XCOM: Enemy Unknown

My busy weeks of gaming before my holiday (for my 21st birthday) continued this week with XCOM: Enemy Unknown. While it's no secret that I don't like RTS games very much, XCOM: Enemy Unknown struck me as far more personal experience. And so here we are!
Lets find out just how good XCOM EU is, shall we?

STORY
The premise of XCOM is that alien invasions have started popping up all across the world, and you are positioned as the commander of a multinational special ops force known as XCOM. The super secret Council of Nations tasks you with finding out the reason for these invasions, while also trying to keep all these involved nations calm.

As far as narratives go, XCOM: Enemy Unknown is pretty barebones. What makes it special is the emergent storytelling that comes with this kind of game. By naming and customizing your soldiers, you get a personal attachment to them, and thus their exploits and failures in combat make for great "watercooler" stories. You'll be sharing stories with mates about how your sniper held the line as your squad retreated with a VIP, or how your Heavy cleared the room before any enemies could get a shot away.

This may just be me, but I felt it difficult to just carry on when a squad member died. I'd always go to the memorial and take a moment to reflect on their exploits. Just a suggestion, you may find it more fun to name your squad after friends, family and coworkers. Alternatively, favourite musicians, authors, you get the picture.

PRESENTATION
There's no denying that XCOM isn't the most graphically amazing game. That said, the visuals do a decent enough job of establishing the mood. Tension is a constant feeling in XCOM, and the dark, rundown environments sell this really well. The remnants of vapourized civillians etched into the ground, the wrecked cars lining the streets, the fires that light the environments; they all add to the feeling of hopelessness and the tension.

The music also plays a large part in this. Generally, there are alot of high pitch string arrangements when the action is just on the horizon. When a bunch of aliens is encountered, a disjunct piano melody plays, and it amps up the creep factor. And then when the battles pick up, the music follows suit. It's all an effort in adding to the mood, and it works.

The character models are somewhat cartoonish, but visually interesting, and the voice acting is surprisingly good for the characters who have multiple lines of dialogue. The Council representative particularly speaks with an air of authority that sells him as the person you need to impress with your efforts.

Presentation-wise, there are a few things I have to complain about. The first thing is that, despite a large variation in map LAYOUT, the actual locations don't really vary. For example, I was tasked with stopping an alien abduction in Sydney, Australia. Later on, I was sent to stop an abduction in Leon France, and I could've sworn they were the exact same place.
Second, while your squad members don't talk ALOT, there's no accents that you can choose. Which is weird, because you've got a multinational team. A small gripe, but it did bug me.

GAMEPLAY
XCOM's gameplay is split into two halves. The first is the bigger draw of the two; the turn-based combat. If I was to compare it to something, I'd compare it to tabletop gaming (ala Warhammer). You take turns to move your squad and shoot with them, adhering to each class's specific rules. For example, some heavies can fire for their first move, and not have it end their turn. Snipers are unable to shoot after moving, support soldiers have smoke grenades, etc.

Making a well rounded squad full of Heavies, Assault soldiers, Support Soldiers and Snipers is truly rewarding, and having squad members survive long enough to become Colonels is awesome, because they absolutely destroy everything in their wake. It's like hitting the level cap in an RPG, with all your chosen skills.

The combat itself is surprisingly fun. It's also difficult. Lining up a shot on a flanked enemy and taking him down feels just as good as getting a headshot in an FPS. That said, care needs to be taken. Death is permanent, and one wrong move could prove disastrous. While flanking to get that killing shot, you could leave yourself open to an enemies killing shot.

The difficulty does ramp up a fair bit, as enemies become more dangerous and harder to kill as the campaign goes on. Add to that, the fact that losing an experienced veteran can be difficult to recover from, and the game can seem a little unforgiving.
If it's your first time playing, I would take the first playthrough as a learning experience, to make your second playthrough better.

The other half of XCOM revolves around building up your base, performing research and managing your resources. You're able to build labs to gain more scientists, workshops to gain engineers, satellite uplinks to be able to monitor more nations with your satellites. Your scientists allow you to research new ideas, and your engineers allow you to create and upgrade these ideas. This all flows into the combat half of the game. Then, the results of combat affect your international panic levels. This then flows into the funding available to manage your base.

The systems that make up XCOM all flow into each each other, and it really gives you a good look at the big picture. While many will probably give up once the difficulty sets in, I think the strategic, cinematic battles and base management will entertain both strategy fans and action fans alike.

Before I finish, I'd like to bring up a few small niggling complaints. Line of site is hugely important in this game, and MOST of the time, it's easy enough to figure out who you can and can't see. Occasionally, however, an overwatch shot will see you try to shoot through a wall. And that may actually work. Then sometimes you can physically draw a line of sight between two combatants, and you won't be able to shoot. It's weird, and I do hope it gets patched out.

REPLAYABILITY
XCOM: Enemy Unknown strikes me as the sort of game I could play over and over. Since the scenarios are randomly generated, it makes the game highly replayable. The option to play ironman mode (which restricts loading), the varying difficulties, and the multiplayer mode all give you value for money.
Speaking of the multiplayer, it gives you and a friend a chance to go head to head, alien vs human. It seems like more of a diversion than a fully fledged game mode, but it's fun enough.

OVERVIEW
XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a refreshing game. It's graphics aren't stellar, and it's probably not at the top of anyones wishlist, but you'll get few experiences like it. The tense atmosphere, the strategic, thinking-man's combat, the detail in the base management; it all combines to make a game that requires care and thought, while still delivering action-packed sequences to get the adrenaline pumping.

It's gameplay is solid, with a few small cracks, and the story (while barebones) is enough to frame your own stories with your own soldiers. It makes XCOM feel like YOUR organisation. You are the Commander.

So, next time, I'm thinking Pokemon Black/White 2. See you next week!