Editing X-COM: Terror from the Deep

{{About|the second entry of the original XCOM series|the second entry in the reboot series|XCOM 2}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Short description|1995 video game}}
{{Infobox video game
|title = X-COM: Terror from the Deep
|image = XCOM TERROR.jpg
|caption = North American MS-DOS cover art
|developer = [[MicroProse]]
|publisher = MicroProse
|designer = Stephen Goss<ref name="game manual">{{cite book | last =Stokes | first =Nick | title = X-COM: Terror From The Deep Game Play Manual | publisher = MicroProse Software | year =1995 | page = 89}}</ref>
|producer = Stuart Whyte
|programmer = Bill Barna <br> Annette Bell <br> Nick Thompson
|artist = Drew Northcott <br> Matthew Knott
|writer = Alkis Alkiviades
|composer = [[John Broomhall]] <br> [[Allister Brimble]]
|series = ''[[XCOM|X-COM]]''
|engine = 
|released = June 1995 (DOS)<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.ign.com/games/x-com-terror-from-the-deep|title=X-COM: Terror from the Deep|publisher=IGN |date=2013-08-27 |access-date=2013-09-02}}</ref><br>1996 (PlayStation)<br>1998 (Windows)<ref name="mobygames">{{cite web|title=X-COM: Collector's Edition|url=http://www.mobygames.com/game/x-com-collectors-edition|website=[[MobyGames]]|publisher=Blue Flame Labs|access-date=24 February 2018}}</ref>
|genre = [[Real-time strategy]], [[turn-based tactics]]
|modes = [[Single-player]]
|platforms = [[DOS]], [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]], [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]]
}}

'''''X-COM: Terror from the Deep''''' is a [[strategy video game]] developed and published by [[MicroProse]] for the PC in 1995 and for the [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]] in 1996. It is a sequel to ''[[UFO: Enemy Unknown]]'' (known as ''X-Com: UFO Defense'' in North America) and the second game of the ''[[XCOM|X-COM]]'' series, this time taking the war against a renewed [[alien invasion]] into the [[Earth]]'s oceans.

==Gameplay==
''X-COM: Terror from the Deep'' takes place mostly underwater, with base-building and combat all being submerged beneath the waves. This is also used as a plot device; all of the alien technology from the first game is unusable in salt water, forcing the player to capture and develop new technology.

Just like ''[[UFO: Enemy Unknown]]'', the game consists of two parts. The first is the [[Real-time strategy|real time]]-based GeoScape, a global view of Earth where the player views alien and X-COM craft and bases, can hire and dismiss staff, buy and sell vehicles, weaponry, ammunition and items, and build and expand bases. The second part, the BattleScape, is used for combat between squads of aliens and humans, and takes the form of a [[turn-based tactics|turn-based battle]] from an [[Isometric graphics in video games|isometric view]].

Underwater battles use the same physics as the ground ones but certain weapons cannot be used on surface/land missions. The game features some mission types composing of multiple parts, such as alien shipping route terror attacks in which the first part is a battle of the upper floors of the ship while the second part takes places in the lower decks of the ship (all parts must be completed for these missions to be successful, and soldiers lost in previous parts do not appear in later parts). Aside from lengthy multi-part missions, map layouts are more complicated, there are several types of terror missions, and weapons carry fewer rounds in their magazines.

Difficulty levels were markedly increased compared to ''UFO: Enemy Unknown''. A part of the reason for the enhanced difficulty is that players complained of the first game being too easy, however MicroProse were unaware that this was due to a bug that resulted in it reverting to Beginner mode in the released version. A new feature added in ''TFTD'' was melee weapons, thanks to feedback from the players who suggested the idea.

==Plot==
''Terror from the Deep'' is set in 2040, four decades after the events of ''UFO: Enemy Unknown''. Following the destruction of the alien Brain on Cydonia, a transmitter remained active there which awakened a group of aliens under the Earth's seas who had lain dormant for millions of years. After awakening, the aliens proceed to terrorize seagoing vessels and port cities, kidnapping humans to perform bizarre genetic experiments on them. X-COM, which had been disbanded after the first alien war, is revived by the Earth's governments to fight this new menace as the aliens' ultimate goal is to reawaken their supreme leader, a being that cannot be stopped once revived.

Eventually, it is revealed the aquatic aliens, cousins of the Sectoids from ''UFO Defense'', came to Earth on a massive spacecraft, known as T'Leth, that crashed into what is now the [[Gulf of Mexico]] 65 million years ago, causing the [[Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event|extinction of the dinosaurs]]. Destruction of T'Leth by the player results in victory but also accidentally results in another worldwide environmental cataclysm, destroying the [[ecosystem]] of Earth and setting the stage for the third game in the series, ''[[X-COM: Apocalypse]]''.

==Development and release==
[[MicroProse]] wanted the developer [[Mythos Games]] to make a sequel to ''UFO: Enemy Unknown'' in six months. [[Julian Gollop]] felt that the only way to do so was to change the graphics and make minor changes to the gameplay. Eventually, MicroProse licensed Mythos' code and their internal UK studio created ''Terror from the Deep'' within a year, while Mythos Games began developing the next sequel, ''Apocalypse''.<ref name="Eurogamer Gollop Interview">{{cite web|url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-11-28-the-story-of-x-com-interview?page=1|title=The Story of X-Com|website=Eurogamer|date=28 November 2010|access-date=28 November 2010}}</ref>

MicroProse artist Terry Greer recalled: "A decision was made to use the original engine, reskin the graphics and create a whole new story. By keeping changes to the absolute minimum a sequel could be created in just a few months. Also, by not inventing any new game features or game technology it would make the scheduling one largely led purely by asset creation – which makes it whole lot easier when it comes to estimating task durations and scheduling."<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.terrygreer.com/xcomterrorfromthe-deep.html | title=XCOM Terror from the deep | publisher=Terry Greer | access-date=4 November 2017 }}</ref> Simultaneously with making the console port of ''Terror'', MicroProse UK also began work on their ''[[X-COM: Alliance]]'' project.

''X-COM: Terror from the Deep'' was originally released on 1 June 1995 for the PC [[DOS]]. It was ported to the [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]] in 1996. In 1998, a [[Windows 95]] port was released with ''Enemy Unknown'' as part of the ''X-COM Collector's Edition''.<ref name="mobygames"/> On 4 May 2007, the game was distributed on [[Steam (service)|Steam]] by [[2K Games]], who has inherited the franchise (first only for the [[Windows XP]], but a later update which enabled [[Windows Vista]] support).

The game has been re-released as part of the compilations ''X-COM Collector's Edition'' by MicroProse in 1998, ''X-COM Collection'' by [[Hasbro Interactive]] in 1999, ''X-COM: Complete Pack'' by 2K Games in 2008 and ''2K Huge Games Pack'' in 2009. The fan-created ''OpenXCom'' project, originally an improved, modernized remake of the first game, also added ''TFTD'' support which fixed a number of bugs and programming oversights in the original game, including better enemy AI.

==Reception==
{{Video game reviews
| GSpot = 7.2/10<ref name=gs/>
| PCGUK = 92%<ref name=pcg/>
| PCGUS = 82%<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pcgamer.com/reviews/1191.html |title=PC Gamer Online &#124; X-COM: Terror from the Deep |website=[[PC Gamer]] |date=1999-12-11 |access-date=2013-09-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991211125844/http://www.pcgamer.com/reviews/1191.html |archive-date=11 December 1999 }}</ref>
| PCZone = 94%<ref>''PC Zone'', May 1995</ref>
| NGen = {{rating|4|5}}<ref name="NGen7"/>
| rev1 = ''[[Computer Game Review]]''
| rev1Score = 97/98/95<ref name=cgr>{{cite web | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961221191753/http://www.nuke.com/compent/reviews/xcom2/xcom2.htm | url=http://www.nuke.com/compent/reviews/xcom2/xcom2.htm | title=It's Not the Creature from the Black Lagoon. It's a Whole Lot Worse. | author1=Perry, Kevin | author2=Chapman, Ted | author3=Kaiafas, Tasos | work=[[Computer Game Review]] | archive-date=21 December 1996 | url-status=dead }}</ref>
}}

Together with its predecessor, ''[[UFO: Enemy Unknown]]'', ''Terror from the Deep''{{'}}s sales had passed 1 million copies by March 1997.<ref name=sales>{{cite magazine| author=Coleman, Terry |title=Winter Wonderland |date=March 1997 |issue=152| magazine=[[Computer Gaming World]] | pages=209, 210 }}</ref> The game was received mostly very well by critics. ''[[PC Gamer UK]]'' called it to be "not only a great sequel to ''UFO'' but a superb game in its own right."<ref name=pcg>''PC Gamer'', April 1995</ref> ''[[Computer Game Review]]'' offered a rave review and awarded the game a "Platinum Triad" score.<ref name=cgr /> On the other hand, [[GameSpot]] stated that "apart from new art and a handful of new combat options, this is exactly the same game as ''UFO Defense'', only much more difficult."<ref name=gs>{{cite web |url=http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/xcomterrorfromthedeep/review.html |title=TFTD review by GameSpot |author=Dulin, Ron |date=1 May 1996 |website=GameSpot |access-date=30 October 2010 |archive-date=9 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609234136/http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/xcomterrorfromthedeep/review.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> ''[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]'' felt the same: "In the end, ''X-COM 2'' is still a phenomenal game, and has been scored as such, but it seems so much more could have been accomplished to make this game more than just a carbon copy of an old game."<ref name="NGen7">{{cite magazine|title=Dé Jà VU|magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|issue=7|publisher=[[Imagine Media]] |date=July 1995|page=74}}</ref>

Julian Gollop criticised MicroProse for "some classic mistakes in turn-based games, which is to make the difficulty too tough and the levels too big, long and tedious to get through."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.edge-online.com/features/julian-gollop-xcom |title=Julian Gollop on XCOM – Edge Magazine |publisher=Edge-online.com |access-date=2013-09-02}}</ref> According to Jake Solomon, the lead designer of 2012's ''[[XCOM: Enemy Unknown]]'', MicroProse did few new things with the sequel "except made it brutally harder and made the cruise ships four times longer than any human could realistically make," yet still the game "was awesome."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/02/01/xcom-enemy-unknown-preview/ |title=Know Your Enemy: Firaxis on XCOM, Part 1 |website=[[Rock Paper Shotgun]] |date=2012-07-25 |access-date=2013-09-02}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of underwater science fiction works]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*''X-COM Terror from the Deep: The Official Strategy Guide'' by [[Dave Ellis (game designer)|Dave Ellis]], {{ISBN|0-7615-0074-X}}.

==External links==
*{{official website|https://web.archive.org/web/19961221154703/http://www.microprose.com/gamesdesign/gamespage/backproducts/backproductpages/xcomterror.html}} (archived)
*{{MobyGames|/x-com-terror-from-the-deep}}
*[http://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=TFTD UFOPaedia]: An extensive [[wiki]] containing information, analysis, strategy, and other resources for this and other games in the series.

{{X-COM}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:X-Com: Terror From The Deep}}
[[Category:1995 video games]]
[[Category:DOS games]]
[[Category:Games commercially released with DOSBox]]
[[Category:MicroProse games]]
[[Category:PlayStation (console) games]]
[[Category:Real-time strategy video games]]
[[Category:Science fiction video games]]
[[Category:Single-player video games]]
[[Category:Strategy video games]]
[[Category:Turn-based tactics video games]]
[[Category:Video game sequels]]
[[Category:Video games about alien invasions]]
[[Category:Video games developed in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Video games scored by Allister Brimble]]
[[Category:Video games scored by John Broomhall]]
[[Category:Video games set in the 2040s]]
[[Category:Fiction set in 2040]]
[[Category:Video games set in the future]]
[[Category:Video games set underwater]]
[[Category:Video games with isometric graphics]]
[[Category:Windows games]]
[[Category:XCOM]]