March 31, 2022
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
People who are not too knowledgeable about games may be confused about how someone would stress over games and all that goes on in them, but when you start to play XCOM: Enemy Unknown for yourself, you will see how entertaining it really is. Most engagements will leave you on the edge of your seat, whether you lose a soldier, or they survive to fight another day. In the case of XCOM: Enemy Unknown, every choice that you make can be the very last, whether the mission ends in victory or absolute defeat. You play as the “Commander” of an anti-alien military force fighting back the invading forces trying to take over Earth.You must command soldiers on the front lines and bear the results of good and bad calls alike. Your foes’ strengths and weaknesses are a mystery, but despite the challenge, you must find a way to stop them before it is too late. Every new encounter with an alien type introduces a way to learn and counter-play to defeat them. The game plays out like an overly complicated form of chess where each side takes turns moving their units, with each unit being different and having a certain number of roles during each mission. You can upgrade your soldiers with better armor, better weapons, unique gadgets, and attachments.Sadly, with all these new tools for dealing with the alien threat, there is a bigger threat: Time. Everything takes time, especially researching new tools, building new facilities, and recovering soldiers; that time is what you may lose if the aliens decide to launch an attack on a city and you must make the choice of continuing to research or send your soldiers in without that upgrade you were considering. If enough cities fall, your elite XCOM military unit will be shut down, and the game is over. Available on all Xbox and PlayStation consoles, PC, and on mobile devices.
—Will Kosmal, Gaming Editor