Why You Should Care About XCOM: Enemy Unknown

In case “X-COM” and “proper genre” is not reason enough for you to be interested, the folks at Game Informer have put together a handful of references to whet your appetite for the upcoming XCOM: Enemy Unknown, including Mass Effect, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Resident Evil.

Resident Evil
Any player of the original X-COM can tell you just how creepy a turn-based game can be. Ordering a soldier you’ve named, trained, and equipped to poke her head into a dark cabin in the woods that might house a gaggle of angry aliens is a nerve-wracking moment for any commander. Scraping together whatever resources you can in an effort to stave off impending doom should make any survival horror fan feel right at home in XCOM.

Mass Effect
Hmm, defending humanity from an alien invasion…sound familiar? Turning their own weapons against them ringing any bells? Mass Effect’s tone and XCOM’s couldn’t be more similar. The sense of having your back against the wall and being forced into making tough decisions to win the larger war is XCOM’s bread and butter. No hot blue chicks, though. Probably.

Final Fantasy Tactics
XCOM is certain to be a lot more difficult than Final Fantasy Tactics, but taking on turn-based tactical challenges with a customized squad is the heart of both games. You just know that the dude you name Thunder God Cid is going to end up with a face full of plasma blast, though.

I guess I can see were they are going with the first two comparisons, but Resident Evil?  In any event, new screenshots are provided to showcase some of their reasoning.