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
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  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
prev
Page:

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

All reviews »
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.
See all critic reviews »