X-COM: UFO Defense (Enemy Unknown)

Minimum System Requirements

System: 386 or equivalent

RAM: 4 MB RAM

Mouse: Yes

Sound Board: Yes

BACKGROUND

It is the year 1999. Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) have started

appearing with disturbing regularity in the night skies. Reports of

violent human abductions and horrific experimentation has struck

terror into the hearts of millions. Mass public hysteria has only served

to expose Earth�s impotence against a vastly superior technology.

Many countries have attempted to deal independently with the aliens.

In August 1998, Japan established an anti-alien combat force; the

Kiryu-Kai. Equipped with Japanese-made fighter aircraft, the Kiryu-Kai

certainly looked like a powerful force. However, after 5 months of

expensive operations they had yet to intercept their first UFO. The

lesson was clear: this was a worldwide problem which could not be

dealt with by individual countries.

On December 11, 1998, representatives from the world�s most

economically powerful countries gathered secretly in Geneva. After

much debate, the decision was made to establish a covert independent

body to combat, investigate and defeat the alien threat. This

organization would be equipped with the world�s finest pilots, soldiers,

scientists and engineers, working together as one multi-national force.

This organization was named the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit.



THE GAME

X-COM UFO Defense puts you in command of X-COM, with the

finest Earth technology at your disposal to defend the Earth

from alien invasion. Shooting down UFOs is just the beginning. You

will then control a squad of heavily-armed soldiers, edging cautiously

through the local terrain, battling aliens and recovering UFO

technology.

When you command a ground assault, you will use the 3-D isometric

�Battlescape� display. This shows terrain, buildings, X-COM craft and

UFOs, but will only display what your soldiers can see - so beware of

danger lurking around corners or down dark corridors!

Successful ground assault missions mean that X-COM scientists can

research alien technology. Engineers can then reproduce their

superior weapons and spacecraft. Soon you will be fighting the aliens

with their own technology.

As the game progresses, you will use the on-line �UFOpaedia� to learn

the latest details from your research teams about alien technology, life

forms and their real objectives. Above all, you must watch the world

political situation. Look out for governments which may be forced to

make secret pacts with the aliens and make sure you defend the

countries who fund X-COM heavily.

X-COM UFO Defense. Command Earth�s forces against the alien terror!



Screenshots

Review (by yurik)

It's a timeless classic, to this day beating the best modern strategy offerings from the last 10 years.

To call this a good game would be the understatement of the century. It's a timeless classic, to this day beating the best modern strategy offerings from the last 10 years. Today, in 2004, the biggest obstacle to playing this game is NOT its dated graphics but, rather, finding a computer slow/compatible enough to "handle" it. But that's no excuse: Windows 98/ME works well with it, as does the XP emulation mode (just get VDMSound for the Sound Blaster effects and music). The fact that I went to such troubles to play X-COM in 2004 should tell you something: This game is equal to the likes of Red Alert, StarCraft, and Civilization as one of the greatest strategy games ever.

Here's the setup. It's 1999, and UFO sightings (of the classic variety) have become common. Aliens are starting to routinely land into major cities, infiltrate governments, and destroy the population. There's no hope to make a peaceful coexistence: These guys don't care about anything but colonization, and, besides, don't exactly speak "human," either. These aliens are of the Roswell 1947 variety -- mysterious, deadly, psionically enhanced. No single world government has a chance to fight their superior technology. This is where you come in: The U.N. creates 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 can look at a 2D plan of your base, add facilities to it, manufacture the technology you already know (in the beginning, things like conventional rifles and grenades), research new technology, manage funds, etc. Surprisingly, none of this ever seems boring. In addition, you are supplied with a couple of hangars (in your base), and an Interceptor (an F-15-type air-to-air fighter) and Skyranger (an aerial transport for your troops).

This is where the second, action, part of the game comes in. Sooner rather than later, you'll see UFOs going about their business in the Geoscape view. You'll see one land, for instance, if you don't use your Interceptor to shoot one down first. You can then use the Skyranger full of soldiers to scour the landing or crash site. This is where the game becomes truly exciting and creepy -- the tactical mode. The action is turn-based, presented from a 2.5D isometric perspective. Each of your soldiers has his/her own set of strengths and weaknesses (which seem randomly determined), including his/her speed (the number of time units per turn before the soldier is unable to perform any more actions). You move through realistic terrain (determined by where on Earth the action takes place), possibly encountering aliens or alien technology. When you do meet an alien, you have the opportunity to shoot "him" or take him alive (depending on your proximity and the kind of weapon you have equipped). Depending on the weapon and the kind of shot (aimed, snap, or automatic) you're willing to take, your soldier may or may not miss. In the beginning of the game, both the weapons available and the lack of experience in your men/women will amount to some lousy shooting. The aliens, on the other hand, come out of nowhere and seem not to miss all that much by comparison (not to mention that they have fancy plasma weapons, whereas you're stuck with silly assault rifles). This really adds to the terror of the first few missions, as you really get to hate your enemy -- once a soldier is dead, he'll never be back. In addition, you don't see the 3D terrain until you've actually looked at it, and even if you can see the terrain, you'll only see enemy units there if you're looking. There's nothing like thinking you're safe, until you turn around and there's a friendly old Sectoid standing with his plasma pistol pointing right at your face. And speaking of Sectoids, they're the aliens you'll encounter first, but far from the only ones. I can count 6 major races, not counting the various alien blobs. Particularly freaky are the Chryssalids. Get this: They attack civilians and your soldiers, who immediately become zombies. Kill a zombie and what do you get? A Chryssalid! They're fast, too. Ethereals don't really have a punch, but they look creepy and they can CONTROL YOUR MIND, making your own soldiers kill off everyone around them.

Once the mission is completed successfully, you automatically collect all the corpses and technology -- and possibly unconscious aliens -- that were not destroyed. Your scientists can then study this stuff, improving your own technology and gaining information on the weird ways of the aliens. (All this stuff is conveniently stored away in an encyclopedia of sorts, which you can access at any time.) Eventually, you'll gain the aliens' capabilities, and even more. You can then train engineers to manufacture the technology you've understood. You'll be soon making laser and plasma weapons, advanced defense facilities for your base(s), and even new advanced ships (including space-capable ships!). All of this stuff is intensely cool, and helps GREATLY in dealing with the aliens. The alien research will also explain the various mysteries of the alien way of life, including how they infiltrate governments, kick back and relax, and much more. In fact, you'll eventually understand what each individual UFO is trying to do when it invades Earth space.

The graphics are a little hard to evaluate today in 2004. This game was made 11 years ago. Certainly low-res VGA graphics don't look impressive by today's standards. But, they are still artfully done and very menacing. The way the mission terrain is randomly -- but realistically! -- generated based on your location in the globe (desert, forest, steppe, arctic, etc.) is impressive. The time of day also plays a large role. Night missions are considerably more tense than in daylight. The insides of UFOs and alien bases also look great. The aliens are incredibly freaky-looking (and there are all different kinds of aliens). Your own soldiers are rather faceless, however. Technically speaking, I don't remember any strategy games that looked better in 1993, but giving it a 10 would be a stretch, as Doom came around at about that time.

The sound is fairly average. The music is very soft and kicks in only in certain situations (mostly it's composed of ambient sounds). Only the air-to-air sequences really have any energetic music, which is good, but insignificant. I wish more was done with music in this game. Sound FX are minimalistic but could be chilling back in the day (particularly, when a female soldier is killed).

The game has unparallelled replay value. It's definitely quite difficult, until you figure the correct battle tactics and the most efficient resource policies. You'll learn 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). 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 your very base, if they can find it. 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 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) they can't aim very well. But, good luck getting to that point.

There's not much else to say. You owe it to yourself to play this game, even now, in 2004.

Links (check these out, there's a reason I'm putting these here)

XcomUFO.com

XcomUFO.com download

Xenocide & xcomufo Forums

X-COM: UFO Defense Bug FAQ (DOS versions 1.2, 1.4, and Windows Collector's Edition)

Project Xenocide

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DOSBox emulates an Intel x86 PC, complete with sound, graphics, mouse, modem, etc., necessary for running many old DOS games that simply cannot be run on modern PCs and operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, Linux and FreeBSD.

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