are clear upgrade over default weaponry in all parameters and plasma is clear upgrade over lasers. Situation with armors is a little better as there are some choices to be made.

    - bag restriction to a single item
    Highly annoying artificial cover for bad game design instead of design proper balance for items, cost, power and consequences, they rather force us to use only single thing. Yes, I understand it is much easier for them but it is also dumbing the game down and if you look around reviews, it is highly resented.    … Expand
  47. GolovA
    Aug 21, 2013
    7
    It is probably wise to formulate an opinion about a game after all the hype is gone, and mind is more or less free of enhanced commercialism and subjectively stereotypical advertisement which are hypocritically aimed at a “specific consumer group”. With this in mind, let me jump to my opinion of the game “XCOM Enemy Unknown”.
    THE BAD:
    1. I am playing Patch 3, and the game is very buggy    It is probably wise to formulate an opinion about a game after all the hype is gone, and mind is more or less free of enhanced commercialism and subjectively stereotypical advertisement which are hypocritically aimed at a “specific consumer group”. With this in mind, let me jump to my opinion of the game “XCOM Enemy Unknown”.
    THE BAD:
    1. I am playing Patch 3, and the game is very buggy still: sometimes the cinematic slow-motion slows down to such a crawling speed that a restart of the game is required (forced task end); when I change the Race of a soldier, the Hair style inevitably changes as well, and in a few clicks choses a Helmet, so the face of the soldier is not visible; when a Sniper is using a grappling hook, she can jump to unreachable places (going through the ceiling of the UFO, for example) and gets stock there; after reviving a critically wound soldier, my soldiers are unable to move (happens rarely, but still). I could go on listing minor bugs that plague this game, which at this point should really be a polished joy ride.
    2. The game is not polished (as stated above), and its sharp corners keep poking you while you are trying to dive into its atmosphere: the explanations of items (weapons, armor, vehicles, etc.) are very vague some of them being actually incorrect at all (for an example refer to Arc Weapon on XCOM WiKi); when selling items on Grey Market, you cannot input numbers and need to click (however many times) on the arrow, selling items one-by-one, which is a major turn down when you have 700 Elirium, and want to sell 300 (the math in clicks is obvious); when a Soldier levels up, his uniform color changes, resetting to some default; there is no random generator really (but mods do fix this nuance) which might or might not be a problem, but when you perform an action, and later Load a saved game that action will always-always-always yield the same result, even when approached with different strategy (so let’s say you want to capture an alien, and your Arc weapon misses if you Load a saved game, and try it with a different soldier, or both soldiers you will NOT subdue the Alien, because AI has decided that the Alien will not be paralyzed in this game); again, I can go on, but the point remains this is far from a polished game.
    3. Atmosphere and Mood of the XCOM Series: the atmosphere borders between a Serious Strategy and a Childish Hentai, and accomplished none in the end. Seems the game was designed in order to cover the widest playing group possible, and thus lacks essence, dedication, and a focused approached aimed at the unique quality of this series. There is no haunting mood, feeling of constant danger and glooming doom, smell of secret societies, spreading panic, mystery, and so on there is also an xBox-style button-presser, with soldiers in Pink Uniforms, cut scenes with energetic Anime aliens (Rated for Every one), and bulky, shapeless weapons. The game tries to make everyone happy (as, unfortunately, is the case with most titles today) and comes out a mediocre stereotypical improved clone of its own glorious original of the past.
    4. Random Soldier specialization: yeah. I think I know where the designers are coming from with this but I wish I could turn that feature off.
    THE GOOD:
    1. Strategy and Tactics: are ok but very predictable and repetitive. The strategic overview of the Base and Earth is nicely executed, and all decisions are somewhat balanced. I say somewhat because that is what they are (remember unpolished?), but with some Mods the game becomes a very well thought-through strategy. Tactics are also improved with mods, but I like them as they are: you move your squad (of up to 6 people) in a turned-based combat, shooting or capturing aliens, saving civilians, destroying trees! Special abilities of soldiers make the approach of each unit and the team overall pretty unique to your playing style.
    2. A very nice game to play still. Don’t get me wrong there a good sides and bad sides, and this game is a good game, but definitely not a 9/10 as I see everywhere. Fun to play, fun to research, fun to make money, sad to lose good soldiers (even though random specialists they were!). Fun mediocre gam which lacks atmosphere.
    3. MODABLE! And that is very important: there are many good mods to XCOM Enemy Unknown, which improve it, rebalance it, and make it even prettier.
    OVERALL: Good game. 7/10. Wish it was not aimed at the AVERAGE GROUP but at the dedicated XCOM Gamers and people who respect a good tactical turn-based and appreciate the depth of UFO conspiracies.    … Expand
  48. Waclaw
    Aug 1, 2013
    7
    To make the story as short as possible: this game could have been great, but came out average. You get the impression that the game has been downsized in terms of complexity to fit as many people as you possibly can. So the agents modifications in terms of equipment is a laugh now, vehicle modifications are almost non existant, the amount of structures you can build in your base is aTo make the story as short as possible: this game could have been great, but came out average. You get the impression that the game has been downsized in terms of complexity to fit as many people as you possibly can. So the agents modifications in terms of equipment is a laugh now, vehicle modifications are almost non existant, the amount of structures you can build in your base is a shadow of what we saw in prevoius X-Coms, even the number of aliens ingame is reduced... Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad game and I do admit I enjoyed it, but it's still not what we were told we'd get and notr what was expected. Plus you have the feeling that the game overlay was made for touchscreen apps and the PC version is just a poor pott. I don't really understand why the game receives such high scores a decent piece of work, but nothing brilliant for both veterans of X-Coms and newcomers. 7/10 from me.… Expand
  49. AgentPothead
    Jul 28, 2013
    6
    The best xcom game you will get. Doesn't mean it's good, doesn't mean it's not consolized to high hell, doesn't mean the developers actually can do math and know what 93% chance to hit actually means. Honestly I'd rather play UFO: Extraterrestrials.
  50. Cailore
    Jul 17, 2013
    6
    It's not XCom, but it's pretty fun in its own right.

    Too dumbed down to live up to its potential and I still cringe every time the characters grab the carrying handle to fire the LMG. And don't get me started on the "international" team voice actors who all sound like the come from the same two block radius somewhere in middle America. Really, so many things in this game could have    It's not XCom, but it's pretty fun in its own right.

    Too dumbed down to live up to its potential and I still cringe every time the characters grab the carrying handle to fire the LMG. And don't get me started on the "international" team voice actors who all sound like the come from the same two block radius somewhere in middle America. Really, so many things in this game could have been better with just a little bit of thought or effort if only the developer gave a damn.    … Expand
  51. ultravincent
    Jul 9, 2013
    7
    It is a good game, with good structure and mechanics.
    The biggest issue: the level designers were LAZY.
    The levels start looking similar and being repetitive pretty soon. Too bad, it could have been a 9 game with decent storyline and creative levels. Hopefully that'll happen in an expansion.
  52. Turk
    Jul 1, 2013
    6
    This game is what Duplo is to the Lego brand. Simple, simplistic and lacking almost any depth beyond choosing A, B or C. That it did so well despite all its manifest shortcomings shows just how very hungry the market is for games like these that we will devour this half-baked swill like caviar. That being said, there are moments of fun to be had.

    It was also very, very buggy on    This game is what Duplo is to the Lego brand. Simple, simplistic and lacking almost any depth beyond choosing A, B or C. That it did so well despite all its manifest shortcomings shows just how very hungry the market is for games like these that we will devour this half-baked swill like caviar. That being said, there are moments of fun to be had.

    It was also very, very buggy on release and I've not seen much in the way of improvement. God bless Firaxis for having what passes as innovation in this market but they have the development skill of an indie studio.    … Expand
  53. SoManyGoblins
    Jun 20, 2013
    5
    Too dumbed down for my taste. I'm an X-Com fan, but not a hardcore one, I'm not one of those guys who're still replaying the game every other weekend after some 20ish years, I'm just an average (more or less) gamer, and this felt like a seriously watered down version of a strategy game. It's not bad, but it's not good either, just average at most. The UI is a joke, clearly designed forToo dumbed down for my taste. I'm an X-Com fan, but not a hardcore one, I'm not one of those guys who're still replaying the game every other weekend after some 20ish years, I'm just an average (more or less) gamer, and this felt like a seriously watered down version of a strategy game. It's not bad, but it's not good either, just average at most. The UI is a joke, clearly designed for consoles. The battlescape is clearly designed for consoles, there is no free aiming, everything is constrained so the game works ok on a gamepad, in fact, now that I think about it, having used a mouse made everything so much cumbersome! Going through menuses, selecting soldiers abilities on battle, everything was tedious thanks to using a mouse. This is not a bad strategy game, it's just a lousy PC strategy game. Oh, and the plot sucks big time and boring.… Expand
  54. xephnid
    Jun 10, 2013
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is a great game. It really is. But there are a few caveats you should consider before buying it.

    Most importantly: You *will* have to helplessly watch some of the soldiers you lovingly named, outfitted and leveled die. And it's even more likely you will watch innocent civilians die on your watch. The latter are nameless and you may not find yourself caring about them as much, but still...

    Another thing I found... unusual... is that the developers did their utmost to make gaming the outcome of random rolls impossible. All shots fired are based on pre-rolled seeds, so quick-loading wouldn't change the outcome. If there was quick-loading. But there isn't. There's quick-saving, yes, but there's no quick-loading. You will have to go to the menu to load a game. And the menu isn't available while there's alien activity or a cut-scene. And did I mention that higher difficulties cause the game to continuously save every little thing, so loading a save won't revert to an earlier state anyway? That's even more... um... unusual. The developers said they wanted players to commit to their actions. I say it discourages experimentation. You cannot simply try things out, because it may cost you soldiers.

    Speaking of cut-scenes: Every time a group of aliens spots you, there's a cut-scene. Every time one of your base team members makes a remark, there's a cut-scene. Every time your troops leave the base or return to it, there's a cut-scene. And so on. While all of these cut-scenes are short, they will most definitely become aggravating over time and reduce the fun of a second play-through.

    I would have given this game a rating of nine, because I enjoyed it an awful lot, but the reduced replay value made me subtract a point. The number of paid shills on this board cost it another. I've read quite a few of those ten reviews and they all smell funny. That kind of behaviour mustn't be rewarded.    … Expand
  55. LoneDutyer
    Jun 9, 2013
    5
    Enjoyable experience and a solid purchase, but felt just a TAD too casualised to really be 'X-Com' to me. Late to the party, just logged onto MC for the first time in ages and thought I'd go through some of my purchases for posterity's sake.

    TACTICAL +Feels frantic and tense, at least in the early-mid game before your dudes get bulk health. +Looks nice. A good visual update to the    Enjoyable experience and a solid purchase, but felt just a TAD too casualised to really be 'X-Com' to me. Late to the party, just logged onto MC for the first time in ages and thought I'd go through some of my purchases for posterity's sake.

    TACTICAL
    +Feels frantic and tense, at least in the early-mid game before your dudes get bulk health.
    +Looks nice. A good visual update to the series.
    +Options you didn't have in the original, like suppressing enemy units and flanking. In some respects combat more tactical.
    -Heavy class becomes more or less useless except for suppression and rocket-launcher by the mid-late game.
    -Squads felt too small and made losing a unit even more crippling than the original.
    -Inventory dumbed down ridiculously: Why can't my soldier in powered jetpack armour carry more than one grenade or rocket?
    -Dumbed down targeting in the original, blowing open a wall with your plasma rifle was a viable tactical option, for example
    -Action system abstraction can sometimes be grating.
    -NO RANDOMISED MAPS. This was probably my biggest gripe. Cripples replayability, criminal lack of effort. This would've been a 7 for me otherwise.

    GLOBAL
    +Looks shiny, sounds cool. Very atmospheric, and the cutscenes/lore for everything is generally pretty good, even if they do recycle some templates.
    +Progression felt very rewarding, expanding options tactically by where you decide to expand and establish satellites.
    -Arbitrary dichotomy where you always have to choose one nation to ignore. Can we seriously not just buy a second skyranger?
    -Only one base no base defense? That was a vital part of the original game.
    -Randomised classes for recruits could mean highly unbalanced teams enjoy your four useless Heavies who will just take up space.

    That's all I can remember from playing this last year. Decent purchase, but nothing special and a lot of design decisions which seem highly questionable. It would've been nice to maybe have a more modular version of the game where you could get more strategic depth by enabling old-school options at the start of the campaign, to appeal to both audiences.    … Expand
  56. BAPACop
    May 27, 2013
    7
    This is the first and only X-COM game I've ever played, so I'm not rating it down because it isn't the same. I'm rating it so low because it is not a strategy game as it is billed. There are several major reasons for this.

    First, the "random" aspects are not actually random. I'm not talking about how savescumming is prevented due to the random seed. I'm talking about how the computer is    This is the first and only X-COM game I've ever played, so I'm not rating it down because it isn't the same. I'm rating it so low because it is not a strategy game as it is billed. There are several major reasons for this.

    First, the "random" aspects are not actually random. I'm not talking about how savescumming is prevented due to the random seed. I'm talking about how the computer is a cheating bastard. I had a mission once where the first enemy to fire scored a critical hit every time. It didn't matter which enemy was shooting, where they were shooting from, who their target was, where their target was, the cover their target was in, or if the enemy that was shooting took their shot before or after another enemy moved. I tested this by retreating continually and forcing the enemy to follow me to take their shot. I crossed the entire map back to the start point, and without fail the first shot taken by the AI every turn resulted in a critical hit.

    Second, the cover system is absolutely horrendous. There are four levels of cover. 0 is no cover. 1 is "half" cover. 2 is "full" cover. 3 is "full" cover with the Hunkered Down ability active. These aren't the actual numerical values as the game uses them to calculate anything, they're just my observation. Okay, now that I've explained that, forget about it, because the game will. Enemies can and will shoot you through walls. The shots will visibly pass right through them. They will shoot you through floors. They will shoot you through bus stops. They will shoot you from fifty feet into the adjacent room behind a solid wall where the only way you can see them is from their red outline because even the camera can't see them. A car provides the exact same amount of cover when it's intact as it does when it is a smoldering wreck. It's very annoying to get hit by an enemy who is making a shot that is simply not physically possible.

    Third, the computer is a cheating bastard. Yes, again. They don't follow any movement rules, it seems. When you encounter enemies they immediately interrupt your turn to move into cover. Floaters can teleport onto your flanks at will. Berserkers can interrupt your turn to move. Thin Men will literally drop from the sky on your flanks. Sectopods can take three actions per turn. Enemies will spawn right in the middle of your squad. Groups of enemies will teleport around the map if you lose sight of them. In other words, there is no strategy involved in placing your units, you just need to hope the game decides to be nice.

    Fourth, squad panic is simply awful. XCOM is supposed to be the world's most elite military force. So why do they act like they've never been in a firefight before? One of your units takes a hit, and your other members of the world's most elite military force turn all the way around, take aim on the person beside them, yell "HELP ME!" and shoot them in the face. Losing a squad member because they got shot through a wall is bad enough, now you're just rubbing it in for no good reason.

    Fifth, global panic. The first thing I want to point out is how incredibly stupid this sort of conversation must sound. "Hello, is this XCOM, the world's most elite military force focused on fighting the alien invasion? This is the President of the United States. We have decided we are being invaded by too many aliens to require the help of the world's most elite military force focused on fighting the alien invasion. Please stop saving our citizen's lives." The second thing is that the system is simply broken. Not taking a mission in a country increases the panic levels of all the countries on that continent for some reason, not just the one being attacked by aliens. This means that no matter how well you are playing the game, you will eventually lose. A game where you are guaranteed to lose is a very badly designed game.

    Sixth, I have an underground complex filled with advanced technology, soldiers who can practically blow things up with their minds, multiple satellites over every continent, multiple heavily armed interceptors stationed on every continent, but when three cities get attacked by aliens at once I can only send one group of six people while the other ninety-three soldiers twiddle their thumbs in the Barracks.

    To summarize, XCOM: Enemy Unknown is not a strategy game. It fails at the most important element of a strategy game: Rewarding strategy. It would get a 0 for that reason, but it's actually quite entertaining once you realize it's not a strategy game and start to play accordingly. That, and it changes the lights on my keyboard to coincide with the enemy turns and I think that's neat.    … Expand
  57. Renan
    May 26, 2013
    7
    This is a great, enjoyable turn-base tactical strategy game that's so fun to play, everybody who likes the genre should have it in their collection.

    So why just a seven? Because of the previous games of the series. No, I'm not hurt inside because of the changes in the mechanics. Far from it. I absolutely loved some of the new things, like the way the soldiers take cover and how    This is a great, enjoyable turn-base tactical strategy game that's so fun to play, everybody who likes the genre should have it in their collection.

    So why just a seven? Because of the previous games of the series.

    No, I'm not hurt inside because of the changes in the mechanics. Far from it. I absolutely loved some of the new things, like the way the soldiers take cover and how orders are given. Every thing's fluid and the pace of the action is more pleasant than ever.

    It's just that if a game such as Terror From the Deep (my favorite in the series) or X-Com: Apocalypse was released today even if in another setting, with a whole different story, by another company and going by another name, but keeping the mechanics it would make this iteration of Enemy Unknown stupid by comparison. It would be a more interesting game if the direction a soldier faces made a difference (in this new game, everybody has 360º vision and can turn around at the speed of light). It would also be way better if you could order a soldier to kneel down or to lay low, balancing the need for mobility with the need for accuracy.

    Still, it is a good game, and one that any tactics, turn-based strategy fan will enjoy playing for hours.    … Expand
  58. zanz
    Apr 20, 2013
    7
    Simple, repetitive and boring... A lot less content than comparable turn based RPGs... Can be challenging on highest difficulty and it does have multiplayer, although there are much better and more fun multiplayer games around. I haven't played the old XCOM titles, but this game struck me as average at best...
  59. Morring
    Apr 7, 2013
    7
    f you are looking for a remake of the original, this isn't it. It still is a proper XCOM title though, and an amazing game. If you judge the game as it is, it is absolutely brilliant, one of the best productions in the last few years. From combat action to base management you're in for an addictive experience, you will get attached to your soldiers and feel the weight of their death, whilef you are looking for a remake of the original, this isn't it. It still is a proper XCOM title though, and an amazing game. If you judge the game as it is, it is absolutely brilliant, one of the best productions in the last few years. From combat action to base management you're in for an addictive experience, you will get attached to your soldiers and feel the weight of their death, while you try to understand your enemy to gain the edge. This is not a 10/10 though: as amazing this game may be, there are a few flaws: the interface may get very clunky inside a few building, and there's still a few little annoying bugs here and there. However, if you're the king of guy who judges a remake on the basis of how much it resembles the original, don't buy it. In fact, there is a game very similar to the original X-COM: UFO Defense: the original X-COM: UFO Defense.… Expand
  60. Jenne
    Apr 2, 2013
    6
    A disappointment. Certainly the best XCOM game since Terror from the Deep and a ok game for what it is but that's about it. It's short, dumbed down, the production values are iffy, the RNG combat mechanics stupid and annoying, the art style terrible. Too bad Firaxis didn't want to make a truly great game. They just wanted to make an accessible game.
  61. spydercanopus
    Mar 27, 2013
    6
    If you can get past the tutorial stages despite all the glitched keyboard/mouse setting, you will have fun. This game had so much potential but fell short consistently, but that doesn't mean it's boring. The game is fascinating. Just not meant to be played with a PC.
  62. spampsz
    Mar 26, 2013
    7
    Unfortunately game is less complicated then it's precursor. It's also shorter, with less aircraft models and so on.... game play is the same with is big plus.
  63. rantingwaj
    Mar 23, 2013
    5
    I personally found this game to be very average. Though I did like the whole concept of the game, I was also very disappointed with this game for several reasons and I am not someone who has played the original xcom games!! I had played the demo for this game before preordering and because in the demo mission everything is scripted, I thought the cover system and flanking mechanics demoedI personally found this game to be very average. Though I did like the whole concept of the game, I was also very disappointed with this game for several reasons and I am not someone who has played the original xcom games!! I had played the demo for this game before preordering and because in the demo mission everything is scripted, I thought the cover system and flanking mechanics demoed in the demo will actually work like they showed. But it was a great disappointment when I came across situations where I had like 30% chance to hit at almost close to point blank range or at other times 75% or there abouts from a huge distance away. The flanking system is equally broken, several times, I got behind the the line of the enemies facing and with no cover between him and me but the game still wont understand that he's been flanked and I got like 55% chance to hit. It seems the devs thought that people who like challenging games will be pleased if they made the game artificially difficult by giving the enemies better aim and by making all that your guys do completely random!! On hard difficulty game felt very unplayable because of the broken cover/flanking system, essentially your skill doesn't really count for much in battles, getting good dice rolls however does. Now I know combat like this can be fun like it was in older rpgs like say fallout but there, as your character leveled up, you could give him perks to improve his aim and raise the skills you thought mattered. Here, not only is the weapon class being decided for you but also, all of the stats for each of your guys. Theres other things that is wrong with this game which relate to the story and the base building aspect of the game which are equally dissapointing and I dont need go into but as I said, even as someone who hasn't played the previous xcom games, I can see what all the 'hardcore' fans of the series are complaining about and I completely agree with them! Sadly once again the need (or the greedy desire) for companies to port games on to consoles has resulted in a very average dumbed down game which is pretty to look at!! (not that pretty mind you) and sadly that's pretty much all that this game really has… Expand
  64. ejikvkaske
    Mar 20, 2013
    6
    EU is a simplified remake of the original X-Com with dumbed down features across the board. Replay value is severely limited by the heavily scripted nature of the campaign and a limited supply of hand-crafted(as opposed to randomly generated) battle maps. Console-inspired UI is a constant source of annoyance. However, EU's biggest fault lies in the combat. Enemies pose no danger to yourEU is a simplified remake of the original X-Com with dumbed down features across the board. Replay value is severely limited by the heavily scripted nature of the campaign and a limited supply of hand-crafted(as opposed to randomly generated) battle maps. Console-inspired UI is a constant source of annoyance. However, EU's biggest fault lies in the combat. Enemies pose no danger to your troops until they've been revealed. This reduces battle strategy to basically not revealing additional enemies. The multiplayer component seems like an afterthought. It could have been fun had there been more than 5 maps. Still, those of you willing to leave your sky high expectations for this remake at the door and don't mind a simplified X-Com game with shiny new graphics will probably enjoy EU.… Expand
  65. Seaburn
    Mar 19, 2013
    6
    Everyone who has given this game a good score has clearly never played the real xcom from the 90!!!!!!!!!

    I am not saying this is a bad game i am just SO disappointing how they could take a master peace like the old one and turn it in to this. **** weapons -Childish looking aliens (the old game was so creapy) actually everything looks that childish way the game has no mature    Everyone who has given this game a good score has clearly never played the real xcom from the 90!!!!!!!!!

    I am not saying this is a bad game i am just SO disappointing how they could take a master peace like the old one and turn it in to this.

    **** weapons
    -Childish looking aliens (the old game was so creapy) actually everything looks that childish way the game has no mature feeling!
    -Story to simple and short.
    etc.

    And where are the awesome base battles every map just looks the same the old game had much much variety when it comes to game play and everything else.

    Still i enjoyed the game but sometimes i wish programmers would program like they used to in the 90 using the stat of the art tools they have to day games are becoming so simple these days.    … Expand
  66. The_Choad
    Feb 12, 2013
    6
    The original Xcom games were the epitome of the turn-based strategy genre. This latest offering sees it remade into 'strategy lite', with Firaxis doing away with what they thought was chaff. Unfortunately this has the effect of completely undoing the Xcom feel. The SP campaign is over far too quickly, half that of what it really should be, but what is there is well polished andThe original Xcom games were the epitome of the turn-based strategy genre. This latest offering sees it remade into 'strategy lite', with Firaxis doing away with what they thought was chaff. Unfortunately this has the effect of completely undoing the Xcom feel. The SP campaign is over far too quickly, half that of what it really should be, but what is there is well polished and obviously well thought out. I can understand the frustrations of the old school Xcom players (of which I am one, TFTD best game ever) but I can also see the new potential of what has been developed with X:EU 2013. The DLC is laughable, an obvious money grab that players were smart enough to see and subsequently ignore, prompting Firaxis to cancel what they had planned in favour of more worthy material. Gameplay is interesting, it will take you a while to see just how simple it is (particularly if you are an old hand), something which has divided opinion. There are now only two strategic aspects when on the battlescape. Using cover and line of sight. This sometimes leaves you frustrated in that the enemy can make seemingly incredible shots hit, when only a few hairs on your head are sticking out of cover. This is the new system. Partial cover gives you moderate defence, in turn making you slightly harder to hit. Full cover decrease that chance further still. Armor simply adds more blocks to your health (another strategic element removed) with better armor adding more blocks. I did finally get into the game, and overall I enjoyed it. That's not to say I approve of all the changes but there is room for perfection, if Firaxis have the wit to see it. The Ant farm homebase was a gimmick as far as I was concerned. I didn't use it, feel the need to use it or satisfy any vanity therein. The inability to rename your ships was an oversight and the fact that all soldiers have American accents regardless of their nationality was cheap and did nothing to impress the 'new look' Xcom, it was lazy. Nevertheless, X:EU was a decent effort and worthy of a look, though I would advise against buying it at full retail if you are a die--hard Xcom fan.… Expand
  67. Welgar
    Feb 8, 2013
    6
    You can't help but compare this game to the original two XCOMs. Pros:

    - Improved graphics with some nice visual effects (like over-the-shoulder view etc.) - Operatives' classes and special abilities - Innovative combat system (cover/flanking, two-stage movement) - Storyline of sorts Cons: - Strategic (globeview) part became silly and boring: you are limited to one base;    You can't help but compare this game to the original two XCOMs. Pros:

    - Improved graphics with some nice visual effects (like over-the-shoulder view etc.)

    - Operatives' classes and special abilities

    - Innovative combat system (cover/flanking, two-stage movement)

    - Storyline of sorts

    Cons:

    - Strategic (globeview) part became silly and boring: you are limited to one base; items are manufactured immediately; you can't sell what you've produced; moreover, many items are free and unlimited (like grenades or standard guns); basically you just assign research and build a few base facilities, the rest can be done right before a mission.

    - Few things to research and manufacture: only one advanced type of interceptors, several laser and plasma guns, a few armours, and some special items.

    - No inventory manipulation

    - Often unrealistic battle situations: e.g. chance of hitting an alien almost doesn't depend on distance, or you may stand just one step away from a high wall and be considered "exposed" from that side.

    - Overall, many things in the game don't seem logical/realistic. How is it possible that it takes 8 days for a few eggheads in my lab to research some mysterious crazy alien technology and immediately come up with blueprints for a new weapon (which the engineers will make for me in no time)? Or what is the connection between having satellites over three African countries and 33% increase in budget? And besides, where are all the other countries? Why don't I ever have missions there? It all makes role-playing quite difficult.

    - The game is short and not so replayable. It took me 28 hours of play to win the game while reading carefully every research report and being sometimes too strategic and cautious. And since you have a very linear story, you don't want to start over and hear all the same stuff again. I expected more.

    All in all, though the game, at least its tactical part, is still interesting and fun, it feels more like a simplified and cut-down version of the original XCOMs. Apparently, 2K will introduce more features as DLCs (something Microprose couldn't back in 1990s), which may be the reason for producing this game as it is.    … Expand
  68. chevmech
    Feb 3, 2013
    5
    Thanks Firaxis, for forcing an operating system upgrade in order to to play it. We feel that probably should have been flagged in larger fonts. We also hope Steam will refund our money- guess we'll find out next week or whenever Steam support deigns to respond to our tickets. Regards, Your customers with XP.
  69. Usually_Bored
    Dec 21, 2012
    6
    As a remake, the game seriously needed two different reviews. For XCOM-veterans this is going to be a slight disappointment. Then again for people who never knew of XCOM's this is better choice, making it 8/10.

    XCOM is all about a strange alien threat that spreads throughout the Earth. A resistance movement is established and player is set to be as a commander. You make decisions how to    As a remake, the game seriously needed two different reviews. For XCOM-veterans this is going to be a slight disappointment. Then again for people who never knew of XCOM's this is better choice, making it 8/10.

    XCOM is all about a strange alien threat that spreads throughout the Earth. A resistance movement is established and player is set to be as a commander. You make decisions how to improve your base of operations, manage funds, soldiers and technology improvement. There is a storyline while you fight back. First you encounter only small alien crafts and rather feeble aliens, but as you progress the tougher the enemies. Combat is tactical and strictly turn-based, but is well behind of similiar games (like Jagged Alliance franchise). Compared to old XCOM-games this is heavily simplified, and players looking for gaining an edge over aliens find themselves rather stripped from tools.

    New thing in tactical fighting is positioning, i.e. flanking opponents. Your chances to hit increase a lot, but this effect concerns your own soldiers too. There is also suppressive fire, which does the opposite and hinders enemy chances to hit your troops.

    Replay-value is low if not non-existing. Players can search their limits by increasing game difficulty, but because there are very little variety of factors that can change there's not much point trying to beat game on higher and higher difficulty levels.

    I can't recommend this for XCOM-veterans unless you pick it below $10. For the rest of the people, $20 should be the limit. The game is not horrible, but standard pricing near $50 is simply too expensive of what you get in return.    … Expand
  70. RadarE33
    Dec 5, 2012
    5
    A game with excellent potential... just poorly executed. Playing on normal difficulty is adequate enough for overlooking the mass majority of the issues that plague this game, but upping the difficulty makes its glaring flaws all the more apparent. First things first: This game is uses a combat system that is similar to Fallout 2, with the addition of a cover based system to help yourA game with excellent potential... just poorly executed. Playing on normal difficulty is adequate enough for overlooking the mass majority of the issues that plague this game, but upping the difficulty makes its glaring flaws all the more apparent. First things first: This game is uses a combat system that is similar to Fallout 2, with the addition of a cover based system to help your troops not get shot. Naturally this might sound awesome, right? Well... unfortunately Firaxas and 2K couldn't spring for half decent AI that seeks to employ superior tactics. They opted instead to give the AI bonuses to aim, health and critical hit chance on the higher difficulties. This turns the game from a test of intellect and tactics to seeing if you can avoid getting steamrolled by dimwitted, cheating AI that kills your soldiers from half way across the map, with full cover to boot. Get used to that cause its going to happen. A lot. And when it does, your dopey soldiers (the "best of the best", as the game describes them) will panic, freak out and either run into enemy fire, hunker down in front of enemies, wildly shoot at them, or my favorite, shoot at your guys with surprising accuracy; another thing that's lacking from the best and brightest the world has to offer, as they can't barely hit the broad side of a barn. Yet they can kill your own troops with ease when panicked. These two companies, having a vastly warped sense of "turn based combat" will ensure that two things happen if you go scouting. 1. Upon spotting an enemy group, the enemy will get a free turn to position themselves against your soldier, DURING your turn, or 2. Your soldier will idiotically charge to where ever he or she was told to go instead of pausing to ask for new orders. This ensures your troops get slaughtered pretty quick, even with hunker down/ overwatch combos. If that isn't bad enough, cover is as durable as wet toilet paper, meaning that when you get shot at your cover will either crumble or catch fire, exposing you to a follow up barrage or forcing you to high tail it away from the vehicle/whatever, leading to a storm of plasma fire. Don't get me wrong; I like the fact that the scenery is destructive and can blow up. Its more that the devs wanted to inflate the sense of "difficulty" by stacking the odds against the player, rather than taking time and effort to create an AI that gives the player pause when it humbles them with strategy and tactics. The strategy element has some good elements to it, having to manage panic, finances and supplies. The problem is that what could have been a great strategy element is is reduced to something much more simplified and dull. Countries will freak the hell out if you bungle a mission, regardless if you managed to put a huge dent in alien forces before dying or rescuing a VIP/butt load of civilians in the process; they'll count as dead if you die. Either you kill everything in sight or you fail the mission, period, despite the fact that your mission (in about half the cases) is to stop terror attacks or protect VIP's. Partial credit would be nice (as was evident in the old XCOM games) but has given way to that CoD mentality; everything has to die no matter what, even in the face of objectives or feasibility. When the **** hits the fan (and it will), nations in the same continent will start to panic big, even though they didn't get attacked. The funding (something that wasn't an issue in the old XCOM) is scarce and serves only to once again, inflate the difficulty, despite the fact that you are the "last, best hope of humanity" and would naturally get loads of cash to do your job (see: the old XCOM). Because of requirements for even the basic of facilities, you could find yourself crippled if you opt for cash missions to purchase satellites, weapons, armor, or new troopers, all because the Dev's were too lazy to include a "personnel requisition" option that was present in the old XCOM. Worse yet is the fact that you can't sell any weapons or items you craft to council members; you're stuck with them. If you're lucky, a nation may ask to get that tech off you, but instead of negotiation they just tell you what you'll get. Gone are the days of being a dealer of all things alien. The story itself is good in the beginning but starts to fall apart once you research Psionics. In regards to the setting and logic behind R&D, it is truly laughable. Instead of reverse engineering alien tech and creating weapons that use materials from your own damn planet, you're forced to rely on alien materials (of which don't exist on Earth) to construct alien weapons that rely on... alien power sources. Humanity is well and truly boned if this is how we'll fight the aliens; if XCOM dies, everyone's back at square one. I don't even like the old XCOM and regret it's purchase, but I saw the potential for a truly awesome game. Sadly, it looks as if we'll have to wait for the realization of that potential, cause it isn't here.… Expand
  71. NOKIM
    Dec 3, 2012
    7
    Im an old fan of x-com and while this game is entertaining, its defenitely nothing to be compared to the original in terms of replay value. I could go into details but ill just point out some pros and cons.
    pros:
    updated graphics awesome character models great visuals cons: limited replay value lack of in battle option-cant pick up weapons, turns not based on energy poor tactical    Im an old fan of x-com and while this game is entertaining, its defenitely nothing to be compared to the original in terms of replay value. I could go into details but ill just point out some pros and cons.
    pros:
    updated graphics
    awesome character models
    great visuals
    cons:
    limited replay value
    lack of in battle option-cant pick up weapons, turns not based on energy
    poor tactical battle options(you can wipe everthing without doing much exploring)
    lack of stat growth options

    I could list a lot more things its lacking on, that the original did not that made it such an amazing replay value game. But all in all, if you have never played it, this is by far the best remake so far from all the fails that iv seen and tried. is it worth playing..yes, are you likely to still be playing it a year from now...probably not.If you have the original you will probably stil be playing that one 20 years from now.    … Expand
  72. shotcaller1
    Dec 2, 2012
    5
    I purchased this game because I thought it would be FUN! I have now played this game for only approx. 60 -70 hours but I am getting the distinct impression that it is way to difficult to be simply a game. It isn't something that will keep the kids occupied . The AI has far too many advantages and the soldiers die way too easily even on the easy setting. The graphics and visuals are veryI purchased this game because I thought it would be FUN! I have now played this game for only approx. 60 -70 hours but I am getting the distinct impression that it is way to difficult to be simply a game. It isn't something that will keep the kids occupied . The AI has far too many advantages and the soldiers die way too easily even on the easy setting. The graphics and visuals are very well done and the game itself was well conceived, and it is playable except for the fact that the "easy" level means "expert". Obviously I am not a professional gamer and I think that is what the creators were targeting this game for. It's simply not that enjoyable as a "simple" gamer. I really like the tactical aspect but the enemy has too much firepower and the xcom soldiers are forced too move into untenable positions in order target the aliens even at low percentages. Its either take a bad shot and get killed or press overwatch and get killed. That's not very fun.… Expand
  73. GoneTomrrow
    Nov 29, 2012
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A solid remake all-in-all. I played the original DOS games and most of the sequels, which are hard acts to follow. This newest incarnation manages to have the core of what made the original extremely fun: well crafted turn-by-turn combat, variety of weapons and equipment, resource management, researching and reverse engineering alien tech, etc. The graphics are very good; the temple ship is truly a masterpiece of a stage. There is a lot not to like as well, of course. Normal difficulty is too easy, taking 40 hours to beat for me. XCOMEU is far less complex than the original, in a bad way. Combat has been oversimplified, with the boring "move, shoot, repeat" scheme. The original with time units was much more fun; you could spend all your time units shooting, moving, swapping a weapon out oof your pack, or all three. I was displeased to discover that there was only one alien base in the game (several in the OG). The end stage, while very fun, was disappointing - no Mars? Really? Very anticlimactic ending. When you investigate a crash site, you are dropped practically on top of it in a tiny area. The enemies are now "aggro'd" WOW-style and just stand around until you approach. They don't move around otherwise. I miss the old crash site maps which were larger and required exploration. The maps in general become repetitive. I also think the overall atmosphere of the game is too tame; the eery stage music of the original is permanently etched in my brain. Oh, and lastly, where is the Snakeman? A lot of negative points said here, but as I said, the heart of the original is still there and I was glued to my PC for the few short days it took to beat it. Worth buying.… Expand
  74. SlickNick
    Nov 28, 2012
    5
    A fun and addicting game on normal. Bugs and bad-AI-so-cheat-compensation kill classic or impossible modes. Because the developers didn't develop any worthwhile AI for the enemy in this game, they cheat for the computer on classic and impossible difficulties. You don't notice it in normal because you can actually go blow-for-blow and win. All you have to do is advance, stay in cover,A fun and addicting game on normal. Bugs and bad-AI-so-cheat-compensation kill classic or impossible modes. Because the developers didn't develop any worthwhile AI for the enemy in this game, they cheat for the computer on classic and impossible difficulties. You don't notice it in normal because you can actually go blow-for-blow and win. All you have to do is advance, stay in cover, and shoot, and you'll win on normal. What you don't notice (because there aren't that many patrolling alien squads in normal) is that alien packs don't walk around the map, they randomly teleport anywhere on it and then aggro when they see you. In the higher difficulties you can't go blow-for-blow, but instead have to use flanking and/or luring tactics. Except that enemies can teleport anywhere if they're not in your Line-of-Sight and attempting to perform any remotely tactical movement will result in another pack of aliens spawning in your LoS.

    This results in only one tactic that works, which is also extremely boring: creep forward with one scout, trigger a single alien group, run back to the rest of the squad sitting in cover and overwatch, and hope aliens follow you. Nothing as exciting as sitting in overwatch for 50 turns, right?

    The base-management is trivial as well. There are no research dead-ends, you can research everything fairly quickly so there isn't any strategy in researching. Satellite and panic management is the only remotely strategic part of the base-management.    … Expand
  75. redeux
    Nov 28, 2012
    5
    To keep this short: It was an interesting game and caught my attention pretty quickly at the start. I enjoyed playing through it but It's not the type of game where I personally would keep coming back to.
  76. delekhan
    Nov 27, 2012
    5
    At first i like it ... but only one base - squad is limited to 6 - why ? All countries finance 6 ! persons only sqad. You need for example weapon fragments to build somethig - what for alloys - ok , ellurium ok but weapon fragments ? I have for example undestroyed weapons but no ineed weapon fragments and i cannot destroy it myself. You are unable to move invetory of one soldier toAt first i like it ... but only one base - squad is limited to 6 - why ? All countries finance 6 ! persons only sqad. You need for example weapon fragments to build somethig - what for alloys - ok , ellurium ok but weapon fragments ? I have for example undestroyed weapons but no ineed weapon fragments and i cannot destroy it myself. You are unable to move invetory of one soldier to another. If you shot alien his weapon is always destroyed . Enemies waiting to find you but may appear from nowwhere. Its not like strategy but america comics lonely hero ( 6 heroes) versus weak horde of enemies. It shoud be tottaly diffrent - vast armies versus aliens not so many but with better technology and extremely hard to beat… Expand
  77. DrMutomofobo
    Nov 26, 2012
    5
    A decent game in it's own right, and it works well as a tribute to the 1993 original as it contained enough of the original themes to make me nostalgic. That being said, it's way too dumbed-down to be considered the same caliber as it's predecessors were.

    Almost everything is generic and automated, from how the organization itself is administered to how the soldiers interact with the    A decent game in it's own right, and it works well as a tribute to the 1993 original as it contained enough of the original themes to make me nostalgic. That being said, it's way too dumbed-down to be considered the same caliber as it's predecessors were.

    Almost everything is generic and automated, from how the organization itself is administered to how the soldiers interact with the environment when on tactical missions. It leaves you very little choice, and even less room for variation. The soldiers lack any distinguishable traits whatsoever, except for appearance and nationality at least; as they've removed evolvable stats in favor of a primitive class-system with very limited perks as they rank up. Inventory has also been standardized, and you can't even pick up equipment from fallen friends or foes on the field. The option to construct new bases is gone, as is the option to properly control air missions. The tactical missions lack interactivity, as you can no longer free-aim to destroy obstacles (or just for fun) and all bullets fly in a straight line only to disappear into thin air if they miss their target, effectively removing the joy of unintentional collateral damage and the unpredictability which follows it. Aliens just stand around in groups awaiting activation rather than roaming the field and positioning themselves favorably from start, and you can only deploy a maximum of six soldiers to a mission (four at the start - you have to research in order to reach the maximum six). Maps are small and very predictable too, usually you just move forward in one direction jumping from cover to cover massacring one alien group at the time until you're done.

    Multiplayer could have been awesome, but it's way too unimaginative to even be considered "ok". Here too, they've stripped your options down to a minimum. Only mode is 1vs1 squad elimination, even though single-player mode offers various settings which could have been extremely fun in multiplayer; and you use a simple "buy-for-points" system when building your squad rather than something more sophisticated (and rewarding). Also there's no progression whatsoever besides a place on the very primitive win/loss ratio-based ladder. Perhaps a system like the one they've implemented in Shogun 2: Total War would be better? At least it gives the player a feeling of achievement, something the present system doesn't provide at all.

    All-in-all... This is a game that offers very little variation, very little choice and a downright backwards level of interactivity. It makes most the decisions for you by limiting your options to the extreme. It works well enough as turn-based action, but as a strategy-and-tactics-game it fails miserable. Especially considering how successful the originals were in that aspect.

    If you avoid comparing it to the original franchise, which is actually way more complex and rewarding than this game is despite the fact that it's been almost twenty years since their release; you'll enjoy playing through it once. The replay-value however, is almost non-existent due to the previously mentioned lack of choices, variation and interactivity.

    The only real strength to this game is the fact that it contains just enough of the original games to reimburse your enjoyment of those. At least that's what it did for me: Made me reinstall the oldies and play them instead.

    I'd advice anyone to do the same ;)    … Expand
  78. SlubbertKing
    Nov 26, 2012
    7
    This game is a form Chess with aliens, robots and psychic humans. I really enjoyed kicking alien ass in the single player. And the fact that you kinda get a bond between you and your soldiers is cool too. Cause when you realise you've lost one on the battlefield you sit there in front of your screen uttering a real agnoizing movie scream. If you like strategy games its a must have.
  79. Triggerhappy
    Nov 22, 2012
    5
    A very mediocre turn-based console game. Read some of the negative reviews before purchasing, and take my word as a decade-long tactical games fan: this game offers NOTHING new. Nothing at all. There is absolutely NO reason to play it. Actually, I believe that even an RPG like Dragon Age: Origins had more of both strategic and tactical choices.
    Very dissapointing, unbelievably overpriced.    A very mediocre turn-based console game. Read some of the negative reviews before purchasing, and take my word as a decade-long tactical games fan: this game offers NOTHING new. Nothing at all. There is absolutely NO reason to play it. Actually, I believe that even an RPG like Dragon Age: Origins had more of both strategic and tactical choices.
    Very dissapointing, unbelievably overpriced. Oh, and the voice acting is atrocious. Borderline criminal.    … Expand
  80. Mordobb
    Nov 21, 2012
    6
    Visual execution is good. But as an Xcom remake it fails at many points. Many eyecandy and too few results, its clear someone in a high seat did not know WTF Xcom mindset should be. Waste of money player side and producer. 6 char limits give No way to have any tactic at all, and doesn t stand at all. Too small maps sometimes even corridors
    Too short reshearch = limited wprkshop options    Visual execution is good. But as an Xcom remake it fails at many points. Many eyecandy and too few results, its clear someone in a high seat did not know WTF Xcom mindset should be. Waste of money player side and producer. 6 char limits give No way to have any tactic at all, and doesn t stand at all. Too small maps sometimes even corridors
    Too short reshearch = limited wprkshop options too = limited tactics
    air and land "cavalry" ain t there.
    No replay value.

    If you know what i m talking about go see Xenonauts...i downloaded the demo after JA:bia failure and this Xcom, and finaly, even being alfa, someone seems to be knowing whats its doing.
    Too bad they haven t the funds this Xcom Has.    … Expand
  81. TheDraguun
    Nov 14, 2012
    5
    Fun game that captures the spirit of the old XCOM. But bad usabillity (buttons jumping around, missing informations, navigation, ... ) and heaps of game breaking bugs. A game with a focus on character progression is worth nothing if the caracters get lost in bugs (stuck On-Mission, disappear from selection and levelup, ...)
  82. oliver1h
    Nov 14, 2012
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game had plenty of potential...Unfortunately they are mostly unexploited...My problems with the game boils down to these: 1. The maps are too small and repetitive (The makers of the game said the player will not see the same map during the campaign...Well that is not true) 2. The maps are too scripted (Enemies wait for the player to reach a trigger zone, than they start to move around and attack. They do not move around the map by themselves.)3. Weapon upgrades are too linear (Laser is better than simple projectile weapons, plasma is better than laser and projectile weapons etc.)4. The campaign is too short 5. Weak tactical layer (no stand, crouch, lay...) 6. Weak strategic layer (Build satellites, workshops, power generators, laboratories, and a few other building and that all...It is nothing like in the old UFO:EU) 7. You can't chose the nationality of your soldier (why can't we?) 8. You can't place your base where you want on the geospace (why can't we??)… Expand
  83. Ram911
    Nov 10, 2012
    6
    when I first started playing this game I thought it was fun. The graphics are really cool. It was not, to me at least, an easy game to beat. But, after a while it started to seem ridiculously difficult. In order to shoot at (and usually miss) an alien I would have to stand out and expose my self to their next shot. Which many times would kill my soldier. After finding that I could notwhen I first started playing this game I thought it was fun. The graphics are really cool. It was not, to me at least, an easy game to beat. But, after a while it started to seem ridiculously difficult. In order to shoot at (and usually miss) an alien I would have to stand out and expose my self to their next shot. Which many times would kill my soldier. After finding that I could not shoot at and hit an alien at a distance I would walk right up next to an alien and my chances of hitting him would still only be 1%. And sure enough I would miss the shot and bye bye soldier on the alien's next turn. The game started to feel very scripted. It seemed like the strategy component of the game was an illusion. Much like winning a game on a slot machine by luck is an illusion. To those who don't know, slot machines pay off at predetermined pulls of the handle. It can pay off at the 50th pull of the handle or the 500th pull of the handle etc. etc. The only luck involved is if you are the person pulling the handle at the 50th pull. It got to be boring to play after that. And I lost interest. I think this game is getting to high of a score for its playability level. I recognize all the hard work the game creators put into this game and I appreciate the effort. But I don't think they succeeded in making an Xcom worthy game.… Expand
  84. antarem
    Nov 9, 2012
    6
    review for russian speakers people.
    Это хорошая игра, но XCOM 94го года в был в разы лучше. Все что    review for russian speakers people.
    Это хорошая игра, но XCOM 94го года в был в разы лучше. Все что разработчик смог улучшить это графику. Все остальное стало хуже. Что больше всего раздражает: теперь в игре нет такого понятия, как пуля - реального физического объекта; есть понятие попал - не попал.(никаких больше случайных убийств шальными пулями) Никакой разрушаемости в игре нет, пули пролетают сквозь двехметровые стены. Как вообще в ТАКТИЧЕСКОЙ игре можно было так наплевать на реализм. В общем кто не играл в первую xcom, советую это сделать, вы сами поймете, какая новая xcom получилась отвратная, благо что ее можно купить в steam, не заморачиваясь с dosbox'om.    … Expand
  85. Indrigis
    Nov 8, 2012
    7
    Quoting from one of the reviews here - streamlined. You don't have any freedom where it might force you to make a choice. Gone are the multiple bases, gone are base assaults (you get one over the course of the game), gone is inventory management, gone are different roles for the aliens - all sectoids are sectoids, no navigators, no engineers, no soldiers. Managed combat - gone, yourQuoting from one of the reviews here - streamlined. You don't have any freedom where it might force you to make a choice. Gone are the multiple bases, gone are base assaults (you get one over the course of the game), gone is inventory management, gone are different roles for the aliens - all sectoids are sectoids, no navigators, no engineers, no soldiers. Managed combat - gone, your snipers can only shoot if they haven't moved this turn, unless you pick a special perk which incurs an aim penalty. Oh, yes, perks - they are hidden from you until you actually get an appropriate rank, so planning character development is also gone. Of course you can plan new recruits' development ahead after one of your soldiers reaches colonel in desired class. But guess what - you can't plan classes. All recruits get a random class upon promotion. The aliens have the advantage of a free move when you see them. Yes - you see a cluster of aliens and they all immediately get a free move. Thankfully, they only use it to take cover. Oh, you don't have to bother with managing ammunition now. It's unlimited (but you still have to reload). But gosh, unlimited ammunition for an autoacannon means free destruction. We can't have that. So free targeting is also gone. You can only destroy cover if you aim at an enemy and miss. But you have rockets! One per mission, with a 10% miss rate and an epileptic aim camera. At least the graphics are pretty. Except they aren't. Unreal Engine 3 has is limits and the multilayered layout will have you ripping out your hair in frustration when you spend a good minute rotating and elevating the camera to activate that one movement spot AND MISSING IT! The game isn't all terribad, surely, but it tosses too much of the orginal's brilliance in favor of streamlined and unburdened gameplay. Did I mention it messes up your saves so any Ironman game has a ~25% chance to end in a premature defenestration?… Expand
  86. omegaoftime
    Nov 6, 2012
    6
    Firaxis's reboot of X-COM streamlines much of the old mechanics in the original game, but the result is a mixed bag as it's plagued by many bugs that affect the overall enjoyability. Having clocked about 97 hours on the Steam version, what was an enjoyable experience starting from normal mode became frustration as I spent more time with the game. Some of the frustrations I've experiencedFiraxis's reboot of X-COM streamlines much of the old mechanics in the original game, but the result is a mixed bag as it's plagued by many bugs that affect the overall enjoyability. Having clocked about 97 hours on the Steam version, what was an enjoyable experience starting from normal mode became frustration as I spent more time with the game. Some of the frustrations I've experienced so far were enemies that teleported in and out of view at the end of a turn, SHIV (tank-like units) that get stuck or can't shoot, line of sight issues, and rocket launchers not hurting target is just a taste of the what's to come. Although not gaming breaking on easy and normal modes, these bug heavily affect game play on classic mode where you can lose entire squad due to any of the above. For example in my classic playthrough, I often get three or more enemy groups teleporting in front of my squad and wiping them out (this happens often).

    Also, the way the game decides on your chance of hitting is finicky and broken. You can miss often when your shot chance is 75%-100%. If your shot chance is 50%, don't expect to land any shots at all. Having an MBA and taking more than enough math courses (and statistics) for several lifetimes, it makes you scratch your head why you sometimes fail to connect on even 85% chance to hit shots. I've never had problems with other games that rely heavily on chance (like Final Fantasy Tactics) before until now. Even the original X-COM was fair in determining chance and probability.

    All in all, the game is enjoyable when the game engine decides to behave itself. However, I would not recommend paying full price for this game until Firaxis decides to patch up the bugs. You should be relatively fine if you play on easy or normal modes. But if you play on any other modes, expect to see severe bugs and broken game mechanics often.    … Expand
  87. DoctorFoxhound
    Nov 2, 2012
    6
    The game is gorgeous due to both exceptional graphics and design. I loved the turn-based combat and really enjoyed leveling up my crew with gear and skills.

    I'm giving this game a score of six mostly because of it's low replay value. I had a similar experience to some other reviewers in that I was obsessed with this game when I first got my hands on it, but after about 25-30 hours into    The game is gorgeous due to both exceptional graphics and design. I loved the turn-based combat and really enjoyed leveling up my crew with gear and skills.

    I'm giving this game a score of six mostly because of it's low replay value. I had a similar experience to some other reviewers in that I was obsessed with this game when I first got my hands on it, but after about 25-30 hours into it I got really sick of it... I no longer felt the need to upgrade my crew because they already felt maxed out, the environments and missions did start to feel repetitive, and pretty quickly I ran out of things that seemed worth researching in the lab. Despite having so much fun in the first days of owning it, I really can't see myself stomaching another playthrough.

    All of this being said, Xcom is a great game and for a lot of people, 25-30 hours of grade A, engaging game play is worth the price of admission. My only recommendation might be to wait until the game goes down in price if you are looking to pay 50 bucks for a game you can sink dozens and dozens of hours into.    … Expand
  88. Demonbox
    Nov 2, 2012
    5
    So (35 years old lover of the original here) how is this game?
    This game is not so bad as someone described it, still be assured, this is NOT your old XCOM.
    What i found very bad? The AI is more like an AS (Artificial Stupidity) and tries to compensate by cheating, hitting 100% and dealing tons of crits (not making the game harder btw, just annoying), is this THAT bad? Yes 'cause leaves    So (35 years old lover of the original here) how is this game?
    This game is not so bad as someone described it, still be assured, this is NOT your old XCOM.
    What i found very bad? The AI is more like an AS (Artificial Stupidity) and tries to compensate by cheating, hitting 100% and dealing tons of crits (not making the game harder btw, just annoying), is this THAT bad? Yes 'cause leaves no feeling of strategy... in a wannabe strategic game, the aliens will always behave like stupid, just they hit you more often and harder.
    You can ONLY equip 1 main weapon (only the one fitting for the class the game chose for yr soldiers), 1 side weapon and 1 (or 2 if you unlock certain perks) grenade/Medikit/Stunner/etc.
    The campaign is way too scripted, i tried as hard as i could to make it last longer (squeezed 70some hours out of 2 games classic+impossible) but that just means grinding mission after mission (after a while they start repeating).
    I only listed the bad aspects of the game, so why a 5? 'cause for a while you can have some fun with this alien game... For a while, then you will put it on yr shelves and leave it there forever and go back to the old (real) X-COM.    … Expand
  89. xian
    Oct 31, 2012
    6
    A squad of soldiers in turn-based battles against evil aliens. This concept worked in 94/95 and still works today. I always liked the theme in XCOM. Defending against an alien invasion, doing autopsys, researching new weapons, equiping your soldiers, fly out into the night and show those alien greenheads out the door - it was fun in the old games and it's still fun in Enemy Unknown. TheA squad of soldiers in turn-based battles against evil aliens. This concept worked in 94/95 and still works today. I always liked the theme in XCOM. Defending against an alien invasion, doing autopsys, researching new weapons, equiping your soldiers, fly out into the night and show those alien greenheads out the door - it was fun in the old games and it's still fun in Enemy Unknown. The downsides: I don't want to give the narrative about console ports on pc again, but... here it is: mediocore graphics, simplified game mechanics, slowly responding interfaces, reduced tactical complexity tue to reduced control options, cheesy cut-scenes, railroaded storyline...

    The bright side: Only a few minor bugs at release (positive thing... I'm old...), no major balance problems. Nice story and technology concepts.

    Enemy Unknown is not a bad pc game and it's not one you will remember in two years either. But it's still a pleasant experience to play and probably worth your money.    … Expand
  90. EddyHan
    Oct 30, 2012
    7
    Back in the day, I was a huge XCOM fan! I played UFO, Terror from the Deep, Apocalypse and even Interceptor. And now I've played XCOM: Enemy Unknown which I must say, was what I hoped for, but what I really wanted was for this game to blow me out of the water! First off, the graphics are sweet and the level of destruction in this game is immense. The music and sound effects works with theBack in the day, I was a huge XCOM fan! I played UFO, Terror from the Deep, Apocalypse and even Interceptor. And now I've played XCOM: Enemy Unknown which I must say, was what I hoped for, but what I really wanted was for this game to blow me out of the water! First off, the graphics are sweet and the level of destruction in this game is immense. The music and sound effects works with the eerie environment and visually hearing alien movement can help a lot especially when breaching a room. The only downfall in this game is that being a turn based strategy game, there isn't a lot of strategy! XCOM: EU has been dubbed down a lot. It's all move to cover, move to higher ground and even then your rookies get hit even in full cover! The major problem I find is that the shooting is all predicted whether it hits or misses when it clearly hits it's target. Another problem is that the overall accuracy is not improved if you move closer to your target, in fact snipers on high ground can still miss a lot which seems wrong. A tactical advantage SHOULD be an advantage. This game is still quite fun to play, but it is nowhere near as good as the original games. If this game was made with PC gamers in mind, then we would be looking at a 9/10 or even a 10/10. Let's pray that there will be mods that will turn XCOM: EU into a real strategy game rather than a watered down roulette game.… Expand
  91. xcomlite
    Oct 28, 2012
    6
    I'm a huge fan of the original game, and I just finished the Enemy Unknown campaign in about 40 hours of game play. I enjoyed one play through, but I probably won't replay it. As a stand-alone game, I would rate this as a solid 8, but as a continuation of the X-COM series, it's a 6 at best. For my money, this game is worth about $15-$20.

    "X-COM lite" is probably the best description I    I'm a huge fan of the original game, and I just finished the Enemy Unknown campaign in about 40 hours of game play. I enjoyed one play through, but I probably won't replay it. As a stand-alone game, I would rate this as a solid 8, but as a continuation of the X-COM series, it's a 6 at best. For my money, this game is worth about $15-$20.

    "X-COM lite" is probably the best description I could come up with. In 18 years (that's right, 1994 b**tches!!) since the original game was released, they've made no serious progress towards a better game mechanics. Other than the graphics, I can't find any aspect of this new X-COM game that is better than the original. Every aspect of the game has been dumbed down and hollowed out to the point of making it almost foolproof. Thanks for not letting me fail, my self esteem has never been better thanks to this game. But seriously, all the developers had to do was take the original game, add modern 3D graphics and they'd be done - instant classic reborn for the 21st century. Instead they had to tinker with the mechanics of the game in some serious ways to make it "easier" and more "accessible". I get it, the original X-COM was not the most user friendly game to play, but ultimately it's complexity was part of the reward of the game. It was a lot more fun to save the world when you were fighting as the underdog, and every little action made a difference when things were in the balance.

    You kiddies have fun with your little 6 person platoon. Back in my day, we'd regularly go into battle using this little craft called the "Avenger" that could shoot down the biggest ships and carried a 26 person platoon ready to deploy at the crash site. Now get off my lawn you kids!    … Expand
  92. Skulb
    Oct 28, 2012
    5
    Reworking a classic like X-Com is obviously gonna be a challenge. But the continuous failure of gaming companies to get the feeling of the two original games right is just amazing. Once more almost everything that made the original such a great game has been removed, and meaningless fluff has been added.
    The worst part is the incessant hand holding the game forces on you. Two hours into    Reworking a classic like X-Com is obviously gonna be a challenge. But the continuous failure of gaming companies to get the feeling of the two original games right is just amazing. Once more almost everything that made the original such a great game has been removed, and meaningless fluff has been added.
    The worst part is the incessant hand holding the game forces on you. Two hours into the game I`m still waiting to be allowed to choose for myself what to do in my base, but am being guided around as if I`m completely brain dead. In between all this insulting babysitting there are endless cut scenes with pointless dialogue, so that whenever you do try to explore your base you risk one of the uninteresting inhabitants giving you a dull explanation for why you can`t be where you clicked, complete with panning cameras. The whole experience in the base makes you wish there was some option to turn the entire guided experience off. It`s not as if you need to hear a single word being said by anybody anyway.

    The actual tactical game is so simplified it doesn`t even compare to the original game. No inventories, not enough space to really be tactical, poor camera controls and the endless loss of game controls as the camera pans around to give you that utterly meaningless "movie" feel. The first NPC encountered even insists on talking for about 5 seconds every turn while you sit and wait for her like a moron.

    Compared to this the original dropped you in at the deep end let you explore the game yourself. There were no cut scenes and endless droning dialogue to waste your time, and you had detailed base and tactical control. Why is it so impossible these days to just let players play the game on their own?
    Whatever merits this game has is totally lost in all this, at least for me. I`m sure members of the fluoride generation used to being treated as imbeciles will enjoy it, but for seasoned gamers it is unbearable.    … Expand
  93. DesertEgoal
    Oct 27, 2012
    7
    Makes the turn based game genre seem bad-ass. The different units and abilities/weapons keeps you coming back for more to try to master all the interesting combinations. It is a good break from other competitive games that require you to be fully focused in unable to move your fingers from the controls for a second.. XCOM has the same competitive feel but challenges you more in theMakes the turn based game genre seem bad-ass. The different units and abilities/weapons keeps you coming back for more to try to master all the interesting combinations. It is a good break from other competitive games that require you to be fully focused in unable to move your fingers from the controls for a second.. XCOM has the same competitive feel but challenges you more in the customization factor and how you use your selected squad to their fullest.… Expand
  94. Cytokinesis
    Oct 27, 2012
    7
    I fell in love with this game when I first started playing it, but then something went horribly wrong. If you only intend on playing the game once or maybe twice then this game is a fantastic gem; a great experience. If you want to play more than that then it has some surprises in store. First of all the UI and controls are ok but they could be so much better on the PC. Every once in aI fell in love with this game when I first started playing it, but then something went horribly wrong. If you only intend on playing the game once or maybe twice then this game is a fantastic gem; a great experience. If you want to play more than that then it has some surprises in store. First of all the UI and controls are ok but they could be so much better on the PC. Every once in a while (rarely but it happens) you just get royally screwed by these forced camera angles. Also sometimes it just won't let you click on a space and the cursor doesn't even show up. This happens a ton when you use grappling hooks and it makes them unusable. At first the game seems like it has a lot of depth but you will exhaust it soon after a couple playthroughs. You will know where aliens are waiting for you on maps and the base building is really, really shallow. The lab is completely worthless and spamming workshops is the best strategy. Research is extremely shallow as well. There just simply aren't enough things you look forward to getting. All they needed to do is add completely random maps and balance the base building/satellites/research and this would have been an absolutely phenomenal game able to be enjoyed for hundreds, maybe even thousands, of hours. Right now you are probably looking at about 20-50 hours before you realize there is nothing more for you in the game. It's a real shame.… Expand
  95. Rabbidbone
    Oct 26, 2012
    5
    A decent game let down by a marketing strategy to parade it in on the shoulders of a colossal masterpiece. Though it does not, by any stretch of my experience, deserve the 0 scores it is getting, I do understand and share much of the old Xcom fans' gripes about this instalment. My take on the game's overall shortcoming is basically this - they critically misunderstood the very core essenceA decent game let down by a marketing strategy to parade it in on the shoulders of a colossal masterpiece. Though it does not, by any stretch of my experience, deserve the 0 scores it is getting, I do understand and share much of the old Xcom fans' gripes about this instalment. My take on the game's overall shortcoming is basically this - they critically misunderstood the very core essence of Xcom. Instead of pitting you up against an unforgiving and overwhelming invasion and then enabling you to rise above the challenge through various game mechanics; the game offers you static, mediocre invaders and a linear path to salvation and then sets up arbitrary handicaps through game mechanics as a means of creating a challenge. Although the resulting level of challenge is somewhat similar, the resulting level of satisfaction is devastatingly different. It felt more like I was fighting the game developers and trying to get around their in-game hurdles than actually fighting off a relentless alien invasion. A shame really.… Expand
  96. SittinginBasket
    Oct 23, 2012
    5
    A fair game, with interesting gameplay and visuals. However, the game lacks in story-depth and suffers from the lack of attention and story-telling after the first half of the game. The game has extremely little variety in choices and missions. Research and interrogation is extremely simple and short-lived, without adding much to the story, and is quickly forgotten. The best items can beA fair game, with interesting gameplay and visuals. However, the game lacks in story-depth and suffers from the lack of attention and story-telling after the first half of the game. The game has extremely little variety in choices and missions. Research and interrogation is extremely simple and short-lived, without adding much to the story, and is quickly forgotten. The best items can be attained early in the game, and research and production no longer have a function in the late game. Missions are extremely repetitive, and will force you into completing the same missions over and over again with absolutely no variety. Ending is extremely disappointing, and again drops the ball with story-telling when compared to the first half of the game.… Expand
  97. nop
    Oct 22, 2012
    5
    This game is a marketing success but a creative failure. I loved original XCOM game and really wanted to enjoy playing this remake. But several hours into the game I started to feel that I've been cheated. Imagine a "reboot" of original Quake, where you can only carry two weapons, regenerate health while moving from one waist-high cover to another through linear levels, watchingThis game is a marketing success but a creative failure. I loved original XCOM game and really wanted to enjoy playing this remake. But several hours into the game I started to feel that I've been cheated. Imagine a "reboot" of original Quake, where you can only carry two weapons, regenerate health while moving from one waist-high cover to another through linear levels, watching unskippable cutscenes after every few minutes. This is what you feel if you played XCOM/UFO games before. Shallow and dumbed down kids-friendly piece of mass entertainment. Seriously, I'm surprised that after infinite ammo they didn't add regenerating health. Base building is a joke compared to the original. Geoscape is just a pretty animation. This is earth defense simulator minus the simulator part. This is a game where radio stations can work from underground caves, satellites can hover above arbitrary location on the globe and psionics only works if you break glass window first.… Expand
  98. Kelemvor
    Oct 21, 2012
    6
    As i understand, XCOM:EU is a reimagining od the old game, but can this "excuse" everything? They left out quite a bit. This is more of a tactical game with a little something else, than a fully fledged invasion-simulator like the original. The research is to simple, to straight forward, there is no inventory, you only have 2 actions per round, most alien groups on the map have to beAs i understand, XCOM:EU is a reimagining od the old game, but can this "excuse" everything? They left out quite a bit. This is more of a tactical game with a little something else, than a fully fledged invasion-simulator like the original. The research is to simple, to straight forward, there is no inventory, you only have 2 actions per round, most alien groups on the map have to be triggered to do something, there are no attacks on your base, you have to make artificial decisions, because the XCOM who has been assigned to save the world, can only afford one skyranger transport. The list goes on about things that are of questionable design, don't make a lot of sense or are just plain missing. Despite these flaws and shortcomings, XCOM can be an enjoyable experience, just not the game i expected. I expected a modernisation, an increase in possibilities, more micromanagement etc. The new XCOM game is a streamlined version of the first, with a lackluster storyline, small tactical maps, lack of options and possibilities. In my opinion the replay value is very small, because the game follows a hardwired chain of events. If you like to concentration on tactical combat, and don't like micromanagement, then this XCOM is for you, If you liked the old one, liked the richness of its gameplay, the possibilities and options, to do what every you like, than this game will most likely disappoint you. After 20 to 30 hours of fun tactical combat, unsatisfying strategic gameplay, and totally unnecessary und illogical decisions forced down your throat, the game is over.… Expand
  99. Deepestblue
    Oct 18, 2012
    6
    As a fan of the X-COM franchise I was all eager to get my hands onto this game finally. Long story short: If the (3D-)graphics wouldn't be so nice, this would be a major disappointment. In the traditional X-COM games I loved the variety of options I have, and the simplicity yet power of the user interface. In XCOM:Enemy Unknown on the other hand I feel extremely limited, up to the point ofAs a fan of the X-COM franchise I was all eager to get my hands onto this game finally. Long story short: If the (3D-)graphics wouldn't be so nice, this would be a major disappointment. In the traditional X-COM games I loved the variety of options I have, and the simplicity yet power of the user interface. In XCOM:Enemy Unknown on the other hand I feel extremely limited, up to the point of having the feeling that most of steps I have to make to be successful are pretty pre-defined (and not hard to figure out), e.g. order of research. The above mentioned user interface is clearly inferior to the traditional X-COM games: things are well hidden, you click too often, mouse- and keyboard-input are somewhat not streamlined (aparently optimized for gamepads rather). A consequence of both shortcomings is that I feel less attached to "my crew", "my station" and "my mission".

    Another - for me personally - really big downside is that simply destroying stuff (buildings, etc.) is happening far less and has far less strategical meaning than in the original games. Yes, it looks nicer, but in the old days you could really blow up an UFO from afar with 4 guys using rocket launchers if you wanted to. No more today.

    Don't get me wrong, XCOM: Enemy Unknown is not a bad game, but that is a consequence of the timeless game concepts. Sadly, Firaxis failed to pick up on the huge opportunity to bring this to the next generation - despite the very nice 3D-graphics everything else seems to have been cut down, simplified/banalized and not thought through.

    It will make you play it once with a lot of joy, but it will not make you love it for months and play it over and over again as the good old XCOM from 1983.    … Expand
  100. foolx
    Oct 18, 2012
    6
    So i was about to buy this game for the xbox 360. Thanks to a friend of mine, he lend me his pc-version to first test the game. Thanks!
    I would never ever pay 60
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Awards & Rankings

7
#7 Best PC Game of 2012
11
#11 Most Discussed PC Game of 2012
8
#8 Most Shared PC Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
89

Generally favorable reviews - based on 57 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 56 out of 57
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 57
  3. Negative: 0 out of 57
  1. PC Master (Greece)
    Feb 6, 2013
    88
    Is it better than the original? No. One can’t imagine X-Com 2012 being an all-time-classic and people still playing with it, months from now (let alone, years). Is it a ‘true’ X-Com game, however? Definitely. Remorseless geeks are in for shivers and swoons when they meet their beloved foes: mind-controlling sectoids, zombifying Chrysalids, Cyberdisks, Ethereals… [December 2012]
  2. Armchair Empire
    Dec 18, 2012
    95
    XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a worthy tribute to its progenitor and hopefully the start of something brand new for players who've been dying to get a good squad-based strategy game that lets them not only think, but feel as well.
    Read full review
  3. Hyper Magazine
    Nov 14, 2012
    90
    Amazing tactical complexity, satisfying strategic depth; slightly dodgy ending, but your own stories are more important anyway. A modern classic.
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