XCOM: Enemy Unknown
XCOM: Enemy Unknown screenshot 1XCOM: Enemy Unknown screenshot 2
StrategyTurn-Based StrategyTacticalSci-fiTurn-BasedAliens

354 playing

Peak in the last 24 hours: 798

Peak in the last 7 days: 983

XCOM: Enemy Unknown Steam store

Game description

The XCOM: Enemy Unknown - Slingshot Pack is Now Available!

Basic info

DeveloperFiraxis Games, Feral Interactive (Linux)
Publisher2K, Feral Interactive (Linux)
PlatformsWindows · Linux
Steam DeckPlayable
Release dateOct 8, 2012
Price

Prices by IsThereAnyDeal

Minimum specs

OSWindows Vista
Processor2 GHz Dual Core
Memory2 GB
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT / ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT or greater
Storage20 GB
steamyze

Review Analysis Score

Based on 426 reviews from the past 1 year

88.9/ 100
Top 20%

Steam rating: Very Positive (93%)

Metacritic: 89 /100

Review analysis summary (Reviewed Oct 22, 2026)

Turn based squad battles earn XCOM: Enemy Unknown a score of 88.9, top 20% of games we analyzed. Reviewers enjoy its tactics but warn that a single missed shot can turn a mission.

👍 Strengths

188 reviews say they enjoy it, and some call it a top pick in its genre that has aged well. 80 praise its tactical depth, and others highlight squad building, soldier synergies and base management. 20 like its visuals, with a few noting that the comic style art still looks good at high resolutions. Gameplay ranks 228th of 1396, and Content Volume ranks 320th of 1351.

👎 Where it falls short

44 find the difficulty harsh, and some describe missed high percentage shots or early spikes that wipe out a whole squad. 28 report crashes or freezes, including a few that hit at the final cutscene or during enemy turns. 23 say missions grow repetitive, with some pointing to reused maps in the mid and late game. Visuals & Sound ranks 897th of 1249, and Tech & Support ranks 695th of 1399.

Representative reviews Original reviews ↗

“likes game significantly more than XCOM 2, Enemy Within best experience” · 188 reviews
“good tactics and overall pleasant experience” · 80 reviews
“comic style graphics age well, scales to 4k” · 20 reviews

How it holds up

−50+5

Controls, difficulty, progression and depth
Mentioned in 64% of reviews · Top 20% of the games we've analyzed

Strategy +3.60 · Depth of builds, tactics, and meaningful choices
Positive “good tactics and overall pleasant experience” · 80 reviews
Negative “lost complexity from original XCOM” · 5 reviews

Progression 15% · Difficulty 36% · Onboarding 12% · Freedom 3% · Controls & feel 7%

Plot, characters and the world
Mentioned in 26% of reviews · Top 50% of the games we've analyzed

World +3.35 · Lore, atmosphere, and how immersive the setting is
Negative “missing final mission to Mars from original game” · 1 review

Story 14% · Characters 5%

How much there is to do, variety and replay value
Mentioned in 28% of reviews · Top 30% of the games we've analyzed

Replayability +3.84 · Reasons to play again — runs, randomness, New Game+
Positive “every campaign feels different with emergent storytelling and high replayability” · 17 reviews
Negative “little replay value, no significant customization choices” · 1 review

Volume 12% · Variety 10%

Graphics, art style, music and sound
Mentioned in 18% of reviews · Bottom 30% of the games we've analyzed

Visuals +2.07 · Graphics, art style, and animation
Positive “comic style graphics age well, scales to 4k” · 20 reviews
Negative “graphics dated due to age, visuals mediocre” · 7 reviews

Audio 6%

Playing with others, the community and servers

Not enough data — only 2% of reviews mention this.

Playing together +2.33 · Fun of playing with friends, teammates, or rivals

Community 1% · Servers & Connection 0%

Pricing, cheaters, balance and matchmaking
Mentioned in 14% of reviews · Top 50% of the games we've analyzed

Balance -0.17 · Whether classes, weapons, and builds are evenly matched
Negative “AI behaves inconsistently and illogically on higher difficulties” · 21 reviews
Positive “psionics useful without being broken, economy management challenging” · 2 reviews

Anti-cheat 0% · Pricing 3% · Matchmaking 0%

Bugs, performance and developer support
Mentioned in 15% of reviews · Top 50% of the games we've analyzed

Stability -0.23 · Crashes, freezes, save loss, and game-breaking bugs
Negative “hard crash at final cutscene, freezes preventing achievement completion” · 28 reviews
Positive “technically this game is good” · 1 review

Performance 5% · Developer support 2%

Grey means too few reviews mention it to trust. — means almost no reviews mention it.

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