Strategy - this is one of the most popular genres that requires a gamer special tactical thinking. Such games are incredibly successful and attract a huge number of fans. Recall at least the same "DotA-2" (MOBA - a subgenre of strategies), which every day plays more than a million people. In addition, an example is the legendary series Total War. The last part, called Total War: Attila, was sold in huge numbers and received flattering reviews from players and reputable publishers. Watching the success of the strategy genre, one involuntarily asks the question: why do not tactical games appear on the console?
Game consoles and strategies?
Shooters, races, fighting games - all this on consoles a dime a dozen. But why is there not the same Total War, Dota 2 on the PlayStation 3? You will find the answer to this question in this article.
Perhaps the main reason why strategies do not appear on the console is management. In tactical games, you need to act quickly: give orders instantly, select a group of units in a matter of seconds, erect various buildings, constantly move around the map, etc. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to do this with a gamepad. The mouse and keyboard are much more convenient in this regard. However, connecting computer peripherals to the console is currently not possible. And in the future it is unlikely that such an opportunity will appear. Does this really mean that strategies will never visit game consoles?
And no!
Making a strategy for consoles is difficult, but possible. For example, projects like Port Royale 3: Pirates and Merchants, Dungeon Siege III, Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution and others have already been released for the same PS3. However, these games did not gain popularity and failed in sales. Is console strategy a dead genre? That was until 2012, when developers from the Firaxis Games studio announced their new project called XCOM: Enemy Unknown The Complete Edition. The game was developed in the genre of turn-based strategy and was released on the console of that time (PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360). The developers said that they improved management, so playing with a gamepad will be much more convenient. In addition, many new gameplay "chips" were announced. Did the developers manage to keep all their promises and make the perfect strategy for consoles? How did the gaming community embrace the new XCOM: Enemy Unknown? The review presented in this article will help answer these questions.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Enemy Unknown is the ideological successor of the legendary UFO Defense, which for many years was considered the best game for the PC. But the new part of the franchise is also not shy. The game XCOM: Enemy Unknown at first glance is very similar to its predecessor (with the exception of modern graphics). However, it seems only at the beginning. Over time, the realization that the new part is superior to UFO Defense literally in everything. A lot of missions, more interesting and deeper gameplay, class division, an exciting storyline and many new features - all this is in XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Passing the game causes a lot of emotions. Want to learn more about every aspect of the game? Read this article!
Plot
The events of the game take place in 2015. Earth is attacked by alien invaders. The player will visit as the commander of a secret international organization XCOM, which is fighting against space invaders. Despite the fact that XCOM uses the most advanced technologies and the brightest minds of mankind work, the advantage is still on the side of the aliens. Therefore, to enter an open battle forehead will not work. To win, you need to use tactical maneuvers, cunning and cunning.
Gameplay
The gameplay in XCOM: Enemy Unknown can be divided into two parts: strategic and tactical components.
The strategic part of the game is the deployment and development of XCOM headquarters. Initially, the player is given the opportunity to choose the place where the future base will be located. It will depend on what benefits will be obtained right from the start. For example, by placing the headquarters in the right place, you can get a bonus in the form of an additional cash inflow, etc. During the game, the base can be developed, completed, new buildings erected, etc. This part of the game is very similar to classic strategies like Civilization
The tactical part is more dynamic. It is a turn-based battle with aliens, which takes place in real time. That is, the player controls every action of his army. In XCOM: Enemy Unknown, there are a lot of interesting chips that make fights much more spectacular and interesting. The fog of war, the destruction of the environment, the line of sight of the enemy, the reaction of units to the emergence of new enemies - all this is implemented in this game.
Classes
Enemy Unknown introduced a class separation system for units. Its essence lies in the fact that each character belongs to a particular class. The game has 5 types of units: psionic, attack aircraft, sniper, heavy infantryman and support soldier. Each of them has its own characteristics, advantages and disadvantages. So, a sniper, being at the right distance, is able to destroy dozens of enemies. However, in close combat, he is rather weak and, most likely, will die at the very beginning of the battle. The ability to combine classes in order to create the perfect team is the main goal of the whole game.
Reviews
In general, the game appealed to both critics and ordinary gamers. This strategy received a 90% rating on Game Rankings. And in "Steam" the number of positive reviews about XCOM: Enemy Unknown (Russian version) is as much as 95%. If we talk about foreign and domestic publishers, then there the game received positive ratings (the average is 9 out of 10). And financially, the project was quite successful. On the first day, XCOM: Enemy Unknown The Complete Edition was sold in more than 100 thousand copies. In the end, we can say that the revival of the legendary series went off with a bang.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown walkthrough
Many people think that strategies are rather slow, so playing them is quite simple. This is an erroneous opinion. An example is the same XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Passing well pat the nerves even experienced players. In order to facilitate the gameplay in this part of the article, we will consider useful recommendations and tips that will help to survive in the world of XCOM.
You must not allow your team members to die. When fighters kill aliens, they gain experience, rank and new abilities that will be very useful in the future. If the most experienced fighters die in a battle with aliens, then in the next mission they will have to hire recruits who are much weaker than battle-hardened soldiers.
Camping is the way to victory. XCOM snipers play a very important role and can even change the outcome of a battle. If you put an experienced shooter in an elevated location, then he can kill twice as many enemies than other units. What can I say about the abilities of this class! The sniper even has a skill, pumping which, you can shoot twice in a row. Moreover, both shots will become lethal for the enemy.
Support classes, or support, are very important. During the game, soldiers will often be injured (especially in long story missions). Therefore, it is very important to have a physician in your team, and preferably two.
A huge number of long and difficult missions - this is what XCOM: Enemy Unknown is famous for. The passage of some of them can take a lot of time. Therefore, in order not to start the game again in the event of the death of the team, you need to save more often. Saves are best done at key points or after passing a difficult passage of a mission.
Do not save strength and save. As a rule, most players die because they were greedy to use this or that ability in time. Do not step on the same rake. The abilities of the characters must be applied immediately, as such an opportunity arises. It is worth remembering that a living fighter without missiles is much better than a dead fighter with two inactive.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown - Cheats
For those who encounter problems during the passage, the developers have created special secret characters with which the passage of the game will become much easier. How to get these characters in XCOM: Enemy Unknown? Cheats, which can be viewed below, will help to unlock bonus heroes.
To get bonus heroes, you must enter the corresponding name during character creation. What is most interesting: each bonus unit is an existing person in real life. For example, if you name your character Joe Kelly (a popular comic book author who once wrote stories about Superman, Spider-Man, etc.), a heavy soldier will be unlocked. And if you write Otto Zander (a popular player who shot video on the X-COM UFO), the attack aircraft opens. The name Ken Levine (one of the developers of Bioshock) unlocks the sniper. Well, the combination of Sid Meier (the creator of such strategies as Pirates, Civilizations, etc.) will open support.
Secret characters have new skins (appearance resembles a real prototype) and improved abilities, characteristics. This will greatly facilitate the process of passing XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Codes, unfortunately, are not encouraged by developers. What does it mean? A special system has been introduced into the game. If you use the above codes for XCOM: Enemy Unknown, it will become impossible to receive achievements, various achievements. Therefore, it is best to go through the game on your own.
Mods
Mods are additions to a computer game that are designed to make it more diverse. Fans have created a huge number of modifications specifically for XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Mods for this game can be conditionally divided into graphic and gameplay.
Graphic mods change the visual part of the game (textures, locations, graphics). One of the most interesting graphic modifications is the Military Retexture Pack. This assembly completely replaces the standard character textures with the author. New textures are very similar to real people, which gives the game additional realism. Also worth mentioning is an assembly called XCOM Graphics Enhancement with SweetFX. In fact, this modification is a small set of shaders that adds various animated effects. However, in the game it looks very nice.
Gameplay modifications affect the gameplay, add new aspects or completely change the essence of the game. Unfortunately, for XCOM: Enemy Unknown, mods of this kind come out quite rarely. One of the most popular modifications is Aetius Classic Rebalanced. This mod changes almost everything in the game and brings its gameplay closer to the good old XCOM UFO. Modification will surely appeal to those who are bored with old-school strategies or just decided to nostalgia.