X-Com: UFO Defense

Don't worry about graphics. Get the patches and read their Readmes: Combo_Patch.zip and UFO_Defense_geotickfix_v2.zip (optional, I am not using them) but XcomExtender_05_05_2010.zip is a MUST. It allows you to set window size and to modify a variety of game parameters which are explained in detail in the Readme. This significantly improves game-play and addresses a couple of bugs which exist in the original release. There are no hi-rez patches. The best visual mode to play UFO DEFENSE (at least on my 25-inch monitor) is the windowed mode at 1024x768, but it works very nicely. When the game was released 20 years ago I skipped it somehow (stupid me). The first time I played it was only 3-4 years ago and I was sad when I got the credits screen - I just wanted it to go on forever: The depth of X-COM: UFO DEFENSE is still unrivaled even today. There are NO squad-based tactical games that come even close to it (maybe with the exception of Xenonauts, but because of all the bugs, terrible line of sight problems, cookie-cutter environments and the high price tag, I'd say - forget Xenonauts until the devs fix this mess and GOG drops the price by 80 %). Another one to avoid is X-COM 2 - read negative reviews on Steam, for example, to learn why. In short - it is all flash and no substance; it is unbalanced and tactically primitive compared to X-COM: UD. X-COM: UD takes time to learn. HOW TO: use the interface, train soldiers, develop, manage and defend bases, transfer soldiers/material between bases, manage base personnel and research, aircraft production and stores/inventory, use robots, move in 3-dimensional space, breech walls, use time-delayed explosives, flares (for night ops) and smoke grenades and guided munitions, equip soldiers and transfer items (such as ammunition) between them during battles, capture aliens and so on. In this game you can do everything you might realistically want to do. Google the manual and watch some game-play tutorials on YouTube.

You better start finding that old manual book that once came with this game, because boy it will confuse your head and make you bash it against the keyboard once you find yourself in your first three battles. But once you do get your head around it, and of course, bypass the outdated graphics you'll find this diamond that has remained beautiful over the course of what feels like centuries now! Sure, the new X-Com rocks, but this only proves THIS game, X-Com: UFO Defense was years ahead of its time! It had an idea, it developed it, and though it's only about 99.9% perfect, it delivered one of the greatest experiences to anyone that ever grew up with this game and franchise. So you best get those Bitcoins exchanged, because you will wish you could play more of this game once you're done with it!

This is hands down one of the best games ever. The music, the atmosphere, the choices you have to make... Just download Open X-COM (community made open-source port that runs flawlessly on modern systems and adds tons of options and moddability) + Final Mod Pack and you're in for a real treat. Just don't expect this to be a walk in a park - this games is HARD and takes time to learn. But that's actually one of the reasons why it's so rewarding to beat :)

This is one of the greatest games of all time and needs to be in every gamers collection. 1999, the Earth is beset by an alien foe sowing terror by attacking population centres and killing or abducting the civilians. X-Com is put together as a global multi-national task force to try and defeat this menace. The game begins with globe and tasked with setting up your HQ. Where to put your base is important - funds are limited as is your radar range. This done, the game proper begins. It is split into 2 portions, a global map/management screen. When the time comes to take the fight to the invaders, it switches to a battle mode. The Total War franchise would do similar to great effect in later years. At first, you will have a few soldiers, and a handful of support staff such as scientists, as well as a pair of fighter jets and a transport plane. The weapons and gear is the best available to humanity but not a patch on what the aliens are toting. It is up to you to manage the base, buy in supplies, direct the research and production and of course control the soldiers. The basic flow of the game is in picking up invading craft on radar and intercepting them. Upon downing them, you then equip a team to scour the crash site to capture or kill any aliens and gather up artifacts for research. Research leads to better weapons and gear so you can fight the ever deadlier species of alien being sent against Earth. The game goes on in this fashion until one side wins. With enough research you will be able to cut off the alien threat at source. If the aliens are too successful in terror attacks on cities, you lose funding and some nations may even pull out altogether, leading to losing the war and the enslavement of Earth. The combat portion is a squad/platoon level isometric affair on random maps. Each soldier has stats including Time Units. You move your guys, then the aliens do. The fog of war and lethality of weapons make for tense battles. A must play for strategy gamers.

One of the single best strategy games ever. The strategic micro-manager's dream-game right here. But fear not, it does NOT require quick-thinking. It's a turn-based strategy game for the tactical, and the other real-time portion allows pause. Multiple games have attempted to recapture this game's essence. A couple I've played are UFO Afterlight & UFO AI. It seems like they all do alien invasion like they can't apply these concepts to any other scenario. But understandably, they're just trying to recapture the best strategic gaming experience they ever had. X-Com: UFO Defense (US)/Enemy Unknown (some other nation) is a game where you sit as the micromanaging commander of a world-wide effort to stop the alien assaults on the world. World nations collectively fund the organization, and will increase or decrease funding depending on how effectively you're protecting them. I didn't figure out how to continue always getting increased funding. The Alien assaults get progressively more numerous. It gets hard to keep up with them. You decide where to build bases, their different rooms, the layout. You buy & allocate scientists and engineers to research and build new technologies. (You will be defending your bases tactically.) Eventually, you start to match the power of the aliens. At first, they are clearly superior. To defeat them on the battlefield, you really have to take advantage of the terrain and position your soldiers to always be covering each other. It's like chess; don't leave your guys undefended. I think everything is destructible. Soldiers that actually survive improve in their skills. You do want survival though because you're going to need skilled soldiers when stronger ridiculously fast enemies start showing up. Oh man, the first time you face those, if you're not ready, it's going to be a slaughter/reload unless you're hardcore. In that case, you're getting an expensive fresh new batch of newbies to figure out how to face these new enemies.