XCOM Video Game Series
Video Games Encyclopedia by Gamepressure.com
XCOM: Chimera Squad
Strategy 24 April 2020
Spin-off a series of tactical turn-based strategies. In the XCOM: Chimera Squad, we take control of the squad consisting of people and aliens, whose task is to keep order in the metropolis known as City 31. The action takes place 5 years after XCOM 2.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown Plus
Strategy 22 March 2016
An extended version of the turn-based tactic strategy XCOM: Enemy Unknown developed by Firaxis Games, which was a restart of the cult series started by Microprose in 90s. The plot tells a story of the first conflict between humanity and an extraterrestrial civilization. You are in control of a head of the XCOM organization, whose aim is to fend off the invasion of aliens and figure out their technology. The strategy mode allows the player to develop the base, conduct scientific research, and control equipment and weapons production. Once informed of alien activity, you go to missions played out in turn-based system, during which you lead a team of highly-trained soldiers. Your objective is to simply neutralize all enemies on the map. XCOM: Enemy Unknown Plus includes the base version of the game along with released a year later add-on, XCOM: Enemy Within, which introduced new resources, weapons, maps, upgrades, and skills.
XCOM 2
Strategy 05 February 2016
A turn-based tactical strategy game set in a futuristic, science fiction universe and a sequel to XCOM: Enemy Unknown (2012). Both games were produced by the experienced developer, studio Firaxis Games, founded by Sid Meier, a legend of the video game industry. The story is set 20 years after the events of the last game. Despite their heroic efforts, human forces proved themselves helpless against the alien invaders, and the Blue Planet fell into their hands. However, the remnants of the XCOM organization are still active in the underground, and pick up guerilla tactics against the enemy in order to reclaim the planet. Gameplay mechanics reprises the solutions known from the previous game, featuring both the strategic layer – where you manage your mobile base and develop new technologies – and tactical, turn-based combat. The game features randomly generated maps, as well as improved combat and command system.
XCOM: Enemy Within
Strategy 12 November 2013
First huge add-on to the tactical strategy game, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, released in 2012. Created by the developer team at Firaxis Games, the expansion introduces many new features to basic game. One of the most important among them is a new resource – meld, a type of microscopic, robotic organisms that can modify human genotype. This allows humans to improve their body and even integrate mechanical parts into themselves. The add-on introduces a new soldier class as well – Mec Trooper - along with a special building to “produce” him, two types of aliens (Seeker and Mechtoid) and a new human organization, EXALT, trying to use alien technology to conquer the world. There are also new types of weapons, skills, and maps for multiplayer matches.
The Bureau: XCOM Declassified
Action 20 August 2013
Tactical third-person shooter (TPS) that came out as a spin-off to the XCOM strategy series. The game was developed by 2K Marin, best known for making BioShock 2. The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is set in 1960s, showing the early stages of the war between XCOM and aliens who invaded the Earth. The main hero – agent William Carter – gets sent to places where aliens have been spotted in order to wipe out the invaders. Although most of the time you are shooting aliens, the key to winning a battle is tactical play, such as hiding behind covers, flanking, using alien weapons etc. The protagonist is always accompanied by two of his teammates, who can be assigned different classes and learn new skills over time, but they may also die permanently. Gameplay was designed for single player only and the only support the player gets is from his AI-controlled partners. After each mission you go back to the main base, where you talk to people, dispatch teams on various operations, etc. From technological side, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is based on Unreal Engine 3, which assures high-quality graphics.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Strategy 09 October 2012
A science-fiction turn-based strategy game that came out as a reboot of the cult series, UFO: Enemy Unknown, launched back in 1994 by Microprose. This new title was created by Firaxis Games, a studio founded by Sid Meier. The story of XCOM: Enemy Unknown does not follow any of the plotlines started by its predecessors. Instead, it tells a new story of the war between humans and an aggressive alien race. In order to protect our planet from the invaders a special organization called X-COM was created, with you as its commander throughout the game. The gameplay features two main aspects. In the strategic mode you plan your next move, complete research and develop technology, as well as manufacture gear and weapons – all this in real time. When it comes to skirmishes with the aliens, combat is turn-based. Most missions are procedurally generated, which relates to greater replayability. Battles are presented in full 3D, and the game’s engine allows for full destruction of environment.
X-Com: Enforcer
Action 19 April 2001
A third-person action game set in the world of the popular X-COM series developed by Microprose. X-Com: Enforcer once again exploits the theme of fighting invaders from space. The game is set at the beginning of the 21st century and casts the player in the role of a member of the titular organizations, whose mission is to save the mankind's homeworld attacked by an alien race. This time however, the action is viewed from a third-person perspective - the player controls the so-called Enforcer, which is both a robot and the greatest military achievement of human scientists. Armed with the finest weapons, the mech is sent to subsequent places attacked by the aliens, in order to eliminate all the enemies and to destroy both their installations and teleports. The game offers 30 missions which take place in urban areas, underground tunnels or on the rooftops of skyscrapers for instance. Between subsequent missions, the player can upgrade the Enforcer through installing different elements that affect the robot's combat capabilities.
X-COM Interceptor
Simulation 15 June 1998
The fourth installment in the hit game series by Microprose, depicting the conflict between humanity and a hostile alien race. Unlike the previous installments, X-COM: Interceptor is not a classic strategy game, but a combination of its predecessors and a space simulation game. Once again, you are in charge of the eponymous X-COM organization and manage your base through gaining funds, constructing new buildings, or developing its technology. A major novelty is the departure from the turn-based combat system. Instead of that, after detecting an alien ship, you find yourself piloting one of your fighters and participating in a dynamic space fight. The game is also the first installment of the series, in which you can play in the multiplayer mode for 2-8 players, featuring 3 types of missions to complete.
X-COM: Apocalypse
Strategy 13 May 1997
The third installment of the popular series of turn based games created by Microprose. In X-COM: Apocalypse, we assume the role of the commander of X-COM, an organization created to defend Earth against the alien invaders. The base gameplay is exactly the same as in the previous installments of the series. During the game, we build and develop bases, research new technologies, as well as employ and equip our soldiers. Thanks to thorough preparations, we can send our soldiers on subsequent missions, where we have to clear the areas controlled by the aliens. Nevertheless, X-COM: Apocalypse is full of changes and novelties, with the new theater of operations in the form of Mega-Prime, a sprawling metropolis in which a number of independent organizations is operating, not always with our best interests in mind. Aside from improved visuals, another mainstay are the reactions of individual social groups on our behavior during the missions.
X-COM: Terror from the Deep
Strategy 27 October 1995
A continuation of UFO: Enemy Unknown, a cult-classic science-fiction turn-based game from 1994, created by Microprose. The action of X-COM: Terror from the Deep takes place 40 years after the events known from its predecessor, in which the titular organization managed to defeat the alien invaders. As it turns out, some of the shot down alien vessels had fallen into the oceans, where the alien remnants created underwater bases, deciding to commence another invasion from the ocean depths. As the commander of X-COM, the player has to build and develop underwater bases, and then create new troops, which will intercept alien vessels, destroy their crews, and deliver samples for the scientists. In comparison to its predecessor, the gameplay in X-COM: Terror from the Deep hadn’t changed much, but the game employs an improved interface and an updated graphic engine. The number of alien species has also been increased, as well as the set of technologies, weapons, and equipment that can be used by our forces.
UFO: Enemy Unknown (1994)
Strategy 23 September 1994
A turn-based strategy game, with RPG and simulation elements, developed by Microprose. The story of UFO: Enemy Unknown takes place in an alternate reality of the year 1999, where the players take on the role of the leader of X-COM, an organization created to prevent potential alien threats. When reports from many corners of the world come in about numerous missing people, terrorized cities and hideous genetic experiments - X-COM soldiers have to move in. There are two fundamental aspects of gameplay: the economical one, where we manage the budget of the organization, build bases and outfit them with the necessary equipment. We also determine the direction of scientific research; and the strategic one, where we detect and shoot down UFOs and send soldiers to mop up the remaining aliens.
XCOM Legends
RPG canceled
A free mobile spin-off of the popular tactical strategy series. In XCOM Legends we play as the commander of the resistance fighting against the alien regime on Earth. The game was developed by the Californian studio Iridium Starfish.
X-Com: Alliance
Action canceled
Although once a project in development, Microprose's X-Com: Alliance was never released. It was supposed to be the next installment in the X-Com series that was popular in the 90s. Contrary to the main installments (those were extensive, turn-based strategies), X-Com: Alliance was a combination of standard FPS mechanics and tactical elements associated with such games as SWAT or the Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six series. The player was given control over four commandos whose task was to complete a series of missions (increasingly more difficult) and return back home at the end. Although the game offered many different kinds of weapons, X-Com: Alliance was not a dynamic action game - instead, the player was required to plan the entire action carefully and think through subsequent moves of particular squad-members. The project utilized a modified version of the Unreal Engine, offering spectacular, fully three-dimensional visuals.