What is your favorite alien invasion type of game and why?

Personally, I'm still in the process of figuring this question out.

The survival-horror type, Dead Space 1 and Alien Isolation being prime examples. The invasion in this case is in an isolated location, and therefore much more personal and terrifying.

Saints Row 4 because it's absolutely hilarious.

Have you played the game, The Thing?

Darksiders 1. Intro stage was epic. If there is something like aliens, they have to be the Demons! Totally!

never played it, looks interesting though. Thx for reminding me!

I don't know that many games that deal with actual alien invasion. I mean The Thing and Dead space and stuff is more of an alien outbreak rather than an invasion. Saints row 4 is an alien invasion but it's already a successful one, so the actual invading part is already over. Mass effect series isn't all that much about an invasion, most of the time you sort out other people's shit, the usual rpg agenda.
So what's left is more or less XCOM but that one is the best there is. I've first played the early games when I was like 10 or maybe een less and I've been a fan ever since. Even the hated Bureau has a couple of very interesting and kinda fresh things to it + you get to deal with the invasion right there in the thick of it. But anyway, XCOM delivers what I expect from an alien invasion game, the squad tactics. Sure there's about a million ways to make an alien invasion gameplay but for example civilization or panzer general style wouldn't cut it for me because unlike squad tactics it doesn't really show you the thrilling parts. In other words sending a tank unit from one spot to another spot occupied by an enemy unit and let the computer decide who wins is good enough for everything else but it doesn't provide you with the sight of humans and human tactics and technology fighting something that is completely different from that and therefore has a different combat style etc.

Love the old X-Com games (got more into Terror from the deep though) and later the new XCOM quite much. Good strategy and well, memories of the TV series, trashy but great.

That's a good one! I had it for the original Xbox when I was younger, it used to scare the hell out of me. The Thing is also one of my favourite movies, and a good example of a movie based game that doesn't suck.

I can't really think of many alien invasion games myself, except for X-Com and Destroy All Humans! if that counts.

I had a blast with X-Com Enemy Unknown. I also liked the old Destroy All Human's series. The first was fun for the tactical combat, which could drive you up the wall if you got unlucky. The second was fun for good old go on a crazy rampage.

You might like the EDF games. They are unabashed shooters, in which huge hordes of giant robots, insects, and so forth would infest the battle field. Kill em' all is the rule of the day.

Mind, I wouldn't recommend EDF: Insect Armageddon, as it is too grindy, and is intended as a multi-player experience. The harder difficulty levels become tedious in single player, since enemy lifespans are very long - not enough firepower by yourself.

Here's hoping that we get EDF 4.1 for the PC.

EDF 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair

The original XCom definitely. Its incredible. Those cruise ship / cargo ship missions though :P Could take an entire evening just to do one

Crysis, 1, 2, 3

In this vein - check out Destroy All Humans!

I played the first one on Xbox and the game was fantastic. Open world (ish), with a huge array of powers and weapons, all of which controlled smoothly and were both a ton of fun AND funny.

Your little grey alien could do everything from read minds to camouflage himself as any NPC to jump into his saucer and level city blocks. It even featured a "force lift" type power that worked perfectly with the two sticks of the Xbox controller. Super fun to pick people up with your mind, spin them around in circles twenty feet above the ground then fling them LOL. There was a sequel or two released that for some reason I never played. Not sure why as I loved the first one.


*edit my post to add: Hey good to see Destroy All Humans! getting a lot of love here! I just scrolled up to read a few of the responses and saw it hadn't been forgotten!

1) Ufo Enemy Unknown (X-Com). The first one. It had the mystery and flavor of ufo sightings, and roswell dissection, and secrecy, etc. I love the flying saucers mythos. The sequels and reboots progressively lost that, to make it just a series of intergalactic wars. I like my aliens invasion to have a solid "first contact" aspect. Failing that :

2) Space invaders galactica. The one where you can only have one missile on the screen at any time.