While not as free form as the original dosbox X-com of old , with Enemy Within it brings some of the brutal aspects of old Xcoms back , including base defense , terror missions and being able to break enemy's cover..
The game is very well designed around tactics and strategy : taking some ideas from the old X-coms and introducing some new interesting ones, as well as some side story missions. its kind of like X-com+ Fire Emblem.
The Expansions also do a good job at expanding the original story so it gives an inspiring direction to the franchise.
Sadly, X-COM: EU is a bit of bummer. Even without comparing it to the all-time great UFO Defense which preceded it.
There is no atmosphere to speak of, everything in the game's environment is meant to look like some sort of bland sci-fi action bit. The supporting cast are tropes without any personality, and the aliens' designs might well be straight ripped from some after school cartoon adventure show. The music is entirely forgettable as well.
The base building is pretty linear at first, though it does sort of branch in terms of where your precious few resources will be focused. This is a balancing act that I never felt I could totally exploit, although there are probably EU experts who can break the system. Promotions are pretty topical, there is some choice in upgrading but in short, having the soldier alive for more missions will simply make them more powerful regardless of which specific perks you choose, nor will the choices really alter how you play them. The equipment upgrading, for all its confusing interfacing and your ever-changing supply of engineers, is quite linear as well, with very few people who are going to opt for improving gear like medkits or scopes rather than going straight for the weapons.
Missions are laughably identical. Generic military dispatch guy will start with a one liner that inserts whatever country of 3 you decided to intervene in, based on a choice of mission rewards and national panic limits. But the combat itself always involves the same approach; creep along until you stumble across enemies and then swing for the fences. There is no incentive to really dive in most cases; practically all missions do not involve a ratings risk for civilian casualties, nor give you any greater reward for completing it in 2 turns or cheesing the whoe thing over 50. In these encounters expect to fight hundreds of copies of 3 of the same enemy types, while a few others get mixed in for some bland flavoring later on.
All in all, pretty lame.
Great reboot of the series. I strongly recommend playing in Ironman mode (no scum saving) to get the right feeling from the game. It also has a great mod called Long War that adds a ton to the game and changes it a lot.
Typically to Firaxis, the game is a bit "gamey" (unnatural mechanics thrown in for the sake of complexity or because they couldn't do it better). For example you have 2 actions in place of the old Action Points system, only one base, and a pretty limited squad (both in number and items). I guess it's pretty hard to make a game balanced and not (too) gamey.
Pros: big improvement(s) over the old ones.
Cons: gamey , only one base, pretty limited squad
Rating: one sticky alien that likes getting prodded.
*Editors' Pick*
https://pixelloot.com
I own this game on Steam. It says I've played for 1,631 hours! I think I like this game.
The strategy is just enough to make you sweat. Many tough decisions to make. I love my Mech!
