Managing resources isn't the genre's most glamorous activity, but Enemy Unknown's UI keeps it interesting by going beyond the usual number-crunching and stat-tracking of similar games. Furthermore, polished cut-scenes and physics-displaying destructible environments inject some welcome cinematic flair.Ĭombat was clearly the focus of our demo, but Firaxis also gave us a teasing taste of that aforementioned “strategy layer.” When not engaged in boots-on-the-ground action, players level-up and customize soldiers, research alien technologies, engineer new weapons, and plan their missions back at headquarters. Complemented by a visual style falling somewhere between the realism of a military shooter and the cel-shaded charm of Borderlands, Enemy Unknown utilizes different camera perspectives depending on the scenario players see a birds-eye view of the action when plotting their next move, but get a nice over-the-shoulder close-up when choosing a character's actions. While retaining such gameplay aspects from the original XCOM is important to Firaxis, they're clearly not interested in duplicating its nearly 20-year-old presentation. Those kinds of real consequences create a tension, a drama, and a fear we believe is a hallmark of the XCOM series.” Solomon explains the importance of this potentially bold move: “When your soldiers die, they stay dead.
Like the original game, Enemy Unknown has no problem permanently killing characters players have spent days, weeks, or even months customizing. We did, however, appreciate the fact the support soldier, who proved himself a hero early in the battle, was now occupying a body bag. Without being behind the controls, it was difficult to experience what we suspect was an intoxicating mix of cerebral strategizing and on-the-fly decision making. Instead, he needed to use his noggin before choosing very specific moves and actions for each of his characters' turns. Of course, being a turn-based strategy game, going in guns-and-grenades first wasn't an option for the Firaxis rep steering the demo. The little gray men look like close cousins of E.T., but they're not interested in phoning home in fact, if the gory cutscene we witnessed is any indication, they'd rather feast on human flesh than Reese’s Pieces. Unfolding at a roadside fueling station, our mission saw four XCOM soldiers-support, assault, sniper and heavy-take on some of the series' signature Sectoids. As described by lead designer Jake Solomon, this unfortunate predicament presents players with “epic, world-changing decisions on a strategic layer, and intimate, heart-pounding decisions on a combat layer.” While our demo definitely hinted at the former's depth, it was decidedly more focused on showcasing the latter's alien-splattering action. As commander of the government-funded XCOM, players represent humanity's final hope of having an alien-free future. Like the Microprose original, Enemy Unknown takes place in an alternate version of our modern-day world, one where evil extraterrestrials regularly abduct citizens and do god knows what to them.
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