X COM: Enemy Unknown (after its Enemy Within update) remains one
of my favourite games to date, and I’m happy to say that it is not obsolete
with the arrival of X COM 2, both games retain their individual flavours and I would
strongly recommend a newcomer to first enjoy a playthrough of XCOM: Enemy
Unknown: The Complete Edition before diving into its more challenging yet
refined sequel. In case you don’t know about Enemy Unknown, I’ll do a quick
review ahead of my X COM 2 review
In Enemy Unknown you are the commander of a multinational
human resistance force, X COM, defending earth from an unexpected alien
invasion. The game plays at two levels – the strategic and the tactical. When
not fighting a tactical ground battle, you manage your bases’ resources,
acquire and research new technology, and build the infrastructure the
resistance needs to wage a rough, uphill war. You send squads of 4 to 6
soldiers of various classes (Assault, Sniper, Heavy Weapons, Support, MEC) to
fighting off alien activity in turn based, tactical skirmishes around the globe.
If you start losing battles, the coalition of nations paying for X Com lose
faith in you and slowly withdraw funding or leave the project entirely, leading
to a death spiral. Keeping panic caused by successful alien activities down is
the name of the game. If too many nations think you’re not worth investing in
because you can’t get the job done, it’s game over, the aliens win. It’s
entirely possible to over invest in getting better equipment for your troops
while letting nations panic, leading to the uncomfortable situation wherein you’re
winning battles but will lose the war
a few months down the line.
Your team of soldiers will most often be outgunned, and as
time goes by you will encounter stronger and more versatile enemies.
While at no point does the game give you a free ride, battles are hard fought victories, the first few months tend to be the hardest, where you’re
up against aliens with plasma weaponry and advanced armour with mere
conventional human guns and Kevlar vests and backing nations are very jittery about the attacks. As time goes by and your troops gain
ranks and better abilities, and your R&D churns out research that puts you
on par with the aliens, and you get better at defending the world. the tide slowly turns, and it feels wonderful to fight the underdog’s fight on your own terms.
The soldier rank system deserves special
mention, at each rank increase, soldiers can choose from one of two perks which
highly mold their combat style – long range stationary sniper vs. mobile rapid
sniper, explosive weaponry vs good anti-armor capabilities, and the like,
adding layers of tactics to how you build and run your squad. In both XCOMs,
soldiers who killed on the battlefield are permanently gone (unless you cheat
and reload an old save file), and every single person lost due to a lucky enemy
shot or bad tactics on your part is like a punch in the gut. Every soldier has
a name, limited facial customizations, and a country of origin. Losing a single
one hurts at an emotional and tactical level - you’re now one good soldier
short (and it takes considerable time to raise new ones up the ranks), and the
enemy is as strong as ever.
A typical playthrough can last from 25-35 hours, and lasted a month of real time for me. It was a good month, the progression inside the game always made kept me wondering about how the next day's battles would be. Right now the game is available at huge discounts during sales, and can be purchased on the PC, the XBox 360, and the PS3. The iOS and Android ports don't have the same feel as the main versions, so I do not recommend them as strongly.
While there is a good diversity in the number and types of
missions and enemies, the game tends to get a bit repetitive in the mid to late
game (around 20 hours in) as you are often replaying familiar maps, and by that
point have a fair understanding of where the enemies are coming from and what
they can and can’t do, as well as faith in your own team's skills. Nonetheless, the game does a great job of making you
fear the destructive power of the aliens, and cheer every success your team makes
against a vastly superior invasion force. The Complete Edition of the game
includes the base game along with the exceptional Enemy Within expansion which increases
enemy diversity, adds a human rebellion sub plot, and gives you access to
better abilities and a new soldier class, definitely go for the Complete
Edition, it’s a far better experience.
Finishing the fight in Enemy Unknown makes the events of the sequel much more personal.
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