XCOM: Enemy Unknown

--Reviewed as a total package with 'Enemy Within' DLC/XPAC--

The game that started the "95% miss" meme and built the foundation for the GOATED XCOM2/War of the Chosen.

Originally played it off Steam (disgusting) and on a MAC (unforgiveable) almost a decade ago and didn't have acces to it anymore until the XCOM ultimate collection tempted me with everything for $6 (god I love the 'complete your bundle packs) lol.

If its your first foray into turn-based strategy, you're in for a treat and a total beating (and you should 95% start with XCOM enemy within before jumping into XCOM2) and I'm jealous.

Its as fun, tactical and unforgiving as I remember and a game that really put turn based tactical on the map and reset the quality expected for the genre when it released.

Yea, there are some frustrating parts and some missions can get out of control quickly, but learning (and possibly a few campaign restarts as you learn) are part of the charm of the franchise. (Pro tip, satellite rush for enemy within is the best route to lock up support/money).

XCOM2/WoTC basically improves (and retcons) almost everything in this one, but its incredibly rewarding to see how it started and the atmosphere is one of the biggest advantages EU/EW has over XCOM2. You really feel like you're fighting an invasion with little to no info and trying to make sense or it all as you go (and try to survive).

10/10 and the perfect gateway drug to Xcom2

This is a PSA: Steam has finally updated their side and the game now works. You need a clean installation for it to work.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a great game, definitely recommend. Shame it took so long for Steam to update the game on their end to actually -work- without the Take2 Launcher.

The greatest part is
naming soldiers after friends
and watching them die

Is this a joke?
A game that used to work has been updated with a patch that makes it not work? Also on android you need an old phone to play it, I mean, are you people at Firaxis incompetent or just deliberate?
I have 70+ hours in the past and I was booting up to playing another campaign and it just keeps crashing on new game.
Remove or fix your faulty product
EDIT:// It is working now, I just had to keep launching it every day for about 5 days, it is a good game so I need to change the review to positive, but I am leaving the information above because this issue seems to be very inconsistent.

I never had the chance to play this game when it originally released — and wow, did I miss out. This is exactly the kind of game I’ve been searching for to scratch that strategic itch. From the moment I started playing, I found myself hooked, and it quickly became one of those rare games I just couldn’t put down.
I wasn’t sure if turn-based strategy games were for me, but this title sealed the deal — I genuinely enjoy the thoughtful, tactical style of gameplay it offers. It’s incredibly easy to pick up and get started, but don’t be fooled by the simple interface — there's a lot of depth here. Mistakes on your first playthrough are common, but instead of being frustrating, they make your next run even more rewarding as you apply what you’ve learned and explore new builds and strategies.
The replay value is excellent, encouraging experimentation with different approaches and playstyles. Since buying this game, I’ve been on a bit of a turn-based binge — even picking up Cyber Knights because of how closely it resembled the feel of this game.
If you see this on sale, you'd be doing yourself a disservice by passing it up. Even years after its original release, it holds up remarkably well and feels just as fresh and engaging as any modern title. It’s a must-play for anyone who loves strategy, or for those like me who are just discovering the genre.

XCOM 1 is still a fantastic strategy game, maybe even a masterpiece. There are a few minor mechanical issues, but overall the game holds up surprisingly well (Classic difficulty).
I'll add comparison thoughts below after replaying XCOM 2, but I think it's interesting to evaluate this on its own, with only faint memories of the sequel.
(this review contains only slight spoilers in the beginning but more and more further down, though I've tried to reduce them as much as possible)
Research is still fun, offering many simultaneous options with different rewards. Strategically it's a bit sad you don't know the exact effects beforehand, though as an experienced player you do, and this also delivers more curiosity and excitement.
Base management is also great and strategic, with so many different options for various dimensions (like soldier strength and country satisfaction/monetary support). The biggest resource management factor, besides time, is of course money, and it works very well. You always just barely have enough for 1 or 2 exciting improvements that you need to weigh against often equally promising other ones, and sometimes you have to sell items you don't want to to get an important improvement.
Having also replayed the original X-COM (UFO Defense / Enemy Unknown), which I love, it's amazing how many mechanics they managed to keep/update, while streamlining/simplifying the mechanics in general (which is not always a strict improvement, more on that later):
* terror events where you need to save as many civilians as possible
* the aircraft-UFO dogfights are surprisingly close to the original
* alien base attacks
* XCOM base attack (only in the DLC Enemy Within I think, which seems like a strict improvement)
* Selling loot from missions, but only if you e.g. don't destroy the ship parts in the mission
* having to cover multiple continents (with satellites, aircraft, missions, etc)
* laser and plasma research/upgrade paths
and many more, probably. You can really see they looked at the original X-COM hard and tried to translate as much as possible to a modern feel.
The streamlining works well in general and still offers a great deal of complexity, there were many small and fiddly details in the original X-COM like managing ammo or multiple bases that maybe didn't offer enough depth and reward for the tedium.
I do miss a few of the freedoms in X-COM that gave it immersive sim qualities, like being able to time grenades to explode only after x turns, soldier inventory instead of only 2 fixed item slots allowing you to e.g. exchange medikits or stunners between soldiers, the flexibility of the point action system where you can e.g. move a little bit and shoot once or twice or just stand and shoot three times, and especially free aiming shots to shoot away cover or house walls (in XCOM you can only shoot main weapons at aliens directly). Or being able to assign an exact number of researchers and engineers to projects, though that again has a rather small benefit. But it does feel more like a choice and degree of freedom.
At least they did keep free aiming for grenades and rockets, which leads to some of the most creative and fun plays.
Reloading was also a bit more strategic in X-COM, as you had limited ammo magazines and had to balance reloading to not have an empty magazine with not running out of magazines, as the remaining ammo in the magazine is wasted when reloading.
Reloading even becomes a chore in the late game in XCOM, as you have unlimited ammo, and strategically it's optimal to reload even after shooting once, if no enemies interrupt you.
(the original X-COM did have some weapons that didn't require magazines iirc, like lasers)
Soldier talent paths are a good idea, but maybe a bit too simple, and often between the 2 talent choices there is a rather clearly better choice, like being able to shoot twice in a turn (if you haven't moved) instead of suppressing an enemy, which just gives you a reaction shot if they move and slightly reduces their aim or something.
There are still a few interesting choices here (like more smoke grenades vs more medikit usages), and there is still some strategy in choosing which soldiers to take on a mission to get a critical new talent for them.
Here it gets a bit more spoilery strategically:
One class is probably slightly OP compared to others, namely snipers, but mostly only when they have their last talent and the elevation bonus, sometimes giving you 2 100% high crit shots over 3 screens distance in a single turn. But they do have low HP, especially with the movement armors, and they don't work well in labyrinthine, sight-blocking areas, obviously better in open areas.
And other classes with full talents are also very strong, like the assault run and gun + double shot, reaction shot for enemies getting within 4 tiles, and the free first shot within 4 tiles (these are 4 separate good talents).
Or the heavy's double shot, shredder rocket (which increases dmg to the target), and expanded range rockets, which can also blow up things like cars, adding extra damage.
Mechanically there are some minor annoyances especially in the late game. The biggest is that it sometimes takes a lot of time to find the remaining aliens, and while you can move multiple soldiers simultaneously which is great QOL, it doesn't help that you have to wait for each soldier's movement to finish before you can do actions like overwatch. This costs you a few seconds every turn where you're just waiting for animations to finish. It would have been great to have a skip animations option like in the original X-COM.
But as I said, if this is the biggest nuisance, the game has aged very well and is very solid overall.
(this is probably something XCOM 2 fixes with the concealment system, which is about the only relevant comparison I could remember for this review before replaying 2)
Balance wise besides snipers one thing I'd change is enemies being able to move freely while mind controlling your soldier. They can just run away to max range, and if there are other enemies between you, you can't just chase them, so you basically have no other choice than to kill (or I guess stun if you're lucky) your own soldier. I'd say they shouldn't be able to move at all, or maybe only a few tiles.
(you can also get a soldier upgrade to make them immune to mind control, but this is late and a bit of a cheap move)
The game does start to be a slight slog toward the end game and is slightly easy at that point on Classic difficulty (one above normal, one below max "insane" difficulty), but until then it offers great challenge and many epic moments like a tense base defense or a turn where you just barely manage to eliminate all visible enemies with your last few actions.
I could have probably tried to finish the game a bit more quickly (around 40 hours for this playthrough, first was around 50), as I ended with pretty much full research and the best equipment, then it would have been more challenging for the endgame.
But still, the conclusion is satisfying, and it's fun to finally use the enemy's greatest weapon (psi moves) against them. Though I've avoided them until the very end as they're likely OP, just part of psi tech is mandatory to progress story-wise.
Now I'm looking forward to replaying XCOM 2 to compare, I haven't even really played the DLC for that yet, I'm afraid to say (War of the Chosen).
Ideally I'd also love to play the Long War mod which I've heard great things about and is supposed to make the game more balanced and strategic, but also longer. Not sure I have the time for that unfortunately. But first, XCOM 2 DLC is waiting anyways.
Noteworthy Long War quotes from the game's designer Jake Solomon:
"Takes XCOM to a new level." - via Twitter
"We're basically a 20-hour tutorial for Long War, and that's okay." - via IGN

It's a great game, however apparently the last update bricked it...
I have managed to figure out a solution (it's actually pretty easy) - at least worked for me, when nothing else suggested worked;
If you go and right click on the game to bring up properties, click on properties
Then click "beta" and then you want to change that from none to whatever beta is current being tested out (the only one I saw was for linux, but that didn't seem to matter)
Start the game, then it should load up,
After that you can turn the beta back to none and it'll load up normally.
This works for both base xcom and enemy within.