The missions, though visually tedious, retain X-COM 's heart-murmuring menace. Running out of action points just as a soldier comes nose-to-proboscis with some hulking ET is true horror - he'll be dead next turn. Then a fluke shot bysomeone from ourteam scores a fatal hit, despite 8% odds of success. Joy. It's this irregular, tension-building that keeps the formula so fresh, even when packaged as shoddily as this.
The only major alteration is that cash now comes from building a base in each zone of the globe - occasionally contested by the efforts of aliens. It's simpler, but less satisfying than the old way of winning the purses of nations by consistently keeping their populace safe from rampaging space beasties.
