This is a review mainly for veterans who are already familiar with the game concept.

Xenonauts is a better and more faithful recreation of "X-COM: UFO Defense" than it's official successor. It grants the player more freedom, especially at start, but bears the danger of failing early if you're not aware how the game mechanics work. DOS-Veterans should find themselves familiar with the concept right off the start, new players may have to start over at some point, to be honest: probably more than once. Despite several hundreds of hours of playtime with the original series, I myself failed several times. It's hard, it's difficult, you've got to plan ahead carefully or you will run out of funds. This is not a just a characteristic of gaming in the 80s or 90s, it comes with complex, multi-genre gamedesign. But apart from not being very forgiving, and I think the following is crucial for successful game design, it never felt unfair to me. Just very challenging.

The main difference between the official successor and Xenonauts is - apart from more freedom and more possibilities to fail - the way combat ist designed. The latter still follows the original game with it's action point based turn system, while the newer XCOM installments are simplified. To me, the old system is way more fun than the watered-down concession to the mass market of today. Remember: back then, despite the great success of the series, it was all niche compared to the number of players today. Ultimately, it's a question of taste, even if the new combat system surely is more accessible to most people. But nothing goes over a bit of juicy nostalgica, right?

Xenonauts sometimes is a bit rough around the edges in terms of game pace, balancing and graphics, but it does capture the spirit of "X-COM: UFO Defense". In my eyes Firaxis failed at exactly that point, it never felt like X-COM for me. I think further development has been stopped because Goldhawk is working on Xenonauts 2. I'm really looking forward to the next iteration, hoping the devs will continue their path of improving a classic game by giving new impulses to a venerable and almost vanished genre.

If you're a veteran, get this game. You won't be disappointed.