I really don't know how this happened, I had read countless things on Firaxis' upcoming strategy game XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and it seemingly just slipped by my thought pattern, well until tonight. As I had sat down and written about 4 paragraphs on why I enjoyed turn based strategy games as much as I do, and why I wanted a hyped release in the genre, I apparently had forgotten all about XCOM. Thankfully, maybe not so, that blog got jacked up in some random weird button presses that I can't explain, and was erased from memory.

While writing the lost blog, I glanced over onto GIO and noticed that my prayers had been answered, and I'd like to explain a few things about why I'm now excited over when the title was first announced. The primary reason this game slipped my radar I think has more to do with the fact that I was at a weird point in my life when it was announced, my brain wasn't thinking straight or for whatever reason I couldn't quite formulate what was being given to me. As a gamer I have always had a distinct attraction to turn based titles, however the genre itself has slowly shifted away from games that I loved, and onto primarily the handhelds, which I own neither. While Disgaea and Final Fantasy Tactics have been favorites of mine in the past, I really wanted to enjoy some multiplayer action as well.

Battling the AI is a challenge for sure, but the spontaneity of a human opponent I find to be extremely valuable in challenging your ability to reform a strategy into working order. Which ultimately is one of the reasons I do favor strategy games is that level of going in with a plan, but adjusting those plans accordingly. While certainly there are areas in which certain units are just flat out better than others, the fun lies in figuring out how those pieces work cohesively into a team. However with Final Fantasy Tactics and even Disgaea the propensity for overpowered units to exist would harm potential online play, as games would quickly divulge into players relying heavily on one type of load out for their units. What XCOM: Enemy Unknown brings though is one of the aspects of table top strategy gaming that I love so much; Price Points.

Finally a game that understands balance through unit cost, rather than the amount of units you can have. At the beginning of each match players will choose their load out around a set point value, and stronger units will be worth more points, while less powerful units will be worth less. This level of control on load out has always been one of my most exciting aspects of the table top strategy genre. Figuring out how to best work the points out into a cohesive strategy, and balance those points is incredibly fun for me to do in my head. Add a built in calculator and hopefully a good idea of what I'm doing, and hopefully on October 2nd my PS3 will finally have some thinking multiplayer for a change.

While I can't comment too much on the series, as I've little experience with it, the online portion alone has sold me tonight. In fact Friday when I get paid again, I'll probably rush to Gamestop and preorder it immediately. I hadn't thought that I'd be excited for another game involving aliens, but the idea that I may finally get an online turn based strategy title with a decent sized player pool has me set to get my wheels turning, and begin researching the troops available. I feel like a fool for saying this, but XCOM: Enemy Unknown just became my most anticipated fall release for the year.