Games

XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Firaxis Games

2012•Strategy•PEGI 18•About 31 hours

Taste attributes: actionadventurescience fictionwarmonster/alien/supernaturalrobots/ai/spacefastfresh & originalunsavouryimaginarysimplelinearglossybig & variedemotionally undemandingall consuming questfighting evilhuman spirit/resilience/survivalrescue/escape/jeopardy

See which match your taste

Boxlist takeA fantastical, sweeping strategy game: unsavoury and pacy. Best if you like the extraordinary over the everyday.

Pace: fast · Originality: balanced · Tone: dark · Weight: balanced · Realism: imaginary world · Story: simple · Structure: linear · Look: glossy · Scale: big and varied · Emotional punch: balancedHow we score

IGDB rating

86 / 100

572 ratings

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Based on your film and TV taste: games are matched on the same ten characteristics, with your own match bands.

About This Game

XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a turn-based tactics game with a strategic management layer, and a reimagining of the 1994 strategy title UFO: Enemy Unknown. Players lead a squad of soldiers through turn-based combat missions against alien forces, using cover, positioning, and class-based abilities, where fallen soldiers can be lost permanently. Between missions, players oversee a central base: researching recovered alien technology, building facilities, managing funds, and deciding which global threats to respond to as they try to keep member nations from abandoning the project.

Summary: IGDB

Story

Set in an alternate version of 2015, the game begins as an alien force launches a coordinated invasion of Earth. In response, a coalition of nations forms XCOM, an elite multinational military and scientific organization tasked with defending the planet. The player takes the role of XCOM's commander, directing soldiers against an enemy with far more advanced technology while studying the aliens to understand their purpose and turn their own discoveries against them.

Characteristics

Where this game sits on each taste spectrum

SlowPACEFast

FamiliarORIGINALITYOriginal

DarkTONEWholesome

LightWEIGHTINESSHeavy

FantasyREALISMRealistic

SimpleINTRICACYIntricate

Non-LinearLINEARITYLinear

UnderstatedSTYLEStylised

IntimateSCALEEpic

RestrainedEMOTIONIntense

Genres and themes

ActionAdventureScience fictionWarMonster/alien/supernaturalRobots/ai/spaceAll consuming questFighting evilHuman spirit/resilience/survivalRescue/escape/jeopardy

Keywords

AliensBloodyTurn-basedDeathSoldierRobotsProcedural generationPermadeath

Where to play

Details

Developer: Firaxis Games
Publishers: 2K Games, Feral Interactive
Released: 9 October 2012
Series: X-COM
Platforms: PlayStation 3, Linux, Android, PC (Microsoft Windows), iOS, Mac, Xbox 360
Modes: Single player, Multiplayer
Perspective: Bird view / Isometric
Time to beat: 15h rushed, 31h normally, 54h complete
Age rating: PEGI 18
Taste scores: How we score
Source: IGDB

How game matches work

Games are scored on the same ten characteristics as films and matched with the same formula and your own match bands, from your film and TV taste. Game scores are estimates, made by fixed rules from IGDB genres, themes, keywords and descriptions.