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UFO: Afterlight
It couldn't have gone any worse. After the devastating attack by the Reticulans in UFO: Aftermath, they only had fifty years of rest until they tried again to eradicate the human race in UFO: Aftershock, and that time they succeeded. Only about ten thousand people survived this desperate war and only a few were allowed to remain on a station orbiting the Earth. Most of the survivors were banished to Mars by the Reticulans.
At first it was only a small base and many had to remain in cryogenic sleep as the base could not support many lives. So time passed. The population on Mars grew and contact with people on Earth was maintained. Then, scientists on Mars discovered traces of an ancient alien civilization and suddenly the whole galaxy turned its head towards Mars, but there is also something lurking beneath the surface. As the leader of the colonists, your goal is to make sure your people survive and discover what powerful technologies await discovery.
The gameplay doesn't differ much from its predecessors. You continue to manage and expand your base, train your soldiers and fight battles in semi-real time (which you can pause at any time) against various enemies. Since this is Mars, life is now much tougher. You now have to take care of your water supplies and acquire new water sources on Mars to survive. There are also several factions you have to deal with, either by force or diplomacy, and they are very interested in your discoveries. If you play your cards right, you can use this to your advantage to get friendly aliens in your squad. Human soldiers gain experience, level up and can be trained to improve in certain areas.
Once you've achieved an objective or have been attacked, it's on to turn-based micromanagement, which is the heart of the game. During these parts you control your squad mates with waypoints and other commands. At first glance, the actions appear to be real-time, but in reality the whole game is reduced to raw numbers, which makes the combat very tactical.
There are many factors that come into play, from the simple question of 'is the target in range' to complex problems such as 'my soldier is low on health and the aliens are within weapons range. Do I risk getting shot while running for cover or do I take the time to apply a medkit and thus risk taking a bullet?' Since the action can stop at any time, you have all day to make those essential decisions. They become more difficult as your squad members become more experienced, as you can't afford to lose your veterans.
