I was in high school when I met Derek Raymond. I don't remember how I started hanging out with him, how we became friends, any of it. What I do remember is that we hung out briefly and then we stopped randomly. In that short time, he told me about but never showed me X-Com. I remember he gave me the disc and eventually I was able to get one of my really old computers to play it. This was a DOS game, and I had to dowload DOS box or some shit... I dunno. Good times.
I decided to include this game ultimately because last night I put it on again, played it for about 3 hours, and once again was engrossed by how good it is. It's turn based strategy in genre, and you control a group of humans who has to reply to an alien threat to Earth. You start by positioning your base, building a fleet of soldiers, and then the aliens begin to arrive.
You have to contend with a much more powerful opponent for most of the game, and it is only through learning their patterns and discovering their weaknesses can you ever hope to win. The game really is quite hard. I've never put in all that much effort, the type of effort I'm sure some people do when they play games, but I believe I've only ever won the game once. Usually it's not because I lose, I usually give up at a certain point and just never get back to the game I've started, but that is beside the point.
X-Com offers some genuine horror and suspense moments. The eerieness of the game is front and center, and the sequel Terror in the Deep is much harder and also equally creepy. I have not beat Terror. The route I've figured out to beat the game in X-Com is from mostly reading and being told by Derek. I'm sure there is a route to beat Terror, but I haven't done as much research.
X-Com is from the best era in videogames, it is also on a randomizer engine and is thus slightly different every time you play. It therefore offers endless gameplay action, and I really enjoy myself every time I reboot up Steam, which is how I play it now. Highly recommended.
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