UFO:Afterlight

Posted on June 06, 2007 in Gaming and Software. - No comments

Many years ago ¹, as a teenager, I spent many days sat infront of my Amiga looking at what was little more than a blank screen – and I was enthralled.

This was the joy of playing X-COM:Enemy Unknown.

X-COM:Enemy unknown was a strategic/tactical game where you put your wits up against the might of invading aliens.

After planning your own movies, the computer would go away and plan it’s and work out the outcome of the two. (Of course, I was always suspicious that the game was cheating and would change it’s mind knowing what I was going to do first – especially when I’d suffered massive loses!) During this time you were presented with what was effectively a blank screen. It was the long wait, not knowing if your people were going to live or die that was all part of the fun, adding to the suspence rather than detracting from the game.

Fast Forward to the Present

While reading my copy of Fortean Times, I came across a review for a game that ignited all these dormant memories. It was a review for the game UFO:Afterlight.

First Impressions

First impressions are good – it looks really nice. My only minor frustrations were with the free-floating camera following the altitude of the landscape and as a result jumping up and down as your move it around.

Instead of the turn based structure, there’s now a more free-form gaming experience, where you can freeze time at any point and change the instructions each of your team members follow.

This is much more flexible and allows for much more control over changing situations.

To my mind, it also removes some of the fun. It was the feeling of being at the mercy of the aliens and having your men standing on their own following the simple instructions you’d given them that made the previous incarnations such a rewarding experience.

There is an awful lot of information to deal with, and once back on the planet view and dealing with the multiple screens of information you need to be prepared for some serious head scratching. Again, I’m not sure if it’s due to my ageing grey-matter or the fact that I have dip in and out of games in short moments of escape that makes it so hard to remember just what was going on! I find it hard to keep track of who’s doing what, where my research is going and what’s being constructed back at my base!

Overall

That said, the developers of UFO:Afterlife have managed to capture the spirit and much of the atmosphere of those early games while adding all those elements people now expect from games. I’ve really enjoyed it, both from the recapturing those lost experiences of my youth to the new challenges and the atmosphere it creates. I think if you’re prepared to put in some time and effort and enjoy something a little different then it’s worth investigating UFO:Afterlight!

¹ I’ve found myself using phrases like “many years ago”, “when I was young” more and more often. A sure sigh that the relentless march of time is making it’s mark!

• Digg
• Delicious
• Stumbleupon
• Reddit
• Facebook

---