X-COM: Terror from the Deep

The Good
TFTD is more like a ritual than a game to me. I think it is the perfect strategy game because it's so deep and complex. I think it easily beats UFO probably because it has more variety in missions and also better music. What really intrigues me about the game is that you can goto an alien base (or dreadnought), wipe out every alien, and get enough supplies and money to keep you going for a few months. I once took out so many alien craft during a game (about 800-1000), that I ended up having about 2000 sonic cannons and a bunch of other equipment, over 100000 units of Zrbite and aqua plastics. Once you get to this point money is obviously not a problem anymore. The trick for me to survive during the beginning was to get a coelacanth until I reserach aqua plastics, and then later to use the MC disruptor for mind control.

The Bad
The only thing that annoys me is that at the end of each month, you need to go on a terror mission, and if you dont, you will get a terrible monthly rating. 2 terrible monthly ratings will result in cut of funding from the sponsors and game over. This is BS since the funding doesnt give you a lot of money each month, and I had just too much money for them to put me out of business. Also the tentaculant could be an annoying experience for newbies, but the trick is to memorize their starting positions on the maps you go on, so you could simple lob a sonic pulser in the direction before you get zombified. Also, if youre going on an artefact mission and dont have a disruptor yet, bring along a HWP because there are 8 tentaculants hiding in the elevator room at elevated positions, plus 2 more in the elevator itself.

The Bottom Line
If you play this game before UFO (as I did), you will probably get used to it and not like UFO as much. Contrary to what most think, this game just takes patience, practice, and some memorization to beat. If you do that, you will be almost invunerable later on in the game because your MC skilled aquanauts with 80+ TUs could put under mind control any alien, even tentaculants who have the highest MC resistance in the game. Also, if you notice, this game really has no end to it because you can choose whenever you want to go to T'leth, and even with all bases wiped out, you can always chase down subs and go on monthly terror/artefact/ship missions.