This game surely qualifies as an artifact from the ancient world of gaming. I once had - and enjoyed - the original Microprose version but 3,5 inches disk are shortlived... Probably one of the greatest games ever published. Better still : you can still get some serious fun out of it, and certainly more than from recent remakes.

to this day there is still nothing quite like x-com, a great blast from the past, look beyond the graphics and you will have a great not to mention deep time

My favourite game of all time. I always come back to UFO and have played all the prtenders to its throne and they still don't compare to the simple fun this game gives you. Graphics are well dated at this stage but its simplicity is its strength.

Its sequels and remakes are nice to explore and add to the overall idea but in my opinion it has never been matched.

Well worth a few quid.

Great Game!!! One of the best vector graphic games on the market! Its squad-based strategy with more tactical and overall strategy concepts. This game won't leave you empty handed, and its well worth its money!

A very fun game, overall.

There are a few glitches which make the game slightly less fun, such as an enemy grenade can have killed you before the mission started, and other small quibbles. But apart from this, the game is good.

The graphics are not good by any stretch of the word, but they fit very well with the feel of the game, so I wont deduct any points from it for this.

The music is slightly painful however, so I simply turned on my own music and that was it.

Very fun gameplay, a good strategic element, but with an overall emphasis on turn based squad combat.

Easily worth such a small price tag.

In few words : Best Squad-sim(and management) games I've played.

This is a Strategy game where you command X-COM, the team with the goal to protect the Earth from Aliens and unknown enemies.

in Management part, you can research gears, produce items(producing items is one of your source of money!), buy supplies(Human resources CAN get REALLY high cost if you've been wasting many soldiers, which easily happens for newbie commanders!), and look at the Earth till UFOs appear.

in Combat part, it's a Turn-based, Isometric view battle using Action Points(Time Units).
Lots of things are detailed, like you can blow walls up(or crush them with your tanks!), using vehicles(either yours or theirs) as cover, using heights as advantages, and so on.

This game's got CRUELLY high learning curve, but it's a complete gem, a MUST GET for people who's got patience enough for tough strategy games.

This is one of the most addicting games I've been playing in my life. This is also one of the best games.
None of the later released clones or remakes gave me so much joy and fun.

Despite the graphic is old, user interface not so user friendly as it might be, the 'one more turn', 'one more technology' syndrome catches you.

As soon as you start to play the game you cant leave in the middle of the night.

I've been playing this game on Amiga, something like 15 years ago and today it gave me the same amount of entertainment.

If you like good gameplay and gfx is not most important thing for you get this game. Especially that the price is a real bargain.

If you haven't played the original UFO, then you've missed out on a game that launched a genre. (Unless you count Laser Squad, but that was for the Atari ST, and nobody has those anymore.) UFO defence is a difficult game, but one that is very satisfying when you finally start being able to kill 3 aliens without losing 6 soldiers to do it. Some battles take waay too long, but when I was serious about this game, I was a student with waay too much time on my hands. You're not a game collector if you don't have the original X-Com.

Simply one of the best games ever written, as evidenced by the fact that it's still for sale so long after release. A perfect mixture of base management, turn-based tactics and global strategy. Bought it when it first came out and rebought it now, it's just as addictive.

One word of warning, this dosbox-based version works brilliantly on my Vista system but crashes on my Windows 7 pc.

The ultimate squad based strategy game of all time. I am still yet to see a squad based game come close. This game has stood the test of time. I looked for this everywhere. $5 is dog cheap for a game of this quality. Highly recommended for anyone who likes strategy games. Its hard to find any fault with it.

There are several reasons why I really love this game, the main one being it features a deep turn based combat system, with tactical and strategic decisions that really affect your performance. The fog of war and line of view are really cool, as they apply to you and the enemy as well. Each character only sees what's in their line of view. The action points based combat let's you save time and use it as reaction during the enemy's turn. Beware, though, they do the same.
The management side it's extremelly cool, as you depend not only on countries financing you each month, you can also manufacture and sell to the world the technologies you research.
In the main non combat view there's a really good time management system that lets you quicly pass time while nothing happens and stop to a crawl when you need finer control.
While in base view, the time is stopped, so you can spend as much time as you want fine tuning.
In combat view you can adjust movement and weapon's fire speeds, so you can regulate how much time you'll spend in combat, balancing between quickness and details.
The integration with the GPL program DosBox (which come complete with cource code as to comply with the GPL) is superb, although you might want to edit the configuration file and change mousse sensitivity from 100 to 80 for better results.

This game is a famous classic for a reason. It is one of those games that grabs you and doesn't let go easily. You always want to finish just one more mission, or research just one more piece of technology before stopping for the night.

In my opinion, this is a game which has aged just fine. The gameplay is just about perfect. The game offers several different challenges to overcome to be successful. Of course, there are the squad-level tactical battles that are the heart of the game but there is also a fair amount of resource management to be aware of. You may often find your budget constraining and decisions on what to research with your scientists as well as what to produce with your engineers can have a great impact on your success.

Another great part of the game is the feeling of discovery you get as your learn more and more about the alien menace threatening the earth.

Nothings perfect of course and a couple of the negatives of this game would be the sometimes difficult early going and the fact that your soldiers, while they have names and stats, are pretty much just interchangeable tools. You're unlikely to grow attached to or interested in the men under your command.

Really though, those are just minor flaws in an otherwise great game. It's addictive, interesting, challenging and can be played again and again without loosing its enjoyment. One of the best games ever.

UFO Defense is a fantastic mix of strategy and squad-based battles. The atmosphere is amazing and even with colorful graphics it's really scary. The european name ("Enemy Unknown") really fits the game here: battles, especially during the night, will get you to move your soldiers slowly while trying to find the enemy, as just a single wrong step may cause a loss. The strong strategic component features intelligent base management and research of new weaponry and alien technology. Although the battle interface is clunky (it's from 1993!), the game is perfectly playable and even the low resolution it's easy on the eyes. Absolutely recommended!

I think this is the best PC game ever. I used to play it when it was released in the early 90s. There hasn't been a game to out do it. You take your squad to the crash site of a ufo that you shot down. You have to search out the aliens and it is really intense depending on the size of the ufo. As the game progresses the aliens build bases and intimidate countries so they stop funding you. You have to research alien technologies and then use them against the aliens. I don't know if my description makes it sound good, but you have to buy this game. Make sure you change the cpu in dosbox to dynamic, then it will work perfectly. Get the game, it is the best game ever.

Awesome!! I have purchased many games over the years, looking for a game that came close to this original masterpiece. Some have come close but never gave me back that original rush. It is nice to be able to finally play this game again on a modern PC. Wish they had made it higher os compatible long ago.