Firaxis and 2K Games’ XCOM: Enemy Unknown is already available in several App Stores around the world and will hit the U.S. App Store later tonight. The game, which was first released for the Mac in April, is a re-imagined version of the classic 1994 title X-Com: UFO Defense.
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The iOS version of XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a port of the full game that was originally designed for consoles and computers, with a few minor interface tweaks to make it suitable for a touchscreen. Essentially, it’s a complete console game at fraction of the price. Our sister site TouchArcade has posted a full review of XCOM, noting that the controls are intuitive and well-suited to the game.
You can break down Enemy Unknown into two distinct parts, the latter of which would make a great iPad game all on its own. There’s the tactical, turn-based shooter part that has you assigning a group of marines to, most of the time, engage alien activity. With touch gestures, taps, and clicks on the UI, you command each marine in battle, slowly creeping into a fog of war that veils the alien threat. There’s several different classes of dude and all have their own unique abilities.
Snipers, for instance, can fire from a distance that a basic bullet-spewing Heavy would have a zero percent change of hitting from. Most fights boil down to insanely tactical skirmishes, which hinge on your ability to set up, and bunker down into, smart firing positions with each dude covering the other. As alien bad guys lumber or scuttle into the picture, your commander-ness will be tested; enemies are smart and lethal: you will lose guys. This is just the harsh reality of XCOM.
TouchArcade’s full review is well worth checking out, and the site has also provided a TA Plays hands-on video of the gameplay.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown can be downloaded from the App Store for $19.99. [Direct Link]
Top Rated Comments
We need to support this level of quality, and the only way to do that is to pay them what they are worth, and its not 99cents, $20 is, i feel, a fair asking price for a game that was $60+ on all other formats with the depth and longevity that this has.
This is the problem with the App Store right here. Back when it first came out, and the iDevices weren't all that powerful, apps just being .99-$5 was completely understandable. They had a bunch of neat apps back then, made by tons of talented developers, sure. No one's denying that. But there wasn't anything out there that you could justify spending any more than that on. I mean you wouldn't want to spend more than $5 for a Yellow Pages app, more than .99 for a glorified browser game.
Things have obviously changed since then. The iDevices are finally getting some beefy hardware behind them, and are able to offer up apps that are coming dangerously close to matching their more expensive desktop counterparts. If you could get a perfect touch enabled port of Photoshop that's feature parity with the desktop version, would you scoff at it being more than $5? If you could get a game that's just as good as what you'd get on the PS Vita? Would you get pissed if you had to pay more than 99 cents for it?
As long as people keep this attitude going on, no one's gonna want to make any serious apps for the iPad or iPhone. Not when everyone gets all whiny when something up for more than 10 bucks.
You know, this really makes me feel like I'm living in the future. It is...so rad. :D
edit: I should also add it turns your iPad into a very cozy space heater. This game does EVERYTHING!
I'm trying to make my ipad2 last until the next ipad so if anybody with an ipad2 or mini takes the plunge could you let me know if it runs ok?
"Free" after paying $70 a year.
It's a port of a 2012 semi-sequel/remake of a game that came out in 1994. At 20 bucks, the thing is a flat out steal.