I spent this past weekend playing an early press build of Friaxis' upcoming XCOM: Enemy Unknown
User Rating: 10 | XCOM: Enemy Unknown PC
I spent this past weekend playing an early press build of Friaxis' upcoming XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and let me tell you: XCOM is back, and it is brilliant. You will send your soldiers into battle. You will direct them as best you can. But they will die, and you will feel it. I've been shocked at just how thoroughly the new game captures the vibe and flow of the original XCOM, and how easily it undoes the missteps of the later games.The isometric viewpoint, the tense turn-based encounters, the despair at realizing how outgunned and often outflanked you are, the dread of losing one of your favorite troops-it's all there. The story is told straight, but with good writing, great music, and a good sense of desperation that makes every moment spent in the world of XCOM tense and engaging. And base-management, with its anthill-display navigation, is a triumph-I love to see the Unreal engine used for things other than first-person shooters, because it can make stuff like the home base look so cool.
