X-COM: Enforcer Review

And what it lacks in variety, it tries to make up in quantity.

Speaking of quantity, I've already mentioned that you'll meet gazillions of enemies along the way, ranging from very small ones (like the ones you'd expect to find in Area 51) to huge suckers covering half the screen. But don't be scared, the Enforcer is equipped with enough firepower to take down all of them, plus another wave of alien scum to boot. Ironically, this is the game's other big drawback: the Enforcer is just too powerful. As a result, the gameplay balance is nowhere to be found. The only time I was challenged in this game is when I was playing against boss creatures. Other than that, it's just shooting like crazy until you came up against some mean bosses. The game is simply not challenging enough, and that's like the worst thing you can have in an arcade shooter in terms of its replay value and addictiveness.

Check 'em out, big nasty bullet-holes.

Powerups here, powerups there, new powerups everywhere...

Adding to the unbalanced feel of the game is the fact that you'll tend to heavily favor some guns over others. Now, I probably wouldn't mind this "detail" all that much, but the weapons keep respawning right in front of your feet, and since you're only allowed to carry one weapon at the time and you're going really fast, you're bound to (stumble on) pick up a weapon you didn't really feel like using under the circumstances.

Still, what Enforcer lacks in quality it makes up in quantity... Your robot collects data points along the way, which are later used to buy and upgrade weapons and power-ups. This means a whole lot of weapons, folks: flamethrowers freeze guns, auto-cannons, and missile launchers... the works. Collect several power-ups, and you'll access a bonus level. The Unreal Engine does a great job at "working the lights", so you can expect a lot of pretty green and red rays, and yes... even some cool looking indoor environments. The weapon effects look powerful and spectacular enough for an arcade shooter. The in-game world is highly destructible and that certainly adds a cool effect to the non-stop shooting frenzy (once the chairs, thresh cans, and stop signs start flying around). And did I mention the thousands of aliens?

Unlike the levels, they vary nicely both in size and design. This is like every arcade shooter's dream come true: mowing down one row of nasty aliens after another with your ultra-super-powerful sci-fi weapons. Many gamers will probably get a kick out of this.

If for some reason I had to choose between X-COM: Enforcer and Serious Sam, and I only had money to buy one of them, I'd opt for the latter one. X-COM: Enforcer can be fun at times simply because of its "high octane arcade quantity" (I think those of you who read the review know what I'm talking about), but some of its weaknesses are just too evident to overlook when deciding the final score.