XCOM: Enemy Unknown (2012)
XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a 2012 role-playing (rpg) video game made by Firaxis Games and 2K Games.
An alien invasion begins, and you become the commander who has to answer it. XCOM is a secret multinational force fighting on two fronts: a global strategy layer where you research recovered tech, build a base, and choose which panicking nations to save, and tense turn-based firefights where a single bad move can wipe a squad. Firaxis rebuilds a 1994 strategy landmark for a new generation, keeping the permadeath that makes every named soldier matter. Miss a shot at point-blank range and the consequences are yours to live with. Cold, tactical, and quietly devastating.
Quick answers
What is XCOM: Enemy Unknown about?
An alien invasion begins, and you become the commander who has to answer it. XCOM is a secret multinational force fighting on two fronts: a global strategy layer where you research recovered tech, build a base, and choose which panicking nations to save, and tense turn-based firefights where a single bad move can wipe a squad. Firaxis rebuilds a 1994 strategy landmark for a new generation, keeping the permadeath that makes every named soldier matter. Miss a shot at point-blank range and the consequences are yours to live with. Cold, tactical, and quietly devastating.
When was XCOM: Enemy Unknown released?
XCOM: Enemy Unknown was released on 9 October 2012.
Who made XCOM: Enemy Unknown?
XCOM: Enemy Unknown was made by Firaxis Games, 2K Games and Feral Interactive.
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XCOM: Enemy Unknown in our writing
- Companion guide: Alien Contact
- Companion guide: Aliens Hiding Among Us
- Companion guide: Military Sci-Fi
A few thoughts on XCOM: Enemy Unknown
The desperate-last-stand-against-aliens feeling runs straight through Aliens, James Cameron's siege classic of soldiers outmatched by a smarter enemy. Edge of Tomorrow turns the same die-and-adapt tactics into a time loop. And Firaxis' own Civilization scratches the same one-more-turn strategy itch on a grander canvas.
Multinational task forces racing to answer a global alien invasion
XCOM: Enemy Unknown puts a secret multinational force in charge of Earth's response to an alien invasion, juggling which countries to defend as the sky burns. Independence Day and Aliens put ordinary people and marines against the same overwhelming alien threat, Edge of Tomorrow turns the invasion into a brutal, tactical loop, and Half-Life 2 shows what happens once an alien empire has already won and dug in.
Long, ambitious stories that actually kill the characters you love
XCOM: Enemy Unknown lets a named soldier die for good after one bad call, and that permadeath is what makes the campaign feel real. Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon are famous for removing major characters without warning, The Boys keeps its cast genuinely at risk across every season, and Stranger Things has let its own group of friends pay real costs as the danger keeps escalating.