XCOM Enemy Unknown a tactical game that is both intense and challenging, while remaining fair and fun.
Gameplay: The short answer is yes, but let's go deeper than that. Let's start out with the how missions are decided first. There is a global map and when aliens decide to attack a country it raises up an alert. However, aliens will attack multiple countries at once and the player can only choose one country to protect. The other countries left undefended will have a raise in panic level and if panic level gets too high they will leave the XCOM project which in turn will reduce funds and resources. If enough countries leave, it is game over for the player. Immediately the game will put the player in difficult situations when it is impossible to please every country. It involves careful planning to keep the panic level in every country down. Once the player picks a country to defend that is when the battle begins. This added more depth to the game which was very welcomed by me. It was joy and a challenge to manage funds, resources, and panic levels.
The player controls a single squad, ranging from four to six people. There is a fog of war so all the player knows it there are aliens somewhere. The player must advance forward, but if now careful the player will find their squad out of position which means doom. A soldier that is flanked or caught out of cover is in immediate danger. To make the stakes higher, if a solider reaches zero health they may be immediately killed or critically wounded. If killed they are dead forever, if critically wounded the player is given a certain amount of time, I believe three turns to reach them with a med kit or complete the mission. Combine all these and the player is forced to advance slowly with their squad not knowing where the enemy will be which does a superb job of creating tension and fear. However, even advancing forward requires strategy, does the player have their squad make a line to insure no enemy gets behind them, but then doesn't that leave the line thin and vulnerable? Another thing to consider is most characters have two moves; they can move twice or move once and then do an action. One of these actions is over watch which means when the unit is in over watch mode the first enemy to enter their line of sight they will fire at. Over watch is essential to cover the players advance because just moving twice/ dashing means the soldier will not fire at the first enemy in line and can't do anything till the next turn. Other things to consider when advancing are high ground and cover. There are three levels of cover, none, light, and heavy. If a solider possesses the high ground he is given bonuses to his starts. There is so much to consider before the action even starts. The advance was a very fun part of the game for me because of the atmosphere it created, but it is not for the impatient.
The actual combat is deep. There are four character classes, the heavy, the sniper, the support, and the assault. The names explain themselves. Heavy is the big guy with big guns. The sniper is the long range specialist. The support is used mostly to boost the abilities of those around him. The assault is the main fighter and can lead the charge into battle. Each one feels unique and different, while offering valuable abilities. The rocket launcher of the heavies proved valuable in taking down large units while the sniper rifle of the sniper was perfect for taking out the leaders of the aliens. The med packs of the support saved countless lives, but it was the assault class that held together the line. Each unit will level up with experience gaining new abilities and statistical boost. When a unit levels up they also acquire a new rank. I love the fact that the game will keep track of the career kills a unit has. If a unit dies they are placed a memorial in which the player can visit to see the number of missions and kills their K.I.A units had. The player is given an option to name every unit and customize all the units with things such as amour tint, hair style, hair color, skin tone and other things. The customization wasn't as deep as that seen in Saints Row The Third or Mass Effect, but still is a nice touch. Since any unit can die there is no main character, which may hurt the story a little, but if the player isn't looking for a story it shouldn't be a problem. I wish there were a couple more classes such as a stealth class or scouting class, but I understand it would have created balance issues. Overall I was happy with the class system of the game because each one was needed and none of them felt overpowered. For me personally, my favorite was the sniper class and my sniper class carried my team. However, if a unit is injured they will be unavailable for a certain amount of time depending on the injury to recover.
The gun fights are great. Each unit has an attack range, movement range, and other statistics. When a unit is within range there is a certain percent chance for a hit. Although there is some luck, it still takes a lot of strategy. Units out of position are sure to die. There are other factors such as cover being destroyed and new enemies appearing out of nowhere to force the player to adapt. Flanking is very important, but so is taking the high ground. The enemy variety is good, from the big strong aliens, to the small minion ones, to the physic ones, and a variety of others, but I will let the players find out for themselves.
In between there is so much to do. The player is tasked with managing money, and trust me, there is never enough money to do everything. There is an air fleet that needs air craft to be built, but air craft is expensive. The Air craft battles are a good change up from the action, but aren't too exciting. The air craft is used to shoot down UFO's to prevent panic and to protect crucial satellites that allow the player to detect alien action. Does the player invest in air craft technology such as shields and targeting systems, or technology for their ground forces such as better weapons and med kits. That's not all though, facilities need to be built to power the main base and do other things such as create more satellites, scientist are needed to research, engineers are needed to build what the scientist research, and then money is needed to build. Does the player invest in amour or weapons? If weapons, on the snipers or assault class? Other countries will make offers requesting items for other benefits, but it's not always in the player's best interest to trade away important items. At the end of the day the player will be judged by the head of the XCOM Project earning a grade based on performance. Performance is crucial to receive extra funding. There is so much strategy involved here and difficult decisions must be made. It adds great depth to the game and makes the game that much better. However, if you aren't someone looking for a whole bunch of strategy outside of fights, this game isn't for you. The interface was smooth and managing the main base was my pleasure.
I do have some complaints though about the game play, although small. I wish there were more maps instead of mostly cities and forested areas. Perhaps a battle on rooftops, a shootout in the mountains, or a battle in an arena are a few ideas for map design. Another thing I wish for is more character classes and maybe more technology. I know air strikes had been thought of, but maybe a sentry gun to cover the flank or a flame thrower to flush enemies out of buildings. I know many of these things would have been hard to include and could create balance issues, but if XCOM could figure out a way to add these things in and work together well, it would add a nice touch to the game.
Story: Well the story for this game shouldn't take too long. It's basically Aliens invade earth and different countries from across the world assemble the XCOM project to combat the aliens. Throughout the game the player will find out new things about the alien invasion and look for a way to stop it. That's all there really is too it, the story is enough to set up missions and battles. Other than that, it doesn't offer much. The story does take a beating from the fact none of the players soldiers have any personality because they never engage in conversation with each other. All they say are things close to, "I'm on it" or "Moving In." Now I understand since so many of them die it's hard to give all of them personality and since any soldier can die there can't be a main character. There was the head doctor, engineer, and the information guy that all had a little bit of personality. It would have been nice if they would have been given more lines or characteristics to add a little to the story. Since the player doesn't have an avatar to represent him there is no main character. I understand it would have been hard to add a main character because it would require that character couldn't die and also the main character would more than likely have to be strong which could throw off balance, but a little more story would have been nice. Still the gameplay was so dang good I didn't miss not having even a decent story.
Graphics/Sound: I personally love the alien sounds, they add some intensity to the atmosphere. I think the graphics are nice and the music goes nicely with the different situations the player is put into, whether it's investigated a forest, in the middle of a shootout, or in the debriefing room. The close ups on some actions such as kill shots or sprinting are a nice visual touch. Everything was fine from the graphics and sound stand point.
Pros: Great Level Design, strong tactical depth in combat, many ways to handle missions, keeps tactical depth out of combat by having to managing resources, fun enemy types to face, intense atmosphere
Cons: Basically no story
Graphics: 8.5
Gameplay: 10
Main Story: 5
Side Missions: 6
Characters: 5
Replay Value: 9
Freshness: 9
Voice acting: 7
Weapons: 7.5
Powers: 6
Freedom: 9.5
Level Design: 9.5
Music: 7.5
Overall: 9.5
If XCOM had even a decent story, it might have received a 10. A great story would have easily given it a 10. The gameplay was just so entertaining that even without a decent story or interesting characters it received a 9.5. Besides the story I couldn't find another reason to rate the game lower, but without even a decent story and the gameplay missing a couple of things I believe would have made it better, I couldn't give it a 10. I can easily recommend this game to anyone looking for a fantastic turn based strategy game, as long as that person doesn't need a story to keep them engaged.