| X-COM | |
|---|---|
| Genres | Strategy Simulation Action First-person shooter |
| Developers | Culture Brain (1993-1997) MicroProse (1994-1996, 2001) Atari (1998) Hasbro Interactive (1999) 2K Marin (2012-present) |
| Publishers | Atari (1993-1998) MicroProse (1994-1997) MediaQuest (1997) Hasbro Interactive (1999) Infogrames (2001) 2K Games (2012-present) |
| Creators | Julian Gollop |
| Platform of origin | PC |
| First release | UFO: Enemy Unknown December 31, 1993 |
| Latest release | XCOM March 6, 2012 |
X-COM is a series of strategy games created by Julian Gollop. In 2010 2K Marin announced the official reboot of the series, entitled simply XCOM. The original game has a cult following.
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The premise is a hostile extraterrestrial invasion; the player charged by a coalition of nations with their removal. The player must: capture and research alien technology, manage personnel, maintain military installations, combat hostile aliens on the ground and manage relations with the member nations. Inspiration taken from the TV series UFO, and Timothy Good's book Alien Liaison.[1]
The X-COM main series included the following games:
The first game is the most popular and the most successful. It was often voted as a best video game of all time, such as first on IGN's list of "Top 25 PC Games of All Time" twice in 2007 and 2009, second in "Best Video Games Since 1992" by Pelit in 2007, third and 11th in "Top 50 Games of All Time" by PC Gamer in 2001 and 2010, and third in "Best Games of All Time" by CGW in 2001. Apocalypse took several new directions with the series: it introduced a real-time combat system, in addition to a modified turn-based system, and the aesthetics were shifted to a less grim and more futuristic style. Despite being developed by the original creators of the first X-COM (Terror from the Deep was developed by MicroProse's internal team), it failed to repeat its success.
After Interceptor, Hasbro Interactive purchased MicroProse and acquired the X-COM brand. In 2001, Hasbro Interactive released a poorly-received action game named X-COM: Enforcer, loosely based on the events of Enemy Unknown. There was also a budget range multiplayer game em@il games: X-COM, released in 1999.
Two more titles were planned for this series: X-COM: Genesis, a strategy game, and X-COM: Alliance, a tactical first-person shooter. Both projects were aborted when Hasbro shut down Hasbro Interactive studios in 2001.
There were also four compilation releases: X-COM (Collector's Edition) (1998), X-COM Collection (1999), X-COM: Complete Pack (2008) and 2K Huge Games Pack (2009).
On April 14, 2010, 2K Marin announced a PC and console re-imagining of X-COM (relabeled as XCOM).[2] It will be a tactical and strategic first-person shooter, combining elements from the original UFO Defense alongside a new setting and viewpoint. 2K Marin has said that it will keep some main concepts from the original game series, such as the fictional energy source called Elerium, squad and base management, and free-form gameplay. The setting is getting a complete overhaul and now based in the early 60's at the heat of cultural unrest, mimicking the "unknown" and more fear-related aspects of the alien invaders. XCOM will be released for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 with a planned release date of March 6, 2012.[3] The game has since been delayed towards later in 2012 to better develop the tactical and strategic elements of the gameplay.
There are two X-COM novels: Diane Duane's X-COM: UFO Defense - A Novel in 1995 and Vladimir Vasilyev's Enemy Unknown in 1997. Both of them are based on the first game in the series.
The trademark for the X-COM name was filed on May 25, 1995, by MicroProse Software. Following the acquisition and subsequent merger of MicroProse with Hasbro Interactive, the X-COM intellectual property was also transferred to Hasbro Interactive on August 19, 1998. Due to financial difficulties, 100% of Hasbro Interactive was sold to the French concern Infogrames Entertainment SA on January 29, 2001; as part of this transfer, the X-COM IP was legally transferred to Infogrames on December 21, 2001 (shortly thereafter, Infogrames was renamed Atari Inc., able to do this since acquiring several Atari IPs from Hasbro Interactive). In 2005 Atari transferred several IPs to Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.[4] and X-COM was transferred with them on June 12, 2005. The X-COM IP is currently owned by Take-Two and its subsidiaries;[5] in 2007 there were unconfirmed rumors that Irrational Games (who are owned by Take-Two) were developing a new X-COM title.[6]
In May 2007, a representative of 2K Games (a subsidiary of Take-Two) declared on the Steam forums that they had inherited the X-COM franchise. In light of this, 2K Games re-released Terror from the Deep on Steam with support for Windows XP only (in October 2008, an update was released through Steam, which enabled Windows Vista support for Terror from the Deep). In September 2008, UFO Defense, Apocalypse, Interceptor, and Enforcer were re-released with support for Windows XP and Windows Vista available on Steam and Gamersgate among others. As of September 2011, 2K Games subsidiary 2K Marin is developing XCOM.
Because of the series' popularity, other game developers have created games similar in theme and tone of the X-COM games. The level to which they borrow from the original series varies.
| Game | GameRankings | Metacritic |
|---|---|---|
| UFO: Enemy Unknown | (PC) 93.60%[10] (PS) 92.90%[11] |
- |
| X-COM: Terror from the Deep | (PS) 100.00%[12] (PC) 86.00%[13] |
- |
| X-COM: Apocalypse | (PC) 87.00%[14] | - |
| X-COM: Interceptor | (PC) 70.12%[15] | - |
| X-COM: Enforcer | (PC) 65.13%[16] | (PC) 65[17] |
| XCOM | (PC) -[18] (PS3) -[19] (X360) -[20] |
(PC) -[21] (PS3) -[22] (X360) -[23] |
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