XCOM: Enemy Unknown - PC

XCOM Enemy Unknown for the PC is one of the best strategy games to hit the market in quite some time. Labeled as a "re-imagining" rather than a strict remake of the DOS-based classic, this new iteration of the series follows the same basic core principle: gather a squad of up to six soldiers and do battle with various aliens hidden across the globe.

While the tutorial mission is a little heavy-handed in teaching players the basics, including some frustrating movement triggers, the game's real value comes once its sandbox is fully opened. Players are given a vast number of options to research and build in their coming war with the alien menace, allowing players to pick and choose precisely what type of weaponry they'll bring to the field. As fun as ground combat is, there is also a mini-game to deal with intercepting UFOs in the sky that contains a surprising amount of depth.

Once a player has finalized any important decisions to make, they're taken to the command room with a holographic image of the entire globe. From here, they can "fast forward" to the next point that something of interest happens, whether it be a new UFO scanned, an alien terrorist attack on an important city, or a top secret mission from the council of nations that only the commander of XCOM can complete. With the exception of a few story based missions, everything is randomized and anything can be ignored by the player, for good or bad.

As players progress through the game, their soldiers not only gain skills and experience, but "stories" as well. Since their visual appearance can be customized, along with their name, and the number of kills they've accrued since joining XCOM is recorded, it's hard not to become attached to soldiers you've commanded since the beginning. As a result, when these loyal soldiers meet their death at the end of an alien plasma rifle, it's hard to resist the temptation to reload a previous save and prevent the mistake. Conversely, towards the end of the game soldiers will be put against such staggering odds that death will become practically inevitable, even on the normal difficulty. XCOM Enemy Unknown is one of the few games for the PC that is able to get players to think about strategy not just from a practical gameplay point, but from an emotional level as well.

While the campaign is a lot of fun and has enough randomization to provide endless replay-ability, XCOM Enemy Unknown also supports online competitive multiplayer. In this mode, players agree to a "point value" and then spend these points on various troops. Aside from making ultra-prepared marines, this mode also allows players to recruit and control most of the aliens seen in the campaign mode.

With support for both campaign and online multiplayer, as well as a wide breadth of replay-ability in the campaign itself, XCOM Enemy Unknown for the PC is a smart choice for any game enthusiast on a budget.