The location of the first base and subsequent bases thereafter is up to the
player to decide and from humble beginnings is tasked with locating and
intercepting UFOs - either by shooting them down with interceptors or tailing
it until it lands with an assault team.
All the logistics and research decisions are left up to the player to decide
and manage, fortunately the starting selection of weapons and heavy weapon
platforms available for purchase is good enough to provide resistance to the
initial alien incursions.
Combat takes place on a randomly-generated grid based layered map which is
roughly generated on the geographic area for where an alien ship has landed or
crashed. The layers act as psuedo-3D but is taken into account when targeting
enemies.
Combat actions cost is calculated off of a percentage of the time unit value and can be mixed and matched as necessary with movement.
Combat has one of the best trajectory systems in a tactics games as each bullet is simulated and it has a tradeoff between taking many low percentage chances and potentially hitting something or taking slower single shots to increase a chance to hit something specific. This system, because of its simulated nature, makes point blank auto fire especially deadly as it has almost no chance for trajectory deviation and so encourages engaging enemies in close range. Grenades are also subject to the system but can be picked up and thrown again and can be used to prime and "passed" to soldiers more suited for grenadier work.
In more desperate times, one can prime high explosive charges and use it either as a kill switch or in last resort tactics using weak rookies on a last ditch attempt to cause high damage at the cost of their lives.
There other less costly tactics involve using proximity grenades, setting up overwatch traps with high reaction soldiers or a having a system of scout and sniper.
The game can and will make one consider such tactics if your are not aware of the difficulty curve, the first indication is responding to Terror Missions. Terror missions as they are so called are some of the hardest missions in the game as the aliens attempt to kill as many civilians as possible in an attempt to weaken the funding of the X-COM and to achieve that they bring their strongest weapons to bear in relation to what alien is responsible for the mission.
Eventually one can learn that everything if used with sufficient force
can be destroyed and with that it opens up new and exciting approaches
to combat. If one knows there is a dangerous amount of enemies in a room
one can make a hole in a wall or ceiling and dump explosives through
the hole from relative safety. This level of freedom is expanded upon
when the player can make use of flying armours and with it opening up a
whole new level of shenanigans.
They are great missions to gauge your strength to the aliens as being able to
overcome these missions usually provide great opportunity for study and
capture of aliens and their technology.
One of the strongest tools in the alien's arsenal is psionics, that one quickly
begins to despise as aliens are not above breaking and controlling your soldiers
where they can. Until the means to screen your soldiers' psionic skill and
effectiveness is determined, it is a constant concern that your strongest among
your soldiers might just be the weakest in resisting the effects of the aliens.
It is not all gloom and doom though, if one can develop and effective supply
chain, deploy full radar coverage with an effective air force, research key
technologies and subdue and study the aliens the tide of the war can change to
the side of humanity and path to success can be forged.
The reverse difficulty curve of the game makes all the hardship and overcoming
it feel deserved and once the prerequisite technology is studied and developed
you end up with a hardened group of super soldiers that you know have been
forged by battle and have overcome everything thrown at them.
When
prepared and ready to finish the game, all the development and training
creates a confidence to know when you are sending your best against the best
the aliens have that you have a chance to wind. It can be hard last battle but
with all the tools at your disposal it should be winnable fight.
The game is 30 years old now and it does show its age, if one has the
original version their is an opensource project called OpenXcom and can find the site
here.
It is a overall improvement on the original with more options and stability.
If one wants to read a great Let's Play then I highly recommend :
LPArchive X-COM UFO Defense by GuavaMoment
For additional reading
Click Here to go to X-COM 2 Terror from the Deep
Click Here to go to the X-COM 3 Apocalypse
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