Buy UFO: Afterlight

Here's a simple bullet point list on the pros and cons about the game:

Pros:
+ Great Soundtrack
+ Unique, timeless artstyle
+ Very versatile engine, runs like butter even on the ♥♥♥♥♥iest machines
+ Hard as ♥♥♥♥, encourages use of actual strategies to outmaneuver the enemy
+ Unforgiving as ♥♥♥♥, one guy dies, you'll never get him back and you can't hire new personnel, makes you value your resources even more
+ Good variaton of maps featuring three dimensional combat
+ Research is actually a sophisticated procedure
+ Terraforming has global effects on the entire playthrough
+ Great variation of gamemodes, including base infiltration and target assassination
+ Multiple, personalizied factions, bringing great variation and competition, even letting you trade and negotiate peace with aliens
+ Great array of equipment which can also be customized and upgraded
+ Can have aliens/beastmen/drones/martians as your own soldiers, each with unique abilites
+ Extremely well made geoscape, let's you construct things like mining facilites, terraforming sites, etc...
+ Laputians are bro-tier
+ One of the most realistic simulations of terraforming and humanities last stand I've ever experienced
+ Usage of mods further improves experience
+ Base management is very complex and in-depth

Cons
- Animations are pretty rough
- Voice acting varies in quality
- Camera in combat mode can be a pain (fixable with mods)
- Certain enemies seem to have ridiculously good aim
- Beastmen hate you, even though you're helping their asses

If you come along some reviews that aren't recommending this game for completely nonsensical reasons (with like 0.3h playtime), ignore that garbage. They're just some casual kids that don't know how to play a genuinely good game. This review right here is the way to go, coming from a true XCOM and UFO fan, telling you that this game is the real deal. One of my favorite games of all time.

this is a highly innovative but low quality member of the X-COM family of games. It has pausable real-time combat like X-COM: Apocalypse. You aren't able to recruit new team members so you basically have to do a mission restart if one of your guys gets killed (although you can have robots on your team and build more robots). Difficulty spikes a couple of times as game throws larger numbers of increasingly powerful enemies at you, but they basically just rush you with no special tactics or real coordination between enemies. The game also generates TONS of tactical missions, there are about 100 regions on Mars with missions to capture every one, enemies counter attack generating defense missions, and the tac missions are fairly repetitive with you taking the same squad/equipment on a dozen or more missions between upgrades. The game does a poor job of keeping you updated as to where you are and what you are doing and the tactical camera went nuts on me a couple of times in the Martian underground. Also the game sometimes hangs for 1-2 minutes while pathfinding in the tactical game.

After putting 17+ hours into this game, I can finally say...

It's ♥♥♥♥ing AWESOME! The graphics suck, the AI is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, and the enemies are tough as hell. BUT, it's EXTREMELY fun. You can plan out all your actions, and then let your troops execute them. The amount of content is staggering, and the game does get slightly repetetive, but so does normal XCOM. A worthy successor of the XCOM series. Most of the negative reviews are due to the different gameplay style, but when you get past that you get a very, very intriguing offspring of the XCOM series. And it's only seven USD, so why the hell not? Buy this game, and enjoy it. I sure have

This game has a pretty sweet overall concept. The core gameplay is future combat RTS with a pause button. A bit like Knights of the Old Republic, which, in my opinion was good because of this dynamic, just as MassEffect2 was unmade by loss of it. IT has a lot going for it but ultimately I would recommend it only as a steam sale curiosity.
PROS:
The gameplay mechanic is the strongest aspect of the game. It lacks a little polish but I love the idea, and I think it has tremendous potential. A compelling concept, with an albeit slightly rough around the edges, but unique and distinctly old-school art style that more than makes up with freshness wht it lacks in polish. A likeable cast of characters that gives you that Sci-Fi novel feeling.
CONS:
Unfortunately, while the art and core gameplay are very good, the metagame in most of its aspects lacks the element of strategy, and becomes a tedious afterthought. The technological and base-building progression that is such a satisfying and powerful drive in games like X-COM: Enemy Unknown, has been designed and balanced haphazardly. The important aspect that makes it strategic and good is that you should understand what your goals are, and what paths lead to them, so that the choice you have to make are meaningful. UFO: Afterlight has a pretty byzantine management game which just kind of drags on and you have no idea how well or poorly you are doing nor are you given any clear objectives. You research stuff, make stuff and aside from guns and medpacks you have no idea what you should be doing. Also after a little while you encounter enemies that are completely unbalanced , which kind of destroys the inmersion as you run around for an hour kiting a single enemy with your whole team, after every other type alien had been killed long ago ibn a more or less fitting tactical fashion. I'M LOOKING AT YOU, GAME "DESIGNERS".

In short, like I said, Steam Sale Curiosity

As a long-time veteran of the X-COM series starting at Enemy Unknown, this game is a nostalgic throwback to the X-COM games made in the 80s, but instead of poor controls combined with below-terrible graphics, it is given life with a new combat system and pretty graphics. UFO: Afterlight runs so well that it can be switched between windowed and fullscreen without any problem, and the game will never crash. This game is a must-own for those who want to experience X-COM before it was good without playing a bad game.

Game kicks your teeth in early and hard and forces you to make some pretty touch choices.
Go sink 90 hours into and terraform Mars

Great narrative.

This is a great game where we have the mixture of turns and strategy modes. You can assemble several teams to send to the missions and equip them with many weapons and itens. Great game for who like the genre.

Don't listen to Veggie, there is a tutorial. It teaches you the basics of moving in the tactical map... Which is... You know, pretty standard RTS fair, you know, Right-Click to move/attack.... Wait, that's it.

As for the base part... Once again, dead simple to understand, perhaps if you've never ever played RTS's before you'd get confused, but it's not that hard at all. You put Researchers (Green Stat) into Labs and such, Technicans into Workshops and such, while using your Soldiers and Soldier + Tech/Research to fight.

If you've ever played UFO/XCOM/XCOM:EU you're going to understand the entire thing from the get go. You set research, you set production, you then let time run. You then defend your territories (many of which hold resources, which, once again, is so simple, each node = 1 resource, so if you have 2 Metal Mines, you can build anything that requires 2 Metal Mines as many times as you want) and attack others. At which point you go into the combat mode. While it isn't turn based, you can pause the game to issue orders, similar to other games like Dragon Age: Origin. You then gather loot, which opens up more research options.

Your NPC's all level up, Techs and Researches included. This is done by Soldiers via fighting battles, while for Tech + Researchers it is done by researching and producing/building. Every time a Soldier levels up, he gets a point to put into attributes, like Strength and Willpower (there are several) these stats in turn affect skills, like Aiming, Snap Shots, Manipulation, Charisma. Each attribute, when clicked, tells you want it improves and each skill tells you want it does. You also get Training Points to spend on various abilities, such as being able to Equip Heavy gear. As for non-combat NPC's, you can train them with Training Points too, these points go into things which help them speed up or improve various other things. Such as Research Speed or Production Speed.

Hybrid's are interesting, such as Soldier + Researcher, as while they are not as dedicated as others, you often need Researchers/Techs to go with you on combat missions in order to get various things. Which of course give benifits. Not to mention, you're not only getting human NPC's, but Alien's too, which have their own Training Point abilities.

The Conquest Map is pretty simple. You click areas to capture, then build stuff, which is all done automatically once ordered. If you get attacked, you're warned and a Red mark appears so you can click it and enter a fight to free it. If you expand far enough, you'll bounce into other races borders, at which point, you'll be able to invade their area and get their resources and such.


Overall, it's a DIRT CHEAP game which has lots going for it. Combat is decent, lots to research and upgrade, specific NPC's talk and argue with each other over stuff to do. It's enjoyable for the price and I recommend it to anybody who likes XCOM:EU/XCOM/UFO series, or perhaps Xenonauts. For £5.50, it isn't bad at all.

I also believe there were two prequels to this, UFO: Aftermath and UFO: Aftershock, both set in the same universe at different points in time.

Aftermath is fighting the Aliens
Aftershock is the rebellion
Afterlight is truce and leaving for Mars

I think. Can't remeber this late.

I've never played any previous XCOM or UFO game before XCOM: Enemy Unknown / Enemy Within which I DO love! But compared to this one, the latest XCOM is a little bit more board-game like and Afterlight is a little bit more complex without overstrain the gamer.

You'll like this game, if:

- you liked the most recent XCOM but looking for a more complex XCOM/UFO game
- you like strategy games generally
- you like squad-based strategy games with RPGs elements such as Jagged Alliance, Fallout Tactics

You'll probably don't like this (so I was told), if you're looking for an first hour XCOM successor or can't overlook the outdated graphics.

Let's get more detailed:

Afterlight is "more" real time like XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Let's say there is an enemy attack on one of your territories you have e.g. 3 days to react. In the mean time you can keep on training or squad (which takes time actually), keep on with the production and so on if you need to do so. The opportunity of the attack doesn't vanish if you ignore it just to do one day more of research or you need additional time for producing a item (that is instantly ready in XCOM: Enemy Unknown).

Also your scientists and technicians you take on a mission (which is quite a good idea because of some bonuses) are not available at your base and since getting to an attack spot needs a bit time it is important to manage well your base, squads and as well as the equipment.

In combat it reminds me a lot to Jagged Alliance. You just can't spray and pray on an enemy if one of your squadees is in line of sight because the travel distance is actually calculated instead of simple numbers on hitting a target or not hitting like in the latest XCOM. The odds are showed to you so you know what are the chances of hitting own soldiers, in such case, or the enemy.

The combat system is very transparent and is comparable to Jagged Alliance Back in Action (pausable real time with each individual plan for any squad member). I don't want to bad mouth the newest XCOM. I still love it and it features much better graphics, innately better customization possibilities for your soldiers and it is more user friendly (interface, micro- & macromanagement) and feels just "more modern".

This games got me hooked right from the beginning that many games aren't able to nowadays so you probably should get it.

I've played both XCOM:EU/EW And UFO:AL for a significant ammount of time now, but I like Afterlight better overall.
The depth of the game easily rivals if not outright defeats XCOM. The weapons can be modified with various attachments and ammunitions, and there are dozens of weapons, most of which are still useful by mid-lategame. Equipment loadouts range from weapons to inventory including spare magazines and more weapons or tools.
It also does not burden you with pre-selected classes and equipment restrictions [Which cost me quite a few XCOM:EW playthrough attempts] since all your crew are capable of the same training and skills [Though alien teamates have different training from humans], which are also more indepth than XCOM. You can train military personell to run faster, damage specific species better, use heavy weapons/suits, or handle weapons faster to name a few categories.
In XCOM's strategic play, you have to manage your money, alien resources, and research projects while scanning for alien ships. In Afterlight, you also have to attack and seize territory, and decide who to be friends with. Will you create lasting friendships or do eye their territories, looking for more land and resources?
The game also has lasting consequences and effects. Team members aren't generic soldiers who happen to be a notch above the rest of millions. You've got a colony and a couple-dozen people to staff it, and those who die are gone, they aren't cloned or replaced, just dead.
On that topic, terraforming [Because thats an obvious goal, right?] has visible overtime effects that ever-slowly escalate visibly on both tactical and strategic play. As terraforming carrys on over the days, you'll see the world turn green with blue slowly, and tactical maps will gain plants and grass graphics too. On top of that, more overgrown areas tend to have lower environmental hostility ratings for tactical battles.

The biggest upside it has, Afterlight's action is real-time with pausing and planning rather than XCOM's turn-based action. Running head-on into previously undetected enemies or missing a shot is no longer a death sentance for your troops, though avoiding the former is still advised. Realtime action and positioning all play a role, where a sniper lying prone on a cliffside can spot enemies and clear them out quickly, and cover is less important and less of an invasive mechanic [though when you get the chance, use it]. Stealth is also an option, with smaller suits, stealthy movement training and silencers all present and accounted for. In a rescue mission, I snuck into the camp, and extracted my target without having to kill more than 2 or 3 enemies patrolling that area.

Although Afterlight is in many respects more realistic than XCOM, it still has downsides. The graphics aren't up-to-date and the dialogue switches tones and word-accents [You'll see what I mean if you watch videos with story dialogue.] The most invasive bugs such as the "Green Grid Error" as I call it where most of the map in tactical battles covered with green grid squares. [There is no explanation at all for these grids. Could they have something to do with graphical errors related to terraforming? I think it's an unknown error with my settings but who knows?]

CAUTION! This game will not run on modern Intel graphic drivers. It's an old (by now) bug, that have no workaround and seems to never be fixed.

Though game itself is pretty nice.

Best of UFO series, possibly even best from all UFO\X-COM series.

Very interesting story line, alive characters with history, that you can actually read. Nice overall gameplay, even bad scripted camera cant spoil the game. Without spoilering I can say, that you wont regret a minute spent in this game. Its a jewel, that must be in your collection, and jewel, that must be played till the end at least once. This game have some modding potential, just check the web for it, but its good even without mods.

Gameplay Strategy = 10/10 (Science, Production, Base development... the best I saw)
Gameplay Tactics = 8/10 (minor camera bugs and AI route problems, but great in all other aspects)
Graphics\design = 7/10 (was 10/10 when the game came out in 2007)
Story = 10/10 (Wont spoil it for you, but its great)

8.7/10 in total

Great game still to this day its like Xcom and Fosaken Fortress (when that comes out) so if ur waiting for that ! play this in the mean time. There is a lot too learn for those new to the RTS games but it is worth it ! my only complaint is the weapon sounds are poo

If you are wondering to buy or not to buy, first you must play Xcom. If you are the type of player who loves xcom and all the strategy in it, you will like this game!!

The tutorial is a mess and it takes a while to get used to all of the tabs within the game, but once you get it its addictive! Great game for its price.

Last and best of UFO games from Altar. Feature I loved most on this game is HR managment. You cant hire dozens of scientists or soldiers. You have limited resources and its up to you what will be your focus and in the end you will remember every member of your little community.
Great game which i reccomend to everyone who likes RPG/RTS mix games

Beat it today and was going to NOT RECOMMEND this game EVAR, but it turned out most negative reviews were just "couldn't run/got an error" messages, so:
Be warned - game mechanics will be your most vicious enemy, either as the result of poor programming, or, more often, just a strange developers choice. Unfortunately, the addictiveness of the game is much more powerful than all of the drawbacks combined, hence 84 hours of gameplay (got them on the old version, released before Bohemia, so they don't show up here). If that is the kind of oldschool you're into - bring it on.

Loads of Research , Many Diffrent alien Races Trying to Take you out And many other things like the depth of the Games' Story
make it a really nice Strategy Game with the only "Bad" things i have personally encountered are the little childish graphics and sometimes the annoying controls giving you odd angles like through the ground for example
To sum things up , it's a really excellent game for it's age ( 6 years ) and i would Reccoment it to the Classic X-com Strategists out there who look for Something Challenging.

i played this EONs ago and I'm so happy i picked it up again. I missed playing a game that opens with a sucker punch, hits below the belt then proceeds to kick you while your down.

its old, but massively fun. I am enjoying this much more than the newest xcom and all of its updates etc. but thats my opinion.

hope to see something like this or Emperor of the Fading Suns in the future... but doubt any company will take a chance like that even though there are rabid fans waiting for it.

so if your thinking about it, check this game out on youtube. that will let you know if you would like it. enjoy.

If X:COM Enemy Unknown/Within can be considered the spiritual successor to the X:COM franchise.... this game is pretty much the direct sequal to X:COM Apocalypse. It feels more of a direct decendent rather than a modern reinterpretation. Maybe that's just me, maybe that's meaningless verbage, but it was my impression.

The only negative mark I would put on the game is the voice acting for the H.R. manager.

Barring that tiny gripe, this game is WELL worth your money if you are a fan of the genre.

well worth picking up if you want to play a xcom like game with way more tech.