X-Com: UFO Defense

Still got the ol' floppy discs. Took me a good decade, playing on and off, to finally beat the game. Quite hard but addicting, and feels very rewarding accomplishment.

From base maintenance, research and technology, to turn based Field command, no game was ever better.

I remember when I saw this game in the shelves that it was intriguing. The graphics were cool and the idea of defending the earth of Alien species. Then one day I borrowed it aaand... I just didn't understand the mechanics. So I gave it back soon. I never understood people saying how amazing it is- especially when it came to light that this game had some weird bugs. So I passed it... almost 30 years. I heard that there was a fan made patch but didn't really thought about it as I said I was rather disappointed. Then... a few months ago I happened to come across an XCOM youtube video and I watched it. So I thought- why not watching a lets play- maybe I'll get to understand it. And that was it. This game sucked me in for the past few months. The gameplay isn't that difficult- probably a little frustrating at the beginning because you need to "learn" the game. But once in- there's no escape. Buy. Install OpenXcom. Get ready to sink in and play hours of hours!

It's a masterpiece, buy it...

Xcom UFO Defense is a rare game that gets everything right and any flaws it may have are very easy to overlook. Obviously the biggest hurdle for this game is going to be sort of obtuse nature of it's controls and menus if you don't have an inkling of what the icons mean or how to interact with the game. I strongly suggest reading the first half of the manual included with the GOG version to get you going. It will ease you into the various menus which might seem intimidating at first, I promise they are not and will quickly make sense. This was a game produced at a time when in game hand holding wasn't a thing and you were expected to read the manual. After that initial hump, it's smooth sailing. Think modern Xcom but with a bit more freedom to play how you want. Right off the bat you are controlling squads of 8 soldiers and tactical choices only further open up as you play. If you enjoy this game I recommend also picking up Terror from the Deep and Apocalypse. While I did get these games on sale, I would recommend them even at full price. You are guaranteed to get your money's worth and they run on modern computers without any hassle.