Description
The UFOs are invading our skies! Reports of human and bovine abductions are increasing daily! Cities are terrorized! Something must be done!
XCOM, or eXtraterrestrial COMbat unit, was founded as an international force to combat the alien menace. Start with one base, two fighters, one transport, and a few soldiers, you must stop the alien threat... once and for all.
This is essentially two separate but inter-linked games. On the strategic side, called GeoScape, you get a rotating view of the globe, where you see all visible UFOs (those that are within your detection range) as well as major cities and your base(s). You order movements from here, such as sending out fighters to intercept UFOs, transports with soldiers to assault/recover UFOs, and perhaps assault alien bases (if you find any). You also control your research, as you must find better weapons (the Terran weapons are just no match against the alien weapons) quickly, not to mention all the other cool tech you can recover from the aliens. You also need to control your budget, as you can't afford to overextend your reach. Researchers need to be paid, engineers (who build the new toys) need to be paid, base(s) need to be be built/expanded, planes been to be bought/maintained, supplies need to be replenished...
Once you join a ground battle, the game switches to Battlescape, which is a 3D isometric view of the battlefield with realistic line-of-sight calculations and turn-based combat. Your mission is usually extermination of all aliens on the battlefield, though if you can capture a few it would surely help your research efforts. You also recover any alien artifacts left on the field if you win... Which can then be researched...
The game aims to mix strategic considerations, resource management, and tactical combat considerations, along with plenty of authentic UFO lore (made popular by the X-files).
Alternate Titles
- "X-COM 未知なる侵略者" -- Japanese Spelling
- "X-Com: UFO Defense Collector's Edition" -- 1998 Windows Release
- "X-COM: Terran Defense Force" -- Working Title
- "X-COM: Michi Naru Shinryakusha" -- Japanese Title
- "X-COM: Enemy Unknown" -- PlayStation European Title
- "UFO: Enemy Unknown" -- European Title
- "UFO" -- Informal European title
Part of the Following Groups
User Reviews
The Press Says
| HonestGamers |
Windows |
Mar 15, 2005 |
10 out of 10 |
100 |
| Netjak |
DOS |
Sep 19, 2005 |
9.2 out of 10 |
92 |
| GameSpot |
DOS |
Aug 15, 1996 |
9 out of 10 |
90 |
| IGN |
PlayStation |
Nov 26, 1996 |
9 out of 10 |
90 |
| PC Zone |
Windows |
Aug 13, 2001 |
9 out of 10 |
90 |
| Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) |
PlayStation |
Jan, 1996 |
8.9 out of 10 |
89 |
| AmigaInfo |
Amiga |
Mar, 1997 |
82 out of 100 |
82 |
| Video Games & Computer Entertainment |
PlayStation |
Feb, 1996 |
8 out of 10 |
80 |
| Amiga Joker |
Amiga |
Nov, 1994 |
72 out of 100 |
72 |
| GamePro |
PlayStation |
Apr, 1996 |
2.8 out of 5 |
56 |
Forums
There are currently no topics for this game.
Trivia
The game is heavy influenced from the TV series
UFO . It's about a secret UFO defense base which sends out military aircrafts to shoot down UFOs, sending out squads to seek the wreckage and kill or catch aliens to analyze them.
