Xenonauts

 PC
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 196 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 140 out of 196
  2. Mixed: 32 out of 196
  3. Negative: 24 out of 196

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  1. iseeall
    Nov 22, 2014
    7
    This remake of XCom is the closest one to the original, yet it still changes some things, and the changes are a mix of good and bad.

    The good: - music is excellent - excellent writing! Also, the descriptions are very logical (e.g. why invasion starts with small UFOs, why laser weapons have similar types like the ballistic ones and many other). - controls are much easier (especially    This remake of XCom is the closest one to the original, yet it still changes some things, and the changes are a mix of good and bad.

    The good:

    - music is excellent
    - excellent writing! Also, the descriptions are very logical (e.g. why invasion starts with small UFOs, why laser weapons have similar types like the ballistic ones and many other).
    - controls are much easier (especially compared to "instant scrolling" you get when playing XCom: UFO Defense, which was a DOS game, on fast modern computers - where you'd have to exit to battlefield map overview to move camera)
    - 2D air combat where you can sometimes win by manually controlling the planes even if the enemy ships were stronger and would win on autoresolve)
    - you can airstrike crash sites for smaller cash reward if your chopper is too far away
    - can see the line your shot will fly along and percentages about what things may block it!
    - shield which is a must for earlier missions.
    - graphics of the xenopedia
    - more types of terrain objects which provide partial cover (which works like it should, e.g. if you are right behind a tree, you will shoot thru it easily while it will block shots of the enemy).
    - can open/close doors without walking thru them

    The so-so things:

    - many small details where streamlined, e.g. inventory management, selling of loot, equipping interceptors, upgrades of weapons. Storage room has unlimited capacity, basic ballistic weapons cost nothing etc. They wanted to free the player from the "tedious micromanagement". Apparently, micromanaging was part of the fun.
    - the Earth is flat. It's maybe easier this way, but the 3D globe of the original with more realistic radar coverage felt better.
    - graphics of the battlefield, of the GUI, the soldiers. It feels like graphics in the 2D client of Ultima Online or something. It's still an improvement over the original, but after 23 years?!
    - almost all tactical maps are mazes, overfilled with things, which looks unrealistic and also makes sniper rifles almost useless - but well, it also helps to make more useful the weapons with shorter range
    - the game keeps the system of time units (action point) and "reflexes"/return shots just like in the original. I know some people like the old XCom system a lot but I much more prefer the JA2 system, for example, where turn-based mode only starts when solders of opposing teams see each other. This makes for much more fluent gameplay, and also a fairer one (cuz in XCom you are punished for moving forward because you always have fewer action points left than camping enemies). Besides, in JA 2 you could do anything during a turn interrupt (e.g. move away) while in XCom your solders would usually do 1 or 2 useless snap shots.
    - just like in the original, randomness of hits/misses in battle, combined with overpowered enemy shots in the beginning of the game results in a feeling that it's too much a game of luck than tactics and at some point you notice that you reload every time your soldier is killed, especially if it's your first playthru and the death was due to a rule/glich/feature you didn't know/expect.

    The bad:

    - most terrain objects now have a lot more hitpoints, so it takes much longer to destroy them, which results in very static battlefields. No more shooting wild with laser rifles or throwing grenades just to clear the view (even Alien grenades don't destroy walls, wtf!). The fact that terrain is now almost indestructible takes away a whole (interesting) piece of gameplay.
    - some interesting weapons missing (grenades with motion sensor? fire grenades/rockets? do you recall that fire actually was a light source in night missions in the original?)
    - night missions are now dull. Aliens can see in the dark, and at the same time you have an endless supply of light flares. Which means now you move even slower and throw endless light flares on every step. This doesn't make the game more interesting. In the original at least it was fun when you ran out or light flares and had to pick up those you had thrown already and throw them again.
    - throwing range of grenades is significantly shorter now, making grenades of very limited use. Oh and now grenades destroy ALL loot and the corpse itself! In the original the grenades would leave the corpse and the loot first, but more grenade explosions would wipe out the corpse first, then the loot.
    - smoke system is a joke, as well as fire system. In the original, smoke would slowly make soldiers unconscious, also there was a lot more smoke from every grenade and every fire. Fire used to spread.
    - aliens don't attack your base (haven't seen it?)
    - AI seems to always know where your soldiers are (so flanking or coming from behind is useless)
    - all soldiers have the same models which makes them feel anonymous
    - no frontal/rear/side armor, just armor
    - ufos always the same (in the original the hull could have holes, even in the roof, depending on the type of rockets you downed it with).    … Expand
  2. sherbz
    Jul 30, 2016
    7
    This is a pretty decent effort at a turn based squad tactics game. It is highly faithful to the original XCOM barring the alien types. It is also a well polished and deep tactical game. If you liked the original in the 90s, then you should like this.

    There are a few drawbacks however. The first is the lack of variety in the aliens. You basically only have 4 species and they do not    This is a pretty decent effort at a turn based squad tactics game. It is highly faithful to the original XCOM barring the alien types. It is also a well polished and deep tactical game. If you liked the original in the 90s, then you should like this.

    There are a few drawbacks however. The first is the lack of variety in the aliens. You basically only have 4 species and they do not do much to differentiate themselves. This needs to be addressed in the sequel. The second is the sound, which is a bit of a weird criticism to level at a game, but its just bad (IMO). The weapons sound terrible apart from the ballistic weapons, the music could be better, and the aliens also sound a bit weird. I would also like to see more interactivity with the environment.

    For purists this may be better than the new XCOM, but for me XCOM is far superior in almost every single way. that said, this is a decent title that has absorbed hours and hours from me, so for that i would still recommend it as worth a purchase if you have some more spare time to devote to saving the planet.    … Expand
  3. PowerGamer
    Nov 16, 2014
    7
    My review is for the last patched official version.
    Not the "Xenonauts Community Edition".
    This game was real fun for a while. It's obviously a variation of the original "X-COM" game which I did play back in the day. Although to me this game is better then last years official X-COM remake, I didn't like that one. If you like strategy and build games you will probably like this    My review is for the last patched official version.
    Not the "Xenonauts Community Edition".

    This game was real fun for a while.
    It's obviously a variation of the original "X-COM" game which I did play back in the day.
    Although to me this game is better then last years official X-COM remake, I didn't like that one.

    If you like strategy and build games you will probably like this game and it will be worth game time.

    It was real fun for a while until I hit a point in the game after several hours of play.
    I restarted several times, but still in the one longest game I played I hit a difficultly level that made it
    hard, or otherwise just too tedious to continue playing.

    I'd say even the original X-COM was blast to play for a while..until doing the same types of battles over and over again got to tedious and then it was time to stop.

    Besides the tedium of slowly stepping out the battles, the game just doesn't scale very well.
    It's leveling - skilling - upgrading - growing up is hammered out as it probably could be.
    You will see if you made mistakes in upgrading where you are running out of money and, or,
    you didn't capture key technology in time then you will be behind and unable to fight the latest UFO craft (the level based on the date?), etc.

    An engrossing blast for a while until you hit the wall of tedium and difficulty..    … Expand
  4. procyon4
    Dec 12, 2014
    7
    As a long time X-COM fan, in fact since the release of the DOS Enemy Unknown, I was looking forward to this remake. What a disappointment! I must say that it looks great and the combat management and base management are true to the original (With certain minor omissions that I consider irrelevant).
    Combat is very though even at normal difficulty setting. Your opponents are faster, more    As a long time X-COM fan, in fact since the release of the DOS Enemy Unknown, I was looking forward to this remake. What a disappointment! I must say that it looks great and the combat management and base management are true to the original (With certain minor omissions that I consider irrelevant).
    Combat is very though even at normal difficulty setting. Your opponents are faster, more accurate and much better equipped than the best of your squad. However, since it's possible to save the game whenever you wish, it evens up the chances as far as I'm concerned. Where it breaks totally for me, it's
    the very short time you have before funding is cut and countries turn against you. It makes the game totally unfair and kills any feeling of accomplishment you may have. Events are happening outside your zone of control and without any possibility for you to intervene. Click on it, double click on it,
    right click on it but you'll never be able to make it a target for your fighters or send a squad to investigate. Nevertheless, you are penalized. This is made even worse because, regardless of where you put your base to start, the AI will automatically move the action outside of your action zone. Again, it's
    possible to try to mitigate this by saving often , reloading and hoping to get a better dice roll but it's a totally useless aggravation that brings nothing to the game. In the end though it's NOT a steam game, no DRM and the price on GoG is very acceptable. So, if you're a X-COM unconditional get it and hope
    for an update to better balance the odds on the world map.    … Expand
  5. blazicekj
    Oct 21, 2015
    5
    Xenonauts is a fun game, in many respects I like it better than the new XCOM games as it focuses on what's important a lot more.

    BUT, it's simply put a prototype. Marketing a game for OS X when all you have is a badly done Wine port full of game breaking bugs is not OK. At this point, as far as I can tell, the development is dead. Looking at the forums and all the reported problems for    Xenonauts is a fun game, in many respects I like it better than the new XCOM games as it focuses on what's important a lot more.

    BUT, it's simply put a prototype. Marketing a game for OS X when all you have is a badly done Wine port full of game breaking bugs is not OK. At this point, as far as I can tell, the development is dead. Looking at the forums and all the reported problems for the mac version of the game you can see that the developers response is basically "Yeah, tough luck, sorry bout that". I get that they don't have finances to pursue this further and it would be fine if they only marketed a polished Windows game. If a Windows game doesn't work in Wine, then the user only has himself to blame for buying it. This way it's just a scam.

    All in all, it's probably great if you're on Windows, otherwise stay away from it.    … Expand
  6. Koblihozrout
    Jun 23, 2014
    6
    Unfinished & unpolished.

    Artwork and graphics are obviously dated, but that’s not the problem. The problem is lack of animations, explosions, objects, scenery, art etc., it feels like hollow early alpha or demo. Turn based combat suffers same problems, you can only do four things, move, shoot, reload, duck. No abilities, no running, suppressing fire etc.. Grenades don’t have delay,    Unfinished & unpolished.

    Artwork and graphics are obviously dated, but that’s not the problem. The problem is lack of animations, explosions, objects, scenery, art etc., it feels like hollow early alpha or demo.

    Turn based combat suffers same problems, you can only do four things, move, shoot, reload, duck. No abilities, no running, suppressing fire etc.. Grenades don’t have delay, they don’t bounce, and you can only throw them over small fence, but not a wooden wall, or into the window… Watching endless running animations begins to annoy the player sooner or later, and there is no option to speed it up.
    Squad development is virtually non-existent, you don’t level up your soldiers, only their basic stats (like accuracy, strength etc.,) grow a little after each mission, again no perks, or abilities to choose from.

    Base development and research are again extremely simplified. The game becomes grinding cycle of intercepting UFO’s, lunching ground operation (if you still care…) and waiting for final mission. Overall it’s not terrible game, but feels rushed, and leaves the gameplay overall lacking. 60/100.    … Expand
  7. joggy
    Jun 18, 2014
    6
    I'm big fan of x-com series. Played all x-com games, even when they strayed from turn based combat into real time with pause.
    Then came new XCOM, enemy unknown, and I was delighted with it. Yes, its not the same game as original x-com, but its close enough. That being said, the only fair thing is to compare xenonauts with newest x-com.
    Right from the start, who came up with the idea of    I'm big fan of x-com series. Played all x-com games, even when they strayed from turn based combat into real time with pause.
    Then came new XCOM, enemy unknown, and I was delighted with it. Yes, its not the same game as original x-com, but its close enough. That being said, the only fair thing is to compare xenonauts with newest x-com.
    Right from the start, who came up with the idea of naming this game xenonauts? I only recently stumbled upon it by chance, name and logo suggested to me that its another tower defense crap.

    Graphics: OK, this is "indie" game, I get it, I didn't expect to be stunned, and I wasn't. Graphic is good enough, animations less so, and the overall feel is better then original x-com, but nowhere near the new x-com.
    Sound: well, sound is bad, almost as bad as original x-com. Maybe that was the idea, to make game as close as they could to original game. Nothing to add here.
    Interface: whole interface looks very similar to original game, and that is a good thing to me. Sure, I like honeycomb view of the base and other stuff from the new x-com, but this is much much closer to the "old school" style that I personally like. If you played old x-com, you will be right at home here.
    Gameplay: Now, this game is set into cold war era and I think this is the coolest thing to change from the old game. All praise for that. Another change (sorta) is tactical view of the dogfights between aircrafts. Very cool, feels like cold war tactical screen, and overall much better then new x-com. Another good thing is that you can opt to airstrike the crashed UFO, so that means that you can neutralize the threat without spending time on missions which only waste your time. Thumbs up. Multiple bases, base assaults and takebacks are in, and I like that too. I personally also like the old action points system, so I would give another plus here for xenonauts, against new x-com.
    And now the ugly part... price is 23 euros!!!!! Against new x-com which is 20!!!!! And that's where many of these indie games fail to deliver. C'mon people, don't put a price which is half a price of mainstream game if your budget is 100 times smaller..... really.
    All in all, I gave this game a 6. Again, as I said in other of my indie reviews, add +2 if money is no issue for you, +1 if graphic is irrelevant to you, +1 if you couldn't care less of the sound and finally +1 if you are hardcore fan of the old school x-com.    … Expand
  8. blade01
    Jun 20, 2014
    5
    Xenonauts is a predecessor of the original series X-Com.It stays true to its source material, no question.But thats where the problem starts.X-Com was a great game back than and its still playable.Many games tried to immitate the basic concept, nearly all atempts failed!There are some potential problems that you can encounter as a developer when you try to make an X-Com game.You can be tooXenonauts is a predecessor of the original series X-Com.It stays true to its source material, no question.But thats where the problem starts.X-Com was a great game back than and its still playable.Many games tried to immitate the basic concept, nearly all atempts failed!There are some potential problems that you can encounter as a developer when you try to make an X-Com game.You can be too close and the lacks unique ideas or you can be on a complete different page and the outcome is a game that is not close enough to X-Com(like the reboot of x-Com, Enemy unknown).Here, the game is realy close to the original.It uses round and AP based combat which is ok.It uses a skillystem that is realy close to the original, this is ok too.The game has some unique ideas.The dogfights are different from X-Com and they are enjoyable at first.You cant capture alienweapons and use them, thats different too.I dont like that idea.You need to produce weapons and you are short on money most of the time.Bad combination.Xenonauts has the problem that there are many, many many titles on the market with the same concept(and some of them are free, like the great "Alieninvasion").Every single game makes something better than Xenonauts, mostly when it comes to the uniqunessfactor.For example UFO:Afterlight was pretty neat because of the mars enviroment and the big techtree.Afterlight got some interesting weapons, different factions.Where is all this in Xenonauts?The weapons are soooooo booooring for example.Or look at Extraterrestials.This game has an interesting variation of enemys.Some are immune so specific weapons.You need to mix it up a bit.Where is this in Xenonauts?All in all, Xenonauts is ok.Nothing special.Its close to X-Com but X-Com is what?20 Years old?Close it not enough and the game is nothing special like i pointed out.The own ideas are ok but they are not enough to make this game better than "ok".If you like the original than buy it.But dont think there is something that makes this game better or a step forward.And thats my major complain.I could play X-Com 20 times and than play Xenonauts, i wouldnt feel a difference.If thats my final thought on a game than its a fail or at least semi-fail.Sorry guys, without the fanboyfactor this game is mediocre.… Expand
  9. Klewer
    Dec 28, 2018
    6
    Average remaketribute to XCOM. Combat is overly tough, even on Normal. Base building is solid but overall you're better off spending your money on new XCOM games.
  10. aecsuter
    Jul 28, 2023
    7
    A quantidade de horas que joguei ja diz que gostei do jogo, mas ele possui alguns problemas como gráficos ritmo e interface.

    ---== Gráficos ==-- Os gráficos definitivamente poderiam ser melhores, principalmente nas missões. Tive dificuldade varias vezes em posicionar corretamente os soldados por não ser possível girar a câmera, ou ainda a dificuldade que é visualizar dentro de uma nave    A quantidade de horas que joguei ja diz que gostei do jogo, mas ele possui alguns problemas como gráficos ritmo e interface.

    ---== Gráficos ==--
    Os gráficos definitivamente poderiam ser melhores, principalmente nas missões. Tive dificuldade varias vezes em posicionar corretamente os soldados por não ser possível girar a câmera, ou ainda a dificuldade que é visualizar dentro de uma nave de mais de um andar. Diversas vezes o teto se sobrepõe e você fica tentando ir pra lá e pra cá pra poder enxergar o que esta fazendo.
    Mas com exceção a esse problema os gráficos são ok.
    Senti falta de cutscenes, pois toda a lore é escrita, mas isso é apenas detalhe.

    ---== História ==--
    Não existe nenhum acontecimento ou evento dentro do jogo, toda a história é contada dentro das pesquisas e em nenhum lugar fora disso, logo não preciso dizer que ela é extremamente elaborada e que surpresas e plots ocorrem.
    È a boa e velha invasão alienígena a lá x-com.
    Porém é bom destacar que a parte escrita é muito bem feita e detalhada, portanto não saia pulando ou irá perder uma parte interessante do jogo.

    ---== Gameplay ==--
    Eu me considero um fã de X-com apesar de ter jogado apenas os novos (tenho mais de 700 horas de jogo considerando os 2), então fiquei muito feliz quando conheci esse jogo pois estava sentindo falta de um jogo nessa linha.
    Mas o jogo me surpreendeu, ele tinha muitas mecânicas diferentes que não tinha no x-com, como derrubar as naves inimigas, gerenciar varias bases diferentes e seus estoques, soldados e aviões, entre outras coisas.
    Portanto quem se jogar de cabeça terá muitas horas de diversão.
    Dito isto é importante deixar claro alguns problemas no jogo.
    Eu achei que falta ritmo, em muitos momentos fica monótono exatamente por não acontecer nada, ter uma história ou eventos dentro do jogo. Ele é extremamente linear.
    O que mais me incomodou no jogo foi a interface. Fazer a gestão de 9 bases no fim do jogo pode ser um tormento com tantos menus bagunçados na parte de inventario. Ruim igual são os menus do workshop e fica muito chato ficar procurando toda vez o menu pra dar disassembly em uma core de nave inimiga.
    Espero que eles arrumem isso em próximos jogos.

    ---== Resumo ==--
    È um bom jogo, que possui muitas mecânicas interessantes, mas que poderia ter sido refinado em alguns pontos chave. Acredito que tenha muito potencial para ser um grande jogo no futuro.
    Para quem gosta do gênero vale a pena conferir, pois em promoção ele fica muito barato. Paguei R$9,19.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

66
#66 Best PC Game of 2011
82
#82 Most Discussed PC Game of 2011
51
#51 Most Shared PC Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 21
  3. Negative: 1 out of 21
  1. Pelit (Finland)
    Jan 21, 2015
    84
    If you wish to dethrone the Eternal Emperor of computer gaming, you can't have gaping holes in your armor, and thanks to the repeating and completely flat terrains as well as some balancing issues, that's precisely what Xenonauts has. However, in many other ways this is the best UFO-game thus far and thanks to modability and an active community, we just might be witnessing the birth of a legend. [Jan 2015]
  2. CD-Action
    Oct 22, 2014
    70
    A worthy tribute to UFO: Enemy Unknown/X-COM: UFO Defense, but far from perfect. If you feel that your inner hard core gamer is not dead yet, give it a try and have fun. [Sept 2014, p.64]
  3. Riot Pixels
    Aug 27, 2014
    70
    Retro looks can only get you so far, and in the case of Xenonauts, the longer you play it, the more annoying things you discover. A primitive leveling up system (there are no classes or special abilities), contrived combat mechanics, a moth-eaten 2D engine that doesn’t know how to rotate or zoom. In the end, the strategic part becomes much more interesting than tactical battles.
    Read full review
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