[Deejax]

A little spoilerish (very little)
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I'm not really far in the game, but so far I like it. In the beginning I got my @ss kicked by the simplest of enemies because i charged in (and I'm playing on the easiest setting). That taught me to take it one step slower and that worked.

The game is focused primarily on the missions. Don't expect to do more 'strategic' things than R&D and deciding what missions to take. That's one of the things I appreciate: it is impossible to do all missions, you need to delegate part of the missions to other, less elite, teams because you only command one squad.

There are some strange things in the game. You have a basically unlimited source of interceptors to shoot down UFO's but can only field one (1) helicopter to reach mission areas (hence the limit of 7 soldier per mission)

Also the outcome of the dogfight between your fighters and the UFO's seems totally random. I've only intercepted two UFO's but reloaded a number of times. The outcome ranged from 1 ufo down (they travel in fours) and all fighters destroyed to one fighter damaged and all UFO's downed. Go figure.

I really like the pace of the game, even though you can pause at any moment. In the 'strategic part' there are always things to look after. In the 'tactical' missions the atmosphere is great. Especially in the city environments it can be nerve wracking trying to find the enemy before he finds you.

The battle controls take some getting used to, but I like the time it gives you to consider the options of your soldiers.

All of this is, of course, my humble opinion. I've read quite a number of reviews and the verdicts vary a lot. Especially when compared to the x-com series some things seem to lack. The disapearance of the human establishment and economic system are no improvement to the game. But, as I said, this game is primarily based on a squad executing tactical mission.