One of the most anticipated titles to grace the extensive show floor at E3 this summer was XCOM. I attended a closed-door demo of the game, and what I saw was a little surprising.

Fans of the series may at first have trouble making the connection between the game 2K Marin is showing and the original series. X-COM, initially dubbed UFO: Enemy Unknown, was known as one of the best strategy game series on the market (save for the fourth and final entry nearly ten years ago.) It's worth noting that the last game, X-COM: Enforcer, abandoned its beloved strategy formula for a third-person shooter-style gameplay and proceeded to fail. Fans, then, are understandably nervous as this new entry in the series looks to break with tradition again by moving the action to the first-person perspective.

The demo started with main character William Carter watching clips on a 60s-style film reel of an alien attack filmed from the ground by a survivor. It's not an accident that the game is set in 1962, a time that, here in the States, was marked by a very extreme fear of the unknown. Making the hostile force an extraterrestrial force with unknown objectives and superior scientific technology feels like a perfect fit.

After the video, it was time for a quick tour of home base. Here, you're able to view a map reminiscent of the map from previous iterations, which lists recent events, sightings, and attacks of the unknown invaders. All of this, we were told, has a direct connection to the older entries in the series.

After selecting a mission—the mission I was shown charges the player with tracking down an important scientist—you'll be able to choose two squad members to join you. Squad members have their own abilities and weaknesses, and who you choose can have a direct impact on the outcome of the mission at hand. You'll also be able to recruit NPCs that you meet in the field depending on the outcome of the mission. Squad members also have their own RPG-style progression trees and will gain experience points in the field. If you're thinking "Mass Effect," you're not too far off. That isn't a bad thing by any means, and XCOM isn't as much of a shooter as the Mass Effect series has become.

Another addition that was most likely copied from BioWare's sci-fi RPG is what 2K Marin is calling "Tactical View." It looks a lot like the Command Wheel from Mass Effect and functions about in about the same way. In Tactical View, key elements are highlighted so as to make decision making a bit easier in the heat of battle. One key difference is that you'll need "currency" to operate it. Fans of the original series will be familiar with this element, called "time units." In the demonstration, the player used this mode to flank a shielded enemy and then cause a distraction, allowing for his teammates to get the kill.

Another interesting aspect of the combat/strategy balance that 2K Marin is trying to strike is that any enemy can be "collected" and sent back to the base for research and development. Conversely, they can also be dropped into the field for temporary backup. This was demonstrated in one of the many moments in which the demo's player almost died. The alien forces called for backup, using what looked like an angry singularity called a Titan. This Titan, in turn, rained down destructive energy that tore the surrounding structures apart, which provided an excellent opportunity to show off the capture feature. With a little teamwork, the players were able to collect the Titan for later use.

XCOM is unbelievably pretty, as gamers have come to expect these days. Photorealistic graphics aren't nearly as unattainable as before. Even so, XCOM still manages to impress. It also sounds almost as good as it looks, managing to make an impression over the ridiculous noise on the South Hall show floor at E3.

The demo ended with the main character being sucked into a vortex after tracking down the scientist mentioned at the outset, and we caught a glimpse of an unfamiliar location. What that might mean remains to be seen, though it seems fairly safe to say that the gameplay options will do a lot to ease the worries of longtime fans without alienating newcomers.

By Patriel Manning
CCC Contributing Writer