Having played the original and the new one including the Enemy Within add on...
The new one is very much fun but it lacks. To me it's "X Com for Dummies..." I keep expecting to see that (in)famous yellow book cover every time I start the game. It's not a bad game by any stretch of my imagination, it just lacks a few things that really make you wonder where it all went wrong that the original game was very clear about.
This game is quite faithful to the original. The best part about that IMO is that it both requires and allows for a much more thorough use of the cranial cavity, and it rewards you with a much better strategic play experience. That's what the Firaxis game took out, the "strategery..." The depth. This game is still the tactical shooter, it just adds some really good gravy.
My only bone of contention with either version of the old school game is map rotation and hidden things/tiles. It's a pain. One I get used to and live with, but still, it's a pain.
Actually I'd have to consider the "odds" when making a shot as well, but that applies equally to both games. Missing 2 85% Sniper Double Taps in a row feels downright moronic but is no worse than missing 95% shotgun blasts here at point blank range. But then you read about some police shoot out where the assailant and a couple officers were 10 feet from each other, everyone emptied their clips and no one hit anything even closely resembling a body part. Or the time a guy got shot 7 times and walked away before he could be apprehended. That and we always like to pretend we didn't get the 20% kills more times than we should have...
Bottom line from someone who shouldn't have a clue..:
It's $20 on Steam.
It'll give you as much fun as the "other" X Com game does and then some.
It will certainly give you more fun than a trip to the movies or a visit to McDonalds.
There's a heck of a lot of things far worse than this to spend the money on, none of them will give you half the satisfaction this will once you get the hang of it.
Listen to the whispers...
_
