The XCOM Experience

Recently I have played a lot of XCOM: Enemy Within. I mean A LOT. A VERY LOT. So much, that if there was another emphasis option provided in the toolbar, that I would have used it.
I may be twenty hours into this game, which I started playing last Saturday. Beyond this, and the unnecessary emphasis, it is truly a great game, and one any hardcore gamer with an interest in strategy should try. This version of XCOM is an expanded re-release of XCOM: Enemy Unknown, with a significant amount of new content.

 The game itself combines elements of real time base building and turn based strategy. As the commander of  XCOM, your job is to defeat the alien menace invading, and stop the spread of panic among the populace. To do this, you are given support from a group of nations, all of which expect you to help them. However, you have to make hard decisions on which abduction to stop, as the aliens usually do three at a time. Panic will decrease where you help, and you get a reward, but it will increase in the places you didn't go. The base building element allows you to send up satellites, which reduce panic, or to create new facilities that allow new upgrades or options, or to make copies of existing buildings, which provide a bonus to that type of building, usually in making it take less time. The building too, gain bonuses if you place them next to other buildings of the same type, making a planned building strategy necessary for maximum efficiency. Researching new technology is also a big part of the game, and you must wait for your research team to research something before you can use it. These take several in game days (While scanning, an in game day is about eight seconds. Research typically takes 3 to 15 days, with a few taking more or less, and the average being 5-10).

Another interesting thing is the squad system. You take 4-6 soldiers out with you into a mission, which all start out as rookies. They eventually gain experience to become a specific class, which gives unique abilities. You do not choose this class, and this can create some interesting squads. The more kills you get with a unit, the stronger the unit becomes, and the higher it rises in rank. There is a catch though; when a unit dies, the death is permanent. Additionally, any damage done to them requires them to spend time in the infirmary to heal. Thus as your soldiers become stronger, they also become more valuable, and in a way, more vulnerable. You may see them as stronger and take more risks with them, which can get them killed, or, inversely, you may keep them back and safe, not fully utilizing their abilities to prevent them from being injured and temporarily unusable.

This iteration of the game adds a genetic modification system, which allows you to give bonuses to some of your people in exchange for a valuable alien resource  known as "Meld." These abilities vary from enemy detection, to the ability to (barely) survive normally killing attacks. You can also use this meld to combine a character with power armor making them into a special class known as a Mech. They gain access to special abilities, losing their old ones, and gain a large health bonus at the cost of being able to use cover.

This game is truly amazing, and if you favor a challenge, especially a strategic one, than it is for you. Funnily, their are not that many  types of enemies (about 20, I think) but it never gets old because the situations are always different, they have fairly good A.I. and you are constantly worrying about how best to use your units. In Ironman mode you run on only one save, making every decision permanent, and mostly irrevocable. However, as this game features a number of glitches (on the console versions, PC is fine), I recommend you play as if it was ironman, but do not actually use the setting so in case there is a game breaking glitch you can reset to before this happens. And you will encounter game breaking glitches in the console versions, which are probably it's biggest drawback. Despite this, It is still a fun and engaging game.

I heartily recommend this to everyone.