UFO: Enemy Unknown

Lore & Background

The story begins in 1998, with increased UFO sightings, abductions, and alien attacks. Nations form their own forces, such as Japan's Kiryu-Kai, but these efforts fail. On 11 December 1998, representatives from powerful nations meet secretly in Geneva, creating the Extraterrestrial Combat (X-COM) organisation. The player controls X-COM from 1 January 1999, starting with conventional weapons and gradually reverse-engineering alien technology. The alien invasion is led by the Ethereals, a race with mind control abilities that enslave other alien species. Their main base is in the Cydonia region of Mars, where the biocomputer Alien Brain orchestrates the invasion. The game can end in defeat if the player performs poorly, runs deficits, loses all bases, or fails the final assault; victory comes from destroying the Alien Brain.

Reader's Guide

Despite a troubled development that included being almost cancelled twice, UFO: Enemy Unknown received strong reviews and became a commercial success, turning into a runaway sleeper hit with a cult following among strategy fans. Several publications have listed it as one of the best video games ever made, with IGN ranking it the best PC game of all time in 2007. It was the first and best-received entry in the X-COM series and directly inspired several similar games. An official remake, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, was published in 2012 and subsequently regarded as also being one of the greatest games of all time. The game's blend of strategic base management and turn-based tactical combat, along with its destructible environments, action point system, and morale mechanics, established a template that influenced many later strategy titles.

Did You Know?

• The game was originally planned as a sequel to Mythos Games' 1988 Laser Squad.
• It was almost cancelled twice during development.
• The alien leaders, the Ethereals, possess powerful mind control abilities and enslave other races.
• The final mission takes place in the Cydonia region of Mars.