I've had my eye on you since your academy days. You're quick, razor-witted, and a credit to everything X-COM stands for. When the poppers hit the fan, you're an agent I trust to get the job done. I've been director of X-COM for twenty years, and as much as it stings me, it's time to let someone younger and faster take over. Well, I've made up my mind - that someone is you.

This job doesn't come with an instruction manual, but you won't be entirely on your own. The pages that follow are my legacy to you. This is the X-COM guide I wish I had had when I first started this job. My twenty years of experience in handpicking agents, researching alien technology, fighting our enemies hand-to-hand and in the air - it's all here, waiting for you. With this guide at your fingertips, you're going to hit the bugs where they hurt.