UFO sans DRM - XCom Complete Edition lands on GOG
Welcome back, Commander
Is 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.
If you're new to PC gaming as a whole or have somehow avoided reading about strategy games for the past six years, welcome! XCom: Enemy Unknown makes you the sole commander of the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit, an international last line of defence against a potential alien invasion. Well, the aliens are here, so it's up to you to manage bases, deploy squads to the front lines and try not to feel too bad when your bad micromanagement gets Ensign McRedshirt's face vaporised by alien plasma fire.
Unlike the original Gollop Brothers's X-Com from way back in 1994 (note the hyphen, and it's also discounted on GOG), Firaxis's modern reboot boiled down an intensely complex granular game of tactics down to something roughly resembling a board game with relatively easy to follow rules and an emphasis on doing everything you can to stack those vital attack rolls in your favour. It looks like Phoenix Point is on the way to split the difference between the two styles next year, too.
While it will eventually go up in price to £25, XCom Complete on GOG is currently 80% discounted down to a significantly more wallet-friendly £5.09, so if you've spent the past six years avoiding it, now would be a good time to pick it up.
Oh, and Commander? You may want to instruct your men to exercise restraint when using explosives.