Difficulty:

Easy

Time Spent:

40 to 100 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Worth playing"

After over 15 years, we finally have a true X-COM game. UFO Defense plays a lot like the original games, with a few additions and a few changes. To sum a few of them:

1. Combat is a little less static. Enemy units will move as soon as you see them, putting a little more tension on your moves. On the other hand, psychic combat seems a little less overpowered to play against.

2. Resource management is simplified. There are fewer important resources (money, elerium and alien alloys). I actually liked this.

3. Aerial combat is simplified. This one I did not like, dogfights are too easy. I never had to reload a game because of a destroyed aircraft (happened an awful lot in the original).

4. Units are more diverse. There are more variations of the alien breeds, which is welcome.

5. Base construction is simpler, mostly because there are no base invasions.

6. Character building has been improved a LOT. Your characters now focus on classes, with specific perks that change the way you play.

7. You get a lot more info on nations around the globe. You won't be surprised with countries supporting the aliens quite as often.

The game feels easier, although it has a "classic" difficulty level that I have not explored.

In all, this is a great strategy game, a lot closer to the original than I thought was possible. It will get you frustrated at times, and combat missions can grow boring, but I always found myself playing the original again some time later. I believe this will happen again.