X-COM: Ultimate War

**X-COM: Ultimate War** is a turn-based/real-time strategy tactical shooter game concept, designed as a reboot and reimagining of *X-COM,* following a more complicated story and featuring a changeable tactical gameplay style.

## Gameplay

*X-COM: Ultimate War* is a multi-genre strategy game in which the player is placed in the role of Commander William Carter, leader of the secret military organisation X-COM, who must defeat a invasion of Earth by an alliance of various hostile alien races. As Carter, the player directs the efforts of X-COM (eXtraterrestrial COMbat) to combat the invasion using various technologies, options and tactics. The player initially begins with a single main base (the location of which is determined by the player) with basic facilities and one access lift with one level of underground building options available, one satellite for monitoring additional territory, a single living quarters facility, a single Skyranger plane, two Interceptor fighter jets and a handful of soldiers, scientists and engineers, and must build from these basics into Earth's last hope against the invasion. This is accomplished by a series of tactical decisions, physical battles, and objective-based missions to fight both the aliens and the renegade human organisation EXALT.

X-COM funding is provided by the 35 registered nation of the Council of Terra, divided by continent - North America (USA, Canada, Mexico and Greenland), South America (Brazil, Columbia, Argentina, Chile and Peru), Europe (France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Poland and Norway), Asia (Russia, China, India, Turkey, Thailand, Indonesia and The Phillipines), Africa (Algeria, Morroco, Nigeria, Sudan, Ethiopia, Chad, and The Congo), and Independent (UK, Japan and Oceania). At the end of each month, a funding report is provided, where nations can choose to increase or decrease their level of funding based on their perceived progress of the X-COM project, which is determined by each nation's panic level. Panic is increased when the player does not or is unable to respond to a event, such as attacks on civilian airplanes or unexplained storms caused by the aliens, and conversely decreased when the player is able to successfully respond to a attack, fulfils a council request for specific alien artifacts to further research and hasten reconstruction, or launches a satellite to help cover the terrain and detect alien ships. If a nation's panic level reaches maximum by the end of the month, the nation will stop funding X-COM, which will also happen if the nation is infiltrated by the aliens. It is possible for the player to launch a special mission to retake a nation overrun by aliens or convince a nation that has left the X-COM project to resume funding. If more than 10 funding nations leave at once, the game is over.

### The Bureau

> *Main article*: X-COM: Ultimate War/The Bureau and Base Facilities
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X-COM's underground headquarters, named the Bureau, is the game's hub area and where much of the game is set. While in the Bureau, the game is automatically set to a third-person perspective as Carter overviews the base in person, visiting facilities and overseeing progress, physically interreacting and conversing with other characters. A *Mass Effect*-styled dialogue tree is available, allowing for different responses when conversing with non-playable characters. The player can also use computer systems scattered around the base to perform specific actions related to the facility in question, such as choosing satellite deployment locations while in a satellite nexus.

From the central facilities, Carter can direct research and engineering, manage construction of new facilities and auxiliary bases, check on the panic levels of funding nations, give and take requests from countries, begin and monitor campaigns of public interest, run intel scans to attempt to locate and launch covert operations against EXALT, trade goods with various businesses and organisations, sell gathered alien artifacts on the black market to raise funds, and recruit new agents. The centre of the facility contains the Geoscape, a holographic map of the Earth where the player can advance or pause time, check sites of alien activity, scan for UFOs and deploy fighter jets to combat them, and launch missions using Skyrangers containing squads to complete secondary objectives, such as helping to repair a small village or monitoring alien activity near a rumoured alien base.

### Research and Engineering

> *Main article*: X-COM: Ultimate War/Research
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> *Main articles*: X-COM: Ultimate War/Engineering Projects
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The research and engineering departments of X-COM, led by Dr. Vahlen and Professor Shen respectively, are the player's main component in fighting the alien threat. Research is based around the reverse engineering of alien technology and new developments, while Engineering allows for the production of new weapons, armour and equipment to be used by soldiers. Both departments require a prerequisite of resources to be available, and Engineering additionally require extra funding for their productions. Research can be conducted on whatever alien objects are remained, from analysing and understanding alien weaponry to autopsying alien corpses to performing physical and psychological analysis on captured aliens. Once a new weapon or item concept is completed, the blueprints are sent to Engineering, who will then be able to manufacture it. These projects' speed is determined by the number of scientists in the Research department and Engineers in the Engineering department, who can be hired using money given by governments or acquired by selling artifacts or raiding enemy bases.

Research and Engineering both follow a extensive and deep technology tree, where one project must be completed by a future one can be started - for example, the player must complete the Research into translating the aliens' language into human speech and vice-versa before they can begin interrogating captured aliens. In addition to the player's own Research and Engineering, both the aliens and EXALT also conduct their own through their own operations.

### Items

> *Main article*: X-COM: Ultimate War/Items
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> *Main article*: X-COM: Ultimate War/Achievements
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### Interceptions

> *Main article*: X-COM: Ultimate War/Vehicles
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> *Main article*: X-COM: Ultimate War/UFOs
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### Ground Combat

> *Main article*: X-COM: Ultimate War/Soldiers
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> *Main article*: X-COM: Ultimate War/Enemies
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> *Main article*: X-COM: Ultimate War/Abilities
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Once a mission is selected, such as assaulting a landed or downed UFO, Carter must leave for a Hangar and select a group of up to sixteen soldiers or robotic units to accompany him on the mission. Soldiers can come in twelve different classes, each possessing specific roles, weaponry and abilities - for example, the Assault class specialises in frontline offense and is armed with a Rocket Launcher and Shotgun, while the Sniper class is armed with a Sniper Rifle and Submachine Gun and is oriented towards eliminating enemy units while remaining behind the front lines. Carter himself has a unique Commander class, being able to select three weapons of choice to use, and having more health and abilities.

Before actual ground combat begins, the player is given the option to play in one of two different modes - Strategic, which allows the battle to play in a turn-based isometric style where each unit has a limited number of moves per turn; and Tactical, which allows the battle to play in a over-the-shoulder third-person tactical shooter style where the player retains direct control of Carter and instead issues direct commands to their AI-controlled soldiers. Each gameplay style provides different methods of combat and motivations for the player to use -for example, Strategic gameplay allows units to go on Overwatch to automatically fire on enemies who move near them.

### Events

> *Main article*: X-COM: Ultimate War/Soldier Awards
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> *Main article*: X-COM: Ultimate War/Light Events
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> *Main articl*e: X-COM: Ultimate War/Dark Events
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## Storyline

### The First Invasion

The story of *X-COM: Ultimate War* begins with the birth of William Carter in 1921, who after serving in the American military during the Second World War would later become a Central Intelligence Agency operative, where his quick-thinking and bravery would award him several honours. However, disaster later struck when his pregnant wife, son and parents were all killed in a mysterious house fire while he was working abroad. Blaming himself for being unable to return in time to save them, Carter resigned to administrative duties until 1962, when, during the height of the Cold War, he was assigned to deliver a top-secret package to a mysterious base in Washington under orders of Myron Faulke, the director of the Bureau of Soviet Invasion Combat (BSIC), who believes in the existence of extra-terrestrial life on Earth.

While stopping at a motel while on his way to Washington, Carter witnesses UFOs landing near the motel, and is forced to take shelter in his room when humanoid lifeforms begin assaulting the motel and approaching Washington. His brief attempt at fighting the aliens is easily thwarted and he is shot with a plasma-based weapon in the shoulder as a small squad of the aliens locate and open his package, which reveals a egg that hatches into another alien lifeform that appears to be made of pure energy. The attacking aliens refer to this new life as a demon and begin attacking it, with Carter, despite being severely injured and delirious, attempting to help the energy being. After defeating all its attackers, the being offers its hand to the dying Carter, who takes it, causing a massive flash of light that vaporises the motel and incinerates all aliens around its borders.

Carter reawakens to find himself lying in the crater left behind with his wounds completely healed and the energy being having become a ghostly presence around him able to interact with the world, claiming that the two are "now one". This being, taking the name of Asaru at Carter's suggestion, does not remember his past or his species, but can sense he is on Earth to "fight a great battle against a great evil". As more UFOs begin approaching Washington, Carter makes his way to the city, using Asaru's abilities to fight against the aliens. He arrives at Washington just in time to see President J. F. Kennedy gunned down by the aliens, and begins searching for Faulke in the city.

## Trivia

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> *Main article*: X-COM: Ultimate War/References
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