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Now you can play XCOM: Enemy Unknown on Android, too
Android gamers who've been yearning for XCOM's deep, turn-based tactics just got their wish: 2K has released a version of XCOM: Enemy Unknown for Google's mobile platform. Much like last year's iOS edition, you'll get to fight off invading aliens and build your bases in an interface optimized for touch. This is one of the pricier Android games on the market at $10, but our pals at Joystiq are already fans of the mobile version. It's likely worth the cash if you're looking for something engrossing to play on your spring vacation -- especially if you can't get enough of it on your PC or console.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown gets multiplayer, half-price sale on iOS
If $20 was too high an asking price for the iOS serving of XCOM: Enemy Unknown, good news: the game's currently half price, at just $10. What's better is that it's just received an update as well, which adds multiplayer functionality, iOS 7 optimization, and deeper leaderboard stats. We'd personally suggest playing the game on an iPad, and we'd also suggest setting aside a fair share of your upcoming free time. And maybe some of your occupied time. What we're trying to say is "be concerned about the next few weeks after buying XCOM."
Daily iPad App: XCOM: Enemy Unknown is great, if you've got the hardware
Firaxis recently announced that it was bringing a complete version of last year's console title XCOM: Enemy Unknown to iOS. The game is now available, at a premium price of US$20.00. That's costly for a mobile game, but the truth is that this is no "mobile" game as you might think of one. It's a full-featured experience that brings the old classic XCOM tactical, turn-based gameplay into the latest generation of graphics and gameplay design. The premise of the game is that you (yes, you) are the "commander" of XCOM, an internationally funded military research organization dedicated to fighting an alien threat. The game spans the entire organization: During fights, you direct soldiers in battle, and outside of combat, you direct funding and try to place satellites in the sky to protect the countries of the world as best you can. The game's balance is just brilliant. Research you do in the metagame opens up new combat options in the various skirmishes you'll fight, and winning fights (or capturing aliens) can kick your research into gear, which helps secure more tools and more funding. The game's graphics are excellent, and the grid-based combat experience used in the PC version has been translated to the touchscreen with care by 2K China. The one big issue with XCOM, however, is that because of its scope, it's a monster to run on Apple's touchscreen hardware. The iTunes listing says the game is best experienced on the iPad 4 and up, and they aren't kidding. I had some issues with slowdowns and crashes while running it on my iPad 2. Hopefully, future patches will fix optimization issues and the game will run better, but you shouldn't even think about playing this on anything older than an iPad 2 or an iPhone 4S. All of that said, however, XCOM is as premium an experience as they come on the App Store. This is a game designed for PCs and consoles, and we got it on iOS in a feature-full version, for half the price (the title is still $39.99 on Steam, though I expect that price to drop very soon). If you've got the hardware, this game is a must-play, both because it's so excellent, and just to support this kind of quality iOS release.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown now available for iOS
The long-awaited XCOM: Enemy Unknown has finally arrived on the App Store for a premium price of US$19.99. This is Firaxis' turn-based strategy hit from last year (in my opinion, one of the best games of 2012), translated to the iOS platform in full. The controls have been tweaked just a bit to work with the iOS touchscreen, but otherwise this is the full game, featuring a base that you can upgrade at will, soldiers that you can outfit with bleeding-edge technology and terrific turn-based skirmishes against aliens of all kinds. The graphics, I believe, have been slowed down just a bit, and Firaxis does recommend that you use an iPad 4 to play (and they even say to turn off other apps that might take up cycles in the background). So that could be a pain, especially if you have an older device. Still, this is a modern PC game, and we're getting it here in full form on iOS, so it's hard to complain about that. It's nice that this is a full premium release. You spend one price and get all of the game's content with no IAP or freemium twists at all. XCOM is a great game from a company that is well worth supporting.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown arrives on iOS on June 20 for $20
The long-awaited iOS version of XCOM: Enemy Unknown is almost here. 2K Games has announced that it will be available on the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch Thursday at a premium price of US$19.99. Firaxis' excellent remake of the old PC game arrived on consoles last year to critical acclaim, and now it's coming to iOS with all of the single player features of the main release. Multiplayer mode is coming later on, and will be added in an update a little further down the road. That price might be the most notable thing about this one. Lots of developers are going with freemium on iOS lately, claiming that there's just not a big enough audience willing to pay a higher price to justify anything but giving games away for free. But XCOM is definitely a premium experience, and I think that there are plenty of gamers out there willing to pay $20 for a game worth the quality (XCOM is still selling in stores for $50 or $60 on consoles and PC). Firaxis apparently agrees, so if XCOM turns out to be a hit, we may see more developers and publishers trusting the premium price for their highest quality games. A hit here could also kick off a trend of even more developers bringing out their AAA titles to iOS, possibly even closer to the same day and release date of consoles and PCs. We'll see how this all plays out. If nothing else, we're all set to get another excellent game on iPhone and iPad this coming Thursday.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown invades iOS devices on June 20th
The world is under attack once more, and it's up to your squad of elite, turn-based soldiers to keep humanity safe. We've just gotten word that XCOM: Enemy Unknown is headed to a wide variety of iOS devices come this Thursday, June 20th. Everything from the iPad 2 to the fifth-gen iPod touch is getting a taste of Firaxis' XCOM effort -- should users choose to fork over the $19.99 asking price, that is. Aside from multiplayer (which is coming via free update post-launch), the iOS version is just about the same as its console and PC counterpart -- you build up resources and strike back against the alien menace threatening to tear apart Earth, with the occasional break to torturously study the enemy via "dissection." Whether the enemy is still alive at that point, well, that's a question for your science team. For a full list of supported iOS devices, head below the break. As for Android and Windows Phone 8 support? "We've only announced plans for iOS devices at this time," was all a 2K Games rep would tell us. Not exactly a hard no, but not a confirmation either.
