XCom: Enforcer

May 23, 2002

Price $3 (full retail packaging)

Despite being created as a "B" grade game,
production values in Enforcer are high

Sometimes it is easy to get burnt out on the bargain bin. There is a point of diminishing returns that sets in when one has more games than time. To some degree, despite the appeal of their price, paying only $10 (rather than $50) gives one less of an incentive than to see a game to its conclusion. After all, buying the latest and greatest often gives gamers the sense that they are part of a larger community: being able to gripe about bugs and sing praises about a cultural phenomenon that they share with their brother and sister gamers. Not so with the bargain bin. There is never any external pressure--a game either sucks us in or it does not. Popularity rarely factors into the equation.

Because of this, there are a lot of bad bargain bin games. Games that might not be horrid in their own right, but nonetheless, are games that were designed with the expectation that those playing it had made a substantial investment assume that those players will stick it out through thick and thin, rather than abandoning it as soon something more shiny comes along. Such arrogance has no place in the bargain bin.

standard-scientist meet standard-cyborg

And if there is anything that XCom: Enforcer lacks, it is arrogance. Despite using the venerable XCom license--the 1993 cult-classic import that redefined tactical strategy--Enforcer is decidedly light hearted in its take on the human vs. alien war; perhaps being the Mars Attacks! to its progenitor's (anime-styled) take on the X-Files. While some might cringe at the license being reduced to a mere shooter, it would be hard to imagine even a purist dismissing Enforcer out of hand as the humor is built solidly upon the foundations laid by its predecessor. Enforcer contains the same trailer parks, corn fields, and abducted cows held hostage in spaceships. While it might lack all subtlety, it is simply a case of making the obvious, obvious--especially to those too dullard to notice it before.

The Enforcer is a cyborg created by a quite standard obsessive-scientist type in order to do battle against a quite standard alien invasion. To save the Earth, the player must guide the Enforcer throughout a variety of locations while destroying transporters that "beam" down more aliens and locating abducted humans held in cells (or in some cases, mini-marts) who are then beamed away to safety. There is a whole lot of beaming going on.

There are also a whole lot of aliens. Mostly plucked from the bestiaries of the previous three major XCom games, they come at such a great frequency that an audible alert is given for every one hundred dispatched on a given level. Contemporary reviews compared Enforcer to such classics as Robotron or Smash T.V. because of its frenzied pace but indicated that it ultimately paled in comparison because of its relative ease. And Enforcer is easy. Most gamers will see the game to conclusion in a matter of hours, failing to complete a level only in the rare case of an accidental fall.

Data-points allow players to unlock special features

But what these reviews failed to fully take into account was the use of "data-points." Sprinkled throughout the levels of Enforcer are special icons that grant the player the ability to research new weaponry and other helpful items between stages. However, in order to unlock and upgrade these bonuses, data-points are required. When enemies are destroyed, they often explode in a shower of data-points, small semi-transparent chips in a sundry of denominations. Even more are rewarded when many enemies are dispatched at once in a "combo." Five additional tokens spelling out "bonus" are hidden throughout each level, which if all found, unlock an extra round (a.k.a. "the bonus round") after the completion of the level.

These rounds are fashioned after old arcade classics such as Frogger and PacMan and give players the chance to earn even more data-points--though the more fun mini-games tend to be less rewarding than some others (such as a wresting-ring one) where it is possible to gain thousands rather than merely hundreds of points.

The variety of hoices at the beginning seem daunting

While reviews admired the addition of "research" to the game, full credit was not given to the impact of collecting data-points during game play. Rather than just shooting everything in sight like the then contemporary Serious Sam, savvy players were given the chance to optimize their game by using their initial data-points not on weaponry but to increase their character's jumping ability (to reach bonus level icons) the "data-point multiplier" power-up (which can eventually give five points for every one acquired).

Other techniques involve using the blade launcher which can pick up points and return them to the player or the lightning gun (an otherwise unspectacular weapon) to achieve astounding 15 kill combos that result in even more points. Not only is the quest for the data-point surprisingly addictive, the rewards are far greater than the free "1up" that Super Mario received for collection 100 gold-coins.

Indeed, boosting some of the later weapons to their full potential is often an amazing thing to behold. The "Psy-Cannon" fires giant glowing and transparent goldfishes (yes, goldfishes) that can fling aliens hundreds of feet away in all directions. The "Nuker" results in a solid mushroom cloud--and most others are easily as fun.

Despite the frenzied action, the Unreal Tournament engine allows Enforcer to keep a smooth frame rate up at even the highest resolutions and levels of FSAA. While not profound (which Enforcer lacks proportionately to arrogance), the visuals have a certain charm to them that cannot be denied.

Nice of them to sneak in pics of their "special" friends

Many, however, will be put off by Enforcer's control scheme. Play largely takes place on a plane (though jumping about is often necessary) so "mouse-look" is disabled by default, and moving the mouse will only turn the Enforcer around. Holding down the right mouse button will allow players to make a targeted shot (which engages mouse-look and adds a crosshair to the screen) which is useful against far away targets and for concentrating fire from weapons such as the shotgun when fired at close range. Gamers who like to tinker with the game options after installing may very likely enable mouse-look as default, making the controls and play far more difficult and less entertaining--as after a few minutes of play with the default settings, using the right mouse button as a mouse-look toggle becomes second nature.

Simply put, Enforcer is fun. It is good, cheap, honest fun; in the tradition of games like Solitaire and Mine-Sweeper--but with way more napalm.

by Richard Leader

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