The Carlsberg of Computer Games? Up To The Minute Breaking news (X-Com - Enemy Unknown (PC))

Member Name: Newfloridian

Product:	X-Com - Enemy Unknown (PC)
Date:	23/10/03 (1255 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Probably the best computer game - ever. , Brilliant, highly addictive game play, has never been equalled. , Look out for Aftermath!!!

Disadvantages: Graphics look a little "old hat" but once you're playing - who cares!

I have to admit that the time I spend playing games on my computer these days is strictly limited. Indeed, the preoccupation with preparation of these articles for posting sees to that! Beyond that however is the fact that game design, interface and strategy have all moved on apace with the burgeoning speed of CPUs, graphics boards and memory size whereas my own personal interface and brain power has not. I look back over fifteen years or so of personal computer ownership and recollect fondly perhaps half a dozen titles that were repeatedly playable and addictive in design (Railroad Tycoon, Civilisation, Colonisation). You will immediately see that I am describing games of strategy, particularly those which play differently with each start.

My absolute favourite of all time - and I hasten to say that of a great many other gamers and computer journalists - was the first of what turned out to be a series of games. The original impetus for the game started with Julian Gollop, a programmer and developer with Mythos Games. He had introduced a turn based squad level combat game called "Laser Squad" in 1991. He offered its sequel to the games software company Microprose who were looking for a 'big' release to complement the titles I mentioned above. The idea of Earth under attack from alien invaders took hold and the first X-Com title was launched in 1994.

I will be looking mainly at the first title in this review - "X-Com: Enemy Unknown" (or "UFO Defence" as it was released in America). This was followed up with a sequel "X-Com: Terror From The Deep" which used the same basic game engine, plot and scenarios although transplanted under water with modified graphics and protagonists. Both were DOS based games. Subsequent releases were titled "X-Com Apocalypse", "X-Com Enforcer" and "X-Com Interceptor". There were also rumours of further titles in the series but rationalisation am

ongst the software houses, cuts in development budgets and wrangles over copyright ownership put paid to any such launches. Reviewer and aficionado alike have all averred that "Enemy Unknown" was the first and best, horrendously addictive and playable. It has won a large number of awards from the gaming press in the ten years since its launch.

"X-Com: Enemy Unknown" is no longer in production (although you may find it included on CD games compilations) or at auctions on line such as eBay. There were issues about compatibility with early versions of Windows and indeed many devotees found that it would not run under Windows XP at all. For a short time Microprose did release a Windows based version. There is a large X-Com community out there on the internet. Many amateur developers have produced add-ons and editors, the most comprehensive being XComUtil by Scott Jones which allows you to modify most of the parameters of the game. Books based on the series have been published and there is talk of a feature film based on the plot of the game

THE WORLD OF X-COM

X-Com is a game of both strategy (tactical and strategic) and glorious shoot-em-ups. Research and development are of particular importance as defence of the countries of the world is one way to maintain your cash flow. The scope of the game is enormous. The playability potential is positively addictive.

The scenario is that in the year 1999 earth is under attack from space. You have been commissioned by the united governments to put together an organisation to repel, research and ultimately destroy the alien threat wherever it has come from. Initially your forces and resources are very limited. You have a single base, a small complement of soldiers, scientists and engineers. You have to engage the enemy head on, capture his weaponry, research it, develop it and use it against him. Eventually you will learn the secrets of the alien attacks, determine wh
ere t
hey are coming from and fly into space to destroy the alien colony on its home planet.

At the outset you are presented with an overview of the rotating Earth. You must choose where to set up your first base and then deploy your meagre resources. You realise initially that you can only hope to protect a small proportion of the world and it does help to understand the way in which world governments will fund your enterprise. There are graphs to help with the decision making. The base is a home for your employees, your ground forces and your equipment and weaponry. At the beginning you have three aircraft (two high speed interceptors and a transport). You must then decide what further buildings will be needed (all with construction costs and monthly maintenance) and what further staff need to be employed.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

A delicate balance has to be maintained between the military, research and manufacture. To start with, arms are primitive (simple rifles and grenades). Immediate research into much more powerful laser weapons (both for ground troops and aircraft) is available and sufficient scientists must be kept employed to keep research moving ahead. Research is based on a tree-like structure - you need to obtain and research some objects before you can research more complicated ones. Similarly engineers are required to keep your soldiers equipped with the latest products of research. Surplus production can always be sold to maintain your budget.

Once a month the governments of the world reward you with a bonus depending on how successful you have been in repelling the threat in their area. In time this leads to further dilemmas as to whether you continue to develop just one large and strong base in one country or position smaller bases around the globe.

ALIEN BATTLES

The aliens are of many kinds with different skills and attributes. These are the Sectoids (a grey kind of little green men);
Snakemen;
Chryssalids (a venomous insect whose bite will turn your man into a zombie) and Ethereals who possess formidable mind bending techniques. They have a variety of ranks from soldier, navigator, medic and commander. Their ships range from small scouts with three or four aliens on board to dread battleships with up to twenty aliens to defeat. Aliens themselves are the subject of research both to learn the secrets of their advances weaponry and spacecraft. Alien corpses are subject to post mortem examination and the carcases are a valuable source of revenue (it is not stated exactly who buys them from you!). Live aliens also need to be captured in the later stages of the game to be interrogated to determine the purpose of their missions and their origin.

Battles can occur in a townscape, in the countryside, desert, forest or glacier. Very little happens during the first month or two of the game. You will be able to see the world turn and night follow day. From time to time a small red "x" will flash across your view as your radar picks up an alien craft. You can launch your interceptors to shoot it down. Sometimes the craft will land near to your base, requiring you to send out your soldiers to investigate it. Shot down craft usually present less of a threat to landed ones. The aliens may launch attacks against you. These can take the form of a terror campaign against a city (you will be presented with the haunted, haggard face of a civilian and the site of the attack - asking whether you want to respond), an attack one of your bases or the announcement of the establishment of a base of their own on earth.

The battles take place on the 'battlescape'. Once you have arrived at the site you will be presented with a chance to check and make final adjustments to the armoury of your soldiers. The battlescape itself is a two or three level map representing the terrain or indoor area of a base. The battle is turn-based with X-
Com 'going&
#39; first. This is a matter of ordering your men individually to progress through and explore the site, looking for and destroying the aliens present. There are various options which can be set - the most important of which is to reserve firing points which can be used during the alien turn. Battles are unnerving affairs and death comes quickly and easily to the unwary. Aliens may lurk in dark corners (they are blessed with far better sight that you). Weapons fizz and zing. Bombs explode taking away the sides of a house. The battle ends when one side is killed or rendered unconscious.

The larger sites (the landed battleship, the alien base, the terror site) are a formidable challenge. At most you can take fourteen soldiers with you (until the later stages of the game gives you the larger armoured transporter) and you may be faced with up to twenty four aliens. There may also be more than one type of alien present. The most terrifying site is the one populated by Snakemen who bring the dreaded Chryssalid with them. One bite from these creatures and your man (or innocent civilian) is turned into Zombie. You must now kill the Zombie ? but be warned ? out of the body springs a new Chryssalid ready to strike again. I have experience of losing nine of my landing party to such an attack before I brought it under control. Ethereals are capable of mind attack and taking over control of your soldiers. For the duration of the control they will try to shoot the rest of your troop. However once you have learned the method, you can mind control alien attackers and use them against their mates.

As each battle is concluded your men gain experience and strength and can be promoted to higher ranks.

There will almost certainly be a terror attack at the end of January. You are well advised to respond to the call even though it will usually be a battle taking place at night, your weaponry is poor, you will meet terrorist aliens more pow
erful than the usual
and it will be very costly in men and resources. It will be even more costly to ignore.

WINNING THE GAME

The idea of the game is to find out where the alien invaders are coming from by successive capture and research. Ultimately you will be able to build a large enough space going craft to transport a squad of highly trained and experienced soldiers to the aliens' home planet and once there destroy the alien brain.

The final battle is a gruelling two part campaign. Firstly you must fight your way from the craft across a hostile landscape to an entry portal into the underground base. Once in the base your remaining squad must seek out the secret chamber deep in the base to complete the mission. You will come across representatives of every one of the alien races during this final campaign.

In triumph the alien brain explodes under a welter of phaser cannon fire.

MY CONCLUSION

In my playing career I have completed "X-Com: Enemy Unknown" three times. Each occasion has taken about eighteen "game months". It is advisable to save the game at regular intervals and one game can spread over six months of sessions.

The drawback of the game now, I suppose, is its relatively crude - by today's standards - graphics. However, once a campaign is underway X-Com insidiously draws you deeper into the intrigue and game play to such an extent that you cease to notice this. The strengths of the game are the way that the plot unfolds as more research is completed and more complicated campaigns are won. You get to know and 'understand' your soldiers as they develop their characters and fight your battles. You grieve when they die.

The game uses light and dark very effectively. As I mentioned above you can see the passage of time as day follows night across the globe. Annoyingly the aliens prefer to land or attack you during the night. The sound effects
and music of X-Com are a
tmospheric. Your conventional rife produces a puny little ping. A sudden laser blast in a night-time raid can be quite startling; the slithering of a Snakeman, the hiss of a Chryssalid or the unseen scream of a defenceless civilian unnerving.

WHY THIS REVIEW NOW?

It is over a year since I last looked at the game ? the time when I changed my computer to one running Windows XP. I confirm that my own DOS version would not run. I have always kept an occasional eye on the discussions running in the X-Com chat rooms. Of late I have become aware of two increasingly interesting threads. Firstly a version of "X-Com: Enemy Unknown" that was compatible with Windows XP (including with graphics and sound) had appeared as "Abandonware". This was a minor variant of the earlier windows version with the addition of a couple of third party modifications.

I downloaded a copy (no charge) from http://www.abandonia.com/game_display.php?game=UFO - Enemy Unknown, having read their raison d'etre and news pages. I justified my action by the possession of TWO CD-ROM copies of the original game. It loaded fine, played without a hitch and I have already spent three evenings reminding myself what I had been missing.

My seventeen year old son has also begged a copy (he did look at it about three years ago and then cast it to one side in favour of the all-singing, all-dancing hi-res graphics shoot-ems.) He has been enthusing about X-COM all week - and what's more has been chatting and discussing strategies! Amazing!!!

Secondly the breaking news that is sure to set the computer gaming magazines alight is the imminent release of a new X-Com game. Called UFO Aftermath, it has been developed in the Czech Republic. The early reviews have been glowing in their appreciation. Although it has been updated for higher powered graphics cards and faster processors, it has followed the turn based strategy of
the original X-Com. It is sai
d to be just as addictive. I have my order in place and it is due to be delivered sometime this week. You can find out more at: http://www.ufo-aftermath.com/pages/headquarters.ht ml


AVAILABILITY:

X-COM: ENEMY UNKNOWN: No longer in production. Borrow a copy from a friend or resort to Abandonware.

UFO: AFTERMATH: PC Game: Pre-order from Amazon.co.uk £22.99

[POSTSCRIPT: WHAT IS ABANDONWARE?

"Abandonware" -- the term has been coined to refer to "software that is five years or older and no longer supported." It can be any software made for any computer system. It is not the same as "freeware." It only means all support has been "abandoned" for that title.

Abandonware is termed "obsolete" because there is newer software to run in its place. However this does not mean that the original software is any less functional. A corporation or individual can stop supporting a software program but still maintain legal copyright protection of it. Don't assume that just because a copyrighted program is "old" it is automatically OK to give out copies. You could end up answering to a corporate or individual's attorney.

In the United States of America, U.S. copyright law allows:
· A corporation to maintain copyright protection on an item for up to 95 years
· An individual to maintain copyright protection on an item for their entire lifetime plus 70 years


Abridged from: Dan's 20th. Century Abandonware website: http://home.pmt.org/~drose/aw.html]

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