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. apokalipto
    Aug 19, 2023
    9
    Very good game. I enjoyed playing this game a lot. I strongly recommend this.
  2. fishgameing
    Aug 14, 2023
    10
    **** amazing. first saw my dad playing it back in 2013 when i was still a little kid. nine years later, got the complete edition for like 30 or 40 bucks on christmas cause i wanted to see what it was all about. instantly **** hooked. i now have 155 hours and counting on steam and i might never stop. highly recommended for anyone who is even somewhat familiar with tacstrat games

    some    **** amazing. first saw my dad playing it back in 2013 when i was still a little kid. nine years later, got the complete edition for like 30 or 40 bucks on christmas cause i wanted to see what it was all about. instantly **** hooked. i now have 155 hours and counting on steam and i might never stop. highly recommended for anyone who is even somewhat familiar with tacstrat games

    some advice i have for new players:
    - normal mode, ironman. perfect balance of fun and challenge. ironman mode will keep you from ruining the fun for yourself. just take care to avoid softlocks, crashes or process terminations
    - buy the enemy within expansion and slingshot dlc. boot to enemy within. before starting the game, enable Operation Slingshot and Operation Progeny in the advanced settings. they add some very challenging side quest-style missions that provide substantial rewards if completed
    - avoid second wave options for your first playthrough, they make the game much more unpredictable and very different from the standard experience
    - smoke & mirrors, flush, battle scanner, and rapid reaction are the worst perks in each of their respective class training trees and are vastly outclassed by their alternatives. never **** pick them    … Expand
  3. PR9Gaming
    Aug 12, 2023
    10
    There's a reason every new turn-based shooter is called an XCOM game; this game basically hasn't been beat since.
  4. HydrophobikFish
    Jun 9, 2023
    8
    Excellent turn based strategy. Tons of fun, good balance of reward and punishment, practical and aesthetic customization is really fun. Tons of fun, worth your time.
  5. Hyperfailure
    Nov 27, 2022
    8
    (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
    ┻━┻ ︵ ヽ(°□°ヽ)

    ┻━┻ ︵ ＼( °□° )／ ︵ ┻━┻

    ┬─┬ノ( º _ ºノ)

    (ﾉಥ益ಥ）ﾉ ┻━┻

    ┬──┬ ¯_(ツ)

    ┻━┻ ︵ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ︵ ┻━┻

    ┻━┻ ︵ ¯(ツ)/¯ ︵ ┻━┻

    (╯°Д°）╯︵ /(.□ . )

    ʕノ•ᴥ•ʔノ ︵ ┻━┻
  6. Gaming_Bear
    Oct 24, 2022
    10
    An amazing turn based strategy with perfect game play, great story full of twists and turns. I must have played through this game at least 5 times. If you are a fan of scifi and turn based strategy and have not played this you are doing life wrong.
  7. AJCk19
    Oct 5, 2022
    8
    Everything is great, but if you mess up something in early game, and you finally in late game. You just have to start all over, so make sure you plan accordingly or "scum save." Also, I shouldn't be missing a 90% chance shot so often.
  8. aecsuter
    Sep 8, 2022
    9
    It was my favorite game until Xcom 2 was released.
    Basic yet immersive story. You end up creating your own story with your own soldiers and missions.
    A good variety of enemies, maps and mission styles. The base management, research, resources, character evolution part is a separate game and it's wonderful. The graphics are nothing spectacular, but they are round, beautiful, I haven't    It was my favorite game until Xcom 2 was released.
    Basic yet immersive story. You end up creating your own story with your own soldiers and missions.
    A good variety of enemies, maps and mission styles.
    The base management, research, resources, character evolution part is a separate game and it's wonderful.
    The graphics are nothing spectacular, but they are round, beautiful, I haven't had any bugs in my 160 hours of play.
    Above all, the game is extremely fun, whether for those who have never played it, using the lowest difficulties, or for those who want to suffer.
    I highly recommend the game.    … Expand
  9. tontonac
    May 16, 2022
    9
    I prefer this one to the sequel, better pacing and campaign is more stressfull.
  10. AliceGross
    May 6, 2022
    8
    Харашо Харашо Харашо Харашо Харашо Харашо Харашо Харашо Харашо Харашо Харашо
  11. Woolee
    Sep 29, 2021
    10
    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 a
  12. CheetoPhingers
    Aug 18, 2021
    8
    Fun little game for people that like strategy games on a square grid with a little bit of bit of bean counting. Not without a challenge.
  13. Axilley
    Jul 22, 2021
    9
    good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good
  14. FRIST_008
    Jun 14, 2021
    8
    Это свершилось, оно вышло, и даже не ударило в грязь лицом, это хорошая стратегия, которая продолжает UFO, с которым я познакомился в детстве
  15. Bellarmcsb
    Mar 7, 2021
    10
    The perfect, quintessential strategy game, and a classic favorite of mine. I still play this game every year.
  16. shatarah
    Dec 2, 2020
    10
    greattttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt
  17. watrfll
    Oct 19, 2020
    8
    Dynamic chess with plasma rifles and absurd randomness. The game has no analogues, tho.
  18. Nerevarinho
    Jul 4, 2020
    9
    Would reload savegame again.
    ..............................................
  19. Bigmano
    Jun 29, 2020
    10
    It's fantastic and highly tactical. The game runs well and the graphics are good.
  20. DoctorDeath
    Jun 29, 2020
    9
    Great turn-based strategy. Classic story in the new graphics. Interesting gameplay.
  21. ewenr
    Jun 29, 2020
    9
    This was my first XCom game and I loved it immensely. Sure, there are a few annoyances (I hate the base-building) but the character connections and situational gameplay is fantastic.
  22. Wiebe
    Feb 26, 2020
    8
    Amazing game, so many great and different elements coming together.mit gets a bit boring thougn once you become really good at it.
  23. RogueV
    Dec 5, 2019
    10
    Possibly the greatest strategy game of all time. The gameplay is intuitive and an absolute blast to play. It's intense, engaging, and results scale very much with skill. Anybody who likes chess or turn based combat in any form, this game is for you. Even if you have never tried a turn based game and don't have much interest in chess, I still recommend you try out XCOM.

    For anyone who    Possibly the greatest strategy game of all time. The gameplay is intuitive and an absolute blast to play. It's intense, engaging, and results scale very much with skill. Anybody who likes chess or turn based combat in any form, this game is for you. Even if you have never tried a turn based game and don't have much interest in chess, I still recommend you try out XCOM.

    For anyone who has played the Civilization series, this game takes that whole model and applies it to a tactical shooter, and it works brilliantly. There is research that takes a certain amount of days just like Civ, and the tile-based movement system in combat is also very familiar. It works brilliantly in this new setting, perhaps even better than in Civ itself.

    One of my favourite things about this game is how the story is created organically. This is not because of dialogue trees or any effort to make the campaign have branching paths (in fact, the campaign is quite linear). It is because the best parts in this story will be made in gameplay by you, the player. And to me this is the absolute peak of what a video game story can achieve. Your soldiers, who start off as homogenous uninteresting rookies, will quickly win a place in your hearts through their heroic feats and resulting promotions. At any point, you can mess up and a soldier can die, and that's it, they will be gone forever. A soldier who has been with you from the first day the aliens attacked, gone forever all because you were careless and put them in a position where they are exposed. I cannot even describe the anguish it is possible to experience from a moment like that. The emotions and attachment I built with my soldiers in this game surpasses my attachment to basically any other video game story I have experienced. I recommend not reloading old saves when a squad favourite is lost, but to roll with the punches, your experience will be all the richer.

    There's a lot of thought gone into this game to make this game engaging as a whole and to provide proper support for the innovative core gameplay mechanic. The base building aspects are satisfying and the perfect addition to the campaign, making you feel invested in what's to come as well as properly dealing with progression and time. The world map and councils offer impactful decisionmaking to be possible within the constraints of a fixed plot.

    Lastly, I should add that if you are a newcomer to the XCOM series, I recommend you first check out XCOM 2 and then XCOM 2's expansion War of the Chosen. This is because XCOM 2 does everything right in making XCOM even better and there's no reason to not start with the best the series has to offer. War of the Chosen is possibly the greatest video game expansion of all time. Anyone who has tried out XCOM 2 and is wondering whether the original is worth it or dated, look no further. Although the graphics are a bit weaker, the gameplay is equally stellar, and for XCOM 2 fans it is easily worth it for the plot alone.    … Expand
  24. Genek13
    Nov 18, 2019
    9
    One of my favorite tactical strategy games.
    Very challenging in all good aspects. Lots to do in campaign which has a good story.
    Every lose of your teammate is painful :)
  25. Cougargames
    Nov 5, 2019
    9
    There is nothing more satisfying with creating the perfect attack againts your aliens opponents one soldier is obove hiding ready to use overwatch while you have 2 sodliers on the ground hiding ready to throe grenades on all the aliens taht stand togheter. This game can get super intersting and is a streategy game that does things right. This is definetly a must buy for everyone.
  26. brendo214
    May 22, 2019
    8
    XCOM Enemy Unknown is surprisingly addictive for a strategy game. The combat is super fun.
  27. CenkAlp
    May 6, 2019
    8
    Hikaye = 8
    Oynanış = 9
    Grafikler = 7
    Sesler =7
    Keyif = 8
    Atmosfer = 8
    Süre = 7
  28. Misza123
    Apr 12, 2019
    8
    X-COM was my first contact with based turn tactical games... and I'm delighted. Addictive gameplay, okay graphic and cool setting. Sure, game has, for me, some issues with RNG and moments when a soldier shoots through wall spoils immerse, but still I really like X-COM. Especially I'm a fan of large amount of customization options (like color of your soldiers armors or giving themX-COM was my first contact with based turn tactical games... and I'm delighted. Addictive gameplay, okay graphic and cool setting. Sure, game has, for me, some issues with RNG and moments when a soldier shoots through wall spoils immerse, but still I really like X-COM. Especially I'm a fan of large amount of customization options (like color of your soldiers armors or giving them nicknames). Game which lands on a shelf "Must Play".… Expand
  29. Ydun79
    Feb 11, 2019
    9
    Very enjoyable well paced game. Doesn't hold your hand all the time, actual mistakes can be made.
  30. jelikey
    Jan 18, 2019
    8
    This game is hard to review, mostly because it is a "re-imagining" of one of my favorite games. The short story is: I like it. I am playing it. So, it gets an 8. Could it have been better? Oh yes. As an X-Com remake, it falls a bit flat. Simplified is a commonly used description, "on rails" is how I'd describe it. It seems that somewhere out there in a secret gaming steering committee, an…
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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

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.
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