X-COM: Terror from the Deep

aka: TFTD, UFO 2, X-COM 2
Moby ID: 543
DOS Specs
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Description official descriptions

X-COM: Terror from the Deep is the follow-up to the resource management and tactical combat game X-COM: Enemy Unknown.

It has been 40 years since X-COM last defeated the aliens. Now, in the year of 2040, aliens begin to appear on the Earth again. This time the threat to humanity is coming from the depths of oceans.

The game is almost identical to the original X-COM game. The user interface, weapons, and aliens are all the same. The only difference is the adaptation of the aliens and weapons (e.g. new hand-to-hand weapons) to the ocean environment. The game features both undersea and on-land missions, and is significantly harder than its predecessor.

Spellings

  • 幽浮2:深海出擊 - Traditional Chinese spelling

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Screenshots

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Credits (DOS version)

60 People (54 developers, 6 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 84% (based on 26 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.1 out of 5 (based on 113 ratings with 11 reviews)

My initial impression was borne out by later reviews...

The Good
It's XCOM, more weapons, more missions, tougher enemies...

The Bad
EXTREMELY repetitive, some missions just too long and deteriorate into hunt-that-last-bug, much harder than the original, EXTREMELY tedious final mission, research tree "holes" almost impossible to recover from

The Bottom Line
After writing the XCOM FAQ, I received a preview copy of TFTD before the actual release. My initial impression after install is... This is XCOM with a new tileset.

After a bit of play, I realized that the difficulty level had been VASTLY increased. Instead of nice clean rooms with clear fields of fire, you now have lots of alcoves and deadends and corridors that makes for excellent ambush traps in all terrains (esp. those USOs, unidentified submerged objects). Lack of heavy weapons initially in the game makes terror missions EXTREMELY difficult (as most of your heavy weapons don't work on land). The two-part mission are pure murder on your troops with just too many places to search, and enemies often hold high ground before you can even deploy.

The addition of hand-to-hand weapons like thermic lance are interesting, but ultimately doesn't add that much to the tactical considerations.

This is essentially an expansion pack sold as a new game.

DOS · by Kasey Chang (4598) · 2001

In one word: absurd.

The Good
X-COM, the first part.

The Bad
It's obvious that XCOM was outstanding, one of the games that deserve to be called classics; a game hardly to be beaten, by sequel or not. But TFTD is simply absurd: it's the same game, exactly the same game. Even worse, the plot is also absurd. What has done mankind with all those plasma cannons taken from the aliens in the first episode? Why must I walk the path again from... harpoons? TFTD is the result of following a success and taking it to the worst extreme: to make an exact copy of the previous.

The Bottom Line
If you have seen XCOM, you have seen TFTD. If you don't, skip the latter completely and try the first.

DOS · by Technocrat (193) · 2002

This is the best game I've ever played.

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.

DOS · by igor balotsky (5) · 2001

[ View all 11 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Steam powered!? Xoleras (66143) Aug 17, 2007

Trivia

Bugs

The research tree in this game had a few bugs which prevent you from researching certain items, one of them can even stop you from successfully completing the game. Luckily there are guides that contain ways to avoid these bugs.

Development

After completing UFO MicroProse wanted to do a quick follow up within six months. We said that this was not feasible, and if it were possible it would be little more than the same game with different graphics. Instead we started work on X-Com:Apocalypse, which was much more ambitious. Once UFO/X-Com was clearly known to be a success, MicroProse suggested that we license the code for them to develop their own sequel. The rest is history.

-- taken from the Mythos Games web site.

References

X-COM: Terror from the Deep is heavily based on the writings of Howard Phillips Lovecraft. Many names and creatures are taken straight from HPL. Also, T'leth is R'lyeh, and in the final mission, you can see the tomb and the portrait of the Great Cthulhu himself.

Awards

  • Power Play
    • Issue 02/1996 – Best Strategy Game in 1995

Information also contributed by Jaromir Krol and Spearhead51

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  • MobyGames ID: 543
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by IJan.

PlayStation added by Trixter. Windows added by Xoleras.

Additional contributors: Narf!, Kasey Chang, tarmo888, n][rvana, Paulus18950, Patrick Bregger.

Game added December 6, 1999. Last modified January 19, 2024.