| XCOM | |
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| Developers |
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| Creator | Julian Gollop |
| Platforms | MS-DOS,Amiga,Amiga CD32,PlayStation,Windows,PlayStation 3,Xbox 360,OS X,iOS,Android,Linux,PlayStation Vita,PlayStation 4,Xbox One,Nintendo Switch |
| First release | UFO: Enemy Unknown March 1, 1994 |
| Latest release | XCOM: Chimera Squad April 24, 2020 |
XCOM (originally calledX-COM) is ascience fiction video game franchise featuring an elite international organization tasked with counteringalien invasions of Earth. The series began with thestrategy video gameUFO: Enemy Unknown created byJulian Gollop'sMythos Games andMicroProse in 1994. The original lineup by MicroProse included six published and at least two canceled games, as well as two novels. TheX-COM series, in particular its original entry, achieved a sizable cult following and has influenced many other video games; including the creation of a number ofclones,spiritual successors, and unofficialremakes.
Areboot series was published by2K Games, beginning with the strategy video gameXCOM: Enemy Unknown, developed byFiraxis Games and released in 2012 to critical and commercial success. It was followed by the prequelThe Bureau: XCOM Declassified and the sequelsXCOM 2 andXCOM: Chimera Squad.
X-COM series (1994–2001)
XCOM reboot series (2012–present)
| Title | Release | Developer | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| UFO: Enemy Unknown (a.k.a.X-COM: UFO Defense) | 1994 | Mythos Games MicroProse | MicroProse |
| X-COM: Terror from the Deep | 1995 | MicroProse | MicroProse |
| X-COM: Apocalypse | 1997 | Mythos Games MicroProse | MicroProse |
| X-COM: Interceptor | 1998 | MicroProse | MicroProse |
| X-COM: First Alien Invasion | 1999 | Hasbro Interactive | Hasbro |
| X-COM: Enforcer | 2001 | Hasbro Interactive | Infogrames |
| XCOM: Enemy Unknown | 2012 | Firaxis Games | 2K Games |
| The Bureau: XCOM Declassified (previously known asXCOM) | 2013 | Irrational Games 2K Australia 2K Marin | 2K Games |
| XCOM: Enemy Within (expansion ofXCOM: Enemy Unknown) | 2013 | Firaxis Games | 2K Games |
| XCOM 2 (sequel toXCOM: Enemy Unknown)[1] | 2016 | Firaxis Games | 2K Games |
| XCOM 2: War of the Chosen (expansion ofXCOM 2) | 2017 | Firaxis Games | 2K Games |
| XCOM: Chimera Squad | 2020 | Firaxis Games | 2K Games |
| XCOM: Legends[2] | 2021 | Iridium Starfish | 2K Games |
| Title | Developer |
|---|---|
| X-COM: Genesis | Hasbro Interactive |
| X-COM: Alliance | Hasbro Interactive Infogrames |
| Game | GameRankings |
|---|---|
| UFO: Enemy Unknown (X-COM: UFO Defense) | (PC) 94%[3] (PS) 93%[4] |
| X-COM: Terror from the Deep | (PS) 100%[5] (PC) 86%[6] |
| X-COM: Apocalypse | (PC) 87%[7] |
| X-COM: Interceptor | (PC) 70%[8] |
TheX-COM core series consisted of four main games published byMicroProse:UFO: Enemy Unknown (also known asX-COM: UFO Defense, PC andAmiga in 1994,Sony PlayStation in 1995),X-COM: Terror from the Deep (PC in 1995, PlayStation in 1996),X-COM: Apocalypse (PC in 1997) andX-COM: Interceptor (PC in 1998). The premise of the franchise is that analien invasion beginning in 1999 prompts the creation of aclandestine paramilitary organization codenamed X-COM (an abbreviation of "ExtraterrestrialCombat") by a coalition of funding nations. The player is charged with leading this force and tasked to secretly engage and research the alien threat. The sequels, against new alien invasions, are set underwater (Terror from the Deep, set in 2040), in a futuristic megacity (Apocalypse, set in 2084), and in space (Interceptor, set in 2067 and making it a prequel toApocalypse).
UFO: Enemy Unknown, featuring aturn-based ground combat system, remains the most popular and successful game in the series, having been often featured on various lists of best video games of all time.[9] The first sequel,Terror from the Deep, was quickly created by MicroProse's internal team; based on the same game engine and used largely identical gameplay mechanics.Apocalypse took several new directions with the series, introducing an optionalreal-time combat system and shifting the aesthetics to aretro-futuristic style. A spin-off game,Interceptor, constitutes a hybrid of a strategy game and aspace combat flight simulator.
AfterInterceptor,Hasbro Interactive purchased MicroProse, acquiring its studios and theX-COM brand. There were talks ofX-COM toys, comics, and even a cartoon show.[10] A budget range, turn-based tacticalplay-by-mail multiplayer gameEm@il Games: X-COM was released in 1999. In 2001, Hasbro publishedX-COM: Enforcer, a poorly receivedthird-person shooter loosely based on the events ofEnemy Unknown, marking a low point in the series. TheX-COM games were also released as part of four compilation releases:X-COM (Collector's Edition) (1998),[11]X-COM Collection (1999)[12] andX-COM: Complete Pack (2008),[13] as well as in2K Huge Games Pack in 2009.
At least two more major titles have been planned for this series. One of them wasX-COM: Genesis, a real-time strategy and tactics game "going back to the roots but in full 3D."[14] Another wasX-COM: Alliance (also known asX-COM 4 and the projectFox Force Five), anAliens-inspired mix of strategy game and first-person perspectivetactical shooter, using the licensed originalUnreal Engine. However, both of these projects were cancelled after ex-MicroProse Hasbro Interactive studios were all shut down in 1999–2000 (withAlliance being later abortively reactivated in 2001-2002 before being quietly cancelled again without any official announcement). Terry Greer, a former senior artist and head of game design at MicroProse UK, disclosed: "We'd also discussed other avenues for future games including time travel, retaking the solar system (with interplanetary distances playing a significant role in recruitment and resources), and resistance movement concept where you had to fight back after the world was taken and humanity was totally under the alien yoke."[14]
OpenXcom is anopen source re-implementation of the first game in the series intended to fix all the bugs and enable modding.[15][16]OpenApoc is a similar open source project forX-COM: Apocalypse.[17]
| Game | Metacritic |
|---|---|
| XCOM: Enemy Unknown | (360) 90[18] (PC) 89[19] (PS3) 89[20] |
| The Bureau: XCOM Declassified | (PS3) 69[21] (360) 68[22] (PC) 66[23] |
| XCOM: Enemy Within | (iOS) 92[24] (360) 88[25] (PS3) 88[26] (PC) 86[27] |
| XCOM 2 | (PC) 88[28] (PS4) 88[29] (XONE) 87[30] |
| XCOM: Chimera Squad | (PC) 77[31] |
In 2010,2K Marin announced they were working on re-imagining ofX-COM, relabeled asXCOM.[32] It was described as a tactical and strategic first-person shooter that would combine elements from the originalX-COM alongside a new setting and viewpoint while keeping some main concepts from the original game series. The setting received a complete overhaul, now based in the early 1960s, with the original XCOM organization being a secret U.S. federal agency. Originally planned for 2011, the game was repeatedly redesigned by different studios before being finally released in 2013 asThe Bureau: XCOM Declassified for Windows,OS X,PlayStation 3 andXbox 360.
In 2012,Firaxis Games (led by MicroProse co-founderSid Meier) announced the development of a Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 strategy gameXCOM: Enemy Unknown, a "re-imagination" ofUFO: Enemy Unknown with real-time strategic view, turn-based combat and destructible tactical environments more in the vein of the originalX-COM game and set in a more contemporary setting than theXCOM game by 2K Marin.[33]XCOM: Enemy Unknown was released later that same year to critical acclaim, winning multiple "Game of the Year" awards.X-COM creatorJulian Gollop hailed it as "a phoenix rising from the ashes of theX-COM disaster," saying that "it’s amazing that after 20 years, a brand that had gone so badly in the wrong direction has finally been put right."[34] It was also ported toAndroid,iOS, OS X,Linux, andPlayStation Vita.
In 2013, Firaxis released a downloadable content for the base gameXCOM: Enemy Unknown titledXCOM: Enemy Within.[35] It was made available onSteam (which requiresEnemy Unknown to play),[36] as well as for iOS, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (those versions are standalone and do not requireEnemy Unknown).
In 2015, Firaxis announced a sequel,XCOM 2.[1] It was released in 2016 for Windows,PlayStation 4,Xbox One, OS X, andLinux (Later ported to several other platforms, including the Nintendo Switch, but not iOS). Its expansion,XCOM 2: War of the Chosen, followed in 2017. The next game in the series,XCOM: Chimera Squad, was released in April 2020, for Windows. Unlike the global scale of previous games,Chimera Squad focused on a specific city, giving the player control of a diverse squad of humans and aliens. The game introduced several changes to game mechanics, such as replacing randomly generated and customizable squad members with preset and unique soldiers, and utilizing "interleaved turns" (mixing turn order between the opposing teams during combat) instead of a team-by-team turn system.[37]
The Dreamland Chronicles: Freedom Ridge was a game for the PC andPlayStation 2 by Julian Gollop's Mythos Games (creators ofUFO: Enemy Unknown andX-COM: Apocalypse), claimed to having been "essentially a remake of the firstX-Com with 3D graphics."[38]The Dreamland Chronicles was canceled in 2001 and Mythos Games soon ceased to exist.
Laser Squad Nemesis is a 2002 low-budget PC turn-based tactics game developed by Gollop's next companyCodo Technologies and very similar to the turn-based Battlescape combat system of the firstX-COM. In 2005, Codo Technologies and publisherNamco also releasedRebelstar: Tactical Command, aGame Boy Advance turn-basedtactical role-playing game that too was reminiscent of the early Battlescape system.
Phoenix Point is a strategy and turn-based tactics video game for Windows, and OS X that has the open world, strategic layers of theX-COM style games of the 1990s likeEnemy Unknown andApocalypse together with the presentation and tactical mechanics of the more recent Firaxis reboot games.[39] The game was developed by Gollop withSnapshot Games, an independent game studio in Bulgaria.Phoenix Point, described as a spiritual successor toX-COM, was released in December 2019.[40]
TwoX-COM novels have been published based on the first game in the series:Diane Duane'sX-COM: UFO Defense - A Novel (1995,ISBN 0-7615-0235-1) andVladimir Vasilyev'sEnemy Unknown (1997). The reboot series' novel is titledXCOM 2: Resurrection byGreg Keyes and was published in 2015, bridging the plots ofXCOM and its sequel.[41] In 2017, a second novel was published with the titleXCOM 2: Escalation byRick Barba.
MicroProse's manual/documentation writer John Possidente also wrote three short stories, "Decommissioning", "Manley's Deposition", and "Moray in the Wreck", taking place between the events of the first two games in the series. More recently,X-COM co-designer Dave Ellis and artist Jon McCoy released a free online tribute digital comic titledDeep Rising, with music created byX-COM composerJohn Broomhall.[42]
A board game entitledXCOM: The Board Game, designed by Eric M. Lang and based on the 2012 reboot, was released on January 28, 2015, byFantasy Flight Games.[43]
The trademark for theX-COM name was filed on May 25, 1995, by MicroProse Software. According to Julian Gollop, "They wanted us to do a deal where we would sign over any rights that we might have in return for some cash plus a high royalty onX-COM: Apocalypse. They more or less insisted on it, otherwise they were threatening to cancel theApocalypse project, so there was a lot of bluff involved."[44] Following the acquisition and subsequent merger of MicroProse withHasbro, the X-COMintellectual property (IP) was also transferred to Hasbro Interactive on August 19, 1998. Due to financial difficulties, Hasbro Interactive was sold toInfogrames Entertainment SA on January 29, 2001. As part of this transfer, theX-COM IP was legally transferred to Infogrames on December 21, 2001 (shortly thereafter, Infogrames was renamedAtari SA). In 2005, Atari SA transferred several IPs toTake-Two Interactive Software Inc.[45] andX-COM was transferred with them on June 12, 2005.
The X-COM IP is currently owned by Take-Two and its subsidiaries;[46] by 2007, first rumors emerged thatIrrational Games (who are owned by Take-Two) were developing a new X-COM title[47] (this game eventually becameThe Bureau: XCOM Declassified). In May 2007,2K Games (a subsidiary of Take-Two) inherited theX-COM franchise and re-releasedTerror from the Deep onSteam. In September 2008,UFO: Enemy Unknown,Apocalypse,Interceptor andEnforcer were also re-released as downloadable titles. 2K Games'XCOM, which had been in development since 2003 (prior to the IP acquisition),[48] was finally completed and released in 2012.
Because of the series' popularity, various other developers have createdspiritual successor games similar in theme and tone to theX-COM games (sometimes called "X-COM clones";[49][50] Julian Gollop also himself called turn-based tactical game genre in general as "sons ofRebelstar" in a reference to one of his earlier games[51]). The level to which they borrow from the original series varies.
The franchise was also referenced in theCivilization series of strategy video games that had partially inspiredX-COM in first place. The original game received an unofficial sequel in the 1997 expansion setCiv II: Fantastic Worlds for MicroProse'sCivilization II, in a scenario set on thePhobos moon of Mars.[67] Firaxis'Civilization V features a unit type named XCOM Squad.
Fan-remake projects forUFO: Enemy Unknown have includedX-com - Last Hope (a mod ofHalf-Life 2 released in 2006),[68]UFO: The Two Sides (development halted in 2011 due to copyright issues),[69]UFO: Cydonia's Fall (canceled in 2012),[70]X-COM: Origin (canceled in 2013),[71] andThe Rebel Squad (an also defunct project bySam Liu).[72]
