UFO: Aftershock

UFO: Aftershock is the 2005 sequel to UFO: Aftermath. Some survivors of the first game's war have spent years in orbit. They come back down to an Earth that has changed, with human and alien-touched factions holding territory, and they have to build a foothold and expand it.

Like Aftermath, it has a strategic layer on a globe and battles that run in real time with a pause. The strategic side is deeper than in the first game, with territories to hold, factions to deal with and bases to develop, and the squad has more character development and equipment.

It is the most developed game in the series. Battles are richer than in Aftermath, with better maps and more weapons, and the factions give the campaign a political layer close to what X-COM: Apocalypse tried.

It is still a mid-budget game of its time, with rough edges and a slow middle. The trilogy is best played in order, as each game sets up the world of the next.

Aftershock keeps X-COM's two layers and keeps the real-time pause of its predecessor. Its strategic layer is the most like Apocalypse of any game in the family, because the threat is not only aliens but the people who now live alongside them.