X-COM is a series of computer games, started by MicroProse in 1994. The first three titles were strategy games while the fourth was an action-based space combat/strategy game. The first two installments, X-COM: UFO Defense (also known as
UFO: Enemy Unknown in Europe) and X-COM: Terror from the Deep, were written by a team led by Julian Gollop and are considered the hallmarks of the series. These first two games also show strong similarities to
games such as Rebelstar and Laser Squad for the Sinclair Spectrum.
All titles were developed for the PC, with a few less-successful ports to the Sony PlayStation and Amiga. Though the first three titles were originally developed to run under DOS, they've been ported to run under Microsoft Windows using DirectX. X-COM: UFO Defense was the best selling computer game of 1995 and is considered a true classic, and despite its age, still has a large following.
Series standards
The premise for the series is fairly simple and straight-forward, with variations among them:
armies of hostile aliens have begun invading the Earth, killing and enslaving the human race.
Despite the cliche setup, the implementation is serious and carefully detailed to give an "authentic"
impression:
Regardless of game, the player is put in command of "X-COM," the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit. By defending
countries from enemy invasion, the force gains monetary support. Any nation may quit, if X-COM's service is deemed unsatisfactory.
Through research of recovered alien artifacts, X-COM is able to develop better and more powerful weapons, armor and vehicles to combat the alien menace and eventually uncover their true nature.
The game takes place within two main views: the Geoscape and the Battlescape, a dichotomy that's the
hallmark of the entire series. The Geoscape is where the player waits for enemy alien activity and makes strategic decisions.
While in the Geoscape, the player can view the X-COM bases (located in various locations on Earth),
make changes to them, equip X-COM craft, order supplies and personnel, direct research efforts, schedule manufacturing of
advanced equipment and sell alien artifacts to raise capital. The Geoscape is continuous and not turn-based.
Gameplay switches to the isometric combat view of the Battlescape whenever X-COM personnel come in contact with alien units. This can result
from investigating downed enemy crafts, combatting alien terrorist activities or attacking alien bases discovered during play. Aliens may also be encountered if they manage
to attack and infiltrate one of the X-COM bases.
In the Battlescape view, X-COM combatants are put versus the alien enemies. In addition to personnel, the player may have vehicles such as heavy weapons platforms outfitted with powerful lasers or rocket launchers. This mode is turn-based and each combatant has a number of "time units" which can be expended each turn.
When all alien forces have been neutralized, the mission is scored based on number of X-COM units killed, civilians saved, aliens killed or captured and the number of alien artifacts obtained.
The X-COM series is infamously known for its extreme difficulty, with many users utilizing third-party
programs to modify the game files in order to make playing the game less of a frustration than it typically does. Interestingly,
most of those third-party programs were designed to make the game more difficult for highly skilled players, but are
rarely used for those reasons.
The series
The complete series includes these titles:
The first two games are undeniably the most popular and most successful of the series, and the first
was named Game of the Year by many gaming magazines. Apocalypse took some strange twists that disappointed many
fans of the series. It introduced a real-time combat system, in addition to a modified turn-based system that was close to
useless, and the creepy atmosphere was almost no longer present. After Interceptor, Hasbro Interactive purchased MicroProse and acquired the X-COM brand.
Two more titles were planned for this series. Both were aborted when Hasbro shut down Hasbro Interactive in 1999 and 2000.
Hasbro sold all of its Hasbro Interactive intellectual property to Infogrames (now Atari) when it shut down the studios. Atari now owns the X-COM label, but according to insiders, never plans
to revive it.
"Spiritual" successors
Because of the game popularity, other game developers have created games similar in theme and tone
of the X-COM games. The levels in which they borrow from the original series varies.
UFO: Aftermath is a 2004 singleplayer game heavily influenced by the X-COM series. During its development, the developers
solicited comments from the X-COM fan community. But they emphasized that their game, though similar, is not
an X-COM game. It takes place in the aftermath of UFO attacks on Earth.
In 2005, developer Codo Games (made up of several members of the original X-COM team), and publisher Namco released Rebelstar: Tactical Command for the Game Boy Advance. Though not officially part of the X-COM series, the combination of its turn- and squad-based
combat system and alien invasion theme has caused many fans to embrace the game as the spiritual successor to X-COM.
A scenario/mod for Civilization 2 had the same situation and units as X-COM, but it was based on Phobos, and it was fairly simple compared to the real game.
