X-COM: UFO Defense 
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New X-COM book explains the special kind of terror that made the first game a classicSep 9, 2021 - PC GamerNo series has defined the past and present of turn-based strategy more than XCOM. The Firaxis-made games in the series, XCOM: Enemy Unknown and XCOM 2, are two of the best games of the last decade. The whole series, which dates back to the mid-'90s, is one of PC gaming's most beloved, even with its history of forcing us to make painful decisions and the questionable third-person shooter spinoffs... Read more.Modder Superior: a swabbie s guide to X-Com conversion mod X-PirateZMar 4, 2019 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunEvery other Monday, Dominic gives you a reason to dust off one of your old games and dive into its mods with Modder Superior. Sin Vega first introduced me to X-PirateZ three years ago, already a sprawling X-Com: UFO Defense mod by “Dioxine” about leading a crew of sexy lady air-pirates in a post-apocalyptic world. She called it “The greatest total conversion ever made” at the time, but I wasn’t so convinced. Massive as it was, I felt it was still skeletal and confusing, requiring much trial and error and many false starts. A lot has changed since 2016, and it has grown into a (mostly) coherent strategy RPG sandbox with a devil-may-care attitude on par with Disgaea. Orbital, underwater and underground missions are in. Story arcs, bounty hunts, tons of factions, over a hundred mission types and more guns than anyone could ever use. There are duels and even dating, somehow. There are also problems, of course, any mod of this scale has some, but I’m officially on board now. This may be the best total conversion I’ve played, and less likely to kick newcomers in the teeth than classic X-Com. Still, there’s a lot to learn and tons of new systems, so here’s a crash course on X-PirateZ, plus a guide for surviving your first year as a corsair captain. (more…) Celebrate six years of warfare with XCOM 2 s Tactical Legacy Pack, free at launchOct 2, 2018 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunSix years ago, Firaxis pulled off the impossible with XCOM, re-envisioning a DOS classic – next week, they’re celebrating this feat with the Tactical Legacy pack for XCOM 2: War Of The Chosen. It’s pure fan-service of the less-sexy kind (unless Carapace armour turns you on, in which case fly your freak flag high), featuring old favourite equipment and environments used in a new series of tactical mini-campaigns. Better still, it’ll be initially free to owners of War Of The Chosen. It’s out next week, October 9th. Check the reveal trailer below. (more…) UFO sans DRM XCom Complete Edition lands on GOGJun 14, 2018 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunIs six years within ‘fashionably late’ territory? Better late than never, at least. Today, Firaxis’s alien-bothering turn-based squad tactics revival, XCom: Enemy Unknown has launched on GOG after over half a decade of the PC version being Steam-exclusive. Rather than divide it up, GOG are only selling the Complete edition of the game, including two minor bits of DLC and the rather more significant Enemy Within expansion. (more…) Great moments in PC gaming: Finally going on the offensive in X-Com: UFO DefenseMay 13, 2018 - PC GamerGreat moments in PC gaming are short, bite-sized celebrations of some of our favorite gaming memories. One of the great things about the original X-COM, or UFO: Enemy Unknown as it was called in the UK, was that it wasn’t afraid to be about losing. Losing really badly. Apocalyptically badly, often. Not for nothing did it have ‘terror missions’, which lived up to their name as the initial weak little-grey-men Sectoids got politely pushed out of the way for the likes of the Chryssalids, hideous Giger style monsters who didn’t just kill your jumpsuit-wearing soldiers, but implanted them with hideous alien wing-wang to turn them first into a zombie, and then into another bloody Chryssalid. So many deaths. So many worlds lost. Ah, but then comes The Moment. You can almost feel it in the air. The moment where the tables turn, and the X-COM organization switches from a plucky group of do-gooders into a tooled-up force of pure human vengeance. When you stop going into battle with simple pistols and prayers and start tooling up with advanced technology ripped from the aliens themselves. Psychic boosters, plasma guns, the Blaster Bomb. When you stop playing defensively and go on the offensive, shooting down UFOs like they were clay pigeons and preparing to give them a taste of their own medicine. Launching your own ship, the Avenger, to fly to Mars and kick all kinds of arse. That’s the moment that defines X-Com, and arguably one of the biggest reasons why the series is always such a pleasure to return to. Best PC games of all timeNov 24, 2017 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunThere are more wonderful games being released on PC each month than ever before. In such a time of plenty, it’s important that you spend your time as wisely as possible. Thankfully, we’re here to help. What follows are our picks for the best PC games ever made. (more…) The Gollop Chamber: XCOM is now a genreOct 17, 2017 - PC Gamer All images courtesy Julian Gollop. Welcome to my first column for PC Gamer. What’s it all about, you may ask? You can look forward to my musings on games, the games industry, and also follow progress on my new XCOM-style game, Phoenix Point, which is underway at Snapshot Games in sunny Bulgaria. Phoenix Point was first announced at the PC Gamer Weekender event in March last year, where I argued that XCOM is now an established genre, thanks to the tremendous success of the Firaxis games. Ever since I signed over the X-COM rights to MicroProse back in 1997 I have been trying to build a new X-COM-style game, but I never quite succeeded, despite releasing several turn-based games over the last 15 years. The XCOM genre is something special and distinct, and diverging too far from its fundamental design pillars results in something less than satisfactory. At the Game Developer s Conference in 1996 sessions on pathfinding for RTS games were packed with hundreds of developers with standing room only. The Dune II seed had become a forest. MicroProse/Hasbro learned the hard way when they attempted to attach the X-COM name to games that weren’t really X-COMish enough, such as X-COM Interceptor (a space sim) X-COM Enforcer (an FPS) and the cancelled X-COM Alliance (a team-based FPS). Publishers, it seems, were no longer confident in the old school strategy/tactics style of X-COM. In the heyday of grand turn-based strategy games we had Civilization (1991), Master of Orion (1993), Master of Magic (1994) and the first X-COM (1994). All of them were highly successful games, and they were all published by MicroProse. X-COM: Alliance, a cancelled team-based FPS. Then something dramatic happened—the RTS genre became the dominant game genre on PC, thanks largely to Warcraft (1994) and Command & Conquer (1995). Although Dune II established the genre on PC, it took a while for the seed to grow. By 1996 it seemed like every developer was working on some kind of RTS game. At the Game Developer’s Conference in 1996 sessions on pathfinding for RTS games were packed with hundreds of developers with standing room only. The Dune II seed had become a forest. It’s fair to say that this turn of events did influence me to give X-COM Apocalypse a real time tactical mode (but with an option for turn-based battles). However, in no way could the game be called an RTS, as it was defined by Dune II. In 1999 I began development on a new XCOM-style game called The Dreamland Chronicles: Freedom Ridge for our new publisher, Virgin Interactive. I believed at that time that the PC market was going to be increasingly difficult to make a profit from, so the game was intended for the Playstation 2 as well as the PC. One planned feature for The Dreamland Chronicles: Freedom Ridge was destructible terrain. It’s true that PC gaming was having a bit of a crisis, due partly to rampant piracy, spiralling development costs and generally...GOG s 2K sale features old school X-Com among othersOct 12, 2017 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunOver at GOG, the reduced-price trips down memory lane continue, only this week there’s a whole lot more X-Com. Specifically, this week’s GOG sale range focuses on a lot of 2K’s older franchises, particularly from the strategy genre. The entire original run of X-Com games can be found here for less than 2 / $2 each, which is nigh-impossible to not recommend. Then there is the 2004 version of Sid Meier’s Pirates, a game I’ve poured more hours into than I really want to think about, and much more. (more…) Get your ass to Mars the original X-COM is freeJan 31, 2017 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunOh sure, it’s basically been pennies for years, but nothing motivates the merely curious like free-free-free. For that is the case for X-COM: UFO Defense aka UFO: Enemy Unknown, the 1994 alien-bothering strategy game that kicked off a series now made something of a household name by Firaxis’ remakes. Only until tomorrow, though. … GOG bundles discount classic 2K gamesMar 29, 2016 - PC GamerGOG's Take On 2K sale sees 11 of the publisher's classics debut on the distribution platform. Running until April 5, the sale bundles games from the X-COM, Freedom Force and Railroad Tycoon series—and Sid Meier's Pirates—into groups as follows: Railroad Tycoon Bundle: 5.97/$8.65 (-66%, 50% off individually) * Sid Meier's Railroads; * Railroad Tycoon II; * Railroad Tycoon III; X-COM Classic Bundle: 5.45/$7.45 (-75%, 50% off individually) * X-COM: UFO Defense; * X-COM: Terror from the Deep; * X-COM: Apocalypse; * X-COM: Interceptor; * X-COM: Enforcer; Freedom Force Pack: 2.78/$3.98 (-66%, 50% off individually) * Freedom Force; * Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich; Sid Meier's Pirates!: 3.49/$4.99 (-50%) "Ruthless strategic warfare? Check. Weirdo superheroes? You bet. Hilarious dancing sequences? Naturally," reads a post on GOG.com. "And once again, the satisfaction of checking off a couple dozen thousand of your wishlist votes for some seriously good old games. So join us on the choo-choo train through battlefields riddled with alien corpses and swashbuckling superheroes—because we're taking on 2K!" If that tickles your fancy, you've got until 2pm BST/6am PDT/9 AM EDT to grab the discounts before the Take On 2K sale expires. Xenonauts 2 Is More Likely Than NotSep 30, 2015 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunXCOM 2 is a hugely exciting prospect (so much so that I’m genuinely grumpy about the delay), but XCOM and X-COM are so very different things by now that it’s unlikely to slake anyone’s thirst for a true-blue, Gollopy experience. Fortunately, sounds like we might also be in for a sequel to unofficial X-COM spiritual sequel Xenonauts , 2014’s Cold War-set alien invasion strategy title. … Whatever Happened To X-COM s Julian Gollop?Dec 10, 2014 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunWell, he eventually rebooted and remade war of wizards Spectrum classic Chaos Reborn, which I’ve had a lot of fun with over the last few days, and which took to Steam Early Access yesterday. You can read more about that here. But what happened to the co-creator of X-COM, Laser Squad, Magic and Mayhem, Rebelstar and more over the last ten years or so? While so many long-standing developers have seen their stars rise and rise, Julian Gollop seemed to fall out of sight. In this concluding part of my big interview with him, we talk about where he’s been, why he turned to Kickstarter for his comeback, how he was doing Early Access long before it ever existed, his thoughts on latter-day X-COMlikes such as Xenonauts, Invisible Inc and Mordheim, and the pressing question of whether we’ll ever see a new X-COM or Laser Squad=style game with him at the helm. … Gollop: Own X-COM Hopeless Cause After Firaxis GameDec 10, 2014 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunX-COM creator Julian Gollop did have plans for his own new version of the legendary strategy game, but abandoned them in the wake of 2K’s well-received XCOM. “I seriously considered that before Firaxis announced their XCOM,” he told RPS in an interview published today, “but of course once they announced it I thought, well it d be a hopeless cause because it s just not going to get the same traction.” “I may have been completely wrong in thinking this by the way,” he added. When I suggested that he’d probably have succeeded nonetheless, he added that “I probably could have. I don’t know.” The Laser Squad and Chaos developer, who yesterday released wizard-battling strategy remake/sequel Chaos Reborn on Steam Early Access, hasn’t entirely ruled out an X-comeback of his own, however. “Well, we ll see. Got to finish Chaos first.” I think it’s on all of us reading this to let him know below that that a new Gollop-made XCOMlike is far, far from a hopeless cause, eh? Also below: the game Julian Gollop almost made instead of Chaos Reborn. … These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things (In PC Games)Nov 19, 2014 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunSome moments in some games stay with you. The right event, the right surprise or the right hats at the right time, and it’s imprinted on your memory forever. I’ve been playing PC games for almost 25 years: I’ve got a million of these, and so have you. I’ll show you just a few of mine if you show me yours. … Research Completed: OpenXcom Hits V1.0Jun 16, 2014 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunWhat happy times we live in for fans of old-style X-COM, the way your Gollopmother used to make. The awfully X-COM-y Xenonauts left early access and launched properly only a fortnight ago, and now “open-source clone” OpenXcom has hit version 1.0 after five years of development (“This is your father’s X-COM” goes the tagline in an alternate universe with softer copyright laws). It’s actually more of a replacement engine for X-COM: UFO Defense, mind, requiring the original game to drop in its data files. As well as improving the interface and fixing old bugs and whatnot, it adds mod support. And with that, you can keep playing new old X-COM for ever and ever and ever. … XCOM creator's 'Chaos Reborn' prototype playable in-browserApr 14, 2014 - ShacknewsChaos Reborn, the crowdfunded project from XCOM creator Julian Gollop, is now playable as a prototype. The reboot of the classic Spectrum game Chaos: The Battle of the Wizards will once again put wizards in a competition to the death.Be Like Levine: Chaos Reborn Prototype ReleasedApr 9, 2014 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunStatistically speaking, you are probably not Ken Levine. That’s fine. I’m not him, either. And neither is Graham. But thanks to all the silicon and electricity and stuff, you can at least be a bit like him. One of the ways in which he’s been special recently is in the role of cheerleader for the Chaos Reborn Kickstarter, where he’s been championing Julian Gollop’s return. He has already played (or should that now be ‘Let’s Played’?) the hexy beast, and now you can too. Head here to grab the time-limited prototype of the strategic wiz thing, and bring some friends. … Magic Gathers To A Close: Chaos Reborn s Nearly ThereApr 3, 2014 - Rock, Paper, Shotgun13 days and $65,000 to go – that’s the scores on the doors for X-COM creator Julian Gollop’s Kickstarted Chaos remake (which I previewed here). Not a bad situation for the turn-based wizard battler to be in, given it’s already $115k to the good, but a photo finish looks likely. The game’s also up on Greenlight now, so you know what to do if you’re excited about it. There’ve been eight updates since the project went live a few weeks back, and it’s heartening to see that they primarily focus on explaining features and concepts. Also one of them has a unicorn with a sword for a horn, so big bonus points for that. … The X-COM Files promises to reveal behind-the-scenes of gameMar 26, 2014 - ShacknewsX-COM is one of the most beloved games in all of PC strategy games. A new book by Shack's David L. Craddock promises to offer a behind-the-scenes look at the making of UFO Defense, Laser Squad, Chaos, and other strategy games by designer Julian Gollop. The X-COM Files: How Alien Invaders, Rebel Squads, and Gooey Blobs Took Strategy Gaming by Storm will be available on Kindle in October, with "other platforms" coming afterwards.XCOM creator launches crowd-funding for Chaos RebornMar 18, 2014 - ShacknewsXCOM: UFO Defense creator Julian Gollop has launched a crowd-funding campaign for his next game. Chaos Reborn is a reboot of one of his 1985 ZX Spectrum game Chaos: The Battle of the Wizards. You'll customize your own wizard and go head-to-head against five others.
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