XCOM: Enemy Unknown is about assembling an elite squad of exterminators to bloody the nose of an alien invasion, but that's not what it feels like. It feels like tip-toeing upstairs at midnight, kitchen knife in hand, to find out what that rattling noise was in the attic. Most strategy games place too much information at your disposal to inspire dread - you'll always where the enemy is and, more importantly, what the enemy is.
But exploring a map in XCOM can be as harrowing as heading to Silent Hill for the weekend. Anything could be lurking outside the field of view - spider-crabs who breed by stuffing their eggs into people, alligators holding plasma bazookas, flying saucers that unfold into bristling origami sculptures of doom. You just don't know.
Time doesn't proceed till you scan for alien activity, so there's leisure to pick over the minutiae of your base, zooming to inspect an industrious cluster of eggheads or to watch a man eating dinner in the barracks. Once you do spin the big blue hologlobe, however, there's no telling what the game might throw at you.
Unknown unknowns
You may be called on to quash a spate of abductions, or fish a VIP out of a tight spot. A UFO might take a pop at one of your satellites, threatening to plunge an entire continent into darkness unless you scramble an interceptor to splash it. You don't have to respond to each event, and when the sickbays are full, it may be wiser to hold off. But doing so will cost you political capital, which translates to a smaller payout each month.
Worst of all are the Terror Missions, genocidal pogroms where the idea is to save as many civilians as you can. Fail to answer the call of duty, or allow too many innocents to perish, and the country affected will pull support in protest. Lose eight sponsors, and it's game over.
Nowhere is XCOM's cocktail of short and long-term risk and reward more potent than in soldier customisation. A veteran trooper is worth his weight in gold, whether he's armed with a kevlar vest and grenades or an Archangel flight suit and a plasma rifle.
Battle itself couldn't be further from the bland, archers-behind-spearmen routines of many Japanese turn-based strategy games, and is let down only by presentational glitches like units occasionally shooting through objects. Range and angle heavily affect accuracy, so victory is about luring enemies into a killzone without exposing your squad in the process.
The AI is sharp enough, but you'll find it harder to fox fellow Earthlings in multiplayer - a pick-and-mix affair where each player has a certain number of points to allocate on units, abilities and gear from both the alien and human line-ups. This feature feels a little perfunctory, but XCOM doesn't really need an inventive mode selection to entertain. Thanks to the sheer number of variables in play, the smallest of dust-ups has the potential to erupt into a two-hour disaster movie beyond Michael Bay's wildest nightmares.
15 comments so far...
kronk10 on 8 Oct '12 said:
Booked the day off on friday just to play this gem of a game so glad i pre ordered it fingers crossed this will get developers to make more strategy games
Clanger67 on 8 Oct '12 said:
Damn wished i was able to get this and Dishonoured.Will definitley be trying to get it before xmas though.Which doesn't look like it might be too bad we already have a couple of high scorers this week.And FC 3,Hitman,Hitman HD (i hope) too look forward to as well yet.
Not to mention the new Minecraft update.
Plamsa wing on 8 Oct '12 said:
Can't wait! I'm really hoping it comes on Wednesday.
Question time, Ed can you name your peeps in-game? I've always wanted that ability in my strategies/RPG's.
kronk10 on 8 Oct '12 said:
you can name your soldiers go to oxm's you tube page and look at matts videos they are very funny and fun to watch! Do not think you will get it wednesday its due out this friday for us in the uk. Would be good if it did come out mid week
Plamsa wing on 8 Oct '12 said:
I kept meaning to watch the rest of Matts videos, I'll check them out when I get home. Gotta say I love that sort of customisation, makes the game even better for me.
I'm getting my copy from Shopto, I usually get my pre-orders on the wednesday with them, so you never know.
comabob on 8 Oct '12 said:
Is this 1200points?
OXM ETboy on 8 Oct '12 said:
Nope, it's a retail game.
EdDeRs1 on 8 Oct '12 said:
to tell the truth, i feel a little disappointed in the game, i remember the initial previews and how it looked like a totally awesome FPS with strategy elements mixed, a bit like Battalion Wars 2 on the Wii, and now its a pure turn based RTS, and while i love RTS games, with games like Age of Empires still being one of my all time favorites, i was really looking forward to the origonal draft
NinthGeorgesw on 8 Oct '12 said:
Isn't the FPS a different game? I'm pretty sure it's still being released eventually.
fracturedrich on 8 Oct '12 said:
mines there wed if not defo thursday ime so glad this hit a 9 and i hope the sales go well so they make more games like it
fracturedrich on 8 Oct '12 said:
oh and i wont be reading eds class guide as i want to explore and learn everything for myself the weekend cant come fast enough for me.
EdDeRs1 on 8 Oct '12 said:
ah yes your right, the FPS is just plain XCOM, and has been delayed heavily, according to the internet it will come out sometime after April next year, so come on OXM lets get some info about it
That_kid96 on 9 Oct '12 said:
I've actually been looking forward to this game for so long. but i'm guessing that as its released friday and its now monday then there will be no demo? Also what are your opinions on game rental services such as Lovefilm?
Leemundo on 9 Oct '12 said:
Lovefilm Rental is about £10 a month and you can borrow as many games as you can play and post back to them within the month. I found that there were games I kept for like three weeks before I had completed them, constraints of work and social life. So it didn't't really benefit me when most of the games you cold buy for around £10, never mind rent them.
Back on Topic...
You can only name soldiers if you pre-ordered I think?!
I also booked time off for this, and Hitman, and Black Ops... I haven't used any time off for an actual holiday, just games releases... Does that make me a hardcore gamer? Or geek?
fracturedrich on 10 Oct '12 said:
its wednesday today and my local gameshop just phoned me and told me to pick my copy up at 1.30 the long wait is finally over its not out till friday but thats what you get for supporting smaller game shops i work nights and i will not want to go to work tonight but cant afford time of with halo bl ops 2 played the demo for this twice this morning and its short but defo leaves you wanting more i was sold on this 6 months ago i hope it does well with dishonoured hitting shelves at the same time