The alien race you're up against is by far the most interesting thing about Apocalypse, and brings back that spark of excitement each time there's some new species to research (and there are many more alien types this time out). Research is split into two areas, Bioengineering and Quantum Physics. The latter researches new equipment and technology, while the former researches the prisoners and corpses you bring back from combat, as well as a great deal of the alien technology, which, it turns out, is almost entirely organic (leading to some terrifying weaponry you must face, including an enzyme-based firearm that dissolves your agents' armor and sets off any explosives on his person). The end game is more elaborate than in previous chapters as well. Instead of a single attack on a distant base, you must infiltrate the alien home world, turning the tables as you raid their buildings one by one. For all of the aliens' interesting technology and biology, however, you can't escape one disappointing fact: They look silly. You'll feel as if you're waging war on the set of The Muppet Show.

Apart from the graphics, the only major failing of X-COM: Apocalypse is that it tries to do too much. Instead of the amazing turn-based game that could have been, what we have is a really good turn-based game and a slightly better real-time game. But when you get used to the quirks, everything that made X-COM great is still there, from the surprise at meeting a new alien species to the joy of researching a technology. It may be ugly, but it sure is a lot of fun.