8. XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Get to cover, move up, line the shot up, take the shot, WHERE DID HE COME FROM! and I just lost my Captain. Time to restart. That is pretty much an average game of XCOM: Enemy Unknown. XCOM was a faithful remake of a classic 90s real time strategy game in which aliens invade, as they always do, and it's your job as an unspecified commander to deal with them. There are no negotiations with this, and the game is brutally challenging after about four missions in, but it provides a rush and one of the best-crafted strategic experiences I've had in a long time. With alien invasions of Earth, it usually comes down to amassing a heavy amount of whatever unit they're weakest against and throwing everything you have at them, but XCOM is different. By giving you only command of a select squad of individuals, each with potentially different talents and weapons than others, it brings a strong need to cover every move your squad makes with other members. Making the combat turn-based brings even more panic to the fray, when you realise that your last guy has moved and spotted some aliens, and now they've got a whole turn to move wherever they want, uninterrupted. Despite being amazingly tricky at times, XCOM really does make you feel like you're in command of this unit without resorting to over-dramatised cutscenes where the aliens blow up the occasional landmark. Countries will sometimes contact your HQ, known only as the XCOM project, and ask for assistance dealing with the invaders. Along with that, you're the one leading the spearhead operations against high priority targets, and you hire and train troops and reverse engineer alien technology for the good of mankind. XCOM might not be much for those who like spam bombing planes at aliens, but for those of you who appreciate a more tactical edge in a superbly crafted single player experience, it's well worth the investment.