In the mid 1990s, the first game in the X-COM series debuted on PC. Known as both UFO: Enemy Unknown and X-COM: UFO Defense, the game was a huge hit with PC strategy fans and spawned several direct sequels, as well as an action game spin-off and even a line of budget-priced email games.

To fans of the original series, relaunching it as a first-person shooter is nothing short of sacrilege. However, those who haven’t played the original games seem to have no problem with the switch. After all, a government-backed agency that deals with alien invasions is a great concept for a game, regardless of genre. With the team behind BioShock 2, things couldn’t go wrong, could they? Honestly, we’re not sure how to answer that question just yet.

On paper, XCOM has a lot of great elements. Set in the 1950s during an alien invasion, XCOM has a cool retro vibe and a fun pulpy feel. The graphics have a slick, stylized look and several little touches consistent with the retro theme. Your mission objectives are handed to you in a manila folder. Your in-game map is an actual physical map that you hold up in front of your character. If I only judged games on style, XCOM would already be a winner. Unfortunately, in the level we saw as part of a recent demo, the combat just didn’t look like that much fun.

The demo began in the XCOM (Extraterrestrial Combat Unit) base, a hub world between missions where the player can upgrade weapons and talk to XCOM staffers for information. In the briefing room, there’s a massive map of the country where the player can choose from available missions and tackle them in any order he or she likes. In our demo, a couple of missions were available, and the player chose to rescue some civilians in a suburb on the West Coast. The player headed into the hanger, got into a car, and the mission loaded up.

When the game resumed, the setting shifted to a 1950s suburban neighborhood and tasked the player to defeat aliens that were attacking civilians. The demo stage was large and open, with multiple houses lining a wide, friendly street. At least, it would be friendly if it hadn’t obviously been trashed by something inhuman. Cars were overturned and mangled, and black, shimmery slime lay in puddles all over the place. After following a trail of slime to a house, we discovered the source of the dark goo. Alien blobs began attacking from all angles. They slithered along walls, jumped off the floor, and lunged for the player time after time. With a couple of A.I. partners, the demo player fought them off with a shotgun and alien-based weapons like a lightning gun and a flaming grenade.

Fighting aliens is typically a solid core idea for a game, but the problem with the XCOM demo is that these blobs didn’t seem like compelling enemies. The blobs were the only enemy in the level, and there were lots of them. There was no variety to the combat, just fast-paced firing into moving pools of liquid. The blobs were dark black, constantly shifting, and it was hard to tell when they were taking damage. Even when hit with flaming grenades or electric beams, it was never obvious when the creatures were in their death throws. For a shooter to work, combat must feel satisfying. We’re not sure XCOM will offer that.

Fortunately, the demo did add a bit of visceral excitement near the end. After gunning down dozens of blobs, the demo player headed out into the street to find his car. One of his A.I. helpers had died in combat, and the other didn’t last much longer after stepping outside. Hovering in the air was a giant metal monolith, which transformed into an angry flying ring. The ring started chasing the player through the street and blasting away with a giant cannon, causing the player to flee down the street. The creature was obviously undefeatable at that point in the game, and the chase down to the escape car was the most exciting part of the demo. The neighborhood was torn apart as the thing’s blasts obliterated everything around it. It was undoubtedly cool, and if the game is full of exciting set pieces like this one, it could be great. Then again, if there’s not more interesting combat, it could be quite dull. Based on what I saw of XCOM, we need a lot more answers before we know whether or not to keep this one on our radar. But then again, aren’t aliens supposed to be mysterious?

By J. Matthew Zoss
CCC Freelance Writer