Years ago I got the acclaimed Xcom: Enemy Unknown for my PS3, possibly for free as a PS+ giveaway — can’t quite remember — but I never, despite kept hearing good things, got around to actually play it. Well, that PS3 copy will likely remain forever unplayed, but now I’ve done a few rounds of the iPad version, and of both the base game and the (rather significant) expansion Enemy Within.

My verdict: I’m a believer. Excellent game, captivating and surprisingly deep and subtle, and it plays really well on a tablet.

It’s a military game, you’re in charge of a big paramilitary operation trying to prevent an alien invasion. The gameplay has two parts:

1. Primarily and most importantly, I would say, a game of turn-based tactical combat where you control a team of soldiers performing various mostly randomly generated missions.

2. Managing the resources and various areas of development in the secret underground home base.

These parts play very differently, almost like two different games, but they’re tightly integrated so the game is still experienced as a cohesive unit. Obviously in terms of the narrative and theme, but also more directly and practically. For example, during the missions you collect resources which are then managed and used during the base management phase, which in turn helps develop the team (in terms of enhancements, gear, etc) making it more efficient and powerful in carrying out the missions. It’s a satisfying circle.

Looking over the shoulder of someone playing might give you the idea that the game is pretty repetitious, certainly I didn’t think the game seemed very special from videos and screenshots, but truth be told there is a great deal of variety and depth. The different classes, the different development paths within each class (in some cases a single change can completely open or close a set a tactics), a lot of different gear to develop and choose from, what soldiers to pick for a given mission, what order to research things from the massive science tree (with practical benefits attached to nearly each discovery), what tactics to use on the battlefield, what buildings to construct, the different enemy types, and much more. Add to that that many of the missions are randomly generated (within certain parameters). I hear they’re taking this even further in Xcom 2, making the maps themselves procedurally generated.

Also, the solders you hire start out with randomly generated attributes such as name and nationality and looks. While not pertinent to the gameplay, it’s still meaningful. You grow surprisingly attached to these people. In time, assuming they survive, each get to perform memorable acts of heroism, sometimes in such a dramatic fashion you’d swear it was pre-written by an expert dramatist rather than something organically emerging out of skillful navigation of unexpected circumstances. It’s all very compelling in retrospect, in case of success, but less so during the event when you actually don’t know whether they’ll make it (needless to say, no reloads — this game should be played in iron man mode.) Eventually you grow some serious power. My good friend Emma Kohler, a German sniper, was pretty damn impressive, and the team as a whole became a veritable juggernaut later in the game, bringing those aliens and their supporters to their reckoning.

The story, the alien invasion, isn’t the game’s strong suit, nor is it trying to be, nor does it matter. It’s not a story game. Even so, I’d say it adds a sense of progression and provides some context to everything that is going on.

All in all this game is great. If you’re into this type of game at all, you owe it to yourself to give it a try, or at least check out some gameplay videos on youtube (with the caveat I mentioned earlier about not getting the right feel of the game from just videos.)

I’ve already put a lot more hours into the game than I thought I would, and I’m not nearly done yet. It’s the kind of game you want to master.