1. GoneTomrrow

   7

   This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A solid remake all-in-all. I played the original DOS games and most of the sequels, which are hard acts to follow. This newest incarnation manages to have the core of what made the original extremely fun: well crafted turn-by-turn combat, variety of weapons and equipment, resource management, researching and reverse engineering alien tech, etc. The graphics are very good; the temple ship is truly a masterpiece of a stage. There is a lot not to like as well, of course. Normal difficulty is too easy, taking 40 hours to beat for me. XCOMEU is far less complex than the original, in a bad way. Combat has been oversimplified, with the boring "move, shoot, repeat" scheme. The original with time units was much more fun; you could spend all your time units shooting, moving, swapping a weapon out oof your pack, or all three. I was displeased to discover that there was only one alien base in the game (several in the OG). The end stage, while very fun, was disappointing - no Mars? Really? Very anticlimactic ending. When you investigate a crash site, you are dropped practically on top of it in a tiny area. The enemies are now "aggro'd" WOW-style and just stand around until you approach. They don't move around otherwise. I miss the old crash site maps which were larger and required exploration. The maps in general become repetitive. I also think the overall atmosphere of the game is too tame; the eery stage music of the original is permanently etched in my brain. Oh, and lastly, where is the Snakeman? A lot of negative points said here, but as I said, the heart of the original is still there and I was glued to my PC for the few short days it took to beat it. Worth buying.… Expand

   • Helpful? 2 of 2 users said Yes.
2. oliver1h

   5

   This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game had plenty of potential...Unfortunately they are mostly unexploited...My problems with the game boils down to these: 1. The maps are too small and repetitive (The makers of the game said the player will not see the same map during the campaign...Well that is not true) 2. The maps are too scripted (Enemies wait for the player to reach a trigger zone, than they start to move around and attack. They do not move around the map by themselves.)3. Weapon upgrades are too linear (Laser is better than simple projectile weapons, plasma is better than laser and projectile weapons etc.)4. The campaign is too short 5. Weak tactical layer (no stand, crouch, lay...) 6. Weak strategic layer (Build satellites, workshops, power generators, laboratories, and a few other building and that all...It is nothing like in the old UFO:EU) 7. You can't chose the nationality of your soldier (why can't we?) 8. You can't place your base where you want on the geospace (why can't we??)… Expand

   • Helpful? 7 of 7 users said Yes.
3. DrMutomofobo

   3

   A decent game in it's own right, and it works well as a tribute to the 1993 original as it contained enough of the original themes to make me nostalgic. That being said, it's way too dumbed-down to be considered the same caliber as it's predecessors were. Almost everything is generic and automated, from how the organization itself is administered to how the soldiers interact with the environment when on tactical missions. It leaves you very little choice, and even less room for variation. The soldiers lack any distinguishable traits whatsoever, except for appearance and nationality at least; as they've removed evolvable stats in favor of a primitive class-system with very limited perks as they rank up. Inventory has also been standardized, and you can't even pick up equipment from fallen friends or foes on the field. The option to construct new bases is gone, as is the option to properly control air missions. The tactical missions lack interactivity, as you can no longer free-aim to destroy obstacles (or just for fun) and all bullets fly in a straight line only to disappear into thin air if they miss their target, effectively removing the joy of unintentional collateral damage and the unpredictability which follows it. Aliens just stand around in groups awaiting activation rather than roaming the field and positioning themselves favorably from start, and you can only deploy a maximum of six soldiers to a mission (four at the start - you have to research in order to reach the maximum six). Maps are small and very predictable too, usually you just move forward in one direction jumping from cover to cover massacring one alien group at the time until you're done. Multiplayer could have been awesome, but it's way too unimaginative to even be considered "ok". Here too, they've stripped your options down to a minimum. Only mode is 1vs1 squad elimination, even though single-player mode offers various settings which could have been extremely fun in multiplayer; and you use a simple "buy-for-points" system when building your squad rather than something more sophisticated (and rewarding). Also there's no progression whatsoever besides a place on the very primitive win/loss ratio-based ladder. Perhaps a system like the one they've implemented in Shogun 2: Total War would be better? At least it gives the player a feeling of achievement, something the present system doesn't provide at all. All-in-all... This is a game that offers very little variation, very little choice and a downright backwards level of interactivity. It makes most the decisions for you by limiting your options to the extreme. It works well enough as turn-based action, but as a strategy-and-tactics-game it fails miserable. Especially considering how successful the originals were in that aspect. If you avoid comparing it to the original franchise, which is actually way more complex and rewarding than this game is despite the fact that it's been almost twenty years since their release; you'll enjoy playing through it once. The replay-value however, is almost non-existent due to the previously mentioned lack of choices, variation and interactivity. The only real strength to this game is the fact that it contains just enough of the original games to reimburse your enjoyment of those. At least that's what it did for me: Made me reinstall the oldies and play them instead. I'd advice anyone to do the same ;)… Expand

   • Helpful? 4 of 5 users said Yes.

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