The turn-based strategy genre is not a genre that generally interests me. I have dabbled in many of the RPGs in the genre (Final Fantasy Tactics, Fire Emblem, Shining Force) and the combat games in the genre (Advance Wars, Valkyria Chronicles) and I could never fully grasp the gameplay nor have fun trying to learn. I blame this mostly on the fact that these type of games have little to no tutorial to ease the player into the mechanics, so I sort of get lost and confused and quickly give up. All of that was until I got my hands on X-COM: Enemy Unknown for the PC, a turn-based science fiction strategy game by developer Fireaxis. I have not played any of the previous games in the series, but the rave reviews and cool story the game sports had me curious to at least give it a try. I'm glad I did.
The best thing about X-COM is that my major complaint with turn-based strategy games has been addressed by Fireaxis; give the player a tutorial and teach us how to properly play! The first couple of missions consist of fun and engaging tutorials that fit naturally into the campaign rather than making the player wish they would be over as soon as possible. During these training missions, the player receives a good amount of story to set up X-COM's tale while also actually teaching the player how the rules of a turn-based strategy game works. When I'm playing X-COM, I do not feel like the game is smarter than I while also feeling like I am wrapping my head around a game of chess, yet I'm still spending a lot of time strategizing and thinking before I act. Thank you Fireaxis, because this is definitely the kind of game I needed to ease me into a game of this type.
One of the most surprising elements of X-COM is the squad building tools. You can name and edit each soldier in your squad, promote and level them up if they are able to survive combat, and add classes and loadouts to each one. The funny thing is that you start getting attached to your squad when you successfully make them survive each alien attack, so when you lose one of them in battle you will literally feel horrible afterwards. I remember the first time I lost a soldier that I had with me throughout the start of the game, I felt like I failed the mission before I even completed any objectives.
X-COM also boasts a huge base-building, research mechanic that allows for cool upgrades and new units/gear to become unlocked that also adds to the whole strategy and play style elements. The gameplay can be easily grasped by any player after the tutorials and the game stays challenging while also staying fun in the process. The core gameplay is fast with camera angles that keep the player into the action and on the edge of their seats. Controlling the game is a cinch thanks to great keyboard and mouse controls that are very easy to use and offer a wide array of commands that allow the player to make the best decisions possible. The PC version of the game runs very well on many types of system builds and includes very little bugs out of the box. Multiple difficulties exist as well for players new to the genre and veterans of the X-COM series so no one should feel left out here.
I am a huge sucker for science fiction stories and alien invasions, so the premise alone is what caught my attention with X-COM: Enemy Unknown. The fact that Fireaxis can take a gamer who cannot enjoy turn-based strategy games and make a fan out of them is a huge achievement in my eyes. X-COM sports a cool story, awesome gameplay mechanics with great tools to ease the player into them, and very deep upgrade and squad building tools that allows the player to tailor the game to their liking. The game also includes an awesome multiplayer suite for players to go head to head against other players, but honestly I have very little interest in this personally. Even if you cannot appreciate this genre, I highly advise everyone to give the game a fair shot. This is why X-COM: Enemy Unknown is my #9 favorite game of 2012.
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