XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a 2012 turn-based tactics video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K. It is a "reimagining" of the 1994 strategy game UFO: Enemy Unknown (also known as X-COM: UFO Defense). XCOM: Enemy Unknown is set during an alien invasion of Earth in an alternative version of 2015; the player controls an elite, multinational, paramilitary organization called XCOM and commands troops in a series of turn-based tactical missions. Between missions, the player directs the research and development of technologies from recovered alien technology and captured prisoners, expands XCOM's base of operations, manages finances, and monitors and responds to alien activity.
Firaxis attempted to reboot the franchise in 2003 but no product was marketed. Development of the game began in 2008 and lasted for four-and-a-half years. The game was initially envisioned as an exact remake of the 1994 game but the developers introduced improvements to gameplay mechanics and modernized the franchise. The development cycle was longer than those of other Firaxis games because it was retooled several times during production. Jake Solomon led development of the game, and studio head Sid Meier provided input and assisted the team. Aliens from the original game return in Enemy Unknown, though Firaxis redesigned many of them. While the game uses procedural generation for enemy placement, all maps in the game were handcrafted by Firaxis. Michael McCann composed the game's music.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown was announced in January 2012, and was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in October 2012. Handheld and mobile versions of the game, co-developed by 2K China, were later released. The game received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the turn-based combat, presentation, emergent gameplay, difficulty and replayability but criticized its multiplayer component. It has since been considered as one of the greatest games of all time. It was a commercial success for the publisher and several gaming publications nominated it for year-end accolades, including Game of the Year. Firaxis released an expansion pack called XCOM: Enemy Within in November 2013 and a sequel called XCOM 2 in 2016. XCOM: Enemy Unknown was often credited for renewing interest in the turn-based-tactics genre in the 2010s.
Gameplay Combat missions
XCOM: Enemy Unknown casts the player as the commander of an elite military organization who directs soldiers in turn-based combat missions against invading alien enemies. The player controls a squad of between one and six human soldiers or robotic units as they explore the game's levels. Most missions in the campaign occur on maps randomly selected from a handcrafted set; enemies are then randomly placed on these maps. Fog of war hides aliens and their actions from view until the player's soldiers are in range and have line of sight to them. Most missions require players to eliminate all threats in a map, though some require players to rescue civilians or extract a target. Players can choose to retreat and abandon the mission if the situation goes awry. The game has four difficulty levels: easy, normal, classic and "impossible". There is also an "ironman mode", which limits the player to one save.
On the player's turn, each squad member can perform a limited number of actions. After all soldiers have performed actions, the artificial intelligence-controlled enemy takes its turn. Soldiers can be instructed to move, attack or both, depending on their available action points. Other actions such as reloading, remaining in overwatch to shoot any moving enemy in the line of sight, healing, throwing grenades and using special abilities can also be performed. Attacking or dashing large distances across the map will immediately end a squad member's turn. The game's user interface informs the player of the possibility of landing a successful shot and the amount of damage they will deal. Squad members can take cover behind objects, reducing the chance of being hit. The amount of defense a squad member has is indicated by a shield icon. Full cover is indicated by a filled blue icon and half cover is indicated by a half-filled blue icon. A yellow-and-red shield shown to players warns they are being flanked or being completely exposed, respectively. Soldiers will sustain more injuries from attacks due to the lack of defense. Cover may be destroyed through missed shots or the use of explosives.
As soldiers progress through the game, they earn experience and are promoted, allowing players to specialize them. As soldiers earn promotions, for each rank they gain, players can select one out of two perks, although on the ranks of Squaddie and Major, only one perk is available. The game has four character classes, each with unique weapons, gadgets and abilities. The Assault class can attack after dashing; the Support class can heal teammates more effectively and provide additional support; the Heavy class wields a rocket launcher, and the Sniper class is equipped with a sniper rifle, allowing it to kill enemies from afar with a high critical-damage bonus. Some soldiers may have access to psychic powers, allowing them to boost their team's willpower, reduce the enemy's combat efficiency, and briefly take control of enemy units. Classes are assigned randomly and cannot be changed. Each recruit's name and appearance can be customized. Soldiers may permanently die once their health reaches zero if they are not saved in time. Soldiers can experience panic during a mission, which can make the player lose control of that character for a turn.
The game has a multiplayer mode for one-on-one tactical battles. Players spend a points budget on assembling a squad of up to six humans, aliens, or a mixture of both. Weapons, armor and gadgets of human units are customizable. A simplified version of the single-player perk system is present. Alien units may not be customized but have the abilities of corresponding aliens types in the game's single-player mode.
Base management XCOM's underground headquarters is presented in a view dubbed the "ant farm". From this view, the player manages construction, manufacturing and research projects, and directs scientists and engineers to use resources recovered from missions. Some resources can be sold to other XCOM nations through the gray market. As the player progresses through the game, they unlock new weapons, armor improvements and technology to improve each recruit's efficiency. Performing interrogations and autopsies on captured aliens yields additional rewards. It is also where recruits in the game rest, exercise and tend to their wounds. A memorial wall to soldiers killed in action is also visible. A holographic view of Earth called the "Geoscape" allows the player to track situations around the world, order aircraft to intercept UFOs and dispatch soldiers to engage aliens on the ground. Which situations the player decides to respond to influences the panic level of XCOM's member nations: responding in an area decreases panic while ignoring an area causes a rise in panic and potential for the nation to pull out of XCOM. Once a nation decides to leave it will never rejoin, meaning players will have fewer funds for the rest of the game. The game will end If eight out of the sixteen Council nations decide to leave. Passive bonuses are provided; these are dependent on which continent the player chooses for a base location. The player can better detect alien activity by launching satellites and positioning them over territories of the 16 XCOM nations. Passive bonuses can also be obtained by providing satellite coverage over each Council nation in a continent.
Plot
Setting The game's campaign begins in early 2015 as a global alien invasion begins. Prior to the start of the game, a group of countries called the Council of Nations has banded together to create Extraterrestrial Combat Unit (XCOM), the most elite military and scientific organization in human history that is tasked with defending the nations from alien attack. The player assumes the role of the commander of XCOM and engages in a war against an extraterrestrial enemy with overwhelming technological superiority.
Story In March 2015, a series of extraterrestrial objects land in a major German city. A squad of four soldiers is sent to investigate the incident. Upon entering a warehouse, the squad finds a small, alien creature mind-controlling German soldiers. The squad is ambushed; all-but-one of the soldiers are killed before the area is secured. Alien attacks begin all over the globe.
After shooting down alien scout ships and securing the crash sites from surviving alien crews, as well as interdicting alien attempts to abduct human civilians for unknown purposes, XCOM obtains the corpses of various alien troops. Autopsies reveal all of these alien types have been genetically or cybernetically altered, which seems to indicate they are foot-soldiers for unseen leaders. XCOM's head of research Dr. Vahlen requests the capture of a live alien for interrogation, which involves the development of a weapon that can capture a live alien and the construction of a facility in XCOM's subterranean base to safely hold a live alien prisoner.
XCOM captures one of the alien troops and interrogates it, revealing vague information about another type of alien called the Outsiders, which are artificially-created, crystalline beings that are encountered aboard unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and appear to serve as pilots and navigators. Dr. Vahlen then requests XCOM capture an Outsider for study. An Outsider is captured and examined, revealing their exotic, crystalline structures behave in a manner similar to antennas, receiving a signal broadcast from an underground location on Earth. XCOM dispatches a team to investigate the signal, which is found to be coming from a secret alien base where experiments are performed on abducted humans.
XCOM develops a method for gaining entry to the alien base and assaults it. During the mission, the alien base commander is discovered to have psychic abilities but the soldiers defeat it. The commander's psychic communication device is recovered and reverse engineered. Tapping into the aliens' communications reveals a stealth Overseer spacecraft is patrolling above Earth. The craft is shot down and is found to hold an alien species that had not yet been encountered, as well as a strange psionic artifact. The newly discovered species, called Ethereals, have powerful psionic abilities.
Once the Overseer ship is shot down and the psionic artifact recovered, a massive enemy "Temple Ship" in low Earth orbit over Brazil reveals itself and starts causing earthquakes. The reverse-engineering efforts enable XCOM to unlock and develop latent psionic powers that are present in some humans, thus enhancing their human soldiers. The most powerful of these human psychic soldiers becomes the Volunteer, who uses the psionic artifact to tap into the aliens' psychic communication "hive", an experience that also increases his or her psionic strength, allows the Volunteer to attack and board the Temple Ship, and seek the Uber Ethereal, the leader of the alien invasion.
During the final battle aboard the ship, the Uber Ethereal reveals that, because of their failure to further improve their own race, the Ethereals have been experimenting on other species throughout the universe to identify a race that is mentally and physically strong enough to be "Uplifted". By allowing humans to slowly obtain their technology, the Ethereals allowed humans to evolve to a fuller potential and believe humanity may be the culmination of their search for the perfect species to prepare for "what lies ahead", a vaguely worded destiny they do not further describe.