X-COM Apocalypse: The World on the cusp of Extinction

A colourful game cover with the title Apocalypse written on top with a X-COM written in the center with an exaggerated and stylised X ablazed on the covered with an assumed portal hidden behind it

X-COM Apocalypse, a game by MicroProse, is the 3rd game in the X-COM franchise and is a radical change from previous 2 games.

It is a departure from the standard set by its predecessor by having the option to play in real-time or turn-based, the difficulty settings decided the type and size of city, Mega-Primus, with its difficulty appropriate modifier, a reputation system that involves politics and care when investigating potential Alien threats, dynamic world reactivity where most infrastructure can be destroyed and it has an effect on the game world and being able to preempt alien infiltration with the possible change in tactics based on how well you have been playing. It also included and expanded upon vehicular combat on both ground and air fronts and brought in the introduction of two new character races - Hybrids and Androids which along with the standard human race made for a total 3 recruitable races, each having their own distinct niche.

Humans being generalists, numerous and have decent starting stats and growth

Hybrids, being part sectoid, are rarer and have higher psionic potential but at the cost of lower initial stats

Androids are immune to mind control, also in the rare category and have the distinction of good base stats but no stat growth.

Soldier Inventory having a picture of the soldier in the top left, their rank, name underneath it and their associated stats. In the center ther is a inventory screen showing all available slots, what is equipped as a primary weapon and only other miscellaneous goods a X-COM member would need to take to the field. To the right of this is a list of all in service members with a estimated health between their image and name

The game takes place in the aftermath of the second war where humanity is now forced to live in secured walled sanctuaries after the fallout at the conclusion of the last conflict. What is left is are cities enclosed and its power structure divided and specialised into various factions. X-COM having distinguished itself is now recognised as one of these powers answering to the city council, effectively becoming a highly specialised police force.

Its duty to contain the new threat while still minimising public and private property damage. At the onset, XCOM is in bad relations with the Church of Sirius- a alien sympathiser faction and is a prime target for X-COM raids and seizures. Over the course of the game, based on both the actions of the aliens and of X-COM - alliances can change and evolve.

Something that doesn't gets touched on much in the genre is how at the beginning of missions one can bring in multiple crafts into the them and the collective agents brought into it can be assigned to one of up to six squads. When a mission starts each squad will be randomly assigned an entrance and can allow the player to approach a mission from multiple locations at once in a way to "close the net" separating enemies and breaking up missions into "quadrants" to clear and secure.

At the start, factions are mostly accepting of X-COMs presence and maintaining alliances plays an important role as each faction specialises in the everyday running of the city, so if for example you are in bad relations with the public transport sector then one's logistics will suffer and the logistical burden will have to be covered with your own vehicles. One can of course attempt to mend relations with generous donations, however this is only effective if the aliens have not yet compromised the group in question.

Mission Brief stating: "Tuesday 7th March 2084 12:20. Search the building for Alien life forms or other hostile forces. Engage the enemy but where possible stun Aliens using a Stun Grapple, Stun Grenade or Psionic power. Live Aliens are essential for out research. If all hostile units are eliminated or stunned then we can recover any equipment and Alien artifacts. A Bio-Transport module must be at the investigation site to enable the recovery of unconscious or dead Aliens. Be careful to avoid endangering any civilians and remember that the organization which owns the building will not be pleased if there is extensive damage to the the structure."

The alien's form of infiltration is a new take in the series as it initially focuses their attacks via incursions where alien "eggs" which are inserted into buildings and factions and it is in your best interests to investigates these sites that have been infiltrated otherwise it will grow, procreate and spread from the point of insertion. If X-COM is called to action to solve a problem it usually means that an infestation has taken root and there is a good possibility that surrounding areas have remnants that need to be checked. The success of X-COM does facilitate the change in alien tactics and eventually the covert infiltration will be replaced by a focus on terror and forceful co-operation induced insertions to try and slow down the player's success and drive the alien's desire for the invasion.

The game makes use of an adaptive difficulty system that gets graded once a week at payday with higher difficulties being more weighted (as there is a larger city to keep track of) that when you are doing to well the aliens will up their resistance in response, eventually the attacks on the city becomes less about saving it and more about damage control and minimising the reputation damage from what retaliatory strikes arrive from your resistance.

Something that was also mixed up from how it was handled is in the way research and development has changed and has the removed the scientists and engineers as a problem solved by hiring large quantities of unknown entities and replaces that with a system where one has to hire individual scientists and engineers and then assign them to a task. This adds to the complexity of base defences as your non-combatant members will be spawned into a defence as well and encourages building "defence bunkers" and equipping important locations with a strong defensive force to keep them safe from any potential danger and subsequent slow downs from having less staff.

The research and development towards finding out what is attacking and piecing together the puzzle, while having to juggle the effects of the invasion and suppressing dissident elements does keep a player on their toes. As until X-COM can develop their own proprietary technology the development level is set from the beginning. Barring the high-end tech the invaders eventually roll out, the weapons and armour in setting one can buy from the factions is the equivalent of starting out already at tech tier 2, with "tier 3" only becoming an issue once the aliens deem Mega-Primus a threat

Vehicle UI that shows the current selected vehicle to the left with its health in the top left, name underneath and its associated stats below that. The center image shows what the vehicle is equipped with and requires at minimum a engine, cockpit and fuel supply, weapons if applicable. To the right its the list of available vehicles the player has access to

The game final pushes are satisfying in a "X-COM Strikes Back" kind of way. It can be intimating crossing into the "end-game" and it can feel drawn out and a bit undercooked. It eventually gets to a point where, with enough strikes, one can effectively neuter the invaders production and have them at your mercy to decide when to finish the game.

The aliens do have much to be desired on the visual front, but the degrees of chaos one can cause both in the field combat and the overworld feel a fair compromise for something that needed more development time. The animation can appear goofy, but for was made for its time is not bad. The real-time mode might not be the best fit for an X-COM game but one can see that Apocalypse was built for it to be the real-time as the primary mode of play as there is enough care put into it that you can watch your agents exchanging fire from cover during firefights and the effectiveness of finding a good position while making use of the stances to maximise field of fire. A player can still pause the action while they playing in real-time and one can jump between that and turn-based on the fly.

The game is a rough diamond and one that could have been outstanding in its time if all the little things functioned better and were fleshed out. What is there is good and it is bittersweet to see all the potential there as it glimmers with its systems that could have have been groundbreaking if fully realised, but settled for good enough.