There was a time when turn-based combat ruled all, and although finding an RPG that lets you take your time is about as rare as an original idea from Ubisoft, it's over to brilliant little gems like Fire Emblem, Shadowrun, Invisible Inc. and especially XCOM to prove why it can be one of the most satisfying models around. By putting you in the invisible shoes of an omniscient Commander during an alien invasion, you'll issue commands (funnily enough) to your squad on the battlefield, the entire flow of any showdown having dramatic pendulum swings both in and against your favour depending on how tactile and restrained your movements are. See, the whole thing takes place inside a 'fog of war' RTS-style interface, meaning both you and the enemy are on the same map... somewhere. You'll have to send both scouts and your squad up ahead to lure them out, but do so too far and you'll get seared to ribbons in seconds. The whole game clicks into place when you factor in some human augments you learn from destroyed alien tech, letting you bolster your ranks with a number of extremely cool buffs, alongside elevation stat-boosts for sniper classes, retaliatory strikes for Heavys etc. After a few matches you'll be setting up traps and springing them at just the right time, turning the tables on the advancing horde and feeling like quite the boss in the process - and nothing smells like sci-fi than a pile of charred alien corpses after a good firefight. What are your favourite sci-fi games you wish more people took notice of? Let us know in the comments!
