UFO: Aftermath

"It's a nice translation of an X-Com style game to 3D"

UFO: Aftermath is the spiritual successor to the X-Com series. It features excellent tactical gameplay, with a good strategic mode too.

The graphics aren't bad, I mean, everything looks distinct and each piece of equipment has its own model, so the graphics function well. The buildings look great, as does much of the terrain. Enemies don't look very intimidating at first, but when you realize that almost all of the mutants are made of human bodies in someway, they become a little bit more creepy

The sound is ok, the music is not memorable and the effects are a little repetitive, but they're not annoying by any means. The voices of the squad are annoying, but it's forgivable since they can be turned off.

The story is basic, you're more or less stuck on Earth after an alien invasion trying to reestablish society. It gets the job done. Do you really need a lot of motivation to kill aliens and mutants?

Where the game really shines is in its gameplay. You control a squad of soldiers fighting mutants and alien invaders. The action happens in real time, but you can pause to issue orders and look around the battlefield, and if you want to be cautious about a fight you can slow down time, while if nothing interesting is happening you can speed it up. You can even set the game to automatically pause on certain events, such as enemy sightings, which is very useful. These features are all very useful.

You decide what equipment your soldiers have, which you scavenge from bases and dead enemies, or manufacture yourself. The soldiers get experience from battle, and as they level up can increase their stats to make them more accurate, better medics, or more perceptive, among other things.

The game has a nice difficulty curve to it, not throwing anything you can't handle to early, and gradually throwing harder and harder missions at you, while still making sure you're equipped to fight well.

In the strategic mode, you control the research and development, and what missions you take. If you don't have time for a mission, or choose not to do it, there is a possibility that other forces will take care of it for you.

The most interesting part of the game is that the missions are very varied, and each area is randomly generated from a combination of terrain, foliage, and buildings.

It may not have features the older X-com games had, like blowing up walls and complete control over your base's arrangement, but it does feature a great variety of equipment, missions, and areas.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/17/07