david_hardy Review of X-COM: UFO Defense

X-COM: UFO Defense (1994 Video Game)

When computers had the only games worth playing

[9/10 · 23 November 2006]

X-Com is (summarized quickly) a strategy based game. Part Civilization, Part Dungeon & Dragons and with a pinch of movie influence. You start with selecting a base of operations any where in the world. Your base then has the ability to add hangers (for air deployment) living quarters (solider living) and the multitude of science parts necessary to continue the fight against the alien threat. The plot comes down to aliens are attacking and subverting earth. World leaders have gotten together and decide that they cannot defeat this foe individually and must team up. So culling the best of the best from every nation, soldier and scientist to wage a war (unknown to the public) against the alien threat. You start with 8 soldiers and can equip them with various "normal" Terran weapons: rifles, pistols, body armor and such. You also use a monthly funding to buy different/more resources and have scientists to research new/undiscovered technology. Eventually, after each successful encounter you can take alien technology for inspection and hopefully, use against them. The combat is a turn based event with each soldier allotted only so much time units to use. Each action uses time units: moving, reloading and attacking. Fog of war is very active, so a hostile can attack you without you knowing the exact location and can even wipe out several men at the beginning of a campaign if you aren't careful. The only reason I didn't give this game a 10 out of 10 is the fact that it is very daunting in difficulty for the uninitiated. You cannot pop in to this game and expect to win. You have to invest time and patience in it and you cannot have a trooper go "Rambo" and eliminate the enemy because your men also have a "sanity" meter. More deaths on the team can "break" a team member to drop his weapon and flee. The second worst thing is to be two "spaces" away from an adversary and have a soldier miss with his weapon. All troops gain experience so it works in your favor to keep your guys alive. Later in the game you can branch out with bases all over the world and have teams of individuals that have mech-type armor and can fire weapons that can level an entire building in one shot, (almost since the idea that buildings would collapse if the level below them is destroyed didn't make it into the game code.) Overall if you enjoy a science fiction game that has heavy doses of re-playability and you aren't turned off by games that require time then it would be in your best interest in trying to find a copy of it somewhere. You can easily slap in the sequel if you can't find the original but avoid anything after that. The shooter and Apocalypse are pale shadows of what this game is.