XCOM®: Enemy Within

About

XCOM®: Enemy Within is a single player casual strategy game. It was developed by 2K, Inc. and was released on November 13, 2014. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

XCOM®: Enemy Within is a strategy game and the expansion to XCOM: Enemy Unknown, boasting 50% more new content. It offers an engaging story, satisfying gameplay, and pretty visuals, as well as high replayability. Despite some bugs, it provides an overall enjoyable experience for fans of the series.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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65%

Audience ScoreBased on 5,125 reviews

story55 positive mentions

stability295 negative mentions

Great port of the original PC game, providing a full XCOM experience on mobile.
Engaging gameplay with deep tactical elements and a compelling storyline.
No in-app purchases or ads, making it a premium experience.

Frequent crashes and bugs, especially when trying to load saved games.
Controls can be clunky and unresponsive, particularly with elevation changes.
Cloud save functionality is broken, preventing players from saving progress.

story
484 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
86%
3%
The story aspect of the game is generally praised for its depth and engaging narrative, reminiscent of the original XCOM experience. However, many players report significant technical issues, including frequent crashes and bugs that hinder progress, particularly in the early missions. Additionally, some content from the PC version, such as specific missions and DLC, is missing, which has led to disappointment among fans seeking a complete experience.
- “Amazing turn-based tactics game with an awesome story and excellent graphics.”
- “The story and gameplay just lock in and keep you engaged.”
- “The graphics are phenomenal, the gameplay is intuitive and the storyline is awesome; who doesn't like kicking alien @$$?”
- “I wanted to like this game as I used to play the XCOM games years ago and it seemed promising, but it literally keeps crashing or getting stuck on the second mission and I can't get any further.”
- “I can't even get past the second mission thanks to a variety of graphical and interface glitches.”
- “It's a great game, but I see nothing but black in the missions... it's glitching too much for me to play...”
graphics
435 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
60%
9%
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many users noting a significant downgrade compared to PC and console versions, which is expected for a mobile platform. While some players appreciate the visuals as impressive for a mobile game, numerous reports highlight persistent graphical glitches and performance issues that can render the game unplayable on certain devices. Overall, while the graphics are generally deemed adequate, the lack of customization options and frequent bugs detract from the experience.
- “The graphics are amazing for being played on a phone; gameplay is just like the original.”
- “Amazing turn-based tactics game with an awesome story and excellent graphics.”
- “The graphics are crisp, the audio sounds amazing, the point and click interface works flawlessly, and the story is extremely compelling.”
- “The graphics are glitched and the game is totally unplayable as of January 5th, 2015.”
- “Graphical glitches make the game unplayable on Nexus 5x.”
- “The graphics quality sucks compared to the lowest PC quality and is unplayable with how sluggish it works.”
stability
314 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
5%
1%
94%
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with numerous users reporting frequent crashes, freezes, and various graphical glitches that significantly hinder gameplay. Many players find it unplayable on certain devices due to these issues, while others note that the game runs well on specific models but still suffers from occasional bugs. Overall, the consensus is that the game requires urgent patches to address its instability and improve the user experience.
- “Absolutely superb graphics and gameplay, runs great even on my S4.”
- “Great job bringing this to mobile, runs great!”
- “It runs like a charm, no glitches or hiccups on my Note 5.”
- “Let me preface this by saying that I love XCOM... but this buggy, glitched-out mess is insulting to the franchise.”
- “The game is buggy as hell.”
- “Unplayable from graphical glitches.”
gameplay
166 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
48%
49%
3%
Overall, the gameplay of the game is highly praised for its depth, strategic elements, and faithful adaptation from the PC version, providing a rich tactical experience. However, players have reported issues such as lag, crashes, and control difficulties, particularly with touch inputs, which can detract from the overall experience. Despite these drawbacks, many users find the gameplay engaging and rewarding, making it a solid choice for fans of the genre.
- “Fantastic game; this is actually a proper game with great graphics and gameplay (if you like turn-based tactical games).”
- “The gameplay is perfect for touchscreens.”
- “The tactical, turn-based gameplay and the research and development based story are brilliant.”
- “I love the game on PC, so I figured on phone it would be as good as on PC or console... couldn't be more wrong... controls are just awful, gameplay is clunky, it freezes from time to time, it's inaccurate as hell and just not worth the time and money.”
- “The game always crashes and the gameplay is buggy; needs to update!!!”
- “I've played this game on over 4 different devices, phones, tablets, etc. and as long as it's been on my Google Play account, I've never been able to get it to play correctly and it just crashes after 20 seconds of gameplay. I can't get past the first mission due to this, and since it's persistently been a problem across the span of about 5 devices I've had over the years, I have concluded it is in fact the game that is the problem and not the device.”
optimization
63 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
38%
29%
The optimization of the game for mobile devices has received mixed reviews, with some users praising its performance and gameplay while others report significant issues such as stuttering, crashes, and poor UI scaling on various devices. Many players express disappointment over the lack of updates to address these optimization problems, particularly on newer hardware, indicating that while the game has potential, it requires further refinement to enhance stability and performance across a wider range of devices. Overall, the game's optimization appears inconsistent, with experiences varying greatly depending on the specific device used.
- “Optimized for the phone better than I hoped.”
- “Say goodbye to your battery because this game is perfect: triple-A quality, optimized for the phone, fantastic gameplay, and exceeds expectations.”
- “Great port, it runs smoothly and is mostly the same as the original.”
- “The UI is not optimized for my phone screen size.”
- “Don't waste your time/money on this unoptimized game.”
- “Horrible optimization, no patches in years.”
monetization
50 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
28%
42%
The monetization model of the game is largely praised for its straightforward approach: players pay once for the full experience without any ads or in-app purchases. Many users appreciate the absence of microtransactions and the commitment to providing a complete game, contrasting it with the prevalent cash-grab tactics in mobile gaming. However, some players have reported unexpected ads appearing despite having paid for the game, leading to frustration and disappointment.
- “Pay once and never again, no ads.”
- “In a world filled with mobile games that try to rob you for every dime you have with in-app purchases and pay to win, this is one of the few that charge you an honest price and give you a complete game and experience.”
- “This is what a game should be like for a mobile device, not free to play in-app purchase of £40 for some tokens that don't give you anything new.”
- “Do not install. I love this game, but I cannot give it more than one star thanks to the fact that since I installed it, I get full-screen pop-up ads on top of every app on my phone. I know it's this app causing it, so sadly I'm going to have to uninstall unless you guys fix this. I paid for this app; I shouldn't have any ads at all in it.”
- “You pay for a game that contains ads.”
- “Why would a $10 game have ads?”
music
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
74%
13%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many players praising the soundtrack as excellent and well-integrated into the story and gameplay. However, numerous users report issues with missing sound effects and voiceovers, often leaving only the background music audible during missions and menus. Some players also note that the music can be repetitive and that certain tracks from other versions of the game are absent.
- “Love the story, gameplay, graphics, voice acting, and the soundtrack.”
- “Awesome soundtrack!”
- “The visuals and cinematics are pretty cool and the soundtrack is excellent.”
- “Sometimes background music is missing, especially when in the squad selection screen before deploying to the battlefield and during combat.”
- “No environment sounds, no gun sounds, no explosions, no dialogues, only the music.”
- “After some time in the game, sound is partially not working; I can only hear music, with no voice or other effects.”
replayability
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
42%
45%
13%
The game is widely praised for its high replayability, with many players noting the engaging gameplay, branching decisions, and challenging modes that encourage multiple playthroughs. While some users mention potential issues with map repetition and occasional boredom, the overall consensus highlights the game's depth, variability, and addictive nature, making it a standout choice for those seeking a game with significant replay value.
- “Imo this game is the standard most games should be judged against -- replayability, brain food, tactics, awesome graphics, challenging story arc, & exciting character types & enemies.”
- “A lot of replayability with branching decisions.”
- “In my opinion, this is the perfect game and worth every penny, because there are no ads, it's the full game (3gb), and just countless hours of not days of replay value.”
- “The game is built around replayability, so the same map showing up two or three times can really mess with my enjoyment.”
- “Fun for a while, but it gets boring and not much replay value to me.”
- “A lot of the cut scenes are removed, probably because it's a phone port, but the gameplay has extremely limited replayability.”
humor
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
86%
43%
The humor in the reviews stems from the irony of the game's performance issues on mobile devices, with users finding it amusing that a game designed for PC/console struggles on less powerful hardware. Many comments highlight the absurdity of paying for a game that crashes frequently, while also acknowledging its quality as a PC title, leading to a mix of frustration and laughter. Overall, the humor appears to be unintentional, arising from the game's technical shortcomings and the players' reactions to them.
- “This is a straight port from the PC/console game, though funny enough, it loads faster than either.”
- “I have to reload and it always works the second time, but I think it's funny that the first load rarely works.”
- “While this is hilarious, I doubt it's intended behavior.”
- “I have crashed so many times it's not funny.”
- “The jokes fell flat and felt forced.”
- “The humor was so stale, it felt like a bad sitcom from the '90s.”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, particularly due to clunky controls and slow navigation on mobile devices. While some appreciate the core gameplay reminiscent of classic titles like XCOM, the overall experience can feel laborious, detracting from enjoyment.
- “This game is just way too tedious and annoying to play on your phone. The way the map is designed makes it so hard to scroll across, and how long it takes just to select your soldiers is irritating. It makes you not want to play anymore because it's so slow and clunky.”
- “For those of you too young or who have never owned a gaming PC, XCOM is a game that comes from a genre that doesn't involve bombarding you with ads, pay-to-win gameplay, or unnecessary grinding and premium content!”
- “This makes the game tedious to play.”
emotional
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users express frustration with the controls, noting that the touch screen can be unreliable and imprecise, which detracts from the emotional engagement of the game. Additionally, random crashes disrupt the experience, further diminishing the emotional connection players can develop with the game.
character development
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The game is praised for its exceptional character development, offering a depth that surpasses many other turn-based RPGs. Players appreciate the combination of character growth with resource management and customization, highlighting it as one of the best in its genre across multiple platforms.
- “Almost the same as my PS3 game, amazing turn-based RPG with solid character development.”
- “This game, however, is the original turn-based shooter with more character development, resource management, research development, and base management than the rest put together.”
- “Edit: still, one of the best PC/console/mobile games made; few turn-based strategy games can match this one for gameplay and character development and customization.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The atmosphere of the game closely mirrors that of the original titles, enhancing both playability and immersion for players.
- “This game captures the playability and atmosphere of the originals beautifully.”
- “The atmosphere is incredibly immersive, drawing you into the world like no other.”
- “Every detail contributes to a hauntingly beautiful atmosphere that keeps you engaged.”