If you were a fan of X-com Ufo Defense and X-com terror form the deep this is the game for you. It doesn't add to much to those old concepts but if that is what you expect, this game will deliver just that. Unfortunately the fact that your soldiers cant actually die makes the game easier... almost too easy.

This is a game that brings forward the spirit of the old XCOM games. The vanilla version is not that impressive but there are very good mods availible that really boost the game. You can even bring in the enemies from the XCOM-games in the game to build a XCOM-ET hybrid game. It works surpisingly well.

Please do not let these two star reviews turn you away from this game. While the "vanilla" game may not be perfect, there are plenty of mods on the Internet that provide many updates to the game that gets you as close to X-Com as possible without going to court. Bman's 4.07 ease of use mod (with Coasty's fix) will get you soldiers that can really die, the ability to play with the aliens from X-Com, the ability to arrange the troops on the transport, tweaks to the AI, and numerous other options to balance the game to your liking. The best part is the ability to deactivate the parts of the mod you don't like via the menus within the game. If you liked X-Com, you will like this game. Period.

The players that enjoy this game are mostly pro XCOM players, and seem to love this game. How about those of us that have not played XCOM first? This game is just plain awful, the graphics are so bad it makes my eyes bleed. Bullets "crawl" from the guns at strange angles dragging you across the map. The only way you can play this game is with fan made mods. Then it becomes playable. But I am not rating a fan improved game. If you want squad based tatctics that work go play Silent storm, a fantastic game with destructable terrain. Fallout Tactics, old game that is fun to play. Ufo alien invasion, a free to download game in development. Jagged alliance 2, way better than this effort. One thing that I like is no box to throw away with a digital download, just a press on the delete key.

If you are reading this you are probably considering buying this game because it appears to be an upgrade from Xcom just like me. Myself I was highly disappointed with this game they sent this game out all buggy even with the patches there are still bugs for all or some users. With me I get the cant install patch 2 bug (seems to be a never before seen bug), and the game crashing aliens (I wont tell you which aliens crash the game its a spoiler =P). The content seems incomplete some complain the game is too hard but I like it hard your supposed to be scared of the aliens. I love it when my tank gets mauled by four 2 meter tall hulking monstrosities as soon as you take it off the airship then surviving to complete the mission. My problem is that its too easy after you get a little research done and then your doing the same mission over and over in different different terrain with your scientists researched everything *needs more research options* and your workers just lounging around because you dont need to build anything. Then finally after many months I get new ships to fight with new missions with game crashing aliens. Theoretically the developers can run this game on their computers if they couldent it wouldent be released right? They have a whole series of games that seem to be full of bugs for most users so what they need to do is stop selling games and start selling computers with these games pre installed because manufacturing bugged games for profit should be illegal.

I have to say I have been extremely disappointed with this one. I have downloaded the mods and patches and have it running as well as it possibly can do, but it is still ridiculously hard from Day 1. It's not about learning curve, as it's easy to learn, but it is just far too unbalanced. One false move by any of your troopers results in their death or mortal wounding as, even on the Easy setting, the aliens one shot kill your soldiers 7 times out of 10. Your vehicle lasts two shots, but it can't be "healed", so it's almost as vulnerable. You would have thought an armoured car would be fairly strong, but I seemed to spend the whole time hiding it behind rocks and trees, which made the missions last a very long time. Your soldiers also seem to have far too few action points as rookies, although this is improved as soon as they level to "private", assuming they make it without being wiped by a lucky alien shot. Losing a soldier isn't a problem, as you can recruit new ones easily, but part of the fun of the game is levelling your soldiers and this isn't happening when 3 out of 4 are taken out on a mission. Clearly, the game can be played through by afficionados, who don't mind repeating missions again and again or have the patience to work out the "ultimate tactics" right from the beginning of the game, but I just don't have the patience to play like this and certainly the original UFO Enemy unknown was not as unbalanced. One of the mods gives a "Very easy" setting, which is certainly playable, but it is so easy that it is boring. Aliens almost always miss you, do less damage and you always seem to one shot kill even the toughest Hallucinors. Worst of all the game has no minimap, so you have to scroll to the edges just to see the playing area. This is plain silly and is an omission from the original UFO too. I think a mod has it, but I'm not sure why we should pay a company that forgot to put in a map. Graphics are reasonable, but the soldiers move very jerkily and this irritated. 1.5/5 stars

I loved XCom and I love this game. Only thing that I wished is more clear weapon graphics on the base only otherwise everything is fine.

Good luck

An unwieldy interface, and lack of balance and strange design decisions (such as unkillable soldiers) means this game only becomes good when you download and use some of the fan-made modifactions that have been made for it. Look for the mods on the official website forums at

http://ufo-extraterrestrials.com/forum
or
http://ufo-scene.com/plugins/forum/6

Ratings:
3/5 for the unmodified game with the patch
4/5 for the game with user-made patches

There'snotmuch I can add to what is said so far except I like the game. There are quirks, no doubt, but overall I like how this game rewards you if you use tactics and think a bit. I'v found that, unlike in XCom and some of its clones, you can not really move everyone out and scatter to the winds looking for the aliens. You will need to use teams and cover each other. There's nothing worse than having one soldier by him lonesome get stunned then eaten.

I also really like the way the designers implemented base growth. Adding the scientists and engineers to the laboratories and workshops has made it a wee bit easier to manage personnel.

Like a previous reviewer said, I also like how the game makes you go and earn your money! In some of the XCom clones I made a living making and selling medkits. Can't do it in this game. I believe that it adds to the gameplay quite a bit.

Downside: bullets that go 90 degrees from the direction the barrel is pointing. Slow-motion bullets (makes you cringe to go full auto!).

All-in-all I would recommend this game to anyone who likes squad-based tactial games.

As a big Fan of the original X-Com i can only say, this Game is the closest one to the original one. It's the X-Com feeling fans wanted and now we got it. Thanks to Paradox!

This is the best xcom clone by far.

Thirty minutes in and I felt like I was playing an updated xcom which is just what I've been after. Forget all those so called clones (which are quite frankly, rubbish) If you've been after an xcon clone then this is it!

Every review I've read says soldiers don't die. They do. Although I did test the game on easy level and they don't seem to die on that level. Having said that most of the time they just get injured. This is quite a positive change - you start to care about your charaters, and the abilty to improve the stats you want like an RPG allows you to customize your squads to your taste.

New soldiers arrive from time to time but early on you may find yourself short of able bodied men and women to go out on missions. Although if you take it slow an employ some strategey this shouldn't be too much of an issue. You cannot buy soldiers.

If you've played xcom then you can play this immediately.

Another difference is that manufactured items sell for less than the cost of manufacture hence you main source of income will be selling components you salvage from missions. This puts a higher emphesis on managing you funds and forces you to go out on missions. This seems to be another positve change.

Graphics are nothing special but if your like me gameplay comes first and it is a big improvement on the now aging xcom.

The AI is better, they will try to sneak around and attack from the rear. Again an improvement since it rewards more strategic play.

My only real frustration with the game is that the aliens seem to hide once there are only a few of them left. This seems to more of an issue during terror attack missions. You can spend more time looking for the last couple of aliens than anything else - this can be frustrating.

Terror attacks are somewhat boring party due to the lack of variety of the maps, partly due to the feeling it's just another mission rather than a terror attack but mainly due to frustration in trying to find the last couple of aliens. Also there seems to be no penalty for letting civilians die, so they are nothing more than an inconvienience.

It seems all weapons require clips, again an improvement in my opinion since it promotes strategic play.

You don't buy scientists etc, they come as part of the base improvement which takes away a tedious aspect of xcom.

Maps are not random like xcom which hasn't been a problem so far (except for terror attacks). It's a shame as this was once of xcom's strenghts.

The game is mouse driven which is fine most of the time. There are mods out there which address this problem though.

Destructable terrain remains, an enhanced tech tree and truly turn based.

If you loved xcom then you will love this.

I suppose we all have fond memories from Xcom: Ufo Defence and Xcom: Terror from the Deep, and would like to see a sequel made in the same spirit as these classics. While we have had some excellent games which might have surpased our hopes in terms of graphics and the like, I always felt that the spirit of the game was missing and waited for a game that would give me the same kick and nostalgic feeling as Ufo Defence. Well gentlemenn, the wait is over.
Ufo:ET, which really doesn`t have any connection to the Xcom universe seeing as it is developed by another company, Brings these feelings back.

The year is 2025, and Ufo:ET brings the story to the planet Esperanza and as the rather lowbudget intro movie shows, there's an alien invation in progress and you are once again called to command the defence of your beloved planet and save humankind from extinction. (The intro movie is rather poor. If you've ever seen "Delta Force" and "Ground Zero", Imagine a light mix of the amazing roleplay, stunning movie effects and heartgripping story...)
Eventhough it seems the story in Ufo: ET has no relevanse to Xcom 1 & 2 except for a few details you will find the game very familiar. The GUI has gone through a major overhaul and everything is now in 3D, except for the soldier and alien characters, which for some reason is in 2D. The game graphics does have some resemblance to the good old cartoon graphics aswell and it makes alittle more charming than other Xcom clones.
But enough about the graphics. What is really an improvment in this game compared to others is the way you manage your squad. As you might remember from Xcom and TFTD, you had to set up your squad before you launched your troopship and when they arrived at the designated landing site, you went through a rather tedious equipment fase where you had to equip your soldiers each and every time, and when you had a full squad the prosses was long and boring.
In Ufo:ET they changed that. When you launch your troopship you go through the equipment fase before your craft launches, and your soldiers remember what gear they had and you can replace wounded soldiers which makes the whole prosses less tedious and time consuming and more userfriendly. Also, when it comes to soldiers, it should be worth noting that soldiers do not die in UFO:ET. Instead they can be seriously wounded and may spend up to 45 days in hospital recovering.

Other things which makes the commanders life a little more interesting is the research and development fase. In UD and TFTD you had to build laboratories and workshops and then hire technichians and Engineers. In UFO:ET they scratched that part and made the crew a part of the facility it self. This can be a little irritating because you have no way of lowering your R&D costs without scrapping a facility. You can research more advanced research modules after a while that are a little more cost efficient and takes smaller room while offering more scientists.

As for production you can no longer make a profit on stuff that you produce, so those of you who relied on that might have a harder time. This does make the situation in-game more desperate though, as in end game it forces you to down more UFOs just for the salvage. No longer can one ignore the smaller UFOs in end game and just focus on the bigger targets. I think this was a wise choice as it makes the game just a little more challenging.

As for research, you start with "human tech" and as you capture aliens and alien equipment you can research new and improved weapons and facilities.
The research tech tree has also been expanded and a lot of entertaining weaponry like the Flamethrower or the Chemogun makes combat alittle more interesting.

All in all Ufo: Extraterrestrials is a real improvement compared to earlier games in the series. I really recommend you try it if you're a hardcore Xcom fan and felt that the other clones out there missed something.