Strategy Game of the Year
Well I'm only saying that because its the only one I've played besides replaying Halo Wars in anticipation for Halo 4. I'm sure if I did actually play any others this one would still win.
I played on Normal and it was a great albeit easy experience. The game is fun on so many levels, and I want NEED a sequel to this fantastic game. Everything changed from the original X-Com works. Six squad members? Keeps the action focused. Two moves instead of turn units? Less math, and maybe even a little more strategy conserving your turns.
Look if you want to play the original, go play it. Its still good, and its god damn cheap. If you want a version streamlined, yet still deep and fun, then try this. XCOM is the strategy game of a new era. The only thing I miss is Base Attacks. GIVE ME BASE ATTACKS.
XCOM is fun. It will make you pull your hair out when you miss a 90% rocket shot, it will make you proud when you complete a mission without taking a hit. When you name a soldier after your best friend, you FEEL it when he dies. I know I did.
I should also talk about how the game fares on Xbox, my system of choice. Good god, this game was meant to be played on a controller. The controls, the UI, everything is fluid and works. The load times can be a bit long when loading up a save or on start up, but that is a fare price to pay for the best strategy game the Xbox has ever had this side of Halo Wars.
The story is serviceable, but the real fun is researching those alien types, and the WTF you have upon seeing your first Chryssalid nom on your soldiers. XCOM succeeds easing the player into it, introducing new enemy types as it goes, making you feel a sense of WTF yet excitement upon seeing a new creature.
XCOM can make you feel like your men are gods. Snipers win in this game...trust me. Double Tap and Squadsight or Snapshot. They become...GODS. Your soldiers become gods on the battlefield when they make impossible shots or save a fellow soldier while panicking.
XCOM is just a damn good game, while sometimes it can be annoying with the 'random' nature of the dice rolls (it is totally fair) or it can be glitchy, it is still a damn fantastic game. Before you go out and buy it, here is a funny little story.
So we are attacking the Overseer ship, and all my soldiers are present and ready to enter the center room. I send my rookie Beetlejuice in behind a counter. I then send my assault captain Lance Leonhardt a little farther. Thats when we see the Etheral and futons... The turn was over. The Etheral mindcontrolled my rookie, which made my assault panic and shoot her in the face, which made my Major outside the room panic and shoot Lance in the back.
Only XCOM can make you feel so hilariously stupid. Buy it now.
