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32Volume 66, Issue 2 October 31, 2012Arts and LifeXCOM: Enemy Unknown (2012) ReviewAdam SaundersContributorIt’s finally here, a sequel thatdeserves the honor of calling itselfXCOM. To me the original XCOMstands out as the best PC game ofits era. It had everything, massivebattles, tactical choices on asmall and large scale, a hugeprogression tree and one ofthe most memorable set ofenemies from any game Ihave played. All of this in aDOS game made back in thegood old days of 1994. Soit came as a surprise to hearthat the people who madeCivilization were makinga modern day sequel andI am as giddy as a kid onChristmas to say that it isfantastic.Gameplay Score/StorylineScore 9.8/10The first XCOMhosted the best turn basedstrategy gameplay of its eraand its sequel doesn’t stopshort of that. You take onthe role of the commanderof the newly formedXCOM program, a secretorganization made up of theworld’s best soldiers, scientists andengineers funded by a shady worldcounsel. The game starts with youbeing assigned your monumentaltask of repelling the alien invasionand then almost immediately youare left to your own devices. XCOMtakes places in two different areas,your “ant farm” base of operationswhere you build buildings, researchthe aliens and design the mostadvanced weapons of destructionthe earth has ever seen, and thebattlefield. You have to sendyour intrepid soldiers on multipledifferent kinds of missions on 100different individual maps. Wherethey will have to face anything froma protecting a VIP to raiding the hullof a UFO you just shot down withyour own fighters. XCOM doesa wonderful job of making yourdecisions feel like they have weightand your choices in both areas ofthe game ripple through the other.For instance say you only have 20Dying is Back in Stylealien shards and you have to choosewhether you want a set of armor foryour favorite soldier or build a laserrifle. You end up choosing the laserrifle and because you did when ahuge muton rushes through a walltrying to tear the head of one of yourrookies in the next mission, he ismet by a hail of laser fire and dropslike a rock. But another muton hassnuck behind your squad and opensfire upon your favorite guy; if heis hit you know he will not survivewithout that new suit of armor, soyou sit there, watching this hulkingbeast as it slowly raises its rifle andtakes its shot, praying that it misses.That is just one of the many fun andtense moments I have had playingthis game. XCOM manages to keepa great balance between its inherentdifficulty and fun, its iconic randomnumber generator manages to makeno matter how flawless a move feellike a risk. This spawns all sorts ofmoments, from the disaster of havingone of your veterans blasted awayin full cover because a mile awayalien got lucky and the moment ofpure joy when you manage to hitthat 10% shot that saves your squad.Behind all of this is the omnipresentsituation room where each fundingcountry has their own individualpanic level that must be managed orelse they will withdraw from yourprogram and take their funding withthem. If enough countries leave theXCOM project is shut down and theworld is doomed, so it manages tokeep a constant desire to impressthe council and makes it the bestfeeling in the world when you get agood rank.You might askwhy the storyline didn’tget its own segment.That is because it’salmost non-existent,there is enough plotto create a significantsense of emotion anda good ending but thegame is mostly fueledby your own choices.So it would be unfairfor me to assign a gradebased upon that. Besidesa few visual bugs thatwere ironed out inthe first patch XCOMis an almost flawlessgameplay experienceand a ton of fun.Graphic Score 8.5/10The new look ofXCOM is a tribute tothe cartoony style of theoriginal and it translatesreally well. The sceneryis well defined and every kind ofcharacter model manages to lookboth cartoony and have just enoughrealism for you to be able to becomeattached. The makeover of the aliensis also superb while in the originalXCOM mutons looked like purplemen in green leotards they are nowpurple muscle-bound monsters inwar gear. While they may be simple,the graphics do a wonderful job ofconveying the games sense of dreadand unknowing. Watching thatUFO softly glowing in the distanceas you advance upon it through thefiery gouge in the earth it left as itcrashed is a visual treat.In comparison to gameplaythere isn’t too much to talk abouthere; it’s not the best graphical styleever made but it’s certainly not theworst.Audio Score 9.0/10XCOM is a game where you