Released in 1995, MicroProse’s XCOM: Terror from the Deep is one of the most beloved entries in the long-running strategy series, a deep-sea spin on the alien invasion template that added new challenges, new alien enemies and a cool, vaguely Lovecraftian aesthetic.
It’s an entry that fans would like to see developer Firaxis revisit, given their successful reboot of the franchise with XCOM: Enemy Unknown and Enemy Within.
“It definitely did occur to us,” producer Garth DeAngelis told MCV. “We love the XCOM community and I have seen that feedback on the forums from the hardcore fans. Creatively we decided not to go there… not yet anyway, who knows in the future. We understand there is certainly a nostalgia factor there, so who knows? But not right now.””
Not right now, because of course Firaxis is currently putting the finishing touches on XCOM 2, which might not be set under the sea, but nevertheless looks like something really special. It’s a PC exclusive, and it’s coming out this November. Multi-platform development brought its own challenges, according to DeAngelis, and it sounds like Firaxis is enjoying focusing on the platform it regards as its natural home.
“Firaxis pedigree has been PC,” he explained. “And there are things like modding, which we did not do with Enemy Unknown and we really wanted to create a robust toolset for modding to encourage that within the community. We wanted to be as focused as possible on the platform that would allow us to do that, and that is PC.”
