X-Com: UFO Defense

[Played in OpenXcom.] I've never been so intimidated by a game before. I mean, I've read and watched more about UFO Defense in the past year than I think I've sunk time into it, simply for fear I'd go into it unprepared. The agency and freedom given you is, in my opinion, as scary and intimidating as some of the fights I've encountered! It is absolutely unreal how much detail, information and control this game gives the player but, at the same time, the UI is complex and unfriendly if you've played nothing but modern-day hand-holders. There is no tutorial, and the game assumes you've read the 135-page Players Manual that accompanied the original PC release (included here as a handy PDF). But the info! Graphs, alien activity, finances and an in-game Wiki? Just unreal. It also does so many things the remake got rid of, including multiple bases, base invasions, huge 15+ soldier battles, auto shots, time units, reaction fire, picking up guns off fallen soldiers and using them... talk about emergent gameplay! There's also a real atmosphere of horror to the game that is understated by many who've talked about it. It's akin to that same fear of the dark and the unknown as the original Diablo, another personal favourite. A huge standout in this regard is the music. John Broomhall composed a small but substantial soundtrack, and it's an incredibly robust set of melodies. I love the fact that you can mod the music to any variation of sound hardware in OpenXcom, which helps keep the music sounding fresh with multiple aural variations on the same themes. I still can't get over how complex and open this old game is. Yes, DOOM revolutionised PC gaming as we know it... but I'd argue X-COM: UFO Defense has aged better than any DOS-era game I've played, because it assumes the player is both intelligent enough to figure the game out on their own and has the guts to push through their fears. What a genuine masterpiece!

Best game ever

I always come back to this. Even though I first played it in 1994 as a 12 year old kid. It got it all: best RTS action strategy, base building, management, research, discovering new alien races. And all the mods you can get for it today. It's a must buy!

BEST STRATEGY GAME EVER MADE

XCOM's development really started with early games like Rebelstar, which contained elements Julian Gollop later perfected in XCOM. Notably, Opportunity Fire, allowing characters with remaining points to fire on their own whenever an enemy wanders into view. This, and others, were widely copied in other games. Another feature being the Fog Of War, where your characters were faced with the dark unknown which they had to reccy to discover what was there. This added superb edge of the seat gameplay to what seemed like just a turn based game. There is nothing more frustrating than moving your soldier into this darkness, thinking everything is alright, only to turn with your last point to see a Sectoid standing near you, ready to blast you with nothing you could do about it. It makes for a very nerve-racking game. There are two parts to this game. As well as the combat, there's the research and development side, along with building bases at strategic points around the globe to maximise early warning and defence. The good thing here is that both of these parts compliment each other well, and aren't disjointed like they are in some TBS games. There's nothing that's been bolted on for no reason. You fight battles to keep the aliens at bay, to pick over their remains and technology, which is then researched to improve your own. It's not just the various features of XCOM that's been copied in other games. We've seen a plethora of so called natural successors to this game, all attempting to emulate it to varying degrees. Fact is that Julian Gollop got there first with a well crafted game, no matter how many remakes and rip-offs are done. Don't be put off by it's 90s graphics. There's one hell of a good game in there, and it'll stun you that it's all packed into just 19mb! If only games a hundred times that size could be as good. So, if you're a fan of turn-based games, you need to buy this.