Is it just me or does it seem like if we were to take games and movies to heart that we have absolutely nothing to worry about if we were to actually face an alien invasion? There's always some over the top gun wielding soldier who somehow knows every weakness of this previously unknown enemy.  That's precisely what's so enticing about XCOM: Enemy Unknown; the long dormant series returns and is filled with genuine emotion and wonderful pacing that creates one hell of an alien invasion tale. Thanks to a few missteps, it may not be for everyone, but those who do suit up with the XCOM team won't regret it.

"...make tense decisions that actually have consequences..."

At first glance, the story of XCOM is nothing to write home about. You control the elite multinational military force known as XCOM or Extra Terrestrial Combat in the wake of an alien invasion. Looking deeper though you'll see that XCOM is anything but your normal invasion story and shooting alien scum is only half the battle. Enemy Unknown requires you to make tense decisions that actually have consequences beyond reloading a save point.

The core gameplay of XCOM finds you plucking soldiers from the barracks, assembling a squad and sending them out to war. The game features a turn based combat system that may not appeal to everyone, but thanks to how everything in XCOM, from the way the audio keeps you on the edge of your seat to the tense movement of the enemies -- every single turn is one of drama and fear. That fear is mostly because you're constantly investing your time and resources into developing these soldiers into the best they can be but one wrong move can send them to their graves, and in XCOM, death is final and the game's monument to the fallen constantly reminds you of your failures.

"...a very different game than you've played thus far."

Just being a great soldier won't get you far in XCOM though, as the other half of the game tasks you with making a slew of important decisions that have just as much impact on the game as how many aliens you gun down. Do you pull your troops off the battlefield to get them training in new weaponry, knowing full well that the time spent on training could let your enemies destroy earth that much more? It's decisions like this that make XCOM a very different game than you've played thus far.

The genius of Enemy Unknown is that you never really feel like you have all of the answers you need to achieve your goal. Though you're commanding this elite squad, you always feel like your back is against the wall, and you're scrambling to make the right move, and you'll stress out over nearly every decision.  XCOM is unquestionably one of the most tense and thus rewarding games I have ever played, and to some that may be a bad thing, but the ramped up difficulty should be easy to deal with if you've made the right decisions throughout the game experience.

XCOM is not for everyone, but those who do jump in will love the real emotion and terror the game generates by forcing you to make difficult decisions that have real consequences. It's a constantly progressing, never wavering tale of taking chances and alien invasions that truly resonates. It may not be perfect, but XCOM is not to be missed.