XCOM: Enemy Unknown

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Lore & Background

In the world of XCOM: Enemy Unknown, a global alien invasion begins in early 2015. Prior to the start of the game, a group of countries called the Council of Nations has banded together to create Extraterrestrial Combat Unit (XCOM), the most elite military and scientific organization in human history, tasked with defending the nations from alien attack. The player assumes the role of the commander of XCOM and engages in a war against an extraterrestrial enemy with overwhelming technological superiority. The game's campaign begins in March 2015, when a series of extraterrestrial objects land in a major German city. A squad of four soldiers is sent to investigate. Upon entering a warehouse, the squad finds a small, alien creature mind-controlling German soldiers. The squad is ambushed; all-but-one of the soldiers are killed before the area is secured. Alien attacks begin all over the globe. XCOM obtains the corpses of various alien troops, and autopsies reveal all of these alien types have been genetically or cybernetically altered, indicating they are foot-soldiers for unseen leaders. XCOM's head of research Dr. Vahlen requests the capture of a live alien for interrogation, which involves the development of a weapon that can capture a live alien and the construction of a facility in XCOM's subterranean base to safely hold a live alien prisoner. XCOM captures one of the alien troops and interrogates it, revealing vague information about another type of alien called the Outsiders, which are artificially-created, crystalline beings encountered aboard UFOs that appear to serve as pilots and navigators. Dr. Vahlen then requests XCOM capture an Outsider for study. An Outsider is captured and examined, revealing their exotic, crystalline structures behave in a manner similar to antennas, receiving a signal broadcast from an underground location on Earth. XCOM dispatches a team to investigate the signal, which is found to be coming from a secret alien location.

In Their Own Story

The rain in the alleyway is cold and tastes of copper. Sergeant Okafor checks her sidearm for the third time in two minutes, the click-click-click a small, stupid ritual against the growing silence. Above, the sky is the wrong color—not the bruised purple of a real storm, but a flat, oily grey that swallows the streetlights. The squad is spread across the rooftop of the abandoned textile factory: two riflemen, a grenadier, and the new kid, barely two weeks out of training, whose hands have not stopped shaking since the dropship. The Grunt's scream splits the air and is gone. Okafor doesn't flinch. She has learned that flinching costs a turn, and a turn costs a life. She keys her radio. "All units, contact. Repeat, contact. I want eyes on the second floor before it moves." The new kid's voice cracks. "Sergeant, I can't see anything. It's too dark up there." Okafor almost smiles. In the old days, the briefing officer would have told you the map was fully lit, every enemy marked with a little icon. You would have planned your route like a chess problem. This is not that. This is the fog. This is the part they don't put in the recruitment pamphlet. You are not playing a game. You are holding a line, and the line is thin, and the kid on the roof is going to be scared for the rest of his life. "Then you listen," Okafor says, and her voice is steady because it has to be. "You listen, and you wait for my mark. Nobody moves until I say." The rain keeps falling. The grey sky keeps swallowing the light. Somewhere above the factory, something large and patient is turning its head.

Reader's Guide

XCOM: Enemy Unknown casts the player as the commander of an elite military organization who directs soldiers in turn-based combat missions against invading alien enemies. The player controls a squad of between one and six human soldiers or robotic units as they explore the game's levels. Most missions in the campaign occur on maps randomly selected from a handcrafted set; enemies are then randomly placed on these maps. Fog of war hides aliens and their actions from view until the player's soldiers are in range and have line of sight to them. Most missions require players to eliminate all threats in a map, though some require players to rescue civilians or extract a target. Players can choose to retreat and abandon the mission if the situation goes awry. The game has four difficulty levels: easy, normal, classic and "impossible". There is also an "ironman mode", which limits the player to one save. On the player's turn, each squad member can perform a limited number of actions. After all soldiers have performed actions, the artificial intelligence-controlled enemy takes its turn. Soldiers can be instructed to move, attack or both, depending on their available action points. Other actions such as reloading, remaining in overwatch to shoot any moving enemy in the line of sight, healing, throwing grenades and using special abilities can also be performed. Attacking or dashing large distances across the map will immediately end a squad member's turn. The game's user interface informs the player of the possibility of landing a successful shot and the amount of damage they will deal. Squad members can take cover behind objects, reducing the chance of being hit. Full cover is indicated by a filled blue icon and half cover is indicated by a half-filled blue icon. A yellow-and-red shield shown to players warns they are being flanked or being completely exposed, respectively. Cover may be destroyed through missed shots or the use of explosives. As soldiers progress through the game, they earn experience and are promoted, allowing players to specialize them. The game has four character classes: Assault, Support, Heavy, and Sniper. Some soldiers may have access to psychic powers. Soldiers may permanently die once their health reaches zero if they are not saved in time. The game has a multiplayer mode for one-on-one tactical battles. Between missions, the player manages XCOM's underground headquarters from a view dubbed the "ant farm", where they manage construction, manufacturing and research projects, and direct scientists and engineers. A holographic view of Earth called the "Geoscape" allows the player to track situations around the world, order aircraft to intercept UFOs and dispatch soldiers to engage aliens on the ground. Which situations the player decides to respond to influences the panic level of XCOM's member nations. The game will end if eight out of the sixteen Council nations decide to leave.

Did You Know?

• Development of the game began in 2008 and lasted for four-and-a-half years, longer than other Firaxis games because it was retooled several times during production.
• Jake Solomon led development of the game, and studio head Sid Meier provided input and assisted the team.
• While the game uses procedural generation for enemy placement, all maps in the game were handcrafted by Firaxis.
• Michael McCann composed the game's music.
• Firaxis attempted to reboot the franchise in 2003 but no product was marketed.