X-COM: UFO Defense

X-Com gives you quite the daunting task to undertake in saving the entire world from invasion. But despite the many challenges it presents, playing it is an enormously rewarding experience that, even in this day and age, has yet to be truly replicated.

The ground combat is turn-based, but nonetheless very dynamic and interesting. I could go on talking about the game's features and possibilities but its just easier to download it and see for yourself. I can safely guarantee you that you will not regret it. It is one of my favorite, if not THE favorite, DOS game ever!

X-Com gives you quite the daunting task to undertake in saving the entire world from invasion. But despite the many challenges it presents, playing it is an enormously rewarding experience that, even in the day and age of such hugely superior technology, has yet to be truly replicated.

To call this one a "good" game would be the understatement of the century. It's a timeless classic, to this day beating the best modern strategy offerings from the last 10 years, and - believe me - this isn't nostalgia talking. Today, in 2005, the biggest obstacle to playing this game is NOT its dated graphics, but (a) finding a (legal) version of this game and (b) getting it to work under the current generation of Windows. Still, that's no excuse: Windows 98/ME works well with the DOS version of the game (which you should be able to find on eBay, etc.), as does the Windows XP emulation mode (just get DMSound for the Sound Blaster effects and music.) In addition, a much more robust Windows XP version also exists; search around, as I did. The fact that I went to such troubles to play X-COM in 2005 should tell you something: this game is equal to the likes of Red Alert, StarCraft, and Civilization, some of the greatest strategy games ever.

What more can I say, except buy it and say good-bye to the outside world for a couple of months (at least!).

X-Com is such a rich and detailed game that I could write pages about all its cool little nuances. Yet it's almost worth letting new players discover them for themselves. If you haven't checked out X-Com yet, and you're interested in strategy or turn-based games, this one is highly recommended, even against today's modern competition. It is excellent. If you're not a fan, but find anything about what I wrote interesting, you might want to check this game out anyway. It might just convert you.

UFO on pitkästä aikaa sellainen peli, joka sotkee vapaa-ajan suunnitelmat täysin...vai poistaako se vapaa-ajan ongelmat täysin?

Tactics Arena Online, Final Fantasy Tactics, the Dynastic Tactics games, or any of X-Com’s many (unfortunate) sequels all fail to reach the incredible depth and worldwide strategy/localized tactics mix that X-Com achieves. After all these years, X-Com: UFO Defense still sits atop the throne of turn-based strategy, and it is difficult to see anything replacing it in the near future.

Tactics Arena Online, Final Fantasy Tactics, the Dynastic Tactics games, or any of X-Com’s many (unfortunate) sequels all fail to reach the incredible depth and worldwide strategy/localized tactics mix that X-Com achieves. After all these years, X-Com: UFO Defense still sits atop the throne of turn-based strategy, and it is difficult to see anything replacing it in the near future.

Synthèse parfaite entre deux genres déjà riches séparément, cette formidable expérience vous tiendra en haleine de longues heures durant, mêlant tantôt des sentiments de puissance, parfois de frustration profonde car il vous faudra fournir des efforts constants pour mener à bien votre mission, mais l’aventure demeurera toujours palpitante au final. Loin d’être un OVNI dans le panthéon du jeu vidéo, UFO risque pourtant de kidnapper votre vie sociale, le temps de repousser ces envahisseurs belliqueux. Disponible en version compatible pour Windows XP (et en français s’il vous plaît) à un prix dérisoire, vous n’avez plus aucune excuse pour ne pas vous lancer dans cette lutte ardente pour la sauvegarde de notre belle planète. Et pour ceux qui y auraient déjà goûté, pourquoi ne pas aller faire un tour dans les abysses avec le tout aussi bon deuxième volet : Terror from the deep ?

This is the first game in the seminal X-COM series, and it's no exagerration to say it took the world by storm when it was first released in 1994. The graphics are nothing special, the sound's nothing special and the music is decidedly dodgy, but those of you willing to investigate the game's finer intricacies will be rewarded with one of the most addictive and satisfying game experiences ever.

It's always interesting when a game can be successfully ported from the PC to console. The two platforms are so different in their approach to gaming, yet there's really no reason why there shouldn't be more propagation between the two. X-Com is an excellent example of such cross-breeding.

At first I didn't get it. The newsgroups were all abuzz about some game called X-something - everyone who played it seemed to become a near-zombie, talking about it incessantly and flooding the groups with endless threads and theories and strategies. Then, as a lowly intern at a gaming mag, I was given the game to take some screenshots for a review. It seemed interesting enough - building bases and killing aliens - but I still didn't get it. Frankly, it seemed tedious. I decided to take it home to see what all the buzz was about. Big mistake.

At first glance, you would think X-Com is just an average game due to the graphics, but that is incorrect. The game is like cheese with a pulse. In-depth strategy and varying enemies with different attributes are what makes this game worthwhile and fun to play. The interface is tedious and difficult to use with the Playstation controller, but the Playstation mouses makes it easier. Any person who likes strategy gamers will fall in love with this title.

The gameplay is great. Custom characters, great storyline, and simple combat make it absorbing. Graphics and sound are simple fare. It's not for those who want to be wowed by imagery. Well worth buying--what it lacks in flash, it makes up for in playability.

Känslan i spelet är mycket stark, och både grafik och musik passar bra in i miljön. Det här spelet rekommenderas till de som både vill använda sin skarpa hjärna och sina snabba reflexer. Det är inte alls så lätt att bekämpa en attack från världsrymden!

UFO är originellt, tufft och har en rejäl dos atmosfär. Jag har jagat ufon och slagits mot utomjordingar i två veckor nu. Först nu böjar jag se en möjlighet att på allvar tackla hotet från yttre rymden. Hade inte den första versionen av UFO varit så buggig hade det blivit en given femma i betyg. Tack och lov fick jag snabbt tag på en uppgradering av UFO. Skäms på er, Microprose!

Novice gamers and those with short attention spans should probably avoid X-Com, because it'll give them a headache, but for those of you with an appreciation for sci-fi epics, it's the logical choice.

Rollenspiel-Elemente und Taktik, ein Hauch von Wirtschafts-Simulation beim Forschen und Stations-Management, das ganze umhüllt von einem knusprigen Strategie-Mantel - eine skurril-spannende SF-Story rundet diese verblüffend eigenständige Komposition ab. Langfristig ist die Motivation nicht überragend, aber bis man die ganzen Technologie- und Alien-Nuancen entdeckt hat, bleibt der Spannungsbogen beachtlich.

Vorläufig warden aber bloß 1200er und 4000er ins Jahr 1999 gebeamt, wo aggressive Aliens die Erde hartnäckig attackieren. Und weil man sich nicht gerne widerstandslos zerbröseln läßt, sind weltweit acht Stützpunkte zu errichten, um die UFOs zu orten und vom Himmel zu holen - was dann von der fremden Technologie noch übrig sein sollte, muß im Auftrag eines Konsortiums aus 16 Ländern wissenschaftlich inspiziert werden. Und damit diese Sponsoren nicht den Geldhahn zudrehen, ist man gut beraten, ihre Gebiete besonders aufmerksam vor dem Terror aus dem All zu schützen...

MicroProses Genre-Mix aus Strategie, Rollenspiel und Adventure hat auch auf dem A500 nichts von seiner Faszination eingebüßt. Die Maussteuerung geht locker von der Hand und reagiert lediglich im Battlescape-Modus etwas schwerfällig. Grafik und Sound sorgen auch auf dem "kleinen" Amiga für eine bedrückend düstere Atmosphäre. Intelligente Unterhaltung ist bei UFO - Enemy Unknown auf jeden Fall garantiert.

You have to be a major sim-freak to like X-Com. It's an interesting and complex game about planet colonizing, but the extensive manuals and one-dimensional music really bore you to alien tears after a while. Still, if you ever wanted to practice you won brand of illegal alien importing, this is a good game to start with.