XCOM: Enemy Unknown is the very successful remake of UFO: Enemy Unknonwd, hit released on Amiga and Pc in the 90s, it was hard to be able to equal it or surpass it. Many XCOM or UFO stamped games have since been released, but many have not proven to be better or similar to this mythical ancestor.

Then Fireaxys the studio of Sid "Civilization" Meier's it is leaning on a title which will be the worthy heir of UFO. The background is now commonplace (this was not the case with UFO at the time), an alien invasion that threatens humanity, a para-military organization funded by a small group made up of many countries around the world.

Two big changes are noted all the same, which seem abused on paper but ultimately not so useless given the hardcore difficulty of the title at its highest levels.

Firstly, the management of the xcom base, in UFO we could manage several tactical bases, there a single main base like HQ, that may not seem like much but it is largely sufficient, because over the course of the game several bases would be very difficult to manage. For the rest it is similar to the other xcom and ufo games, with military buildings and other scientific complexes, everything is there to counter this invasion.

Second point and not insignificant (at the beginning of course), the composition of the squads for ground operations. Fireaxys wanted to make the game more tactical than its predecessors with squads made up of 6 soldiers maximum as opposed to 24 on UFO. At first glance really too little but in the long term it is judicious, it allows to better prepare its strategies, 24 soldiers would be too heavy to manage.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown is epic, very cinematic and incredibly violent in terms of urban combat, it shoots at all costs for nervous and stressful gunfight, it panics, it dies and there are moments of bravery worthy of the greatest war movies, pure happiness. Served by many scenaristically successful cinematics but less design level (unlike the whole game).

There are side missions that are well entrenched in the original storyline, like the board missions, which gives the game a bit of a revival, and the recent enemy within DLC adds even more side missions and gameplay.

You want epic, listen to the soundtrack during the travel, preparation and mission phases, this is the orgy.

Count 30 hours of easy play but multiply that by 10 in impossible or marathon mode.


Overall rating: 19/20