Turn-based
strategy games are a rarity these days, and on consoles doubly so. Not that
they’re antiquated or their audience has fallen out of favor for them mind you;
publishers would simply rather fund a first-person shooter instead. One notable
turn-based strategy title known as XCOM
UFO Defense managed to create lasting appeal back in the ‘90s, most notably
through a series of agonizing defeats, tragic loss and self loathing. It was
the kind of game that pushed you down every time you got up until you
eventually cracked, punched it in the balls, stole its girlfriend and burned
down its house. Sweet victory! For those of you not in the loop, XCOM UFO Defense is notoriously
difficult, allowing characters to be built up and upgraded by the player only
to have a lucky shot nullify all that hard work. That’s right characters could
die for good -- nothing special back in the ‘90s
-- but relatively unheard of these days. Keeping your squad alive became a series of
careful placement and management, i.e. strategy, you know, the thing that’s
ever so rare these days. Anyone interested in playing this relic should know
that through careful investigation and research on our part, we have determined
that the game was played on something primitive humans called “DOS”, which we
can only discern to be a follow-up from cave paintings and idol crafting.
Over the
years the franchise has moved from developer to developer with mixed results,
eventually fading into obscurity in the early noughts.
Recently the series fell into the hands of 2K Games and Firaxis Games, famous
for their strategy series Civilization;
a promising turn of events for the franchise. What was the first title
announced? XCOM… a first-person
shooter. Oh, and a second title, a strategy game set to revitalize and
nostalgize long-time fans and newcomers, bringing back the classic formula to
PC and consoles. XCOM Enemy Unknown delivers
just that. And it’s a shining example of how to modernize using a classic
formula.
Story/Design
Quick! Think
of an alien invasion plotline. Congratulations, you know the storyline of Enemy Unknown. H.G. Welles would either
be proud of his writing’s lasting effect on our culture, or furious on how little
we have innovated in the last hundred years while making a mad dash to his
lawyer. Luckily XCOM doesn’t come
across as a serious take on the genre. Firaxis Games leaves all the innovations
up for the gameplay to take care of, with story serving merely as a base of
reference. Thankfully the story is recognizable to anyone familiar with ‘50s
sci-fi B movies with its formulaic, and by now cliché, 3-act structure, that’s
represented rather well in-game.
You are the
commander of XCOM, an elite military operation funded by all nations willing to
participate. Your job is to protect Earth by building a team and
base-of-operations to combat a host of different aliens who’s motives are yet
unknown. Being a silent protagonist your
duty often entails having dialogue and exposition thrown at you left and right
while determining the best course of action. You are in control of the Earth’s
fate so make your decisions accordingly. I found the sense of responsibility
incredibly rewarding as I ordered my combatants around the battlefield,
plotting every move they make beforehand, knowing full-well that one mistake on
my part could result in the death of my whole squad and in the long run Earth’s
defeat. I can’t remember a game where I could actually lose, as in not a game over
screen, rather a game ending where the XCOM team and Earth have been defeated. This
factor alone gave me all the more reason to play as strategically as possible,
albeit for the wrong reason. Rather than caring for the people and the world of
XCOM, I just didn’t want all the hours I sunk into the game wasted. Still
fairly compelling motivation overall.
Story/Design 8/10
Story/Design 8/10
Gameplay
XCOM Enemy Unknown plays out much like a
tabletop RPG. Your players can move a set distance per round and have a certain
percentage chance of inflicting damage on enemies. It’s a tried-and-true
formula that works well on PC’s and consoles alike. Where the real strategy
comes into play is wagering move distance vs. offensive tactics. Units can make
2 moves per turn. Move them forward once and then attack? Or move once, and
then hold position should the enemy move within range? Maybe you’re feeling
impatient and move forward twice, sacrificing any offensive play this turn? The
safest play would be the slow and steady route of move once then go into
“Overwatch”, scanning for enemy movements. While this may have a great success
rate, your intergalactic foes aren’t dumb; moving slowly gives them time to
flank your positions and overtake your squad. Additionally, there are certain
missions where time is of the essence and your objective is to save as many
citizens as possible while the aliens try and do the opposite. So don’t play too safe, try and use some units
offensively while others cover their movements. There is plenty of room to
improvise and come up with unique tactics. Experimentation can result in some
of the most fulfilling decisions any game can offer. At one point some of my
units were cornered inside a building. They were too far in for my two units
outside to take direct aim at their attackers. So I ordered my heavy unit to
fire on the perimeter wall with a rocket launcher, opening up a direct line of
sight for my sniper unit by his side to take out the, now flanked, enemies;
winning the round for me. A triumphant victory, the likes of which stories will
be told about for generations!
You begin
the game with 4 squadmates, eventually gaining another 2 throughout the
campaign. At first they’re low level rookies, but overtime they’ll rank up
depending on how much battle they see and how many kills they get. From rookie
they will randomly be assigned to Sniper, Heavy, Support or Assault. Each class
has certain abilities such as the Sniper’s ability to shoot any enemy so long
as they’re in range of another unit. Or the Support’s ability to carry three
medkits. Variations like these between classes result in an even deeper
strategic element of character placement and even class choice. Should I play
this round with 2 heavies and only 1 sniper, or vice versa? As they rank up, a
skill tree opens allowing for new abilities such as taking a second shot during
any turn, or automatically evading an overwatch attack from the enemy.
The enemy
doesn’t remain all that unknown for very long. The aliens start out as small
weak cliché grays known as Sectoids, but eventually,
as the campaign progresses, enter deadlier
aliens such as the hulking Mutons and even Slenderman inspired Thin Men. Each
alien class is their own beast and thankfully not a cloned version of the Human
classes. Additionally these extraterrestrials have their own quirks making for
a selective order to attacking them other than proximity. Thin Men explode into
a deadly gas cloud that lingers for two rounds and Floaters take after their
namesake and hover over the battlefield whilst having an almost unfair
advantage with their elevated field of view. Over time you’ll gain an
instinctual ability to predict enemy movements and attacks allowing for quick
informed decisions on the fly. That is, until a new enemy unit is introduced changing
the flow of battle completely.
Off the
battlefield you’ll find yourself ordering supplies and researching recovered
alien artifacts. What sounds like a drag is actually one of the most compelling
components in Enemy Unknown. As
missions progress you will collect alien bodies and technology. Once back at
the XCOM base, the science lab can perform autopsies and research technology to
reverse engineer new weapons, armor and vehicles. Then with this knowledge the
engineering lab can build said technology. All of this, however, takes time and
for good reason. Instead of tedious instant access to goods, only relying on
resources available, you must also enter time into the equation. If I research
this armor I won’t be able to research anything else for 14 in-game days, yet
on the other hand this gun will only take 10 days. Should I be more defensive
or offensive?
If a
nation’s panic level gets too high they will depart from the XCOM initiative
and stop funding the program. Every time you choose to aid another nation, the
panic level increases. Satellites allow you to monitor whole nations for alien
spacecraft, lowering their panic. Yet satellites take a long time to craft and
cost a lot of resources. When one was finally available I found myself exhilarated
as I placed it on the globe knowing that I wouldn’t have to worry too much
about that country any longer. My advice is to build as many as possible as
soon as possible, to increase your funding and lower panic levels sooner rather
than later as the game does not slow down to hold your hand. The difficulty
level is set to increase exponentially as time progresses. Be ready.
With a
combination of battle strategies and base management XCOM becomes an addiction. I couldn’t wait to get to the next level
or for my new set of armor to be researched. And by addiction I don’t mean
grinding. Every advancement led me one step closer to victory with no repetition.
And every advancement was just one level in front of me. I couldn’t wait to
play each level and see what new surprise was in
store.
Gameplay 10/10
Gameplay 10/10
Presentation
Enemy Unknown has an art style similar
to Tonka or Micro Machines, a lighthearted aesthetic that contrasts the bleak
overtones the game throws at you. Most game over-head views typically leave small sprites
with low res textures, but not here. Zooming in I found each character to have a
cinematic level of detail rather than separate modelings,
making for a clean, unbroken experience overall
when transitioning from an overhead view to ground level.
Each level
takes place in either an urban or rural environment picked from a randomly
chosen set of levels. I did find myself playing the same level more than once,
with the only difference being starting point and perspective. While urban
areas look genuine, forested areas come across as forced with their convenient
waist high barriers everywhere for cover. Additionally, since the game does
take place all over the world, the random level sets don’t do much to convey that
aspect. Nigeria looks just like Japan as far as the game is concerned. Simply
changing billboards or even road signs could have remedied this.
XCOM’s score seems very reminiscent of
modern summer blockbusters with booming basses and a quick strings section. On
more than one occasion I was reminded of the Michael Bay Transformers theme song; while fitting it comes across as
uninspired.
Presentation 8/10
Presentation 8/10
Overall
XCOM Enemy Unknown is a stellar example
of genuine strategy in games today. Without ever becoming tedious, its clever turn-based mechanics manage to bring a
balanced nostalgic experience to modern consoles and a whole new generation of
gamers. Just try not to pull too many hairs out when your best man dies in
battle. It was your fault after all.
XCOM Enemy Unknown 9/10
XCOM Enemy Unknown 9/10
Game Info
Platform: PS3, Xbox 360, PC
ESRB: M
ESRB: M
Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Fraxis Games
Release Date: October 9, 2012
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