Almost perfect.

Probably my favorite turn-based combat system. So genuinely captivating to navigate, learn, and master that it by itself made history in the genre.

But what surrounds it is not so up there. Base management adapts to the main gameplay pretty well, but the sky combat is so nothing, a nuisance that I forgot was even there half the time and the other half it's just frustrating due to how much it depends on the money you spend on it out of pure guess work. Money that's more rewarding to spend on ground units and base upgrades.

The world panic system also feels like it punishes you for progressing more than lacking in focus or skill.

Despite that, Xcom is what I will always look up to in pure strategy terms. A classic.

Personalmente no soy alguien que le interese especialmente los juegos de estrategia, pero la franquicia XCOM por algún motivo captó mí atención por sobre cualquier otra.
Si considero que Mario+Rabbids es un genial acercamiento al mismo estilo de juego y probablemente un punto de partida ideal para muchos jugadores, Enemy Unknown/Within también creo que pueden ofrecer un buen primer acercamiento si uno está dispuesto a aprender sus mecánicas.
Enemy Within es la versión definitiva del juego, ya que añade mejoras, enemigos y misiones muy buenas que mejoran la experiencia y original, recomiendo mucho jugarlo directamente con el DLC por sobre la versión base.
La historia es bastante típica y no tiene nada demasiado especial, y los personajes si bien son muy simples el juego lo compensa a través del vínculo que crea el jugador con sus soldados.
Pero si tuviera que recomendar EW por un motivo principal, sería definitivamente por lo adictivo que llega a ser. Las misiones son muy divertidas, especialmente cuando se ponen más complicadas, y el jugador termina totalmente inmerso buscando la forma clave para salir de esa situación.
Es un gran juego que me dejó un muy buen sabor de boca, y que me dió cierta curiosidad por ver qué más tiene para ofrecer el género de estrategia.

tl;dr Improvement and makes the vanilla unnecessary. The definition of what an expansion should be. Adds some of the coolest shit ever in any Xcom, and shows what firaxis could possibly do with there style of Xcom.

Enemy within adds meld. Meld can be used to make 2 of the following. Mech units which are soilders that have been amputed to fit into big robots that dominate the battlefield. The other thing meld can be used for is modifying your Xcom units with biological enhancements that make them have even more abilities.

These two additions just add so much more variety to everything alone yet it's not the only things this expansion adds. It also creates the interesting faction that offer more mission variety and possibilities to the formula. Exalt which are arguably based off the original idea of adding a opposing faction in the original title named Men in Black.

Exalt missions add a breath of fresh air honestly and although some of them can be a bit unfair, they offer great resources to help you out in your campaign such as weapons and more meld. Exalt tend to steal resources from you time to time making them a huge pain until you can find and nuke there base.

Overall a great experience and honestly playing both vanilla and Enemy within an extensive amount of time I have to say it's almost impossible for me to go back to the OG Enemy unknown.

Gameplay: Great
Story: Great
Controls: Great
Graphics: Great
Length: Great

I’m not usually into tactics games, but the structure of XCOM:EW just mesmerizes me. It has a ton of different systems, but none of them feel in any way obtuse or overwhelming, and they all interlock perfectly to create a game experience that is surprisingly breezy.

Sure, you’ll meet cataclysmic failure around every corner, but that’s really central to the game’s ethos: it wants to instill in you a sense of grim acceptance. Not every hero lives, not every mission succeeds… not every planet is saved in the end.

Once you give in and stop reloading saves every time something goes awry, you may find yourself liking the game more and more. Eventually, like me, you may be perfectly happy playing it casually, an hour or so a week, in Iron Man style until your doom… and then starting again, in perpetual search of the timeline where everything DOES happen to go just right.

XCOM: Enemy Within is a compelling game that grabs your attention from the start. It delivers a rich tactical experience that feels like it would be right at home on a mobile platform, but without any annoying microtransactions or ads to disrupt the gameplay.

The combat is the highlight here—engaging, strategic, and deeply satisfying. Success feels earned, and the variety of ways to upgrade and enhance your squad keeps the game fresh despite some repetitive missions.

The game's major drawback is its story. It's forgettable and serves merely as a backdrop for the tactical challenges. Additionally, the ending, aiming for drama, ends up feeling cringeworthy.

Overall, XCOM: Enemy Within stands out for its strategic depth and engaging gameplay, making it a must-play for fans of the genre, despite its weaker narrative elements.

To me, Enemy Unknown/Within is a game where you throw hastily-constructed simulacrums of your friends (and random celebrities) into the meat grinder that is a virtual alien invasion. Of course, it's also a sharp, enthralling tactical strategy shooter, but the personality of it lies in the personal narratives that we attach to the game. The game's actual story is pretty barebones, though it is not without some neat scripted events. Regardless, it's that narrative/gameplay balance that makes this game.

xcom: EW takes the goodness of EU's tactical gameplay and applies a bunch of cartoonishly bizarre shit to it, the highlights being MECs and gene mods.

the result is a game that is still as intricate as the original, but far more fun. this game is at its absolute best when you're still learning the ropes: every mission is super tense and you can feel the weight of each one of your decisions almost immediately. thankfully, by thinking carefully about your squad's composition, positioning, loadouts and abilities, you can succeed in every possible situation, because there are always so many options to deal with everything. figuring out the best options to use in each one of those scenarios and making the most out of what you have to either squeeze through a tough spot or completely crush your enemies is so pleasant, i love this gameplay loop.

that level of quality remains until somewhere around mid-late game. unfortunately, when you near the final stretch, you're much stronger and smarter than the aliens, to the point where all of that aforementioned tension is lost and you just kinda have to go through the motions while doing the necessary procedures to unlock the final mission. (MINOR SPOILER WARNING I GUESS??) and the final mission has awful, jarring level design. it's nothing like the rest of the game.

despite that though, i'd definitely recommend this game to anybody that might be interested in the xcom series. EU was great when it came out but this expansion is just.. the better version, and xcom 2 feels more like a challenge designed for veterans of this genre/series