XCOM: Enemy Unknown - Plot Synopsis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XCOM:_Enemy_Unknown
Gameplay - Where most strategy games make you control massive impersonal armies, XCOM maxes your infield troops at 6 people. you name and customize these soldiers and make sure their equipment is up to snuff to fight the alien menace. Mission's range from straight up elimination, to diffusing bombs and rescuing civilians and VIP's. The gameplay is simplistic yet addicting. you manage the finances, R'n'D, Production and air superiority of your organization around the world, then you respond to alien attacks. The tactical gameplay is all about cover. Move cover to cover to find the aliens and use tactical maneuvers to flank and kill the aliens. through the game you form a surprising attachment to your soldiers, so when one doesn't make it, it's not uncommon to load an earlier save. The game is also almost cruel at some points. Your sniper could have the enemy flanked, have a clear line of sight, full cover, a 95% chance to hit and kill his target. and that damn 5% happens, he/she misses the shot, and now you have an angry alien on your hands (I speak from experience.) But it's this difficulty that makes you keep playing the game over and over and over and... *Ahem* you get the point.
Graphics - The graphics keep Fireaxis's signature cartoony style, the characters are bulky and heavy looking. yet the graphics don't change the experience. When you see a civilian die, you feel like a civilian's life ended, not some random NPC.
Story - The story is good, if a little minimalist. The story is told through Cutscenes at various points, but most of them are short and far between. but this helps the game in a number of ways, it makes you feel like YOU are the commander. you don't have people telling you what to do at all times. they suggest an objective, but you can completely ignore it and just kill aliens if you want. it's this freedom that makes XCOM have a huge replay value.
Final rating: 10 / 10 - Yup i did it. i gave a game a 10. XCOM is a fresh game and i think it deserved WAAAAY more attention than it got.
If you have a game you'd like me to review just let me know, it can even be an older game. otherwise i'm going for a bad game next so i can say angry things.