In Third Person

My love affair with the turn-based strategy games began after the original XCOM faded into obscurity. Advance Wars and Fire Emblem were my introduction to the genre, and for the most part, the only games in the genre I play. Not for a lack of desire, but for a lack of options. Sure, there are a lot of indie strategy games on PC/iOS, but when the big-budget strategy game market shrunk to nothing, the only real standout to me was Nintendo. Even then, neither of their strategy titles have lit up the sales charts or help revive the genre.

I’m not sure what compelled 2K Games to push ahead with a new XCOM now, but I truly appreciate the fact that they did. XCOM: Enemy Unknown is not only a fantastic turn-based strategy game, but easily one of the best games I played that came out in 2012.

There are two distinct gameplay styles that make up Enemy Unknown: turn-based tactical combat, where you manage your troops to victory and the bigger-picture strategy piece, where you manage your resources between missions. Going into this, I had a lot more experience with the former. Jumping into this felt like a dream, as the moment-to-moment combat is incredible thanks to it being deep, yet accessible. There are a myriad of ways to approach any situation depending on the squad you bring in, the opposition you face, and how all of the variables at play change as the battle progresses.

At first, I was a bit shaky with coming to grips with the nuances of its systems. However, once I got the hang of it, I was kicking butt, while the game still put up one heck of a fight. Even on Normal difficulty, the game will punish you for every poor move you make. Sometimes, one false move can cost you the lives of multiple squad members, and there’s no way of getting people back once they die. Heck, if thing’s are going really bad and almost every country has pulled out their funding, one bad move could cost you the entire game and you’ll have to start everything over. Though that isn’t an outcome I ever want to see, I’m glad that it’s there, as it ads even more weight to everything you do.

Outside of the missions, you are tasked with managing operations of XCOM HQ, such as ensuring that research is taking place to advance your technology and that satellites are launched to protect the nations supporting the XCOM project. This was an aspect of the game that took a while to wrap my head around. The game isn’t always clear about how certain aspects tie into the bigger picture, and there’s definitely steps you should take first. Early on, I spent too much money equipping my own troops rather than launching satellites, which really should be your #1 priority between missions. While I ultimately got through it, my initial lack of understanding did slow down my progress through the game, as I couldn’t complete certain objectives that the game needed me to pass until I got my business sorted out.

It can be very easy for these two distinct pieces to feel disjointed, but everything you do between the tactics and strategy adds up to the ultimate objective of taking out the aliens. Regardless of which aspect of the game I was partaking in, everything I did mattered; an aspect of the game design I can’t give enough credit for. When I started XCOM: Enemy Unknown, I played it almost incessantly until I finally showed those aliens whose boss.

Had I played this sooner, it would have definitely been in the mix for my personal game of the year. Save for a few technical bugs that ultimately didn’t take away from the overall experience, it was as engaging and well done as any game I played in 2012. For serious turn-based strategy fans, XCOM: Enemy Unknown is as much of a no-brainer as it gets. If you haven’t played a game in this style before, this is probably your best place to start. Even though I’ve already invested a few dozen hours to beat the game, I’m excited at the proposition of jumping back in on a harder difficulty with Iron Man mode turned on, where the game will auto save after every move, which forces you to deal with every decision you make.

Buy XCOM: Enemy Unknown Now on Amazon.com

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