Why I'm Excited For XCOM: Enemy Unknown

As someone who hasn't owned a gaming-worthy PC for the better part of a decade, I guess I can safely be called a console gamer. While I don't miss the hassle of installing and configuring games or playing them at my desk with a keyboard and mouse, PC games still offer some gameplay features I wish I could get on a console. That's why I'm excited for XCOM; not only is it a new installment in the revered PC strategy series by the equally revered developer Firaxis, but it's coming to consoles as well. Here are the aspects of XCOM that I'm looking forward to.

A Welcome Dose Of Strategy
As a console gamer, the vast majority of my game time is devoted to shooting things. I love explosive action as much as the next player, but sometimes I want to flex that gray lump of matter between my ears.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown may star an unending supply of alien-blasting soldiers, but it's still a strategy game – something we don't see a lot of on home systems. The turn-based tactical action is still a novel and appealing game format to me, and I'm looking forward to XCOM's base-building and resource management elements as well.

I still don't understand how shooters haven't added this layer of decision making to their formulas. Giving Call of Duty players the ability to decide where to allot their forces and what supplies to equip them with in a more open-ended theater of war would be awesome. Alas, I don't plan on calling the shots in a console shooter any time soon, but XCOM should provide the dose of strategy I'm looking for.

Same Campaign, Different Experience
The only thing more disappointing than a short-lived story campaign is a short-lived story campaign that plays exactly the same should you try to replay it. While some console games offer players a new game plus mode, these still pale in comparison to a game structure that pits you against an AI opponent capable of providing different outcomes and gameplay experiences. Strategy games are especially appealing in this manner, as they function more like board games than scripted narratives. The stories may not be as engrossing or feature as many plot twists, but that's a small price to pay for being tested against an opponent that makes actual decisions.

This is another game design that's woefully absent in console games. For instance, what if in the next Saints Row, you actually had to vie against a rival gang that reacts to you instead of moving down a list of scripted missions to take over the city? There'd be a lot more incentive to play the game more than once, and finally bringing down the rival gang boss would be more rewarding as well.

We still don't know how much replayablility XCOM: Enemy Uknown offers, and I was disappointed to hear the game doesn't feature randomly generated maps this time around. However, it should still easily provide more replayability than the scripted campaigns I'm used to.

Life and Permadeath
I love games that make losing a character matter. Permadeath isn't the right system for every game, but one of the appeals of the original X-COM is knowing that if you foul up on a mission and your favorite soldier goes down, he or she is gone forever. By all accounts, the new XCOM redelivers that experience, and should lead to plenty of "Oh crap!" moments.

I'd love to see more console games incorporate permadeath into gameplay, but right now it looks like only indie developers are willing to experiment with it. The XBLA title Spelunky showed how frantic a platforming game could become with permadeath, and the upcoming State of Decay is applying permadeath to the zombie apocalypse, which seems like a perfect fit given its survival horror roots.

Tell Your Own Story
I appreciate when a series like Uncharted provides a highly scripted and cinematic story for me to play through and discuss with my friends. But for me, these narratives will always take a backseat to games that make me feel like I'm creating my own story. The original X-COM did an amazing job of this by combining the aforementioned permadeath feature with the ability to name your squaddies and make your own decisions for your extraterrestrial-ass-kicking organization. Suddenly, the ambush outside the eerily quiet farmhouse that gets three of your squad mates killed becomes part of the larger saga of your struggle against an alien threat.

The closest I've come to this kind of experience on a console is Skyrim – not so much in the main story or guild missions, but the incidental encounters that happen between them. Like the time a trio of bounty hunters came looking for me while I was at the blacksmith because I had been caught stealing from the Jarl of Whiterun. The ensuing encounter transformed me from a thief to a killer. It wasn't my intention or part of the scripted campaign – it just emerged as my own personal narrative, which is pretty awesome.

A Welcome Challenge
I've grown accustomed to winning. Most single-player and co-op campaigns are made and balanced to ensure that the majority of people who play them will win. Turning up the difficulty might increase your chances of dying, but you're still either going to win or stop playing; aside from a game over screen, failing is rarely incorporated into the narrative.

I love that XCOM provides a serious challenge, and that its ironman mode removes your ability to reload checkpoints. Bad decisions lead to negative consequences, and you're forced to live with them. The fact that you're going to lose soldiers is a given, and you may completely fail to stave off the alien threat. I love when games force me to choose the best of bad options, and all early indications suggest this is a central theme in the new XCOM.

Will it Succeed?
Buzz for the XCOM demo has been positive so far, which has me anticipating October 9 even more. I hope XCOM sells well – and not just for the sake of Firaxis or the series. I hope XCOM sells well on consoles, so that other studios take notice and offer their owners more than just shooting galleries and guaranteed victories.