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An ESRB rating has popped up for X-COM: Enemy Unknown Plus, which is being listed as a Mature game for the PlayStation Vita. It's important to note that the listing is for "Unknown," which is the base game, and not the "Within"? expansion that was released in 2013.

Well, at least someone is helping the Vita out, even if it ends up being an old version of the game. In other news, XCOM 2 was delayed into 2016? -- maybe they announced it a little too early and are considering a console version?

[Thanks Jim!]

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You can grab it for $10

XCOM: Enemy Unknown was one of my favorite games of 2012, and a year later, I enjoyed its iOS port all the same. It was a wonderful way to play it on the go, and considering the fact that it was basically the full game, it wasn't really gimped outside of the vis??uals.

Now, you can grab it on Android for $10 from the Google Play storefront. Word is that an Amazon Appstore release will be coming soon if that's your thing. If you're sitting around with your new Android device and can't ??find anything to play on it, this is your huckleberry.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown [Google Play]

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Normally goes for $19.99

XCOM: Enemy Unknown on iOS has received a n??e??w update that brings in asynchronous multiplayer. Additionally the update brings in iOS7 optimization and a newly implemented leaderboard.

The game usually goes for $19.99, but it's on sale for $9.99. Check out our review to see why the mobile ?version is worth picking up.&nbs?p;

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Running a paramilitary organization has never looked this trendy

Seems like a fair bit of critically acclaimed titles are finally making their long-awaited hop over to the Mac gaming universe. Last week we had Rockstar's take on a modern noir story in Max Payne 3, and this week we have Firaxis bringing back the alien invasion with XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

For those of you new to the franchise, XCOM&nb?sp;tasks you with being the commander of large paramilitary group built for the purposes of defending our world against an extraterrestrial threat. Your resources are not unlimited, and funding can be c??ut from your financial backers, making for games filled with very interesting and difficult choices on how to best use those resources.

I am glad to see XCOM: Enemy Unknown finally out and optimized for the Mac gaming community, and coincidentally nearly a week after XCOM: Enemy Unknown for iOS devices launched. I ?see what?? you did there Firaxis!

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Relive the despair of permadeath on the go

I was pretty blown away by Firaxis Games' re-imagining of the X-COM universe last year in XCOM: Enemy Unknown. So blown away in fac?t that it was my second? choice for Game of the Year -- and this is coming from a fan of the '90s series.

I loved the emotional thrill of deciding the fate of the world, and living with the sorrow of war, defeat, and death -- it comes naturally in Enemy Unknown, ?and is a??ll the better for it. Pretty much all of that translates into iOS, surprisingly.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown (iPad, iPhone [reviewed on an iPhone 5], Mac, PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)
Developer: Firaxis Games
Publisher: 2K Games
Released: June 20, 2013
MSRP: $19.99 (iOS)

At first glance, XCOM may seem like just another turned-based game -- but once you finish your first training mission and get into the nitty gritty, it's much more than that. For one thing, there's one major catch: XCOM: Enemy Unknown features permadeath. Despite the fact that you leveled up a character just right, pumped all your best gear in them, and relegated them to the cornerstone of yo??ur army, if they get outflanked by a surprise alien attack -- boom, gone forever.

The main draw of Enemy Unknown is the fact that you build your own story as the game goes on with a variety of mission objectives, as the narrative occasionally butts in. Death will have a permanent impact on your game, both emotionally and mechani??cally, as you scrape up new recruits in a constant effort to best the unrelenting alien menace. Soon, you'll start to feel the sting of an actual commander, deciding whether or not sacrificing a soldier is worth a victory??, or saving a certain country is worth the effort.

Of course, combat isn't the only focus in XCOM, as the base management and political balancing act is arguably more difficult. You need to decide which projects to research, and where to place buildings. Different countries are all contributing to the XCOM program, and if you don't keep them all happy (or alive), they'll completely p??????????????????????????ull funding. It's a weird little meta-game, but it absolutely works, as you are forced to decide between the fate of two countries, and weigh the pros and cons of alliances on a constant basis.

A touch-capable device feels right at home for all these portions in particular, as you can select menu options and build new structures with the greatest of ease. Also, given the turned-based nature of XCOM's combat, the game works perfectly on ?a?n iOS platform. Yep -- Iron Man Mode (that auto-saves with every turn) and the higher difficulty settings are fully intact, so no worries there.

Although Enemy Unknown has taken a hit graphically to fit on a tiny phone, it still looks polished, and it's by no means difficult to tell units apart. I came in skeptical of how well the game's visuals would translate to iOS, but after my first mission, I was sold. The iOS version is definitely at a lower-resolution than its PC and console counterparts, but all things considered, I don't h?ave any major complaints.

Truly, the only thing holding ba??ck this port is the camera control during combat. For whatever reason, Firaxis didn't enable full "swipe" camera movement, which means you'll have to slowly drag your finger along the screen to traverse some of the larger maps. Additionally, switching the view (which is normally done with multi-touch gestures in other games) is inaccurate, and is best served through the use of virtual buttons.

If you're into multiplayer, it's not available at launch, and is planned as a future free update. The good news is the full game is basically intact without any microtransaction nonsense present (I checked immedi?ately and breathed a sigh of relief), and it's a universal app with iCloud and Game Center support to boot. Some maps have been removed in favor of recycling a few -- and fitting the game onto the App Store -- but it's not really noticeable, especially in a single p?laythrough.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown has translated incredibly well to the iOS platform as whole. While there's no way I can recommend it over the PC, 360, or PS3 versions of the game (which you may be able to find discounted close to the price of the iOS version, with the PS3 version currently free on PS+), it still holds its own. If you haven't experienced this modern classic y?et and have absolutely no other way to play it, this port is where it's at.

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More hot deals than can shake a PS Move controller at

Sony came out of their E3 press conference smelling like roses. Capitalizing on the miscues of their competitors, the platform-holder seems poised for a resurgence this winter with the PlayStation 4. In the meantime, Jack Tretton and company are showcasing their Midas t?ouch with one of the most impressive PlayStation Store updates in recent memory.

As previously reported,  Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception,XCOM: Enemy Unknown, LittleBigPlanet Karting, and Machinarium are joining the Instant Game Collection this week. Starting tod??ay all four titles will be free for PlayStation Plus Members. But that's not all, Sony is also kicking off a massive sale in celebration of E3 and there are some crazy good deals to be had.

Highlights include: Tomb Raider for roughly $20, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and Far Cry 3 for $30, and indie-darlings Sound Shapes and The Unfinished Swan fo?r less than a fiver. Has anyone mentioned that Sony is kil?ling it?

Play?Station Plu??s: E3 2013 Sale, Free Machinarium, Uncharted 3, XCOM, More [PlayStation Blog]

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'I'm not sure I would be able to sleep at night'

Considering the game's unforgiving difficulty and meaningful character losses, it's all too easy to imagine a mobile version of XCOM: Enemy Unknown that runs w??ild with microtransactions in a hugely successful way. Thankfully, that is not at all what we're getting in the upcoming port of the excellent console and PC strategy title.

When asked by IGN about the potential for in-app purchases that would, say, improve squadmate performance, lead designer Jake Solomon had a rather amusing response: "Oh God, please... no. I'm not sure I would be able to sleep at night. My food would taste like ashes in my mouth." Instead, Enemy Unknown will appe?ar on the App Store with a "premium, up-front, fair price."

"We've proven [big console-quality experiences] can be recreated on mobile," said Solomon. "Now we just have to see how the market responds... If it works, I'll love it. As a gamer. I love games like FTL, Mark of the Ninja, SimCity... I? would play the shit out of them on mobile. I want to see that happen."

XCOM on iPhone and iPad Will Have? No Paid Power-ups [IGN]

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Make alien love, not war!

Adam Sessler and Rev3 Games brings two noteworthy turn-based designers together in the same room to chat and hug it out. On one end is X-COM (1994) creator Julian Gollop; the other is occupied by 2012 XCOM reboot designer Jake Solomon.

Gollop created more than the XCOM series. He pioneered turn-based tactical combat games with Rebelstar and Laser Squad, and most recently released Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars (the only 3DS launch title that holds up). While X-COM was later ruined by publisher MicroProse management -- which insis??ted on making the franchise into shooters and rushing annual sequels -- Gollop's other series went unnoticed in the West. One can hardly blame him for his blatant skepticism at 2K Game's handling of the series and Firaxis' attempt at a reboot.

"I thought it was a great shame because it was going down the same route as some of the previous X-COM sequels, like Interceptor and Enforcer – in other words, going completely against turn-based combat," Gollop told Edge in Jan?uary 2012, when questioned about the upcoming first-person shooter reboot. "It was a bit disappointing from my point of view and for many fans of X-COM. When from out of the blue we heard that Firaxis are doing a turn-based version, it's as if 2K are trying to cov??er all their bets."

Now that designer Jake Solomon and Firaxis has released 2012's XCOM reboot to rave reviews, Gollop has only kind things to say about Solomon and the game. Gollop was vocal last year about being surprised by the game's quality, but it's nice to see him discuss the t??itle and its history with Solomon, who is a nervou??s, giddy fan in the above interview.

It's nice to see these two great designers get along and inspire each other, as w?e could use more talented strategy developers in the market.

X-COM to XCOM: 20 Years of Turn-Based Strategy [Rev3 Games]

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Developer Firaxis Games also teases next project

Series reboot and turn-based strategy crossover hit XCOM: Enemy Unknown will come to iPad and iPhone this summer, Polygon reports.

Jake Solomon, lead developer of the title at Firaxis Games, calls it a "full port," in line with the excellent Civilization Revolution and Sid Meier's Pirates! iOS ports before ??it. 2K China will be handling the port, along with assistance from Firaxis. The port has been in development since October 2011, a year before the game shipped on PC and con?soles.

The only noticeable alterations made to the port will be less maps?? (due to file size limitations) and a ??new touch-friendly UI. There is no date or price, but publisher 2K Games has referred to it as a "premium-priced app."

"It was one of those things that was a challen?ge for us to figure out on consoles where you steer the cursor with the gamepad," Solomon told Polygon. "It was actually much easier on the iPad because it mimics the PC in the sense that it's easier to steer your soldier, because all you do is look at the screen and click."

The grid- and turn-based nature of the game ??makes it a perfec?t game for iOS. Now I can be stressed out of my mind wherever I go!

In addition to this iOS announcement, Firaxis showed a teaser at a PAX panel for their next project. As of now, it's unclear if this is DLC or a standalone sequel. A new hostile species (perhaps from the deep?) is the focus. Check it out at Kotaku.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown coming to iOS devices [Polygon, Kotaku]

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Save the earth on your Apple gizmo

Last year's awesome "save Earth from evil aliens" simulator, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, will be finding its way onto Macs very soon. The port is being handled by Feral Interactive, who has ported a lot of good titles like Batman: Arkham City, Bioshock 2, Empire: Total War, and Borderlands.

T??he Mac version will be an elite edition of the game that includes all the downloadable content; we'll know more about pricing and availabili?ty when we get closer to launch. Hopefully it will be out on Steam, so people won't have to re-buy it to play on Mac. 

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Tell your friends!

Green Man Gaming is doing that thing it does again where it heavily discounts a worthwhile PC title that's redeemable on Steam and also offers a coupon code (GMG20-P4DLK-FKYRS) for an even greater deal. In this case, the game in question is XCOM: Enemy Unknown, which can be yours for $16 with that coupon applied.

You shouldn't need me to tell you it's worth grabbing at that price. Even as someone who has a hard time getting deep into most turn-based strategy titles, that didn't seem to matter with Enemy Unknown. That's the power of ??good game design, I suppose.

Also, when I say "tell your friends," what I'm really trying to get across is that you need to p??eer pressure them into buying this game they will li??kely enjoy but otherwise would not pick up on their own. Worked out quite well for me, anyway.

[Via Dealzon]

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Free DLC adds new options to elongate gameplay

Go load up XCOM: Enemy Unknown today and grab your free title update. Titled "Second Wave," this new DLC adds a heap of modifiers to the campaign, including anything from weapon buffs, to guaranteed crits. It's the second piece of content to be on offer since the Slingshot Pack.

While these options seem fairly lame on the surface, there are a few gems that he?lp extend the life of the game for pros. One of them is "Marathon," which makes the game ever harder with higher costs, and longer ti??me lapses for healing and research.

Othe??rs, like "High Stakes," reward players for stopping alien abductions, adding more?? incentive to go on more missions. All in all, it's enough for me to head back and finish my third playthrough.

In other news, XCOM: Enemy Unknown is now available on Xb?ox Live's G?ames on Demand service.

• Damage Roulette: Weapons have a wider range of damage.
• New Economy: Randomized council member funding.
• Not Created Equally: Rookies will have random starting stats.
• Hidden Potential: As a soldier is promoted, stats increase randomly.
• Red Fog: Combat wounds will degrade the soldier’s mission stats.
• Absolutely Critical: A flanking shot guarantees a critical hit.
• The Greater Good: Psionics can only be learned from interrogating a psionic alien.
• Marathon: The game takes considerably longer to complete.
• Results Driven: A country offers less funding as its panic level increases.
• High Stakes: Random rewards for stopping alien abductions.
• Diminishing Returns: Increased cost of satellite construction.
• More Than Human: The psionic gift is extremely rare.

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Best of 2012

And now, the last of our editorial picks for the best games of 2012, we bring you the winner of the best strategy game. While settling on which games we would select as our nominees for the category was not at all easy, picking a winner certainly seemed to be, as the strategy category ?was far and away the most decisive selection when the votes were tallied.

As a reminder, here are our nominees for best strategy game of 2012:

• Crusader Kings II
• FTL: Faster than Light
• Tropico 4: Modern Times
• Wargame: European Escalation
• XCOM Enemy Unknown

XCOM Enemy Unknown 

Bringing a classic franchise back from the dead can be a terrifying prospect from all angles, whether you're a fan, a designer or a publisher. Developers who attempt this feat of engineering have to strike a balance between satisfying the demands of a pre-existing audience while modernizing elements so that they can compete in the modern age and publishers have to be willing to take a risk on putting games long-forgotten back in the public eye. In this, the 2012 revival of XCOM is nothing short of a triumph. 

Enemy Unkown is a game which successfully blends top-level resource management and global defense with smaller, skirmish-level battles and a progression system that encourages players to connect with the members of their squad, value them, and keenly feel? their loss. Its challenges require careful planning, quick thinking and and just enough luck to keep things interesting without undermining the experience.

Additionally, Firaxis should be praised for the user interface developed for the console version, which may very well be the best the genre has ever played with a c?ontroller. For once, home console players have a tacti?cal game that feels good in the hands, and that alone is something worth exultation.

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DLC available now

Here are some new screenshots and video showing off the Slingshot Content Pack for XCOM: Enemy Unknown. It's available now on PSN, Window?s PC and Xbox Live for $6.99 or 560 Microsoft Points. 

With this DLC expect three new maps tied to the Council missions, a new playable squad character, and new character customizations. If you watch the trailer, you might recognize a voice in ??it. 

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Three new Council missions

Having already taken a brief look at the Slingshot downloadable content for XCOM: Enemy Unknown, it's now the obligatory time when we fi??nd out the release specifics for the add-on. It'll be available for $6.99 / 560 ?Microsoft Points on PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 when it launches this Tuesday, December 4.

To accompany the news, Firaxis and 2K Games sent out additional screenshots, some of which cover the extra customization options from this DLC. Steven has a preview of Slingshot in the wor?ks, so be on the lookout for that in th??e very near future.

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You'll get beyond the two announced packs

It seems as if more XCOM is on the way: an announcement that couldn't have been better timed with the recent news that it sold fairly well. After the two announced DLC drops, the Elite Solider and the Slingshot Content Pack, the??re will be more to come in 2013, so don't trade in your copy just ye?t!

XCOM: Enemy Unknown is one of my favorite titles of the year, and it may even end up taking my Game of the Year nomination, depending on what the rest of 2012 can churn out. The more XCOM the merrier, I say.

Fiscal Report [Take-Two]

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Single-player DLC brings the alien menace to China

A pair of add-ons are on the way for XCOM: Enemy Unknown and the first, the Slingshot Content Pack, has been detailed b??y 2K Games and Firaxis. It's centered around three new maps which are tied to the game's Council missions, offering further customization options for your characters and another playable squad member.

In addition to a handful o??f screenshots for the pack, we have word that specifics on the pricing and release date will be revealed soon. (Oh, you'll?? get another post out of us yet.)

For the time being, however, the Elite Soldier Pack that included a classic X-COM soldier, deco packs, and complete squad color customization can be purchased for $4.99 / 400 Microsoft Points. Those of you who pre-ordered Enemy Unknown should already have access to this?? stuff, but if you were late to the party, there's hope yet.

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Find out how to play as Levine and other hidden heroes

In dark times, pray upon your gaming gods and you shall receive?? redemption. Or, at least, Ken Levine??.

Irrational Games founder and BioShock creator Levine makes a cameo in Firaxis Games' XCOM reboot as a hidden hero character. Alongside Levine stand some other notable names, including comic book artist Joe Kelly, Let's Play Y?ouTube producer Otto Zander, and Sid Meier (who was shown off way bac?k at E3 this year.) To add these heroes to your party, simply name your characters after them -- but be aware that they'll disable achievements since they come overpowered with high stats and unlocked abilities.

??Firaxis president Steve Martin, James White, and some other names have been tossed around, but they haven't worked for me. Firaxis said there are more ?developers to be discovered, so let's keep digging!

Le??ave any discoveries of your own in the comments b??elow and may Levine guide the way through humanity's greatest struggle!

[via 2K Games Forum]

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Two hot games, one launch day

If there's one thing my Twitter feed has been telling me this week, it's that gamers are desperately choosing between XCOM: Enemy Unknown and Dishonored, two good looking games that, in their own ways, stand out among the generic "me too" g??ames of the season. 

Don't look at us for any help. We reviewed Dishonored, we reviewed XCOM, and both games reached a well??-deserved draw in the score stakes, each sitting pretty at a 9.0. 

As the "AAA" season tr?uly kicks off, gamers face tough choices about where to spend their limited funds. Decisions like this are always tough, which is why we're making it tougher and demanding that you choose. Of course, you can be a clever-clogs and say "both" or "neither," but you're the one nobody liked in school, so screw you. 

This is all before we factor in the Retro City Rampage wild card, too. Damn it. 

Anyway, DISHONORED OR XCOM YOU MUST CHOOSE RAAAARRRGGGHHH!

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We?ve finally arrived

I dream of XCOM. I have fever dreams where I debate using my assault soldier’s Run and Gun ability to flank an alien or play it safe and stay behind cover. I wish I was kidding or being h?yperbolic, but I’m not. I gain new strategies as I lose sleep.

T??here are two types of games I delete upon completion. There are those I am done with but, on a very rare occasion, ??there is also a game that just isn’t done with me. These are games I obsess over. I begin to incorporate them into my daily routine, somewhere between eating and sleeping -- sometimes cutting out basic living essentials, when necessary.

I don’t want to eat because I’d rather play a dang videogame. This is not normal. For me, someone who struggles to do anything consistently for two hours, this is what can only be labeled "super abnormal." So take the act of me wiping XCOM from my hard drive as high praise. It speaks volumes on how addictive and replayable XCOM is. It’s not you, XCOM. It’s me, truly. Now, pack your shit and l??eave!

XCOM: Enemy Unknown (PC [reviewed], Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
Developer: Firaxis Games
Publisher: 2K Games
Release: October 9, 2012
MSRP: $59.99

Enemy Unknown is a game about defending the world on a budget. Corners will be cut, soldiers will be lost (RIP Chad Concelmo), and countries will withdraw support if you don’t help them when asked. Not since Dark Souls has a game been so gleefully vicious in punishing a player’s loss. There are many times where I was tempted to start anew, but I played the odds and pulled through. That’s the genius of XCOM: It wants you so badly to give up, but that small percentage of victory will give you the courage to continue. In Mass Effect, alien takeover was a backdrop. In EU, it feels ?like an inesc??apable reality that beats your team down, time and time again.

Being that EU is a considerable challenge full of painful losses even on easy, it is a fairly faithful remake of the original, landmark X-COM (you see that hyphen!?!). The base building, squad management, tactical combat, space battles, leveling, and most other elements of the ‘94 MicroProse cult hit appear, albeit with fat trimmed. Through the modern miracle of intelligent menu design, a fair difficulty gradient, and refined combat, the team that made Civilization a great fit for consoles has done the same for XCOM.

Firaxis has made a simpler (but not simple) XCOM that is approachable to more than just diehard series and genre fans. As your squad members gain new abilities and passive buffs, elevation and grouping become more important aspects of strategy. Once you can use a grappling hook and make psychic links with others, the game becomes even deeper. However, EU never comes close to approaching the complexity of other games in the strategy-RPG genre that the original helped pioneer. This design choice may divide some genre fans, but there is certainly a good enough challenge and varied tactical options to satisfy most players, especially those that worship Final Fantasy Tactics, Jagged Alliance, or Valkyria Chronicles.

One smart change is that the player now controls a maximum of six members on a mission, instead of an entire platoon. Coupled with the small maps and quick animation, this makes EU a much faster paced and accessible action game. The action and missions themselves transpire so quickly that it’s hard to stop playing, as you rationalize taking on one more abduction in Japan. Every now and again, actions will be presented in a cinematic style that is similar to Valkyria Chronicles. It helps ??highlight the turning points of a battle, racketing the tension up at times.

EU begins with a cinematic tutorial and a series of missions that feel on-rails, but the game soon opens up to let you screw up in the most fantastic ways imaginable. You’ll always have a primary goal that revolves around researching?? a specific thing, capturing a specific alien, and, occasionally, invading a specific location. These goals keep the player free to do what he or she wants when it comes to taking on missions or building the XCOM headquarters. You can fulfill these goals at your leisure, but you’ll always be at risk of panic striking nations.

Your base is not only where you upgrade troops and do research, it’s also how you track progress made across the globe. Since XCOM is a private military with an international council, you’ll always be in danger of countries withdrawing support if their panic level rises to five (the highest ??level). The only way to combat this is to do missions in that country or launch a satellite over it, which takes a lot of time and money. If too many countries pull out, it’s game over. I lost a country in every region but still managed to beat the game. The possibility of losing always loomed right over my shoulder, making for a relentlessly tense experience. A good thing, mind you.

Even after a flawless battle, there is no escaping the inevitable tough decisions you’ll have to make at the base. The hardest decisions come from invasions that ask the player to take a mission at one of three countries presented. Each offers a diffic??ulty level, reward, and panic level. I found myself constantly conflicted. “Do I risk Australia pulling out of XCOM just so I can get some immediate cash from China?" is the type of question you’ll find yourself asking a lot. Managing your research and development is also a hard job that you’ll only figure out through time and experience. I’m replaying the game on Classic difficulty (read: Hard), as this review goes up, and am still discovering new strategies on and off the battle grid.

Missions cover bomb defusals, VIP escorts, and rescue operations, but most of the time you’ll just need to wipe out aliens in one of the game's 80 maps. This is a lot harder said than done because of monster closets. This term, made popular by critics lambasting Doom 3’s enemies that magically appear instead of approaching the player, is the best way to describe one of EU&rsqu?o;s most puzzling and upsetting design decisions. Unlike most other SRPGs, the enemy does not move until discovered. Once disco??vered however, the enemy is given a free turn to move and take cover -- which for the player, really, really sucks!

The main problem with this is that you start playing the game around this design decision, which, in effect, ruins the game. It makes sense to slowly creep through a forest, hoping to get the drop on aliens. It doesn’t make sense to slowly creep through a forest, fearing aliens will get the drop on you as you suddenly freeze in time. As a defense measure, you can position your guys to go into overwatch, gunning down any creature that passes their line of sight. It’s certainly a change from the original, where aliens would be found st?anding still when discovered.

A lot of XCOM comes down to luck and risk. Every shot you fire is complemented by a screen with info on the percentage of the shot landing and?? damage it is likely to do. This is a risk you agree to take. The same can be said for the smart cover system that divides positions as no cover, half cover, or full cover, each increasing your chances for an enemy to miss. I eventually grew to accept these monster closets, but it sure is a jarring element to battle. It is made even worse with the occasional glitch. One time I had an alien suddenly appear beside me and drop a grenade. I didn’t care very much for its parting gift.

It may have taken console games a good amount of time, but I think we’ve finally arrived at the ideal control setup for a turn-based strategy game. Being able to quickly zoom out with the left trigger, rotate camera with D-pad, and switch characters with the bumpers feels natural. EU takes influence from Call of Duty in more ways than one. Just as CoD and Gears of War popularized the use of sticky actions for shooters -- as in the game guides your character/crosshair to the action you wish to perform -- EU ??does the same for s??trategy games. Getting rid of grids and adapting this new system feels natural and so damn good.

Ironically, the PC controls are abysmal. Firaxis took one step forward and one step back. There? is no quick zoom button (there is one listed in the options menu but it wouldn’t work, no matter how I reconfigured it), rotating the camera is awkward, zooming is even worse, and keyboard shortcuts are not as smartly placed as they are on the controller. The menus are harder to navigate, you can’t zoom in on your headquarters, and a lot of other actions that are easy to perform with a controller are made difficult or taken out altogether. You’re going to want to play this with a controller and, yes, I know how strange that sounds. Even the PC exclusive grid mode is a nuisance that only breaks immersion and makes the game frustrating.

Once you’ve conquered the campaign (my playthrough ran 23 hours), multiplayer awaits. Playing only with friends and fellow reviewers, it was hard to get a good grasp of where the multiplayer scene can go. The mode is a mess that, like the singleplayer campaign, gives players the freedom to screw themselves. Multiplayer is just straight forward one-on-one match, but you are free to make your squad however you like. Each unit and each modification to? a unit costs points which can be limited (or not) by the host. This means you can have six-on-six matches with the most powerful enemies in the game, or play a straightforward match. I found the aliens to be so laughably unbalanced that it risks making the mode completely irrelevant, unless an update gives the host more options to limit loadout choices. The map selection is small, the netcode is touchy, and there are some terrible design choices, like letting players see the opponent open doors, thus giving away positions in an already tiny map. Maybe it will grow on me or be fun with more match rules, but I got pretty negative impression from my time with it.

XCOM looks good and sounds good, but the score is too similar to Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Mass Effect. I know EU shares the former’s composer, but it still cheapens the experience and makes it feel less unique.?? The greater problem are the bugs that not only get in the way of presentation but combat as well. One bug kept me from being able to properly use a key feature later in the game that lets you further upgrade units. Another bug had my character’s ponytail wrap around the loadout screen and dance around, as if possessed by the God of hair (an awesome bug, I must admit.) You’ll also see lots of clipping and glitchy cinematic camera angles in combat.

So, it’s fair to say that EU has some problems. While the game lacks the polish we’ve come to expect from Firaxis, it stands up as one of the most addicting and fun strategy games I’ve ever played. The game has ??its issues. It doesn’t help that it ends on the worst stage with one of the worst boss battles in recent memory. Oh yeah?, and you can wash it all down with a terrible ending cinematic.

Outside the endgame, you’ll rarely see all of the game’s issues grouped together in one place. Sure, the UFO missions aren’t the best and you’ll run into the occasional bug, but I am willing to accept these minor issues. That’s just how much fun the game is. If you’ve ever played a game on a PC with a loud fan or sneaked into the living room as a kid to game at night, you should be able to understand that sometimes it's worth putting up with a little discomfort for a lot of enjoyment. That’s Enemy Unknown for you.

I was disappointed EU didn’t have a great story, at first. But, somewhere along the way, my own story played out through the game’s intense missions and grueling decision making back at the base. My story is about an unlikely group of space heroes. After months of waging a seemingly impossible war, my elite squad of XCOM soldiers died. Well, all but one. Her name was Tara Long. With one bullet left in ?her rifle aimed at two of the toughest foes she’d ever seen, she knew it was fate when the SUV behind the Mutons exploded, sending the two to a fiery death.

As the world descended into panic, Tara led a troop of new recruits. Hamza the support, Conrad the heavy, and Tony the assault rose through the ranks and succeeded where the older soldiers failed. Let’s not forget Holmes, the sniper who once saved the day after going into panic mode, gunning down an incoming cyberdisk as his sanity deteriorated. Poor Holmes hasn’t been the same ?sin?ce ….

Against all odds, Destructoid managed to save the galaxy, even though we barely manage to keep this site running. That’s a story worth seeing to its end, even if I’ll soon forget it as many more stories play out in my future XCOM sessions. All the small nagging complaints I have with th??e game fade away when I recall all the great moments I've ha??d with it.

The post Review: XCOM: Enemy Unknown appeared first on Destructoid.

You sunk my Chrysalid!

In a little over a week, Firaxis's XCOM: Enemy Unknown will be hitting stores, and last week, we had a couple of the devs come by the office to play some multiplayer. I teamed up ?with Jake Solomon, and our producer Zac Minor teamed up with Garth DeAngelis, and we had some fun making our little guys run around and shoot each other with lasers.

The post Let’s Play XCOM Multiplayer with a couple Firaxis Devs! appeared first on Destructoid.

2K Games has released this interactive trailer for XCOM: Enemy Unknown that details how the game plays, al??l while you pick and choose what happens. It's an interactive video, and apparently YouTube now has the tech so that all your choices are reflected in this one embed, rather than pulling up multiple YouTube pages based on your picks.

This is the next best thing to a demo, especially those of you who are waiting to play it on the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360. PC players can get the XCOM demo now through Steam.

I've been hearing nothing but great things about XCOM for the last f?ew months. Ar?e any of you picking this one up?

The post Play a round of XCOM: Enemy Un??known ?through YouTube appeared first on Destructoid.

2K Games and Firaxis are about to unleash their re-imagining of a classic PC title with XCOM: Enemy Unknown, set to release on October 9. You can pre-purchase the game now from your favorite digital retailer and claim a free lau?nch bonus in the process. 

This bonus, the Elite Soldier Pack, will include a classic X-Com soldier inspired by the original game, soldier? deco packs, and compl?ete color customization.  

In related news, all PC versions of XCOM: Enemy Unknown will be powered by Ste??amworks, giving support ?for Steam Achievements, matchmaking, Steam Cloud saves and auto-updating. 

If this all has worked to talk you into pre-purchasing your digital copy for PC, head to //www.xcom.com/preorder.

Enjoy the brand ??new screenshots found in our gallery.

The post XCOM: Enemy Unknown i?s now up for digital pre-sale appeared first on Destructoid.

In the original X-COM titles, the loss of a squad member would always cut me up. Those wee, heavily armed men and women were under my care, and I'd be damned if I was going to let some alien scum end their lives. I'm glad to see there's an emphasis on this in the upcoming XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

The only way to ensure their survival is to recruit the best, train them, pile on the upgrades, and not tell them to run right up to the big aliens and call them lame. XCOM: Enemy Unkown will? be invading our planet on October 9 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. 

The post XCOM: Try not to get everyone killed appeared first on Destructoid.

There is a reason why strategy and adventure games faded away in?? the late '90s. It's the same reason why publishers are bringing franchises back and hamfisting them into more popular genres. It's about money.

We used to call it "Xboxification," but now it's just too common of a thing to even label. So when I saw 2K Marin's first-person shooter XCOM reboot in 2011, I thought, "Yeah, of course!" But then something strange happened. Earlier this year, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, a faithful turn-based strategy recreation of the original XCOM, was announced and is being done by the?? king of the genre, Firaxis Games. Even stranger, the developer is trying to make this game work across PC and consoles.

After talking with Lead Designer Jake Solomon and Lead Producer Garth Deangelis, any skepticism over the project soon disappeared. Sure, one side of me thinks that this is?? too good to be true, but don't good things come to those who wait?

I imagine you must be sick of explaining and defending this game's presence on consoles at this point. How does it feel to be so close to release?

Jake Solomon: To be honest, we had a really long last year or so. Very long! We ??packed up two yea?rs of work up into one year, but at the end of the day, I think we are all -- this isn't marketing bullshit -- we are excited. We like the game. These guys have been working on this game for a long time and beaten it multiple times. If it didn't turn out well, I don’t think we'd be doing more interviews.

This has been bugging me: Why have you guys dropped the hyphen from the title? Is this a Chinese bootleg X-Com you're making or something?

JS: I didn't want to man! I didn't want to drop it! I played this game when it came out in '94. It's the reason I had a computer science degree. It's the reason I'm in games and it was one of those things where I don't know why there isn't a hyphen anymore. But we snuck it in. It's one of those things where it's officially rebranded but my wife was like, "What's XCOM?" I was like, "No, it's 'X [space] Com'! Can you see the big dash ?going through th??e logo?"

Is there any advantage to playing on PC?

JS: They are the same gameplay wise. PC, it's different from what you are used to playing, but one thing I ??like about PC versus console is that we have a little bit more of a tactical interface on PC. It's a minor feature, but we brought back the phone booth from the original on PC. The game isn't built on a grid, but if you hold down the right mouse button, you'll see a grid that makes flanking easier. Now that we're at the end of the project, you focus on console since it goes to cert first, so now we are mostly focusing on PC.

By the way, you can play on a gamepad a?s well [as] on keyboard. We sort of mapped everything around W?ASD so once you get used to that you are good.

Garth Deangelis: We just used the very average console player controls, but it just works. They immediately know how to move and ?figure ou?t firing.

Did you guys plan for a console release from the very start?

JS: Yea??h, that was always the plan from the very beginning.

So many developers have tried to port strategy games to consoles with little success over the years. What makes you think XCOM won't follow suit?

JS: That's the big question. I suppose our belief is that XCOM is strategy, but it's a new type of strategy even though it's 20 years old. Obviously we are big fans of strategy, but it generally focuses on numbers. XCOM is different because you have the strategic layer but you also have the combat layer where you control your soldiers individually. You can't just have the tactical layer because it's not enough. XCOM is very distinct.

Are there any positive examples that inspired this reboot's design?

JS: Yeah, Civilization Revolution which we did in-house. I unabashedly loved Civ Rev. That did well for us. And Halo Wars. I don't know how well it did commercially but critically it was alright. Real-time combat is hard to do. That's how you get really limited by the control scheme. It's nice to make a turn-based game where that's not an issue. You ever played X-Com on the original PlayStation? It ??wasn't so bad. It worked pretty well. Turn-based games are much bett??er suited for console than real-time series. They have a great legacy not on the big consoles but on handhelds.

As an X-Com fan, I feel the closest we've come to a spiritual successor is the PS3 Japanese game Valkyria Chronicles. Enemy Unknown's cinematic camera and lack of grid makes me wonder if this reboot took some inspiration from Valkyria Chronicles, just as Sega took inspiration from the original X-Com.

JS: O??h yeah! Their camera system we admire. We got a lo??t of inspiration from the camera system, but that was a more combat-oriented game.

Dealing with a PC franchise with a cult following can't be easy. I see in comments people complaining that Enemy Unknown's squads are reduced to six. Has it been hard knowing when and where not to listen to this vocal minority of series fans?

JS: Yeah. I think as opposed to listening to the minority, I come from that group of really hardcore, s??o I can talk very in detail about the original and how you should do things and the problems with certain weapons. So at least I come from the same place and I can have an honest conversation. I don't have to lie to them when I say, "This is why squad sizes ar?e smaller, this is why this is this way." This is why it's exciting we are about to put this game in peoples' hands, and I'm really confident fans of the original will have the same experience they had with the original.

The actual mechanics aren't as important as the pillars of design. As long as you have things like permadeath, fog of war, [and] destructible environments, the mechanics can make the game even stronger in some regards. "Why are the time units gone?" They know those things have value and th?ey aren't wrong in saying that, but we changed the design of this game so the enemies can do more and have more options. It doesn't hurt the game experience.

The original X-Com was notoriously difficult. It seems like you are making this one a bit easier, but will old fans still have options for higher difficulties?

JS: [laughs] Ooooh! We are not making it easier! We have the difficulty range. Perhaps our normal is easier, but players who play what we call Classic difficulty -- a nod to the original -- they will definitely feel the challenge. We also have Impossible. We have one tester who beat that mode, so you can beat it! We also have Ironman mode for people who want to play that original mode. I don't recommend it the first time. This is like Hardcore mode in Diablo, where the game will s?ave the game for you. When you lose guys, you can't even save.

GD: It's totally challenging! My first playthrough, I lost 42 soldiers on Normal. After that, I played again and lost 18. Then I bumped it up to Classic and lost about the same. It definitely made me feel smarter as I got better. There is no reloading in Ironman. We want anyone to pick up the game and understand it in the tutorial. We are teaching the many systems of XCOM, one at a time. But once they are off? the rails and on their own, all the challenge of the original is there.

Can a player find themselves in a position where their best members died so they have to start the game over again?

JS: We embrace the fact, as games go, we are a lot different because soldiers die. You can lose the game. You can play our game and you can lose it. That's not just to be challenging. XCOM is a game where y??ou have to get better at it and test yourself. That's what creates the investment for?? the player.

When your guys die, they are gone for good. There are a couple ways to get new soldiers in our version. You can? hire rookies but they'll panic a lot. There are also some missions that will give you more advanced soldiers as replacements, if you want.

If you are playing Ironman, you may find yourself skipping missions to hire rookies. It depends on the difficulty level. On high, they are expensive; on low, they are cheap. That's part of XCOM: if you do poorly on combat or have a coupl?e missions you lost, you can find yourself stretched. I've gone on missions where I can't bring the full six squad!

This is the first Firaxis game to ever not have Sid Meier's name on it. Was this ever a point of contention, if for nothing else than tradition?

JS: It's funny because I wanted Sid's name on it just because it's a gold standard. He always was like, "That's not a game I'm going to put my name on!" because he only puts ?his name on games he originally designed. He didn't have a hand in the original des??ign of the game, so he was like, "No! No! Not putting my name on the game and neither are you!"

The post Interview: XCOM: Enemy Unknown, as hardc???ore as you like appeared first on Destructoid.

Being the resident baby here at Destructoid, I've never played any of the original XCOM games back in the mid-to-late '90s. Of course, I respect the series' legacy and understand its place in gaming history, but I've still never played it. So, I had no idea what to really expect going into the hands-off demo of XCOM: Enemy Unknown that Firaxis put on at E3.

Even though the demo was really quite brief, I came away absolutely excited and impressed by a game from a genre I thought I would never be fond of. But I'll be damned, Enemy Unknown is something I truly wa??nt to play when it launches later this year.

What we're first shown is a point later in the game where a small squad of standard soldiers walk into an utterly decimated city that ?the invading aliens have ultimately taken over.

The soldiers move into an area that contains beaten-down cars? and an empty building to the right. They notice a few aliens, which turn out to be horrifying re-imaginings of the Chrysalids. One by one, the marines become sliced up by the legendary foes, but not befo??re a call for back-up can be made.

That's when the elite squad you'll be contro?lling enters the battlefield. All suited up in reverse-engineered alien tech (something you'll invest in throughout your time playing the game), the four soldiers are ready to kick some major ass. ??And with a telepathic Sid Meier himself leading the soldiers (as a joke put together for E3), you can bet on them doing just that.

The fallen comrades from earlier have already made the transformation over to becoming zombies, but it's nothing our saviors can't handle. Sid uses his mind-control power t?o tell one of the Chrysalids to throw a grenade at itself, and the re??st of the team use each of their unique capabilities and expertise to take out the rest of the infamous aliens in no time at all; it's as if they've done this a thousand times before. However, a giant Sectopod comes into play right as the demo ended, leaving me feeling anxious for what's next.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that I'm not really into strategy games at all. They were just never able to click with me all that much. Sure, there's the rare occasion that they do, but for the most part it's pretty consistent. Having said that, something can be said of the fact that I absolutely loved what I saw of XCOM: Enemy Unknown. I dug the game's presentation and how f????luid it seemed to play out.

I can't speak for what the hardcore XCOM fans might think, but just know this is a game I will ??mo??st definitely be playing come October 9th.

The post XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a strategy game I want to ??play appeared first on Destructoid.

Man, what's going on with all of the publishers deciding that today is the day to drop all their new trailers and screenshots? Here I was, planning to relax, maybe read a book and have a nice cup of tea. Instead, I bring you the latest promotional video for XCOM: Enemy Unknown, releasing on October 9th for Xbox? 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

This is about as close as X-COM loyalists are going to get to a new version of their favorite game and it looks great. Dale seems to be a fan too, so I'm encouraged by that. Here's hoping the revival of the franchise winds up delivering.

The post E3: XCOM: Enemy Unknown trailer arrives appeared first on Destructoid.

To go along with our first hands-on preview of XCOM: Enemy Unknown we have details on a launch preorder bonus and a special PC edition of the game.&n??bsp;

When the game launches later this fall, a launch bonus will be available from participating retailers with a preorder. The Elite Soldier Pack will include tools for soldier customization, including deco packs that feature visual upgrades to some kits as well as color options to customize a squad's look. Players will also receive a new recruit in their barracks that is inspired by the original X-COM: UFO Defense title.

The PC Special Edition will retail for $59??.99 and will contain the game?, an art book, a fold-out poster of the XCOM HQ, a XCOM insignia patch, and digital itens like desktop wallpaper, the game soundtrack and more.

The post XCOM??: Enemy Unknown launch bonus and PC special edition appeared first on Destructoid.

When XCOM: Enemy Unknown was revealed earlier this year, series fans seemed to get behind this re-imagining. Most of ??them,?? anyway. Change is scary -- I get it.

Sure, there are some changes involved when updating a 20-year old title, and even more on top of that when you consider that the title is also coming to consoles. But ??as I saw in our first hands-on preview with the game, change can ?be good.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
Developer: Firaxis Games
Publisher: 2K Games
Release: October 9, 2012

Aliens with unimaginable technology have begun invading Earth and abducting people. XCOM, a worldwide military organization created to protect the planet, are not about to stand idly by whil??e these big-headed bastards walk all over their planet. They've been called in to respond to these invaders,? but are not ready for the enemy has in store. Mind control is a bitch.

In XCOM: Enemy Unknown you'll guide operatives through turn-based strategy gameplay, guiding them to victory (or death) in a three-quarter view of a diorama-like world. My time took me through the game's first 30 minutes, which serves as a walkthrough tutorial of its systems and mechanics. Through this session I found that XCOM is re??ally easy to get into, which isn't something you'd normally say about a strategy game. Firaxis did a nice job of streamlining the movement and attack processes so that you can get right down to mowing down the little green guys.

Though I demoed a PC build, I played it on an Xbox 360 controller, giving me the exact experience a console gamer would have with XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Movement is really simple: after selecting a unit to move, a clearly visible outline is displayed on the map to show movement range. T?o move, you'll simply use the left analog stick to sort of drag your unit to one of any of the pre-determined locations you'd like. The units seemed to snap into place in the first playable map, with lines that showed a movement path. As far as turn-based strategy goes, movement really doesn't get any easier.

Each unit has two moves per turn to use in any way you wish. After moving my squad members to the tutorial's predetermined positions, making use of the game's cover mechanic, I got to try out an actual attack. XCOM takes the action in close, pulling the player from? that overhead three-quarter view and right into the fight, in something like a cutscene from a third-person view. Of course, while it may look like a shooter at this point, you're really just viewing your turn's attack phase, no aiming required. 

This first mission had my squad of four moving in to investigate what looked to?? be a fallen spacecraft. When we got there we found dead humans near the site. The mission transitioned into a fight when my squad moved into a nearby warehouse where it seems that an alien was held up. As we circled it, one of my squad was caught in a trap and was killed. I won't ??ruin it for you, but that first mission doesn't go too well. 

Returning back to base HQ after this miserable first encounter we learn that this battle was only the beginning, and that XCOM has their work cut out for them. After a briefing I began recruiting new men and customizi??ng their abilities for the next battle. This all took place in what looked to be a military ant farm, with a cross section of the base showing several rooms that can be zoomed into to enter??. Later, as the game progresses, you'll be able to add onto this "ant farm" with more rooms that serve more functions.

While XCOM has smaller squads, it seems there will be plenty of abilities to use to customize each unit, and even more weapons and technology beyond that to toy with. The options for customization were understandably limited for this demo, but a presentation after this session showed off several new abili??ties and weapons we can expect to see later in the game. We were teased with new armors that use alien technology, new alien weapons, and even psychic abilities bo?rrowed from the enemy.

We were shown a mission much later in the game that followed a beta squad responding to a missio??n where things did not go well against the invaders. It gets worse for the XCOM side as this team's scout gets his face ripped off by an attacker that jumps down from a rooftop, and another is forced to use a grenade on?? himself through alien mind control.

The tide turns when a special squad comes in to assist, armed with plasma weapons and gear that lets them tap into alien tech. One of the squad members has a jetpack that lets him fly, and a perk for his plasma sniper rifle that lets him get a second ??free shot if the first connects. Another has a suit that lets him use mind control on the enemy, and he uses it to force one alien use a grenade on itself. Even better, a ghost unit has crazy mobility with their light arm, and that same gear lets them become invisible to sneak up on enemies. 

I'm glad I got to see this presentation after playing the game's intro tutorial, as it showed me that there's plenty of depth and complexity in store. Of course, there's little reason to worry about a solid strategy backbone when you know the brilliant minds at Firaxis are at the helm. Those concerned that a console-friendly title would mean a dumbing down of the original formula should be pleased to hear that it looks like Enemy Unknown will ramp up to be s?atisfyingly deep, gamepad or no.? 

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