By Marc Thompson, Contributor
4/5
It takes a lot of guts to re-release a game that’s regarded as one of the best PC games of all time. It also takes a lot of talent to do as fantastic a job as Firaxis and 2K Games have done here.
In XCOM: Enemy Unknown, players control a multi-national task force designed to deal with a sudden alien threat in the near future. The game is divided into two modes: strategic and turn-based. In the strategic portion of the game, you control XCOM HQ, allocating your limited resources to defend the entire globe while researching new technologies to fight the alien menace. In the turn-based tactical mode, you control the actions of your elite squad of soldiers against a wide variety of aliens.
This is no FPS; careful tactics, flanking, and use of special weapons are absolutely required if you want any of your soldiers to live. Your troops are anything but bulletproof, unlike your enemy scum. As time goes on, your troops will get better gear and pick up new skills for as long as they last—which may be shorter than you think.
This game is both highly engaging and highly challenging. You’ll likely find yourself screaming “NO!!!” at least once when something goes horribly wrong. I recommend it to strategy game fans who want a challenge, and wholeheartedly for fans of the original. Just remember to breathe when your entire team gets gunned down by a cyberdisk.