UFO: Aftermath

I bought and played this game only for a couple of minutes before I got bored and the game crashed because of lots of bugs (they might fixed the bugs in the GOG version thou). Its 3D graphics are worse than the older X-COM games with 2D graphics. The gameplay and atmosphere is no way near the original X-Com.

The UFO & XCom franchise are really enjoyable strategy games. As a general rule, all of the games, form each series have great music, unparalleled atmosphere and fun gameplay, albeit strategical stressful where needed. UFO AM is far from perfect but i hope that users of GoG and UFO aftermath will enjoy thsi new mod i have created. The MegaMod can be found here: https://unrealbyfusilade.wordpress.com/non-unreal-tutorials/pc-gaming/ufo-aftermath/ or here: http://www.strategycore.co.uk/forums/topic/11134-megamod-kit/ I hope that it will provide an improved experience of UFO AM for users and would be happy if it increases longevity of the game and increases traffic to GoG for all their hard work and excellent business model. Enjoy

NOT RECOMMENDED. It takes some XCOM elements while failing to make them fun or incorporating in a fresh way. The Biomass thing is stupid AF. Worse than UFO Defense with the overall lack of new content alone. The plot is extremely weak and stupid. Every single mission is the same. One enemy with paralysis / MC can ruin your game FAST. 3/5 as an XCOM game, 2/5 without the franchise sympathy. Also repetitive. And repetitive. And r... Gameplay: Pseudo-real-time without any real-time unit AI - you still have to micromanage your dudes for them to do anything, including returning fire. Repetitive, identicial missions that you play hundreds of during a single playthrough. Once the difficulty jumps happen, the game gets gruesomely more difficult, even if you play on Easy: 1. when the second tier Transgenants happen, 2. when aliens appear and 3. when aliens start carrying Psi weapons and heavy-damage plasma guns or worse. The more difficult the game gets, the slower and the more boring it gets (you always get heavily punished for being daring). Some of the missions start you surrounded by tons of enemies that will paralyze and / or mind-control you before you can do anything, provided that you are not dead already. Oh yeah, the game likes killing you. Especially when you are crippled w/ weapon supplies such as not being able to make any human or the hybrid alien munitions. If you are not a casual player, DON'T. You will not like the game even with cheats. Even with cheats it's tons of work, which is not good in a game. It is stuck with the tabletop RPG setting with maps and weapon damage calculations. Try the new XCOM games instead. You need some serious nerd's curse and full-fledged autism to complete a single 50h playthrough. It's hundreds of mostly identical maps and units, killing thousands of enemies (for no real gain) and grinding through the finish line at outside-Earth location ripped from the original UFO Defense. This game has no soul of its own. Zero.

Humour me for a second here. I want you to stop thinking about that *other* game. You know the one; the one we all love so much that we'd buy it flowers and marry it if we could. Because, if you ignore that *other* game, then there's actually quite a lot to like about UFO: Aftermath. The UFO series works because it unashamedly clones a winning formula. It's copies the first two X-COM games so closely that I'm surprised lawyers weren't involved. For us gamers, this is good. This is a game that lets you save the world by shooting aliens in the face. It'll suck up hours and hours and hours of your time. You'll care about the fate of your little shooty-men. You'll debate long and hard about your strategy. That sounds like fun, doesn't it? There are also a few improvements over X-COM. The squad commands are much more fluid, meaning that ground encounters no longer take hours to play. And the graphics may lack a certain VGA-charm, but they get the job done and create a nice visual style. So, why only three stars? Well, I took one off because of balancing problems. Last time I saved this particular planet, a few missions had huge difficulty spikes which just seemed unfair. In addition, things get a bit random when your squad enters a UFO - those aliens are either all spread out or sitting in a corner having coffee. Another star comes off because, quite simply, it's so similar to X-COM that I felt I'd seen it all before. I finished the game, but I was a little bored by the end. So, if this is your first encounter with the alien menace, add a star on. It's a good game in its own right. And if you're a seasoned planet-saver, there's still plenty to like. Just don't expect to feel the same 'wow' that you did back in 1993.

Let's discuss UFO Aftermath: 1. It is not X-Com, don't even try to compare them. Granted the Greys (Reticulans) resemble Sectiods but the similarities stop there. 2. If you feel the need to compare it to another game, it feels a bit like Fallout with some Strategical elements added. Okay now that is out of the way let's talk shop, graphic wise the game isn't the best of best even for the time it got released in. The game doesn't have a lot of music files and only a hand full of sound files. Don't expect creepy music when you are sneaking up on aliens. The game is challenging at first, when you are running around with SMGs and Shotguns the game is very challenging, later on as your soldiers gain levels and you get better equipment it starts to get easier. Expect to lose a few soldiers early on if you are not careful. Some missions (Alien bases and UFOs) are ... annoying in design. Finally, the good tends to "slow" down to longer you play. All in all, a decent game, not as good as the later games of the series, Aftershock and Afterlight.