XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Played the original back in the day and enjoyed this new release as much as I did the original.

Dont worry about the turn based combat it doesn't feel slow at all.

Story is absorbing and graphics are very good. Gameplay is enaging and compulsive. Just one more alien to try and capture alive or another piece of kit to upgrade!

Great customisation and development of characters makes for genuine concern for their survival :)

The game is a great update of an old classic, I loved it, a few minor improvements could have made it even better.

I miss the base attacks of the orginal and the feeling you were never safe. I also miss the ability to build new bases.

The stratergy side is watered down to make it more accessable to the mass market, which is a shame. However the turn based stratergy has been updated brilliantly, it flows so much better and can be fantastically tense when in Ironman mode.

If your a Xcom vet don't play normal mode, it's far to easy (completed the game without losing a unit) go straight for the harder modes as this is much easier than the original.

Multiplayer is a good bit of fun, especailly taking down a full team with just 1 psi commando :-)

If your an xcom vet this is a must to get, if your new to this give it a go it's a lot of fun.

X-Com: Enemy Unknown is a refreshingly different game, one which does much to earn a 4 star rating. The basic premise is that Earth is under attack by a hostile alien species and you as 'Commander' must combat and eradicate this threat at any cost.

The game provides two unique aspects of gameplay, each one complementing the other perfectly. A lot of the time you'll be researching and engineering new ways to gain the upper hand on the aliens in the tactical man management part of the game. This means you'll have to spend your time and resources wisely on the kinds of advancements you need most. The decision between constructing a shiny new advanced fighter jet or a new plasma rifle are genuinely difficult decisions and a great deal of thought must be put into each one. It's a great system, one which feels personal to the individual player. While one player may chose to construct an unrivalled armoury, the other may dominate the skies. The other part of the game is the combat section. This is where you'll actually use many of the advances you've made through science and engineering and the transition is extremely smooth. It is highly satisfying for example, to see a new set of armour save a soldiers life, a set which you decided to pour so much of your time and resources into making.

The combat system in X-Com is great fun, allowing for some satisfying tactical manoeuvring. It is a turn based system, but if you're the kind of person who likes real time action don't panic, this game deserves a play-through. Each player can take command of a squad of up to six, customizing their appearance, their names, their skills, their weapons and their armour. This is where X-Com is at its greatest because eventually, as your career progresses you will see these soldiers advance up the ranks into veterans. It will probably be the case that one of your top officers, one that has been with you through so many hard missions, dies and such a moment will be awful. Awful it may be, but their death brings an uncommon meaning to the game which has to be admired. If you can summon the willpower not to load a previous save file to resurrect the unfortunate soldier, then the sense of finality can become both painful and powerful. X-Com makes you care.

There are a few issues with the game which must be noted however. As fun as the combat is to play, there are some glitches in regards to the graphics, physics and lines of sight. Sometimes your soldier might shoot through a solid wall hitting an enemy. Other times an enemy in clear view may have a 14% chance of being hit, whilst one in respectable cover could have as high as 50%. It's an issue which doesn't truly hamper the game as it's relatively intelligent for the most part, but I can't help but think that if the game possessed sharper realistic graphics and allowed you to combat the aliens in a reliable world with solid physics, then it could have been utterly faultless.

I didn't enjoy this game one bit. Wasn't what i expected.

Give it a try! Just not my cup of tea

I wasn't sure about this game because it's turn based, so when I bought it and spent about 4 hours constantly playing it, I was shocked.

It does take some sense to play, it's a great game; you can exploit your moves with saving/loading at the right times, which is good for people who want to 'get through' the game.