XCOM: The New One (meaning the reboot, not the sequel which is coming out soon, why is this so difficult, maybe they should have named it something else? At least it's not as bad as Prince of Persia)

A long while ago, I played the XCOM reboot. If you were to look back through the various posts on this blog, you'll perhaps notice one of the first games I played through was in fact X-COM, or UFO: Enemy Unknown, the first and best game in this long-running and now rebooted franchise (at least until the reboot sequel comes out, in which case I'd have to consider that one, but let's be honest I'm probably going to always prefer that classic version from my youth).

The "ant farm"

What I meant to say in that previous paragraph was that I'd covered the first X-COM, and I've played through Xenonauts more recently too. The reboot XCOM was less appealing to me, and although I also did play it, I gave up on it a long while ago. Well, this past few weeks I decided to reinstall it and try to finish it before the reboot sequel comes along. I really feel like I should give it a fair chance, since it's very popular apparently. Word is that XCOM2 is much better and so on, but XCOM1 was widely praised at the time.

Xenonauts: I Want To Believe

Previously on this blog, I've written at length about my feelings towards UFO: Enemy Unknown (also known as X-COM: UFO Defense). It's a great game, that should have spawned more sequels and imitators than it did. Of those that have been made, Xenonauts is perhaps the purest of those successors.

It's entire reason for existing is due to the love for that original game, truly a game made by fans for the fans, and it certainly shows. It doesn't blindly recreate, nor wildly re-imagine it's ancestor, but rather seeks to create something very similar and yet with a myriad of improvements and refinements.

Kickstarting: Xenonauts

I've already talked a bit about UFO: Enemy Unknown on this blog, and it's recent reboot XCOM. But there is another contender for UFO's crown, and that is Xenonauts. I was aware of Xenonauts before the Firaxis XCOM, and had been watching it closely as the small indie team worked hard to produce something amazing. When the Kickstarter revolution got underway, Goldhawk Interactive decided to try their luck, and they ended up raising over $150,000, three times what they'd asked for.

All pictures from Xenonauts.com

For their interpretation of the turn-based strategy classic, they decided to set their game in during the Cold War. It's certainly an interesting premise, and I really like the idea of the setting being in a little-used historic period rather than some of the mainstays of gaming (like WW2 or near-future). The uniting of the Cold War superpowers to combat a common enemy is a particularly nice touch.