For me, the X-COM series were (and in many ways still are) the best strategy games ever made and in my opinion, from the Deep was the best of them all (although UFO Defence is very close). Before you read any further I will just say that if you have never played and X-COM game, don't waste time reading this, just go find it. You won't be disappointed. I apologise for rambling but I hope you will understand once you've played it for a while. I will warn you however; it is a very, VERY hard game. The premise behind all the X-COM games is the same; you must manage a special international Special Forces unit assembled to fight off extra-terrestrial threats to the earth. X-Com is founded in the first game (X-COM UFO Defence, or UFO Enemy Unknown if you happen to live in the UK, which I will simply refer to as UFO from now on) in response to an alien invasion. In from the deep a new menace appears, not from the blackness of space but from the depths of our own oceans. I won't ruin the plot of the game, as finding out whats going on is all part of the enjoyment, but needless to say, these new intruders are not friendly. You control the hastily re-activated X-COM underwater division. If you've played the first game you'll find yourself at home straight away as you swap your plasma cannons and laser rifles for spearguns and GAUSS weaponry. The interface and graphics engine are identical to UFO, but the game mechanics have been altered and now include more complex missions that take place over two or more maps, and of course, underwater missions. The game itself remains largely unchanged (the old maxim if it aint broke, don't fix it springs to mind). You build bases all over the globe (or 'geoscape' as the game refers to it), purchase and manufacture equipment for your men and vehicles, hire engineers and scientists to build and research new technology, send out flying-subs (hybrid submarine/aircraft) to intercept and shoot down alien craft and send out squads of aquanauts on various missions (more on this in a moment). If this sounds a lot to contend with... well, you may have a point, but as I've already mentioned, X-COM is a very challenging game. What's more, the excellent interface allows you do all of the above and more with ease and speed allows you to keep track of everything you need to with ease. As I mentioned, one of the many tasks you are charged with is developing new technologies. There are quite a few home grown gadgets that your lab boys can come up with, but to get most of the really neat toys you will have to reverse engineer the aliens own weapons and technologies and turn it against them. This brings up another of the factors that make X-COM so hard. The aliens are no space invaders style cannon fodder nor are they even crazed machines as in the movie 'Aliens'. They're every bit as tough and well trained as your men are (at least at the start, you men gradually improve with experience assuming you keep them alive!) and they’re not stupid either, they'll hide in ambush, run away when they're outgunned and use all sorts of tactics. To make matters worse their technology is well in advance of yours at the start. So you need to reverse engineer it, make your own new improved weapons and thwart the alien’s plans. This is where the second part of X-COM comes into play. Whenever a USO (unidentified submerged object) lands or is shot down you must send a team of aquanauts to capture it. You do this by defeating the crew in an isometric, turn based battle where you explore the surroundings with your men and must either kill or incapacitate all the aliens on board. This turn based combat forms the backbone of the game and is used whenever your men engage the aliens. This is not just limited to recovering USOs. You must also respond to attacks on ports and surface shipping and if the aliens locate and attack one of your bases you must defend it. Conversely, you must endeavour to locate and destroy the alien’s bases to prevent them launching more attacks. The best way to explain X-COM is to give you a brief example of how it all fits together. You build a base with various facilities (Sonar to detect USOs, launch bays to house your subs, stores and living quarters for you men and gear, labs for research, containment rooms for captured aliens and so on), your sonar detects a USO so you launch an attack sub to intercept it, which it does and then shoots it down. You then send a team of aquanauts in, seize the USO and bring it and its equipment back to your base where your scientists develop new weapons to use in your next encounter and interrogate any aliens you captured. To sum it up, this is one of the best games ever made and I strongly recommend it. Modern graphics may have moved on (although X-COM is by no means bad looking) but the gameplay is timeless. A true classic. If you can find them I recommend you get your hands on the original and apocalypse as well but don’t bother with Enforcer (a derivative action game) or Interceptor (which was not bad but I found it lacked that special something which made the original series great. (Please note that my scores for sound and graphics are for the time it was realeased, by todays standards it would only get a 5 in graphics but I'd still give it 7 or 8 for sound)
Other Helpful Reviews for X-COM: Terror From the Deep
Terror From The Deep has a lot of reasons to be hated by the X-Com fanbase. For one, it is merely a mission-pack sequel. The visuals have been redone, the weapons and aliens renamed, but it is still essentially the sam... Read Full Review
The aliens have launched a Terror attack on a cargo vessel. My X-COM operatives have fought their way into the middle cabins on the deck of the tanker. Three units are grouped together, preparing to breach another room. ... Read Full Review
