XCOM: Enemy Unknown

I have been very excited for this release.  Since yesterday, I've put in over ten hours of play already.  For those of you that don't know what XCOM is, here's a quick review of the basics.  XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a turn-based tactics game, where you manage a small squad against enemy forces.  Your individual soldiers gain experience, rank up, and all that.  Death of these soldiers is permanent.

I have to say, I've been watching a lot of videos prior to release, and I was confidant I would have no problems playing this game.  But, jeez, it is hard!  I'm playing on Normal Ironman mode (where you only get one save) and its still pretty hard.  Granted, I've never had a mission where I've lost more than one guy, but still, its very intense.


In the spirit of XCOM, I've been naming my troops after my friends and family, and letting their name sakes know when they do something cool, or die.  My brother-named soldier, whom was my most experienced soldier at the time, died on my birthday in-game.  It was a tragedy!  He had nine health left, and my wife-named soldier took a shot at his foe the turn prior.  I had opted against using her ability for an increased critical hit chance, and she ended up bringing the alien down to one health instead of killing it.  Then the little bastard scores a critical hit on my brother-named solider, dealing 9 damage and killing him.  I was devastated.

Other than my brother-named soldier, I've lost two other name sakes, and an unnamed rookie.  These deaths are hard to live with.  During gameplay, you find yourself weighing the odds of a single action, and no game has ever created such a sense of risk-reward as this one.  For example, I considered rushing three of these weak aliens, whom can buff each other to become stronger.  I knew I would kill one, maybe two, but then be exposed to fire from the survivors.  I opted to charge, killing the first.  The second missed.  I killed it.  The third missed.  I killed all three.  It was GLORIOUS!

The game is so stressful.  You have to manage the panic level of nations, while trying to keep your soldiers alive and as equipped as they can be.  A move to flank an alien might reveal three more that you were unprepared to face.  It's so stressful, you almost don't want to keep playing after a while.  The only thing bringing you back is the thrill of success, which is so euphoric.

So, I guess you can say XCOM: Enemy Unknown is kind of like drugs, only with no long-lasting mental and physical repercussions.  The only thing that scares me is whether or not I will have the courage to start a new game on Classic once I defeated this play-through.