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. 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
  2. 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, ...)
  3. 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
  4. 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
  5. 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
  6. 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
  7. 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.
  8. 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
  9. 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.
  10. 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
  11. 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
  12. 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
  13. 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
  14. 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
  15. 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
  16. 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.
  17. ltx
    Oct 14, 2012
    4
    This remake takes all the freedom and open-ended, multi-faceted strategic gameplay out of x-com and replaces it with a squad simulator on rails. Suspenseful atmosphere of X-Com isn't there. UI is clunky. I'm overall offended that this game was titled X-Com Enemy Unknown, implying it would be a faithful remake of the original game. Perhaps if you never played the original game, you might beThis remake takes all the freedom and open-ended, multi-faceted strategic gameplay out of x-com and replaces it with a squad simulator on rails. Suspenseful atmosphere of X-Com isn't there. UI is clunky. I'm overall offended that this game was titled X-Com Enemy Unknown, implying it would be a faithful remake of the original game. Perhaps if you never played the original game, you might be okay with this one. I seriously regret buying it though.… Expand
  18. Dariune
    Oct 21, 2012
    4
    Just finished the game and my thoughts were ... it was ok.

    The tactical battles were pretty well handled and the skills generally well balanced but the camera was a nightmare. And although I didnt particularly miss the Time Units system, I dont think the run and gun system worked THAT well. A soldier standing still should be able to fire more than one taking a move. I did also miss the    Just finished the game and my thoughts were ... it was ok.

    The tactical battles were pretty well handled and the skills generally well balanced but the camera was a nightmare. And although I didnt particularly miss the Time Units system, I dont think the run and gun system worked THAT well. A soldier standing still should be able to fire more than one taking a move. I did also miss the different kinds of shot you could use (Rapid, free fire and aim). But for the most part they were generally engaging.

    Everything else though ... well it was just so cut down.

    The base was boring as sin. The only buildings (Other than quest buildings) I built were the satelites and power.

    There were only two kinds of ship, three types of gun per class (Excluding support), two types of grenades and the rocket launcher was a bit bland as well (Though it made a great tactical choice in battles)

    Having said that, the different classes were all really useful and different enough from each other that I fielded a fairly decent variety of soldiers on the battlefield. I still would have prefferred to choose what guns and equipment my soldiers had rather than having them forced onto me bya a class system.

    So IMO the research, although fairly accurately taken from the original, was very dull. The only surprises were when something wasnt in the research tree. I understand this is mainly due to the cut down inventory system but half way through the game I found myself not caring about what I researched anymore.

    Talking of the inventory system. I would say this was my least favourite part of it. 4 items (5 if a skill is unlocked for Support) of kit which i found noticably limiting throughout the whole game, right from the start.

    The other part i really didnt like was the complete opposites of quality between the tactical battles and the openworld map. I realise this is even more subjective than the rest of my thoughts but, it felt to me like there were few choices or meaningful paths to go. Your herded into a choice of three abduction missions and then, seeminly at random, other missions come to play. At certain points in the game you are told to do something to continue the plot. It kind of felt to me like there was no point to that part of the game at all. It wouldnt have played much different if they had just given you 100 similar missions and allowed you to level up your men inbetween each mission. Which, IMO, goes completely against what UFO: Enemy unknown was about.

    I only played on Classic, but the original felt like a far more personalised struggle.

    In UFO: Enemy Unknown, I felt like it was my game. My world under attack and my plans, that failed or succeeded. In XCOM, it really wasnt. There was just a very slim line of paint telling me it was, which was easily washed off after a few missions.

    Having said that there were some parts which were far better. The squaddie customization, although not great, was certainly far far better than any other game of its type. It was really refreshing to have all my soldiers looking different on the battlefield. The graphics were also pretty good and the battles did come alive. An impressive feat for a turn based game.

    I also didnt mind the cutscenes or hero cam which were quite subtly done.

    The pace was too fast, not really allowing me to enjoy any of the (Too few) research breakthroughs I had.

    Lastly I feel they should get an award for managing to make the worst part of UFO: Enemy Unknown EVEN worse. The interceptor fights were atrocious. Laughably so. With just two ships, and your bog standard weapons. There were no tactical choices, battle variety or anything else.

    So to finish. I will say the game was fun, I dont feel like I was ripped off for buying it at full price, and I had fun playing. The game was too short, too stream lined and the strategic battles were really the only part which I think had a lot of thought put into it. I dont think this game will ever win any awards but it certainly wasnt terrible either.    … Expand
  19. Diswin
    Oct 18, 2012
    4
    It is good game (as good any game in almost forgotten genre), but... it is not a "true" XCom. Another failed remake. Its more like xcom themed tactical jrpg. Simplified and shallowed. Size of squad is too small for serious tactical decisions. Flanking is pure rubbish in end-game: you cann't 1-shot most of enemies and it is a great risk to loss your own man. Grenades, combat drugs areIt is good game (as good any game in almost forgotten genre), but... it is not a "true" XCom. Another failed remake. Its more like xcom themed tactical jrpg. Simplified and shallowed. Size of squad is too small for serious tactical decisions. Flanking is pure rubbish in end-game: you cann't 1-shot most of enemies and it is a great risk to loss your own man. Grenades, combat drugs are pretty useless in end-game too, its boost is not enough for wasting single slot. Multi leveled combat now in past: there is only 2 floor "earth" and 1 level above earth, between them is clear air. RIP, our last hope for resurrection of turn-based tactic games. It is was vain hope.… Expand
  20. LeonidasRex
    Apr 20, 2013
    4
    It's pretty, but it's not much of a game. They stripped the original gameplay down to bare bones, then tacked on a ton of Hollywood glitz.

    It seemed like they would have preferred to make a movie. XCOM:EU is great when it comes to voice acting, swooshy camera movements, and scary hissing aliens. There's not much plot and the characters are paper-thin, but it has excellent low-level    It's pretty, but it's not much of a game. They stripped the original gameplay down to bare bones, then tacked on a ton of Hollywood glitz.

    It seemed like they would have preferred to make a movie. XCOM:EU is great when it comes to voice acting, swooshy camera movements, and scary hissing aliens. There's not much plot and the characters are paper-thin, but it has excellent low-level production values such as animation, art, and sound effects. The gameplay is merely a way to make you sit still so that you can appreciate how much work they put into the visuals.    … Expand
  21. Phasmatis
    Oct 17, 2012
    4
    XCom can be summed up with one word. Stupid. Each of the games mechanics is incredibly stupid, satellites relays only let you use 2 satellites (so Viking Era computers), you units despite being the best of the best could be out gunned by the average gun owner, the aliens tactics are practically none existent and the only challenge the game poses is when it blatantly cheats by having youXCom can be summed up with one word. Stupid. Each of the games mechanics is incredibly stupid, satellites relays only let you use 2 satellites (so Viking Era computers), you units despite being the best of the best could be out gunned by the average gun owner, the aliens tactics are practically none existent and the only challenge the game poses is when it blatantly cheats by having you soldiers miss or have aliens pull off shots that you could only hope to pull off at the end of the game with the best equipment and in your dreams.

    Some of the mechanics actually do work like research and engineering but both leave you with few options and the only real challenge you will run into is running out of alloy or money which won't be awarded to you unless you have a satellite over a country.

    Strangely though I don't hate the game and have garnered much enjoyment from the title but the game ultimately leaves you feeling underwhelmed and disappointing and left me wanting to play the 50s remake as that looked more intelligent and enjoyable.    … Expand
  22. Kamiko
    Oct 9, 2012
    4
    If you've never played an XCOM game before, this game can be a simple and modern introduction to the concept. If you were a fan of the original though, you may be disappointed by the range of tactical options that have been eliminated to streamline play.
  23. BeardtobeFeared
    Apr 3, 2013
    4
    Picking up weapons/medkits from fallen comrades, throwing weapons to eachother, psi abilities, crouching, different types of firing (scatter shot/aimed shot/burst fire), an inventory system for every player...

    These are just a few of the things XCOM EU has left out of their game, and it seriously suffers from replayability for that. I about uninstalled the game when I found out I    Picking up weapons/medkits from fallen comrades, throwing weapons to eachother, psi abilities, crouching, different types of firing (scatter shot/aimed shot/burst fire), an inventory system for every player...

    These are just a few of the things XCOM EU has left out of their game, and it seriously suffers from replayability for that. I about uninstalled the game when I found out I couldn't take a medkit from my critically wounded medic to heal him.

    While the original was difficult and hard to get into, Enemy Unknown suffers from the opposite end of the spectrum endlessly 'streamlined' gameplay with very few paths or strategies to win the game    … Expand
  24. Gomez
    Jan 16, 2013
    4
    In the near future when aliens invade earth and start destroying everything they find you get put in charge of earths last stand; an organisation called Xcom. You get given a secret underground base which you are constantly expanding in order to combat the aliens from here you can send out satellites (which will track down enemy UFOs), build facilities, launch fighter planes (to take outIn the near future when aliens invade earth and start destroying everything they find you get put in charge of earths last stand; an organisation called Xcom. You get given a secret underground base which you are constantly expanding in order to combat the aliens from here you can send out satellites (which will track down enemy UFOs), build facilities, launch fighter planes (to take out UFOs) and send out troops to different parts of the world. As you progress further through the game you will find out more about the aliens and eventually travel to their mother ship and take out their leader.
    Xcom is a turn based strategy game in which you use guns to combat an alien threat which also includes blood so 12 is a pretty accurate rating for this game. The game can get very addictive when you play it and can leave you playing for hours but it can also be extremely frustrating at times for example if all your best troops get shot or if the games physics make no sense what so ever (unfortunately this happens quite a lot). Xcom can make you very angry at times but it can also improve your knowledge in strategic thinking over time.
    The gameplay of Xcom is a turn based strategy with simple movement and shooting based on chance the problem with the game is that there is so many glitches to do with the animations and objects in the world for example I have shot through solid objects way to many times to be just a glitch that they forgot about and the chances of shooting aliens make no sense whatsoever for example if you shoot at an alien behind heavy cover while standing right next to him you will not have as much chance as if you where shooting at him from behind while standing miles away
    My verdict on this is that it is a good game to play if you want to play for a long while if you don    … Expand
  25. garlor
    Oct 11, 2012
    4
    the original xcom had MANY icons on screen when it was launched on pc, have you ever played a game with many icons on a console? prolly not

    that's the reason why this game is really weak compared to the original, they have simplified it for the mainstream player, and the beauty of the original was it's complexity and all the decisions you could take on combat, which now you can't
  26. joeblade
    Oct 12, 2012
    4
    As a PC game I rate this rather low. As a PS3 game I would consider it a 7.
    this game should not be brought out for the pc, as it has clearly been dumbed down for the console controller. Last game I will ever buy that comes out for pc and console. 5 hitpoints? no bleeding (as far as I could tell), no ammo or gun pickup, no crouching (except for forced crouch), 2 actions per turn (rather    As a PC game I rate this rather low. As a PS3 game I would consider it a 7.
    this game should not be brought out for the pc, as it has clearly been dumbed down for the console controller. Last game I will ever buy that comes out for pc and console. 5 hitpoints? no bleeding (as far as I could tell), no ammo or gun pickup, no crouching (except for forced crouch), 2 actions per turn (rather than action points you are free to spend).
    the list goes on. the first disappointment this game offered me was when I switched out a grenade for a vest. it might make sense to have a medkit instead of a grenade, but a vest?
    this might work in terms of game mechanics (1 accessory slot) but the original game had a backpack with space, belt with space. Additionally, you only had as much ammo as you could carry, which made for interesting situations. I'll cut the boring list of what this game is not short. In summary, it is not x-com enemy unknown.    … Expand
  27. MrZero
    Oct 13, 2012
    4
    An abortion of a classic. (FYI -- beat the game on normal within 2 days, straight A's on monthly reports)
    First off, all battles are pre-destined; no individual rolls per move. Example: 2012 Xcom: EU -- When the battle starts, the AI now knows and has determined (regardless of aim percentage) what will hit, and what will not hit. You can save a game during a battle and soldier one will    An abortion of a classic. (FYI -- beat the game on normal within 2 days, straight A's on monthly reports)
    First off, all battles are pre-destined; no individual rolls per move. Example: 2012 Xcom: EU -- When the battle starts, the AI now knows and has determined (regardless of aim percentage) what will hit, and what will not hit. You can save a game during a battle and soldier one will always make a shot, move soldier 2 to a particular grid square, he will make a shot and soldier three will miss. Re-load the game, and the EXACT same chain of events will happen! Then, depending on "AI difficulty," the aliens will then move in for the kill and miss or hit. Keep in mind, it already knows exactly what can and can't kill you, so depending on the difficulty setting ... it either misses or hits you as it sees fit.
    In the original, you could re-load the game, and have the same soldier shoot at an alien -- every time you re-loaded, it "re-rolled" the move, and depending on the shot percentage, you would either hit or miss. The same was true for the alien movement. If you had a 25% chance to hit, you actually hit your target once or twice out of four or five times.
    Anyone who's played games developed or associated with Sid Meier knows the AI is a HUGE cheat. Who here has ever played any Civilization game and attacked an AI opponent, who was still in the Stone Age, with tanks; only to find out that upon attacking, that same AI opponent has miraculously teched to modern weapons and tanks, too.
    So, regardless of how well you do with your tactics, it doesn't matter -- the AI "decides" when you win or lose, with the illusion you've somehow outsmarted it. Poor, poor AI design.
    Now onto the other horrible changes -- You can no longer customize your soldiers as you see fit. In the original XCOM, you had approx. 50 slot to place items on each soldier and it required a significant amount of micro-manage. This though was not a chore, but a pure charm, considering that what, how and how much weapons/items your soldier was carrying, determined speed, stamina, shot percentage, reload speed, etc. Every choice had its pros and cons. In 2012 XCOM -- you have 4 slots per soldier, and each slot only holds a certain type of weapon/item, i.e. slot 1 main weapons (a rifle or machine gun), slot 2 sidearm (pistol) slot 3 class specific item (rocket launcher, smoke grenade) slot 4 misc (medkit, grenade, ext.) That's right! Each soldier can only carry ONE!!! grenade now (unless you waste an xp upgrade on them so they carry two) You get one rocket, one grenade, one medpack with only one use.
    On top of that, you can only have four soldiers per mission (upgradable to 6), which makes the game unnecessarily hard in the beginning, considering there can be a dozen or so aliens (who NEVER miss, depending on difficulty), and your capped at 4. That's at least a dozen incoming alien grenades at a four-man squad, whose max aim parentage is capped at 25% (not that it matters) on higher difficulty.
    Is an alien behind a wall or a tree? Want to shoot that obstacle out of the way so another squad-member can have a clear shot? Well guess what? That ability is gone now, too. Unless you can see the alien, you can no longer shoot freely at random objects, unlike the original -- that's a HUGE removal of tactics.
    Remember, that means you    … Expand
  28. agcsy
    Oct 14, 2012
    4
    The XCOM: Enemy Unknown devs must love them some Gears of War. The combat is a carbon copy of GoW expanded to squad level. Find cover, engage, do an acrobatic vault over the cover, and repeat. Thankfully the cut scenes accompanying some of these moves can be disabled through the options. It became annoying very quickly being forced to watch a mini movie of my squaddies doing somethingThe XCOM: Enemy Unknown devs must love them some Gears of War. The combat is a carbon copy of GoW expanded to squad level. Find cover, engage, do an acrobatic vault over the cover, and repeat. Thankfully the cut scenes accompanying some of these moves can be disabled through the options. It became annoying very quickly being forced to watch a mini movie of my squaddies doing something mundane. Oh hey look at me! My squaddie would shout as he back flipped through the window next to the door I told him to go through.
    The copying of GoW combat is not what ruined this game for me though. What ruined it is the linearity and lack of player control. All the events and encounters feel scripted. Despite having max satellite coverage alien vessel detection seems to only occur when the story requires it. On the control front nothing is more frustrating than having 20 soldiers and being able to only deploy 6 at any given time. 3 terror attacks! Don    … Expand
  29. peikko
    Oct 15, 2012
    4
    If you want x-com then try UFO series as this game isn't at all a good successor. Customisation of units and arming is poor compared to other similar titles. You can only change one item in your backpack; cannot choose troop specialisation. But you can change hair cut and appearance, not sure of the tactical advantage there. Cannot knock them for trying to update x-com; but in interviewsIf you want x-com then try UFO series as this game isn't at all a good successor. Customisation of units and arming is poor compared to other similar titles. You can only change one item in your backpack; cannot choose troop specialisation. But you can change hair cut and appearance, not sure of the tactical advantage there. Cannot knock them for trying to update x-com; but in interviews we constantly heard what big fans of the original they were - so why did they dum down so much? Console income? If you want a slow motion version of gears of war then this is your game. Definitely style over substance...… Expand
  30. JanGodwod
    Oct 15, 2012
    4
    For today standards this game is very neat. Of course, PC version is bugged as hell - but I've managed to get through the game even with the glitches (2 interceptors stuck screen, ufo roof, bad controls for walking inside ufo, impossible targeting with rocket launcher/grenades, over 100 saves etc.).

    Old version is still better for me. The new one lacks: - equipment managing (picking    For today standards this game is very neat. Of course, PC version is bugged as hell - but I've managed to get through the game even with the glitches (2 interceptors stuck screen, ufo roof, bad controls for walking inside ufo, impossible targeting with rocket launcher/grenades, over 100 saves etc.).

    Old version is still better for me. The new one lacks:
    - equipment managing (picking up, leaving behind etc)
    - free shooting (clearing walls for sniper etc)
    - action points instead of two movements
    - UFOPEDIA! - the Archive provided in Lab is a JOKE! There should be UFOPEDIA with nice drawings
    - realism - have You seen lock on Sniper rifle? Is this a cartoon or action strategy?
    - UFO ranks: medic, navigator etc.
    - random missions
    - random number generator
    - more things to research
    - more base management
    - chance to sell produced items
    etc.

    After playing it on normal. I want to launch my old laptop and run a whole night of old xcom on DOS. I paid 40    … Expand
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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.
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  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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