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Review

Duration: 29:17

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I'm playing Shock Tactics, a turn-based tactical strategy game by Point Blank Games and EuroVideo Medien. Essentially a clone of XCOM, the single-player game features leading a team of troops across an alien world, engaging hostile troops along the way. Base building involves spending resources earned by completing missions to unlock new equipment, level up soldiers, and heal more quickly between sorties. Missions typically do not allow any friendly troops to die (they can be rescued by other units, however); doing so results in immediate campaign failure, a devastating victory condition when random numbers and lots of enemies with superior weapons are present, The turn-based combat is typical for the genre: action points are used to move and shoot, or sprint across the terrain. Special abilities can also be used, and cover is needed to survive. Most game maps have large open areas with no cover and enemies are usually dug in in defensive positions behind cover. Luckily, the AI is really stupid and will constantly get out of cover and move around for no apparent reason; simply placing your stationary troops on “overwatch” behind cover is usually enough to win each match, Because of that, there is a lack of actual tactics in Shock Tactics, and you would be better served simply playing XCOM or Xenonauts instead.