They came from space, they came from the sea, and now they're coming through teleporters hovering above our megacities, infiltrating corporations to take over what's left of the world from the inside out.
That's the backstory to X-COM: Apocalypse in a nutshell, and it's more than I knew before going in. I know of X-COM, of course, but didn't know that it would go on to become what Apocalypse is, and what Apocalypse is is more of the same, sure, but also a whole lot more.
Frustrations
Have you ever been so utterly dropped into the deep end than you have in X-COM: Apocalypse? This game may start with a nice intro, a difficulty selector and a bright and cheery map, but it most certainly isn't the nicest of games to get into when you don't have a clue what you're doing.
Naturally, I don't know what I'm doing. Most of this information comes from what I've gathered from reading and watching others - a promising start...
Like previous X-COM titles, you'll be managing the boots on the ground as well as the bases that home them, and these bases are full of specific rooms and resources to aid you in your mission of finally ridding the world of alien threat.
While the menus are overwhelming, here and there you'll see familiar elements from previous titles. Loading out your most-definitely-not-expendable squad is familiar, for example, but the key difference (from what I remember) is that your squad already have their weaponry equipped. That means they can die armed for once!
Eventually - after I realised there were controls for speeding up the rate at which time passes - an alien threat had been reported at the Police Station. In Apocalypse, aliens like to influence groups of people as much as they like to outright destroy whoever gets too close.
These new tactics mean that the various groups you order your supplies from could, in theory, be being secretly controlled by aliens, and - knowing you're intent on removing aliens from the planet - want to stop dealing with you, and suddenly your supply chain is crippled, and your job gets harder in true resource management style.
The level at which groups can be influenced can even stretch to your own government - your primary source of income - actively disliking you and all you stand for.
This sounds great, but I've just discovered that my squad aren't on board their aircraft, and are walking across the city to the bloody Police Station.
I found various menu options to reroute ships and squad members, but not to the same point and not to anywhere where the ship could pick up the squad. In the end, I sped up time and watched them run through the city to their destination.
A great start to the first mission...
From here, things got worse.
Further Frustrations
The base management side of the game wasn't going well, but the nitty gritty face to face combat was about to start. New to Apocalypse is the ability to play as either a traditional turn-based game or a real-time action-heavy game, complete with pausing and slow-motion for when the shit hits the fan. Which it will.
I already didn't have a clue what I was doing, so I made sure to try out this new real-time mode.
Big mistake. I had control over where my squads moved, but whatever settings I had on for them was to fire first and ask questions later. Threats were dealt with before I saw them on the screen and that's even when the game paused when updating me on the situation.
In no more than a few seconds, I had wiped a handful of aliens off the face of the Earth without even knowing where they were or what they looked like, completing the mission.
You might have ranked that 'Very Good', Apocalypse, but there's only one way I can rate that...
Final Word
First impressions are everything. And sometimes nothing. But when I'm making a point, I'm going with 'everything'. The very first impression of X-COM: Apocalypse I had was positive. Then the game started.
Did I read the manual? You know full well I haven't. Would it help me? I'm sure it would, were I to have done things completely differently. But I'm not the kind of person to do things completely differently - not if I can help it. I'm the kind of person to fire up and game and see what's what.
Firing up Apocalypse allowed me to have the tiniest glimpse at a game that would definitely appeal to fans of the previous entries in the series, but is overwhelming to those players who aren't. You are practically required to know what's what before going into the game, otherwise you're going to have a torrid time.
Having watched some of it, it plays - or rather, can play - very much like X-COM, but to me, it feels like it has gone a little too far, or if not too far, then too much too soon. It's probably just me, diving in like an idiot, as usual, and moaning at not getting it, blaming the game for my failures...
It's still highly regarded, it's made the 1001 list... I don't know why there are three X-COM titles at not a single Crash Bandicoot, but that's opinions for you. Here's mine: I like the idea of X-COM - still - but am still waiting for its perfect implementation for me and my tastes.
Which means I should try the reboots sometime, and see what they're all about.
If you're a fan, you know of Apocalypse, surely. If you're not, and you're itching to try, I'd say to start with another X-COM title instead. But that's just me, not knowing what I'm talking about.
Fun Facts
A lot of the stories to come out of the developed of Apocalypse are stories of disappointment - things not working out, decisions not making sense, and a project that was too ambitious from the start.
X-COM: Apocalypse, developed by Mythos Games, first released in 1997.
Version played: DOS, 1997, via emulation.
Version watched: DOS, 1997 (Yogscast Live)