Units can use suppressive fire to disadvantage enemies, and use active camouflage to maneuver around opponents.Ĭutscenes and dynamic camera movements emphasise particularly exciting gameplay moments, such as kill sequences and use of special abilities. Soldiers can take cover behind walls and objects in the environment to gain a measure of protection. Soldiers can carry items and perform special abilities use of these items and abilities is controlled through a toolbar on the head-up display (HUD).Ī few examples of abilities include firing on enemies automatically after they emerge, launching explosives, and healing allies. Fog of war hides the aliens and their actions from view until the player's soldiers are in range and have line of sight on them, and enemies normally do not act at all until the squad initially comes within line of sight.
Map layouts are not randomly generated, but enemy placement is. The player controls a squad of between one and six human soldiers or robotic units as they hunt the aliens on the map and attempt to complete other objectives dependent on the mission. The turn-based ground combat uses a top-down 3D perspective.
As commander, the player directs their soldiers in turn-based combat missions against alien enemies.īetween missions, the player directs the organization's research and engineering divisions in creating new technologies and improving XCOM's base of operations, and manages the organization's finances. Much like its predecessor, XCOM: Enemy Unknown casts the player as the commander of an elite military organization. A sequel to the game, titled XCOM 2, was released on Februfor Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux. XCOM: Enemy Unknown was critically acclaimed, with several reviewers commenting on the game's difficulty, replayability, and addictiveness.Ī number of publications, including GameSpy, GameTrailers and Giant Bomb, named it Game of the Year.
The player commands troops in the field in a series of turn-based tactical missions between missions, the player directs the research and development of new technologies from recovered alien technology and captured prisoners, expands XCOM's base of operations, manages XCOM's finances, and monitors and responds to alien activity. Set in an alternative version of year 2015, during an alien invasion of Earth, the game puts the player in control of an elite multinational paramilitary organization called XCOM and is tasked with defending the Earth. In June 2014, Feral released both XCOM: Enemy Unknown and its expansion pack XCOM: Enemy Within for Linux.Ī bundle containing both Enemy Unknown and Enemy Within was launched on the PlayStation Store for PlayStation Vita in March 2016 under the title XCOM: Enemy Unknown Plus. An expansion pack, titled XCOM: Enemy Within, was released in November 2013.
An "Elite Edition", containing all previously released downloadable content, was released as a Mac OS X exclusive by Feral Interactive in April 2013.Ī port for iOS was released in June 2013 and an Android conversion was released in May 2014. XCOM: Enemy Unknown was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 in North America on October 9, 2012, and in Europe and Australia on October 12, 2012. The game is a "reimagined" remake of the 1994 cult classic strategy game UFO: Enemy Unknown (also known as X-COM: UFO Defense) and a reboot of MicroProse's 1990s X-COM series. XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a 2012 turn-based tactical video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K Games.