while the game play appears ok at first.. there are numerous issues.. on the very first mission you watch this armoured walking tri pod land and blow a wall into rubble (in order to 'trap' you), all while you are 'frozen' in place..then when you finally do get control you barely have time to move before being fired on.. yet you're supposed to take out this advanced armoured vehicle with small arms fire!?!? you dont even have 'armour piercing' bullets.. to do internal damage.. thats how pathetic these devs are! its just absolute stupidity.. and all with VERY minimal ammo (THE worst part of this game.. they constantly put a lot of ammo/guns where you DO NOT need it! and then block access to it when you do!!).. I personally ran out.. but the companions with their unlimited ammo.. were amazingly able to take it out.. they are so pathetic you have to constantly tell them what to do.. where to move etc etc.. they really are next to useless.. so.. yeah I 'succeeded' but I shouldnt have been able to! then you go up against a gun ship and once again have to take it out with small arms fire.. I mean how stupid are these devs! you cant even take out our helicopters with small arms.. let alone an advanced civilisation with superior tech! then there are the pointless conversations, which only slightly give you an idea as to what is going on.. and very little else.. you gain access to skills that you shouldnt be able to 'research' let alone develop! (alien tech that you havent even discovered!!).. etc etc.. so many issues with this game. the story and its plot devices are just an incongruent mess and utterly stupid!

then there is the constant 'blocking' access to areas that you previously had access to for no apparent reason! especially in the base! and once again.. checkpoints.. it wont even save quest completion (e.g. chasing the silicoids quest).. there is absolutely no reason other than laziness (devs dont want to track game state), to implement checkpoints! they are just time wasting mechanisms that were used when consoles had very little space to save game states..but now it is just pure laziness. I despise checkpoint games! then there are the 'schematics'.. and skills.. next to useless, just like the companions.. this game is just so bad they have to make everything next to useless to 'make it a challenge'.. even the 'tactics' you have to use are a misnomer.. and to top it off.. it seems to constantly crash under win11.. dont recall it happening (as much) under win10.. its just a really bad game

A much crappier Mass Effect-like game.

Somehow ended up playing this before trying any of the other X-Com titles or the Mass Effect titles where the gameplay was inspired from. Overall liked it but would only recommend during a sale.