Actual Game

The Game

Here's the setup. It's 1999, and UFO sightings (of the classic variety) have become common. Aliens are starting to routinely land in major cities, infiltrate governments, and destroy the population. There's no hope of living in peaceful coexistence; these guys don't care about anything but colonization, and they don't exactly speak "human", either. These aliens are of the Roswell 1947 variety - mysterious, deadly, psionically enhanced. No single world government stands a chance of fighting their superior technology. This is where you come in: the U.N. has created a project named X-COM, whose only purpose is to put an end to the alien onslaught. You are the commander.

The gameplay is innovatively structured in a two-fold manner. Normally, you play with a 3D view of Earth (you can spin it around, zoom in to see city and country notations, etc.) You start the game with a base in a location of your choosing, and a certain amount of funds. In this Geoscape mode, you'll be able to look at a 2D plan of your base, add facilities to it, manufacture the technology you already know (in the beginning, things like conventional fighter planes, rifles, and grenades), research new technology, manage funds, etc. Surprisingly, none of this ever seems boring. In addition, you'll be supplied with a couple of hangars (on your base), an Interceptor (an F-15-type air-to-air fighter), and a Skyranger (an aerial transport for your troops).

The game has unparalleled replay value. It's definitely quite difficult until you figure out the correct battle tactics and the most efficient resource policies. You'll learn to attack in groups of 3 or 4, to crouch behind cover, and to sell expensive alien technology at a profit. You'll also learn to research aggressively, and to build new bases to cover more area (after all, countries you're not serving appropriately will lower, or even drop, funding - eventually, the game ends if enough countries are unhappy). Every mission is different from the next, so you're not likely to run into repetitious gameplay. The aliens themselves mix it up, throwing attacks ranging from recon to terrorizing major population centers to attacking X-COM's bases, if they can find them. And while it will be difficult, you'll be able to beat the game - even without finding all the available technology. This means the replays will let you explore further (for instance, you will be able to get your hands on psionic technology to control the enemy!). In addition, there are five difficulty levels, and the most difficult level is definitely doable once you've gotten good. In fact, once you've mastered the game, you'll realize that the aliens aren't all that scary; their strengths, which are their superior weapons and psionic abilities, are balanced by the fact that (a) humans can be a lot smarter, and (b) the aliens just can't aim very well. But good luck getting to that point.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about X-COM is how well it has aged compared to similar landmark games in other genres. X-COM more or less invented tactical turn-based combat, just like Westwood's Dune II more or less invented real-time strategy, and just like Wolfenstein 3D came up with first-person shooters. Now, be honest: Is Dune II really better than newer games like Rome : Total War or StarCraft, or even classics like Warcraft II and Command & Conquer? How about Wolfenstein 3D compared to Half-Life or Half-Life 2? That's what I thought. But X-COM: UFO Defense is still truly unsurpassed in its genre, despite its inferior technology and numerous sequels. And that makes it an absolute homerun of a game.

Note: My compatibility CD does not alter the retail game or bypass copy protection. It allows the original media to install and run correctly on any recent version of Windows.