XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a textbook of classic SF and horror creatures. If XCOM fails to stop alien raids against a Council member, that nation will withdraw itself and its funds from the alliance. Each nation contributes a certain level of funding each month that enables the military arm of the organization to battle the extraterrestrial invaders. The organization is governed by the shadowy and vaguely sinister XCOM Council, consisting of 16 nations, including the United States, Canada, Brazil, Germany, Nigeria, and China. The nations of Earth respond by forming XCOM (with you the player as XCOM commander). At first they come in raiding parties to abduct or terrorize humans, but it gradually becomes evident that they have a more terrifying goal in mind.

The game’s premise is that extraterrestrials have arrived with high-tech weapons in their tentacles and murder in their hearts (or equivalent organs). While the 2012 remake features better graphics and smoother gameplay, it still retains that same innovative mixture of nasty aliens, high technology, and impending doom. But if you can accept that Israelis and Arabs would rather kill aliens than each other, then you will discover that XCOM: Enemy Unknown is one of the best strategy games ever made.Īlien invasion is an old mainstay of science fiction, and so is XCOM, which first debuted in 1994, and went on to become a cult classic. Such camaraderie seems as fanciful as warp drive and time travel. How do you know that a video game is science fiction? When it portrays Saudi Arabian and Egyptian soldiers fighting side-by-side with Israeli troops.

Xcom 2 aliens not attacking