X-COM: Complete Pack available on STEAM

[Patrocles]

I received an email that STEAM is releasing X-COM games today.

I had a blast playing X-COM: UFO defense (i believe it was my second computer game!), but I never tried the other X-COM related games.

check out STEAM for info!

[Stalins Organ]

I got the games again a few years ago but alas playing them again spoiled my memory of them!!

[Elmar Bijlsma]

First two were the greatest games ever, Apocalyse was okay. The others are not discussed in polite company.

[MeatEtr]

So whats the deal with the X-Com games? I never played any of them but hear over and over how great the original was. So why is that, whats so great about them? I know nothing about them.

[Patrocles]

I got the games again a few years ago but alas playing them again spoiled my memory of them!!

Ahhh...yes, good point to consider.

[Patrocles]

So whats the deal with the X-Com games? I never played any of them but hear over and over how great the original was. So why is that, whats so great about them? I know nothing about them.

For me, X-com was a fun, tactical level, turn-based combat game.

I'm the last person to try and explain/describe the X-COM game...so here is a comment from Wiki

"The premise for the series is fairly simple and straightforward, with variations among them: armies of hostile aliens have begun invading the Earth, killing and enslaving the human race. The mise en scène and trappings of the game closely mirror those of the classic ITV television series UFO. Despite the clichéd setup, the implementation is serious and carefully detailed to give an "authentic" impression.

In all the games, the player is put in command of X-COM (Extraterrestrial Combat), the international military organization set up in 1999 (the near future during the original game's release in 1993). By defending X-COM's funding countries (initially Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Nigeria, Russia, Spain, UK, USA) from enemy invasion, the force gains monetary support. Any nation may quit, if X-COM's service is deemed unsatisfactory or the nation's government has been infiltrated by the invaders. Through scientific research of recovered alien artifacts, X-COM is able to develop better and more powerful weapons, armor and vehicles to combat the alien menace, and eventually uncover their true nature.

The game takes place within two main views: the Geoscape and the Battlescape, a dichotomy that is the hallmark of the entire series. The Geoscape consists of a global view of the earth from space. The player can view the X-COM bases (in various locations on Earth), make changes to them, equip X-COM aircraft, order supplies and personnel, direct research efforts, schedule manufacturing of advanced equipment, and sell alien artifacts to raise money. From this view the player also directs interceptor and troop transport aircraft on their missions. The Geoscape is continual and not turn-based.

Gameplay switches to the isometric combat view of the Battlescape whenever X-COM personnel come in contact with alien units. This can result from investigating downed enemy space ships, combating alien terrorist activities, or attacking alien bases discovered during play; aliens may also manage to attack and infiltrate one of the X-COM bases. In the Battlescape view, X-COM combatants are pitted against the alien enemies. In addition to personnel, the player may have vehicles such as HWP unmanned ground vehicles outfitted with powerful weapons and heavy armor, but not gaining experience points in battles. This mode is turn-based and each combatant has a number of "time units" which can be expended each turn. When all alien forces have been neutralized, the mission is scored based on number of X-COM units killed, civilians saved or killed, aliens killed or captured, and the number and quality of alien artifacts obtained."

[Elmar Bijlsma]

What was so great was that it was a complex game kept simple. You could do nearly everything you wanted yet the game was never overburdening you with stuff. Both strategic and tactical aspects gave you just enough rope to hang someone else with. The destructable terrain was pretty awesome for it's time too.

It's probably harder to think it the greatest game ever if you start playing today as it's positively ancient by now. But you still might want to try it so you can say you have played it. Go to Home of the Underdogs to DL it. Read the instructions, you may need to apply a fix for corrupted graphics.

[Boeman]

So whats the deal with the X-Com games? I never played any of them but hear over and over how great the original was. So why is that, whats so great about them? I know nothing about them.

X-COM represented something of a revolution in PC gaming back when it was released in the early 90s.

The plot revolves around alien incursions into Terra Firma space. These foreign intruders conduct everything from abuductions/cattle mutilations (as referenced in pop culture) to wide scale terrorism and destruction of human population centers.

In response to these perceived threats, world governments form an international organization labeled as X-COM. X-COM is essentially a special forces military body whose objective is to stop the alien menace by intercepting UFOs, shooting them down and then investigating the crash site with X-COM operatives.

There are various missions X-COM units can undertake. Successfully completing them yields alien technology that can be brought back to X-COM bases for further study. Eventually, the player will be able to reverse engineer and then subsequently manufacture UFOs, weapons and other foreign devices; essentially allowing you to utilize the aliens’ own technology against them.

The game’s difficulty gradually scales as you progress. New aliens with their own unique properties emerge which in turn, requires different tactics on the ground to defeat. The computer AI is quite good and individual aliens themselves will make use of cover, throw grenades and form overlapping fields of fire.

Later in the game, the aliens will begin drawing their attention to X-COM bases and subsequently send powerful forces against them. Failure to construct adequate defensive structures or host X-COM squads at these targeted bases will result in their destruction.

Every month, X-COM is given a fiscal report that shows funds contributed by various nations. Successfully defended nations where UFOs are brought down and secured will result in increased funding. Regions in which UFO activity is inadequately dealt with will reduce their funding. Should the player continue to neglect these areas, governments will form secrets pacts with the aliens and allow them to construct bases of operations from where they can launch additional incursions. Geopolitical events, such as wars and recessions can also cause a reduction in funding.

The game’s scope was such that it combined multiple aspects; base construction, air combat, ground turn-based combat, production, asset management and research all into a single game play experience.

Needless to say, Area 51 conspiracy theories provided the bulk of inspiration for the game’s developers. The game received PC Gamer’s highest ever score of 96% with similar ratings from other reviews. The highly successful X-COM: UFO Defense (Enemy Unkown for the UK release) spawned 2 sequels.

Today, X-COM is regarded by many as the best game of all time and while there have been various remakes over the years from other companies, none have successfully captured the glory of the original X-COM series.

Now you know.

[luderbamsen]

So whats the deal with the X-Com games? I never played any of them but hear over and over how great the original was. So why is that, whats so great about them? I know nothing about them.

It was just... perfect! The balance between resource management and turn-based tactical missions. The balance between user-friendliness and game depth. The extensive freedom in how to pursue the game. Just... perfect.

Respectfully

krise madsen

[RMC]

I think a big part of the appeal was that it had the same kind of "one more turn" drive that Civilization had. Even in the continuous, variable time of the geoscape view you were waiting on something: research to be completed, new weapons to be manufactured, new base structures to be completed. And in between these little milestones other things would happen. UFO craft would be detected, aliens would terrorize some location, your base would be attacked. It wove tactical combat, resource management and base building into one seamless whole.

[MeatEtr]

Sounds great, thanks for the info fellas. I think I will give it a try, I can overlook ancient graphics.

Elmar, I tried to DL it but I keep getting an error. I assume hopefully it's because the server is busy.

[PD]

Nothing quite like forming 2 jump suit teams, blowing holes in each side of a UFO and storming in to blow aliens into tiny chunks.

I spent way too many hours playing these games

[Elmar Bijlsma]

Meh, sending in the runt of the recent recruits through a door and toward certain death with a live grenade in his hands was much funnerer.

My sister still vividly remembers, and reserves a particular hatred towards, the sound of footsteps of soldiers walking around. I think years and years of that metallic shuffling sound drove her quite mad.

[Zulu]

Be aware, if this is the free one that I recently downloaded, it is buggy as hell.

Multiplayer is a real pain in the ass.

But, if you can get it working, and overlook the crashes, it's fun.

[luderbamsen]

Meh, sending in the runt of the recent recruits through a door and toward certain death with a live grenade in his hands was much funnerer.

My sister still vividly remembers, and reserves a particular hatred towards, the sound of footsteps of soldiers walking around. I think years and years of that metallic shuffling sound drove her quite mad.

I still hear X-COM sound effects popping up in other games and movies from time to time (presumably taken from the same standard sound effect library).

[Stalins Organ]

Be aware, if this is the free one that I recently downloaded, it is buggy as hell.

Multiplayer is a real pain in the ass.

Um...it wasn't multiplayer at all (that I recall)......so is this REALLY the original?

[Elmar Bijlsma]

Nah, separate title and a fairly ghastly one at that. While there wasn't all that much wrong with that per se, for an XCOM game it fell far, far short of expectations. Think of it as a flashgame in regards to complexity and content.

[Smaragdadler]

freeware X-Com-like:

http://ufoai.sourceforge.net/?page=Home

[hoolaman]

Good ole UFO:Enemy Unknown.

I was 14 and I got a demo on the cover of a PC Format magazine. The demo had one jungle mission and the explosion effects at that time were weird skull cloud animations. Needless to say I was obsessed by it and bought the game from some mail order company ASAP.

It had such an immersive story, tying in with that X-Files meme that was going around at the time. The suspense of seeing the aliens creeping around in the dark or rounding a corner and seeing one there was awesome. Picking up weapons and using them against the aliens, but only if you'd done the research, so much fun. Not to mention night and day missions and landing literally anywhere on earth and having some believable battlefield to fight over with smoke, fire, endlessly destructible terrain.

Last I tried the original version worked on XP but with no sound. I might try dosbox. The game is available for donwload from the underdogs too.

[Stalins Organ]

I remember the first time I saw UFO played at a friend's place and it really spooked me out.

I got it & spent many nights playing to 2-3 in the morning - probably ruined my relationship with my kids mother!! :/

I absolutely loathed the successor - "Terror in the Deep" was just appalling with crappy graphics, crappy story line and crappy game play.

I got the others as a bulk remainder deal for $10 CDN IIRC - played the flight sim a bit & it was sort of OK.

Replaying the original was a bit of fun, but it just didn't cut it as a game any more & as I said - almost ruined some good memories!

[hoolaman]

Actually after my post above I downloaded the game and guess what, I played until 1am last night! The underdogs has the original game X-COM "gold" available which runs perfectly with sound in windows XP.

So get it on Steam, or get it there, it is still regularly voted the best PC game of all time.

[Stalins Organ]

Oh yes it's impact at the time was vastly more than any game since IMO, so it fully deserves it's continued place at the head of such lists.

But it wouldn't get the same response if it was released today!!

[MeatEtr]

I finally got the download to work and the game runs fine with sound on my pc. Too bad I don't know what the hell I'm doing though. But I can definitely see why this game is a classic. Wow, when year did this game come out exactly? I see this download is part of the collectors edition which came out in 98. Also, is there any kind of manual/guide available somewhere?

[Melnibone]

Also, is there any kind of manual/guide available somewhere?

http://www.ufopaedia.org

Enjoy!

[MeatEtr]

http://www.ufopaedia.org

Enjoy!

Sweet thanks, just dled the manual as well.