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 UFO Afterlight $29.99 I'm an old XCOM fan. After 10 years, I had a sudden desire for some XCOM action. I decided to give UFO Afterlight a try. It's similar to XCOM in many ways. The action is pseudo-realtime. It runs until one of your squad runs out of orders, or a new enemy is spotted. You issue your order, then hit the spacebar to start the clock running again. After a while it's almost transparent. It starts slow, and at a certain point I almost quit. That was when I ran into a group of Reticulans with mind control weapons. It took quite a while for me to develop a squad with the proper equipment and training to take them on. That hooked me. The game has excellent graphics, and battles take full advantage of elevation, cover, and visibility. You can switch between isometric and first person view points. Yes, you can actually see through the eyes of the squad members. During combat, the faces of the squad members are displayed at the bottom of the screen, along with their stats. They are animated, and actually speak. For example, if you select a squad member, and order him to move to an unreachable location, you'll hear him say something like "No way". The particular phrases are different for each squad member. Like XCOM, your squads gain experience and can increase their basic levels. They can also be trained in a number of skills. Skills are divided into military, science, and technical (manufacturing). Personnel management is a big part of the game. Technological development is also very important, especially to gain the more powerful weapons, equipment and spacesuits. If you get this game, make sure you download the latest patch. It removes the copy protection and need to use a CD. Overall, I an exceptionally happy with this game. I've put in over 20 hours, and I haven't nearly exhausted the possibilities. My only gripe is that you start with the same exact characters every time. Still, they are endearing. Each game will develop its own distinctive character as time passes and your team members gain unique skills. It is a worthy successor to XCOM, and I hope they do some sequels to extend what is an excellent basic game. |
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