UFO: Aftermath
Encyclopedia
UFO: Aftermath, is a 2003 real-time strategy
game with real-time tactical battles from ALTAR Interactive, being a homage to the X-COM
series of games. It started as The Dreamland Chronicles: Freedom Ridge
, an abortive project by the Mythos Games
, original developers of the X-COM series. In 2002 the unfinished game has been bought by ALTAR and restarted.
In concept, the game is similar to unreleased X-COM: Genesis
. The player assumes the role of the Earth's last hope - the commander of the last, scattered humans left on the planet. It is up to him to guide your forces through the planet's time of crisis, and overcome the alien
threat. UFO: Aftermath combines global strategy with tactical missions, weaving them together with a storyline and a strategic, RPG
-like approach to each soldiers attributes and skills.
The strategic phase allows the player to outfit his/her troopers for action, acquire new equipment and personnel, and conduct research to enable the production of more advanced equipment. Mission markers pop up on the globe indicating locations where a team can be dispatched to do battle. Winning or losing a battle may have the effect of expanding the player's territory, allowing more access to resources which enable further expansion. This is much in line with the X-COM strategic mechanics.
The tactical game can be described as pause-based real-time combat. All combatants on the tactical battle area move and act simultaneously, rather than using turns. The player can pause time (or tell the game to automatically pause on certain events), and issue orders to his/her troopers, which will only be carried out once time is unpaused. Also in deviation from the X-COM series, the battlefield is presented in fully rotatable 3D, and as such dispenses with the technical limitations of isometric view.
Having reached critical mass in the skies, the spores begin to rain down, and over the course of several days, begin to clog the streets and bodies of water, smothering people in their homes, and burying animals in the wild. During the "Nightfall", as it would come to be called, most of the higher life forms on the earth were wiped out.
During the Twilight, all human responses were futile. Choosing caution over aggression, the governments of the world didn't realize how quickly the end could come, and were buried alongside those that they governed. A few, however, did survive, sealed in underground bases with stocks of food and oxygen. After several weeks, the spores seemed to have disintegrated, decomposing and settling into the soil. The world seemed safe again, for a time. This is where the player comes in: you must gather together the remaining peoples of the planet, find out what has happened, and, if possible, get your revenge.
The aliens the player encounters are known as the Reticulans, who are heavily based on Greys; in fact Greys are also known as Reticulans.
(2005) and UFO: Afterlight
(2007).
Real-time strategy
Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....
game with real-time tactical battles from ALTAR Interactive, being a homage to the X-COM
X-COM
X-COM is a series of strategy games created by Julian Gollop. In 2010 2K Marin announced the official reboot of the series, entitled simply XCOM. The original game has a cult following.- Original series :...
series of games. It started as The Dreamland Chronicles: Freedom Ridge
The Dreamland Chronicles: Freedom Ridge
The Dreamland Chronicles: Freedom Ridge was a canceled video game for PC and PlayStation 2 by Mythos Games, the authors of the original X-COM game, claimed to having been "essentially a remake of the first X-COM with 3D graphics".-Story:...
, an abortive project by the Mythos Games
Mythos Games
Mythos Games is a defunct British video game developer company founded by Julian Gollop.-Games developed by Mythos Games:* Rebelstar II * Laser Squad * Lords of Chaos * Magic & Mayhem -External links:*...
, original developers of the X-COM series. In 2002 the unfinished game has been bought by ALTAR and restarted.
In concept, the game is similar to unreleased X-COM: Genesis
X-COM: Genesis
X-COM: Genesis was a computer game in development in the X-COM series. It was being produced by original MicroProse employees, then working for Hasbro Interactive who bought out the game developer. Production took place in the original MicroProse offices in Chapel Hill, North Carolina...
. The player assumes the role of the Earth's last hope - the commander of the last, scattered humans left on the planet. It is up to him to guide your forces through the planet's time of crisis, and overcome the alien
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
threat. UFO: Aftermath combines global strategy with tactical missions, weaving them together with a storyline and a strategic, RPG
Role-playing game (video games)
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
-like approach to each soldiers attributes and skills.
Gameplay
With its roots deeply in the X-COM series, the game combines elements of strategy with squad-based tactics. The game therefore consists of two separate parts which are played alternately: A strategy phase in which the player controls and expands his organization, and a tactical phase in which player-controlled units do battle with alien enemies.The strategic phase allows the player to outfit his/her troopers for action, acquire new equipment and personnel, and conduct research to enable the production of more advanced equipment. Mission markers pop up on the globe indicating locations where a team can be dispatched to do battle. Winning or losing a battle may have the effect of expanding the player's territory, allowing more access to resources which enable further expansion. This is much in line with the X-COM strategic mechanics.
Story line
In May 2004, a giant spacecraft approaches the Earth. Silent, it hovers ominously over the world, and begins to release great clouds of spores into the upper atmosphere. Rapidly multiplying, the spores soon darken the skies, and before long obscure the sun completely. In later days, this period will be known as the "Twilight".Having reached critical mass in the skies, the spores begin to rain down, and over the course of several days, begin to clog the streets and bodies of water, smothering people in their homes, and burying animals in the wild. During the "Nightfall", as it would come to be called, most of the higher life forms on the earth were wiped out.
During the Twilight, all human responses were futile. Choosing caution over aggression, the governments of the world didn't realize how quickly the end could come, and were buried alongside those that they governed. A few, however, did survive, sealed in underground bases with stocks of food and oxygen. After several weeks, the spores seemed to have disintegrated, decomposing and settling into the soil. The world seemed safe again, for a time. This is where the player comes in: you must gather together the remaining peoples of the planet, find out what has happened, and, if possible, get your revenge.
The aliens the player encounters are known as the Reticulans, who are heavily based on Greys; in fact Greys are also known as Reticulans.
Legacy
ALTAR Interactive has released two sequels: UFO: AftershockUFO: Aftershock
UFO: Aftershock is a computer real-time tactical strategy game created by Altar and released in 2005. It is a squad combat game at its core with overlying strategic elements and a clear debt to the lauded classic X-COM: UFO Defense , though a smaller one than that of its predecessor, UFO:...
(2005) and UFO: Afterlight
UFO: Afterlight
UFO: Afterlight is a 2007 strategy computer game and the third in Altar's UFO series. Like its predecessors UFO: Aftermath and UFO: Aftershock, it combines squad-level tactical combat with overlying strategic elements in a manner that's deliberately very much like the major 1994 classic X-COM: UFO...
(2007).
External links
- Official UFO:Aftermath homepage
- ALTAR interactive homepage
- Cenega homepage
- UFO: Aftermath at MobyGamesMobyGames-Platforms not yet included:- Further reading :* Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson, High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games, McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media; 2 edition , ISBN 0-07-223172-6...