XCOM: Enemy Unknown key art
XCOM: Enemy Unknown cover art

XCOM: Enemy Unknown

October 9, 2012RPGESRB M

Overview

About XCOM: Enemy Unknown

XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a turn-based tactics game with a strategic management layer, and a reimagining of the 1994 strategy title UFO: Enemy Unknown. Players lead a squad of soldiers through turn-based combat missions against alien forces, using cover, positioning, and class-based abilities, where fallen soldiers can be lost permanently. Between missions, players oversee a central base: researching recovered alien technology, building facilities, managing funds, and deciding which global threats to respond to as they try to keep member nations from abandoning the project.
Story setup
Set in an alternate version of 2015, the game begins as an alien force launches a coordinated invasion of Earth. In response, a coalition of nations forms XCOM, an elite multinational military and scientific organization tasked with defending the planet. The player takes the role of XCOM's commander, directing soldiers against an enemy with far more advanced technology while studying the aliens to understand their purpose and turn their own discoveries against them.
Reference

At a glance

Released
October 9, 2012
Platforms
Linux, macOS, iOS, PC, Android
Genres
RPG, Simulation, Strategy, Action
Play modes
Single Player, Multiplayer
Age rating
ESRB M
Time to beat
~31 hours
Media

Screenshots

Click any screenshot to view it full size.

Playtime

How long to beat

Player-reported completion times for XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

Rushed
15hoursMain story only
Typical
31hoursStory plus some extras
Completionist
54hoursEvery side objective too

Estimated from 12 player reports — a small sample, so treat these as approximate.

Playing together

Multiplayer & game modes

XCOM: Enemy Unknown offers various play modes for different gaming experiences.

Play Modes

Single Player • Multiplayer

Content

Age ratings

How rating boards around the world have classified XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Open a board for its content descriptors.

ACBMA 15+
ESRBM
  • Strong Language
  • Blood and Gore
  • Violence
GRAC15+
  • Violence
PEGI18
  • Violence

The game contains realistic looking violence throughout with characters producing blood when shot and dead bodies remaining on the ground.

USK16

Game data and imagery provided by IGDB.com