Recent reviews by Direkin

Good graphics and storyline, but...

The controls are an absolute mess: most of the time it's sluggish, sometimes it's completely unresponsive, and other times it does whatever it decides to, and those problems extend to the combat system as well. I was under the impression that as an assassin you're supposed to be an efficient killer, and yet there have been many occasions where Arno is supposed to perform an air assassination, but instead knocks over the enemy and then waits for him to get up again before attacking. Sometimes the enemy glitches and simply ceases movement.

Other glitches include not being given the option to unlock doors, even though you've trained for it, and not being able to sabotage alarms.

And then there's the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ collectables which only artifically extends gameplay, but are an absolute annoyance to pick up.

It doesn't help that Ubisoft is seriously milking this franchise as well, which is leading to boredom of the series, as there's really nothing new in this title. If you really must pick up this game, do it when there's a sale.

Sparkly!

So... beautiful!

Breach & Clear is a tactical turn based strategy game similar in execution to XCOM. You take command of a special forces squad of your choosing, and plan your attack on objective based missions (terrorist hunt, bomb defusal or extraction). You have a reasonably wide selection of weapons available, though weapons used by some special forces are absent from the game. Enemy engagements are always lethal, as there is no option to simply incapacitate. The inability to set timings is also detrimental to tactics.

Overall the game is entertaining enough to keep you playing for hours, but it lacks scope and depth in comparison to tactical predecessors such as Deadline (1996, Millennium Interactive). The graphics and audio are good, but I'd like to see some destructability, and a greater range of weapons and consumables (no smoke grenades or CS gas?).

7/10 - Still playing it.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a remake of the original turn based strategy game UFO: Enemy Unknown. Most of the aliens are the same, there are a few additional enemies and some alterations to others. The graphics are significantly upgraded, but the gameplay is essentially the same (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). The Slingshot DLC is also included with the game, and it's highly recommended to play that.

XCOM: Enemy Within is a separate game in its own right, and is essentially an expansion of the original. The expansion introduces a few new enemies, new soldier upgrades (mecs, genetics) by way of Meld, a new enemy human faction called Exalt which is reminiscent of the "Cult of Sirius" from XCOM: Apocalypse, new environments and new government missions.

Expect to sink many hours into this. I bought this for the Xbox 360, and liked it so much that I had to buy it again on Steam!