Once upon a time, the hitherto unknown Gallop brothers gave us such a magnificent game called X-COM: UFO Defense back in the 90s. Many people of that time liked it for its comprehensive content of everything: from an excellent tactical component to an excellent base structure, combined with international relations in terms of protecting the world from an alien threat. But not everything ends well. Soon a sequel was released, which was not very different from the original (only the complexity increased and the setting was quite interesting) and the whole series slipped into UFO, which in the end came out beautifully, but not ideally and not the way the fans wanted. What brought them true joy in 2012 was, so to speak, the rebuilding of the old game in a new wrapper, but it was not the same as the fans remembered it. And then people showed up who for a very long time, for almost one and a half to two years, were developing the ideological successor to the original X-COM.
And then she came out. I’ll immediately answer the question that arises among fans: “Is it worth taking it if you played through the first X-COM 5 times on hard and it’s boring??"The answer is obvious – yes, definitely. What’s wrong with this? Let’s take into account that there are very few games of this type that combine both tactics and global strategy with a deep study of all components of the game, and we both remember X-COM first of all, but the rebuild remained quite… No, not mediocre, but casual. He was loyal to the player’s mistakes even at an average difficulty level, he was always given a chance to correct all mistakes, it was even possible to make sure that the original squad did not suffer losses. But, as we know, there is no war without losses, which left me with a slight aftertaste. People here are very vulnerable.
Even the first skirmish https://slotsicasino.co.uk/ with a downed UFO can result in the loss of 70% of the squad. The game doesn’t give you extra chances, but makes you think about what situation and how to properly form a squad for a mission, you need to constantly keep all classes of soldiers in your mind for a successful mission. As an example, you can send a squad of scouts with snipers and a medic to clear a small research UFO, because there is not such a great danger waiting for us there and the equipment must be mobile, otherwise it looks like a squad to be sent to capture an alien or terror base, where what is more important is not mobility, but survivability and brute force. In general, planetary battles have become a very important element, because this is how we get materials for the study and reproduction of a new type of weapon and new and different “tasty” – plenty. As mentioned above, the soldiers here really do not represent a strong opposing force for the enemy, because each of them can be bad in some way – some are cowardly, some are not distinguished by accuracy and other attributes, but this is also in the original, but it is worth noting that there it was quite easily compensated for, but here it represents a real problematic situation and you have to think about who to take into your ranks and who to leave, but these soldiers cost nothing at all – you can even let them in they are like ordinary cannon fodder and you will get nothing from it. Tactical diversity can be highlighted as a separate point. Any mission can be completed either “quietly” or with fanfare and fireworks. Destructibility here can be at the forefront, because with its help you can bring down a building with a rocket launcher, blow up the front doors of a UFO and much more. Whatever comes into your head can be accomplished, you just have to look at all the possible means that the game gives us.
As for the global strategy, it has indeed become “deeper” and “broader”. The game itself greets us with the choice of our base and the correct location will affect both our monthly benefit in the form of money and the benefit in the form of materials for researching downed opponents. Setting up a second base is a very long, costly project, because we will have to order/build more aircraft, hire more scientists/engineers/soldiers, decide what this base is for: research, quick response to emergencies, destruction of enemy aircraft. By the way, the enemy himself does not stand still. Having seen our activity, he can quite quickly begin to deploy stronger and more numerous troops, organize terror, build bases, show stronger aviation, and also fly not alone, but in entire flotillas! But we are not cut out for it either, as they say. We also have the right to send our aviation not in stingy single detachments. It is worth noting that we can solve all battles both manually and automatically (except for ground battles, some of which can be ended by simply bombing the area, in connection with which we will receive more money, but less materials). Despite everyone’s concern, no one will sponsor you out of the kindness of their hearts. In order for you to be paid more, you need to more effectively protect the countries in whose territories your bases are located, and the more losses from civilians and UFO encounters, the less payment will go into your pocket, which will lead to further problems in the development of weapons, their production, etc.
Also, as a separate pillar of the foundation of X-COM, one could note its encyclopedia, where one could read in detail about everything: about technology, about the anatomy of aliens, about the first contact with them, the first aggression on their part, about changes in the geopolitical structure, etc. There’s not just complete order with this, but everything is just so perfect that I can’t even believe it. The first article about first contact looks extremely convincing, the anatomy of the aliens is described in great detail, the technology stories, although from a theoretical side, because we don’t have them, of course, are still plausible. It’s really interesting to read, it also contains not only interesting history facts and observations, but also both the weak and strong sides of the opponents and what they are, which gives not only simple facts, but also a tactical advantage, and it’s really necessary and necessary to turn to the in-game encyclopedia.
But the game is not perfect, no. The bad side of the project is the rather strange system requirements, which are quite high, but let it be, there is no point in complaining about isometric turn-based tactics and global strategy in this regard. Another disadvantage I would like to note is the interface. Although it looks in the spirit of the original and even is such, it is quite “bulky” and not very convenient. In general, as I would like to note, all the disadvantages rest on the small budget of the project, as well as a rather “biting” price tag. This can be the reason for the meager sound component and the not-so-pleasant picture in some respects, but these are still nitpicks.Many can attribute a certain “viscosity” of the gameplay to the disadvantages, it is quite slow even in the later stages, but this can also be attributed to genre costs – you shouldn’t have expected anything more, also, by and large, there is no plot itself, there is only a plot from which it all begins.
In general, to summarize, I would like to note that this game is in such a strong and complex genre that it is difficult to make it exciting enough for dozens of hours of gameplay. Yes, all this is difficult, but the developers succeeded. Even though they won’t become leaders due to their low budget and rather weak advertising of their product, every fan should know about it. All those who like complex games that combine genres of different stripes, who have completed the original X-COM more than once or twice should purchase and play it. Simply because there are few such games and they are in short supply, but such a truly “amazing” creation should be owned by every person who loves games of this type.