XCOM: Enemy Unknown Complete Pack

one of the best turn based tactics games there is, but it can be repetitive sometimes since mission objectives aren't too varied and sometimes you need to haul your guys all the way across the map to trigger fights

A well-done modern re-imagining of the classic strategy, with some well-thought streamlining, but also marred by a few strange design decisions and artificial limitations that take away from the experience (squad soldier limit, only one troop transporter, only one utility item per soldier, etc.). Still, very much worth playing and definitely recommended for fans of tactical games.

A reboot of the original turn based series. Aliens have arrived, you get to lead an elite human force to deal with the alien threat. Turn based CQB against aliens and some humans. When not fighting you "manage" your base of operations, which is a huge underground base. You get to build rooms, research weapons etc, and a few other things. All is done very well and I assume most of you know about this game. The game is very well made and it can be quite addictive. If you have never played the original 90s series, that's more or less enough. If you are a fan of sci-fi and turn based tactical battles, this is a great game to get. I know I will eventually get the DRM free version from GOG too. If you are a fan of the original series, talking about Enemy Unknown and its two sequels, then the game is IMO not as good for a few important reasons. 1. Dumbed down strategies. 2. The tactical maps are for the most part nothing but corridor maps, pushing you towards one direction. There is no real freedom in where to move and explore for enemy units. 3. Time limit in battles to cover for the dumbing down of the tactical part of the game. 4. Severe limit of number of units you can bring to a battle. It gets a bit better later on, but it still is nothing but a shadow of the original. For a good reason of course as the map design and overall difficulty would make it a cakewalk. 5. While there are action points, your units have always the same action points. TWO. Usually one move and one attack. Complicated moves and clever using of the AP depending on the soldier, is no more. At least not to the level of the originals. 6. In EU you had to search for the enemy, be always on the lookout, if you played good, you were rewarded. Here exploration doesn't matter as much, an area can be clear and just spawn enemies. 7. Only one base. In the originals you could build several bases and manage them accordingly. Here you can't. Ever. Review limit so I have to stop.

Wow well what can I say about this pure gem, I sunk many many hours into this. Xcom Enemy Unknown complete, features not only the main game (enemy unknown) but it's expansion enemy within and all dlc content, the game is a modern remake I guess you could call it, on the much older game Xcom Ufo Defense from the early 90s. The game is all about an alien invasion of Earth and the governments of the planet unite to form a para-military organisation called Xcom, and you are the commander of this organisation, your job is to manage your troops, fight back against the alien's, research about them and put up a good fight. The game is turn-based, you have a chance to move all your soldiers on your turn and then the opponent has their's, it is very tactical so you have to think of how to eliminate the aliens while also protecting your troops with certain amounts of defensive cover and also trying to achieve other objectives at the same time. Your choices also matter, you will only have a chance to protect certain parts of the planet at once so you have to manage how to help these countries while not letting the panic of the countries you do not help from getting too high as when the panic gets too high they will stop supporting Xcom and leave the council and take their funding with them. Great story as well which I do not want to mention too much about it as it will spoil it but definitely give this game a go if turn-based games are something your are interested in. 5/5 for me.

In XCOM you take command of an ExtraterrestrialCombatUnit in an attept to defend earth from invaders from outerspace. With this game Firaxis has done something remarkable – they took a genre which has been dormant for quite a few years and managed to update it, making it slick to play and attractive to look at. XCOM games take place on two plains: strategic layer, where you manage your base, research, weapon development and tactical missions, where you control individual units on battlefield. Firaxis puts most of its focus on the tactical side: you control up to three soldiers at a time, each with its own class with special abilities. Gameplay is fairly basic, but satisfying - early on it is quite RNG heavy, though you will gain control as your soldiers gain more and more skills. There are some glaring issues with the combat (variety, inflexibility of two point action system, familiarity with handmade maps, pod activation system which tends to make encounters either too easy or unfairly hard). Strategic layer here acts more like an inbetween mission shop – you can’t actively make any interesting decisions, aside from rather underwhelming satellite system, but rather spend recources gained from missions to research and buy new equipement, build new rooms which will allow for the story to progress or unlock additional boons, and wait for a new mission to pop up. If money isn’t the issue XCOM2, offers very much the same experience, but much improved – while it doesn’t quite fix some of the game’s issues it does address them. However, what XCOM has going for it is charm, pleasant writing and atmosphere which isn’t present in the sequel. There is also famous by now LongWar mod, which offers XCOM a decent replayibility, adds a lot of much needed depth and makes some of XCOM shortcomings into intentional gameplay (pods again). It can get a bit too grindy for my taste, but I still can't imagine playing XCOM without it, but I would advise trying base game first.