History YMMV / XComEnemyUnknown

** Suppression. When used, the soldier expends twice as much ammo as on a normal shot to use suppressing fire on the targeted enemy. For the following round, said enemy then has significant aim penalties, and the suppressing soldier gets a reaction shot if the enemy moves. Problem is, it's an ability for the Heavy, who gets the biggest guns in the game, and thus if you're up against an opponent dangerous enough to warrant suppressing in the first place, your heavy will generally be more useful simply shooting-to-kill. [[DownplayedTrope That said]] it can also be used by supports, who are not a damage-oriented class, and it also works on either class if you're trying to let a specific underleveled soldier get the killing blow.

** Covering Fire. It allows reaction shots (such as while using suppression or on overwatch) to trigger on enemy _attacks_ in addition to on enemy movement like normal. It sure ''sounds'' useful... until you realize that if your oveerwatch shot triggered because of an enemy ''firing'' rather than them ''moving'' , then that means that you could already see and potentially shoot them on the turn you put that soldier on overwatch in the first place. And if the soldier had had a decent chance of hitting that enemy, you would've simply instructed them to do so then and there. [[DownplayedTrope The ability does]], however, become useful when combined with suppression, as it means that your support is more likely to get a bonus shot in when suppressing a dangerous enemy.

** Covering Fire. It allows reaction shots (such as while using suppression or on overwatch) to trigger on enemy _attacks_ in addition to on enemy movement like normal. It sure ''sounds'' useful... until you realize that if your oveerwatch shot triggered because of an enemy ''firing'' rather than them ''moving'' , then that means that you could already see and potentially shoot them on the turn you put that soldier on overwatch in the first place. And if the soldier had had a decent chance of hitting that enemy, you would've simply instructed them to do so then and there. [[DownplaydTrope The ability does]], however, become useful when combined with suppression, as it means that your support is more likely to get a bonus shot in when suppressing a dangerous enemy.

* UselessUsefulSpell: Suppression. When used, the soldier expends twice as much ammo as on a normal shot to use supressing fire on the targeted enemy. For the following round, said enemy then has significant aim penalties, and the suppressing soldier gets a reaction shot if the enemy moves. Problem is, it's an ability for the Heavy, who gets the biggest guns in the game, and thus if you're up against an opponent dangerous enough to warrant suppressing in the first place, your heavy will generally be more useful simply shooting-to-kill. [[DownplayedTrope That said]] it can also be used by supports, who are not a damage-oriented class, and it also works on either class if you're trying to let a specific underleveled soldier get the killing blow.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: Was this for 2K after the disastrous announcement of the "prequel" 1950's XCOM reboot. While the idea for a traditional strategy in line with the original series was being toyed with behind the scenes, the only game getting attention was the FPS, which was scathingly criticized for having little in common with the series on appearance. While the prequel soon began hitting development roadblocks (including a shift from first person to third among others), the RTS finally was announced despite being far from finished, earning kudos. Eventually, thanks to encouraged innovations from weekly challenges, the game began to develop into what would be the final game. When the TPS prequel, now known as ''[[Videogame/TheBureauXComDeclassified The Bureau]]'' exited its development hell a year later, further criticism for that game were alleviated by the announcement of ''Enemy Within'', who's trailers impressed.

** The purists who hate the game because they feel [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks it's nothing like the original X-COM]].
** The fans who love the game and believe that it's a worthy successor to the X-COM name.
** The newcomers and gamers in general who don't really care about the history of the franchise but think it's a great game, causing a NewbieBoom for the series.

* EightPointEight: 8.2 from IGN, igniting a mass of muttering and furrowed brows from dedicated fans. Metacritic gives it a solid-ish 89/100, brought down by ''one'' 70% review. Even ''[[WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation Yahtzee]]'' liked the game enough to include it on his top five for 2012.

** The moderates and newcomers who don't really care about the history of the franchise but think it's still a pretty good game.

*** The sound of the Plasma Sniper Rifle firing. *kaaaa...*-**THUNK**.

** Even Impossible is a gigantic leap up from Classic. Sure, if you can beat Classic you know how to properly play, but now the Sectoids are too beefy to be killed by a single grenade, not to mention your soldiers are now frail enough to be killed by a single plasma bolt. Likewise, the Thin Men and Floaters are now also too tough for the Shredder Rocket to kill them anymore.

* MemeticLoser: XCOM rookie troopers actually have [[RealityIsUnrealistic pretty good accuracy ratings if you compare them to real-life soldiers,]] but they're mainly remembered for all those times where [[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy they missed when firing a shotgun point blank at an alien the size of a bus.]] "XCOM Rookies" is sort of a byword in many communities for "supposedly elite trooper that can't hit the broad side of a barn."

* DisappointingLastLevel: A major complaint that's been brought against the game is the sub-par nature of the final level. It tends to feel rushed, like it was cobbled together at the last minute by ideas they thought would be cool but came up with late in development, and ends rather abruptly. ''Enemy Within'', which brings so much new content to the game, has the exact same ending – the new alien units don't even feature in it.

** Shaojie "Chilong" Zhang from ''Operation Slingshot'', a [[TheTriadsAndTheTongs former Triad criminal]] [[DefectorFromDecadence who defects to XCOM after learning his boss wants to sell off a dangerous alien artifact]].
** Annette Durand from ''Operation Progeny'', [[ActionSurvivor a civilian who was hunted by both the aliens and EXALT]] [[LivingMacGuffin for her unprecedented Psionic potential]]. [[spoiler: The fact she was powerful enough that the aliens could use her as an AmplifierArtifact to charge their psionic powers to mind-control ''most of XCOM HQ's staff just before launching their Base Assault'' is enough to cement her as a girl not to be messed with]].

*** Anna Sing, a woman who was a victim of AlienAbduction, and is able to escape her captors before XCOM moves in to save her: while a BrokenBird and TheWoobie, she is certainly high-up in most lists for favorite extraction targets.
*** General Peter Van Doorn, a FourStarBadass [[IShallTauntYou who enthusiastically taunts his alien attackers]], and [[AFatherToHisMen expresses remorse for how many of his men were cut down by them]] ([[PapaWolf while promising to make the aliens pay for it in a]] RoaringRampageOfRevenge). Notably, in the ''[[VideoGame/XCOMlongwar Long War]]'' GameMod, the reward for extracting Van Doorn is having him resign from the UN, and join XCOM as a soldier. The sequel also acknowledges his popularity, allowing you to recruit him.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: While the game itself isn't this for 2K, since ''Enemy Unknown'' was started before the FPS was announced, looks like ''Enemy Within'' is this for ''The Bureau''. Just when people saw the final game and got angry, ''Enemy Within'' was announced and that rage was lessened, since the trailers were really promising.

** Dr. Vahlen, due to her actions and thinking well reflecting that of many XCOM players. While she may get excited at the sight of new technologies, she does show empathy for the soldiers and fear for humanity. She still does [[{{SilkHidingSteel}} whatever it takes]] to get the info she needs out of captive aliens and they tend to "expire" quickly. From their perspective she must be some mythical demon and the reason why you DON'T want to get caught alive by those creepy humans with their stun guns.

* AscendedMeme: Vahlen's [[DarthWiki/MostAnnoyingSound infamous request]] to avoid the use of explosives where possible was turned into around 5 and a half minutes of scenes of explosives-use and the corresponding request, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzm9P4LK62E with 1 minute of that]] as a StupidStatementDanceMix (and a single "Close range?"), on a stream, looped for 24 hours. It also received multiple humorous references in [[VideoGame/XCOM2 the sequel]], such as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA0nIRE4u2o an official remix]].

* DarthWiki/MostAnnoyingSound:
** Vahlen's requests to preserve the aliens' equipment can get rather annoying on harder difficulty modes, where fighting without extreme prejudice (read: [[StuffBlowingUp explosives]]) is generally out of the question. It's gotten to the point where Firaxis included the option to turn it off in the ''Enemy Within'' expansion.
*** If you capture an Outsider alive before completing your first alien interrogation, Vahlen will keep nagging you about killing any future Outsiders ''despite the fact you already have one in storage''. At least this will go away after you research the crystal.
** The advisers' urging you to hurry things up during some Council missions can get pretty annoying.
** If you find yourself in a situation where you can see a group of Chryssalids and they can't see you, you'll come to regret it fast. They start roaring every 6 seconds, and since they don't start at the same time, you'll hear a never-ending stream of screams until you finally move.
** In escort missions, not only are the civilians you need to escort utterly helpless, they also tend to make a brief speech every single turn – irritatingly freezing the game interface until they're done talking.
** In the very beginning of the game, and some instances later on, the game will constantly remind you to visit the research labs, engineering, the situation room, or mission control.This seems to be most prevalent for players who spend a lot of time meticulously constructing personalized soldiers at the start of the game. While the game is still playable like this, it can get rather frustrating as there is no way to turn it off. Nobody wants to be barraged by the PA reminding you every few seconds that you should be somewhere else.

* AscendedMeme: Vahlen's [[MostAnnoyingSound infamous request]] to avoid the use of explosives where possible was turned into around 5 and a half minutes of scenes of explosives-use and the corresponding request, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzm9P4LK62E with 1 minute of that]] as a StupidStatementDanceMix (and a single "Close range?"), on a stream, looped for 24 hours. It also received multiple humorous references in [[VideoGame/XCOM2 the sequel]], such as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA0nIRE4u2o an official remix]].

* MostAnnoyingSound:

* AscendedMeme: Vahlen's [[MostAnnoyingSound infamous request]] to avoid the use of explosives where possible was turned into around 5 and a half minutes of scenes of explosives-use and the corresponding request, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzm9P4LK62E with 1 minute of that]] as a StupidStatementDanceMix (and a single "Close range?"), [[https://go.twitch.tv/videos/180859700 on a stream]], looped for 24 hours. It also received multiple humorous references in [[VideoGame/XCOM2 the sequel]].

** Overwatch is normally a useful ability, but one alien is capable of triggering multiple overwatches at the same time. This means that your soldiers can fire a disproportionate amount of ammo into a single alien, possibly resulting in other aliens being able to move unhindered. This was fixed for the sequel, where overwatch moves are now sequential.

** The Mechtoids in ''Enemy Within'' are nothing to be laughed at. They have a lot of hit points, are heavily armed, can attack twice in a turn if they don't move, just like Sectopods, you can't flank them and if a normal Sectoid mind merges with it, it gets a psychic shield that allows it to tank damage even better. Killing the Sectoid that is doing the mind merging only does a little bit of damage to the Mechtoid. One exploitable vulnerability since they have to be piloted by a Sectoid, they are still vulnerable to psychic powers, so if you are lucky and mind control one, the tables can change very quickly. Additionally, the Sectoid pilot's cowardly nature will come out if the Mechtoid is wounded and there are several enemies in sight; it will choose to retreat (possibly using both moves) instead of [[TakingYouWithMe taking down as many as it can]], as Cyberdisks or Sectopods would.