UFO: Aftershock

Brought to us by Altar Interactive and Cenega Publishing, UFO: Aftershock is an enjoyable mix of strategic and tactical combat. Players make the decisions that guide the future of humanity through long-term and short-term planning. Resource management, technological research, and military combat all play a role in UFO: Aftershock.

Players begin the game as the leader of a small cell of human explorers who have descended from the safe haven in the huge orbital space station that hovers over the Earth. With limited supplies to begin with players will have to immediately make decisions about resource management. In the tradition of real-time strategy games players will be able to organize their troops to construct various structures to help them attain their goals.

Construction itself is not enough for humanity to prosper. Players are also in charge of the research done by their underlings. As players complete missions and retrieve more technology from the ruined surface of the planet more research options will be available. Players will have to be careful about how much time they spend researching. Enemy forces expand their reach over time. If they are unopposed it could be disastrous.

The geography of the world is broken up into regional areas. Players are able to see the territory claimed by their enemies and watch its growth. As time passes, intelligence is gathered that opens up new missions for players to complete. Once players enter a mission the tactical view of the world is replaced with a 3/4 overview world. Each mission has a unique map that players can explore. When a mission starts players are able to select and equip their characters. Equipment ranges from weapons to armor to implants for cybernetic troops.

Individual characters are able to learn and grow. After a mission characters will get experience. As they increase in level they can learn new skills, improve their existing skills, or increase their basic stats like strength and agility. Players will have good reasons to develop a diverse group of warriors to send on missions as individual characters can specialize into roles like a sniper or heavy weapons trooper.

Combat inside missions is handled in a mix of turn-based and real-time strategy. Characters follow orders and move around in response to the player’s commands. When an event happens, such as spotting a new enemy, the game pauses to allow players to issue new orders. Its impossible to perform actions during the paused game, but players are able to change their troops’ actions immediately in response to new circumstances.

UFO: Aftershock is an engaging mix of real-time strategy, team-based combat, and research backed up with a powerful story line. Watching the demo and hearing about all the different ways a player could advance the game had my hands itching. UFO: Aftershock is due to release September 2005 and it can’t get here fast enough.

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