X-COM: UFO Defense (Game)

X-COM: UFO Defense

GAME » on March 1994

Amiga (Platform)Amiga CD32 (Platform)PC (Platform)PlayStation (Platform)

A genre-defining strategy game where you counter an alien invasion by managing operations of top-secret "X-COM" military bases and sending out X-COM squads in highly-volatile ground skirmishes.

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Overview

The Geoscape.

X-COM: UFO Defense, known in Europe as UFO: Enemy Unknown, is a sci-fi base-building and turn-based strategy game developed by both Mythos Games and MicroProse and published by MicroProse for DOS PCs in 1994.

Set in near-future 1999, players command a clandestine worldwide organization known as Extraterrestrial Combat (or X-COM) as they build their forces throughout the world and stopping various hostile alien activity (by shooting down UFOs, stopping terror attacks in major cities, and eliminating alien bases) in order to prevent a successful alien invasion.

The game is split into two distinct gameplay modes: the operations "Geoscape" and the tactical combat "Battlescape". The Geoscape allows players to build up X-COM bases, schedule various research (including reverse-engineered alien technology), manage X-COM squads, and act upon detected alien activity, all while carefully managing funds from each nation. The Battlescape, considered a spiritual successor to one of the designer's 1988 game Laser Squad (Game), presents ground-based skirmishes in a turn-based isometric perspective and tasks a persistent squad of customizable soldiers with neutralizing hostile aliens and completing objectives.

The game also received ports to the Amiga (Platform) and Amiga CD32 (Platform) in Europe in 1994, and for the Sony PlayStation in late 1995. The PS1 version also received a Japanese release on July 31, 1997 as X-COM: Michi Naru Shinryakusha. Along with several re-releases, the PC version was released digitally via Steam (Concept) on September 4, 2008. It also received numerous sequels and spin-offs, with the 2012 XCOM: Enemy Unknown being a modern reimagining of the game.

Gameplay

Bases, workers and squad destinations are managed in the Geoscape (Concept) view, before switching to the battlescape view for missions.

Troops sent on missions improve with the actions they take and can individually be equipped with a variety of firearms and grenades. Upon elimination of all the aliens on the battlescape, alien artifacts will be returned to the base, where players can assign scientists to start researching different weapons and technology. New weapons, gadgets, and aircrafts can be manufactured by engineers, adding items like medpacks, hover tanks, and plasma weapons to the arsenal.

Scenarios

Troops leave their Skyranger to investigate a small UFO.

Shooting down UFOs will allow a transport ship to land at the crash site, where troops will be tasked with eliminating any surviving aliens. All missions play out in turns, with the player always going first. Troops have Action Points that are depleted by everything from moving and shooting to turning and priming grenades.

Alien weaponry is far superior to the the troops' ballistic rifles and heavy cannons, requiring caution to keep squad members alive. Reaction fire allows soldiers to save action points for the alien turn, and, depending on an individual's reaction stat, he or she may fire on an alien that moves into line of sight. UFOs may also land; players can take advantage of this by sending transport ships to catch the aliens off guard. Research rewards are often better, as the UFO itself is not damaged, unlike when alien crafts are shot down. However, this also means that there will be more aliens to contend with on the ground.

Terror missions are arguably the most difficult, as they occur at inopportune times around the world and last only a few in game days, leaving little time to prepare before the city is ransacked. Failing or ignoring these missions will make the local government unhappy, which might lead to funding cuts at the end of the month. In terror missions, the aliens set out to kill as many civilians as possible, so players must attempt to protect citizens by quelling the alien threat as quickly as possible.

Aliens also will try to construct bases on Earth, as evidenced by heavy UFO activity in certain countries (a month by month stat page can help highlight this information). These missions are completed by killing or capturing all aliens inside. It is worth noting that at the core of the bases, a high-ranking alien can usually be found who will yield valuable information if taken alive and interrogated.

The world map progresses with time, and missions can be taken during night or day. All the aliens have the unique advantage of seeing as well at night as day. Therefore players can opt to wait until daylight to attempt a given mission, in order to not be at a disadvantage.

Aliens

A sectoid.

There are five alien races, each with an associated support unit, usually only seen on the terror missions or within their bases.

Sectoids

The Sectoids are based on the greys. They pair with Cyberdiscs - mini UFOs that hover and shoot, but explode when destroyed.

Snakemen

The aptly named Snakemen are physically tough units that team up with the terrifying Chryssalids, fast moving bipedal insects that turn their victims into zombies, which can then turn into more Chryssalids.

Floaters

Floaters have no legs, and instead float around and guide their giant accomplices, the Reapers.

Mutons

Purple and green Mutons, who couple with Celatids - purple floating creatures that shoot acid. They're also accompanied by Silacoids, which are essentially big moving rocks.

Ethereals

The orange robed Ethereals have the strongest psychic powers, and have a mechanized form of the Reaper for their terror missions called Sectopods.

Base Building

The Base management screen.

Construction of multiple bases is critical to later success, though funding and management of multiple bases provides it's own challenge. Players must hire and pay all personnel and also pay upkeep for various facilities on a monthly basis. Radar systems, storage areas, living quarters, research, and manufacturing areas may also be constructed. Later, base defenses, alien containment, and more hangar space become important to the mission. Management of weapons and ammunition for troops and ships also occur here.

Should an X-COM base be invaded by hostile forces, the base will need to be defended by the player's forces within that base. Aliens will infiltrate through possible entry zones, like gun ports and hangars. Supplies that aren't allocated to soldiers will be in storage areas. Not all of the base is well-lit, particularly hangars, making visibility a problem. Creating defensive structures and bottlenecks around entry points are ways to minimise the damage taken during base defence scenarios. If players fail one of these missions, the base will be lost.

Research & Development

'Laser Defences' in the UFOpedia.

Hiring and utilizing scientists and engineers allows progress in the game, both technologically and story-wise. More powerful and varied weapons are made available, as well as personal armor, building types, and information about the aliens. Psychic research also becomes part of the gameplay, allowing the player's troops to use the alien's mind control abilities against them. The later aircraft are necessary for completing the game, and only by bringing in live aliens will scientists discover a way to eradicate the alien menace. Learning about the aliens opens up new avenues of research, propelling players toward having the tools to bring about the game's conclusion - as long as enough scientists are allocated to the task.

UFO Interception

When pursuing enemy craft with an aircraft on the Geoscape (Concept), players may get within firing range. This spawns an interceptor minigame, which pits the player's craft against a UFO. Smaller UFOs tend to be more fragile and less heavily armed, while the top-of-the-line enemy ships can easily destroy more basic X-COM crafts - especially if the aircraft's armament doesn't have sufficient range. When at a stand-off distance, players can minimize the pursuit window to manage other on-screen events (like other pursuit craft).

On the interception screen, the green-colored field on the far left of the pop-up visualizes the player's distance to the enemy, and the range and ammunition that the player's weapons have. The four upper-right buttons are the approach tactics (clockwise from upper left):

The interception screen.

Standoff - maintain maximum distance but continue pursuit
Long distance attack - fires at a low rate of fire and at maximum possible distance
Moderate attack - fires all weapons at minimum necessary distance
Point blank - charge right at the enemy vehicle, weapons blazing. This increases damage potential but puts the interceptor at greater risk

The silhouette of the X-COM craft shows the percentage of damage that the craft has taken, this is indicated by glowing red, starting from the tip and working its way to the back.

The final two buttons are retreat, and visualize enemy. The former simply disengages from combat, which flies back to base. The latter shows players what the enemy craft looks like.

Finally, there is a numerical distance rating that corresponds to the representation on the left.

Should the player's craft be able to land and deploy troops, and players force the enemy to crash-land or it lands on its own, players will instantly land and begin a ground mission. It's also possible that the enemy could run away, destroy the X-COM craft, cause the player to retreat, be completely destroyed, or crash into the sea.

PC Requirements

Supported OS: MS-DOS 5.0/Windows 95
Processor: 80386 processor or better
Memory: 4Mb RAM
Sound Cards Supported: AdLib compatible cards, SoundBlaster compatible cards and the Roland LAPC

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