In the wake of the 1958 Iceland Incident and the irrevocable evidence that we were neither alone nor safe in the universe, a series of secret deals between NATO and the Soviet Union led to an uneasy truce and the joint foundation of the Xenonauts - a clandestine organisation responsible for monitoring extraterrestrial activity and providing the first line of defence against a possible invasion. Drawing funding from both NATO and the USSR, but independent of both, the Xenonauts took full custody of those involved in the Iceland Incident and any data relating to the event and began their analysis of the alien threat.
The truce between the major powers of the Cold War lasted less than three years. With knowledge of the extraterrestrial threat confined to only a select few in the upper echelons of both ruling bodies, it was only a matter of time before domestic politics lead to a cooling of the newfound sense of unity. As time passed even those aware of the terrible threat posed by extraterrestrial forces began to distrust the Xenonauts, and both the East and the West became increasingly reluctant to fund an organisation so closely linked to its enemies. Without any tangible evidence that there was an alien invasion imminent, the Xenonauts found themselves struggling to survive on an ever-shrinking budget.
Nearly twenty years after they had been established, the Xenonauts operated out of a single crumbling base. A handful of hand-picked technicians and scientists maintained the organisation on continual operational alert, ensuring the radar continued to spin and the modified interceptors remained airworthy. A single strike team of soldiers went through their drills and endlessly scrutinised the data from the Iceland Incident, familiarising themselves with every detail of the enemies they prayed they would never face.
On 1st October 1979, the world changed. Astronomers at the Very Large Radio Array in New Mexico detected unusual activity in the solar system, from what appeared to be spacecraft. The data was rapidly confirmed by independent observers in Moscow. Panic flooded across the globe. Militaries were called onto emergency alert in every nation in the world. The Xenonaut commanders politely made contact with the Kremlin and the Pentagon and requested full control of NATO and Soviet forces worldwide.
The replies were blunt and uncompromising. Neither the NATO nor Soviet hierarchy had any intention of handing over control of its forces to anyone else, especially in the midst of a global crisis. In exchange for all available data on the extraterrestrial menace, both powers offered the Xenonauts extra funding and permission to operate freely in their territory and airspace. Additional funding would be made available if the Xenonauts proved themselves capable of denting the alien invasion.
It was a poor offer, but with the alien fleet mere hours away there was little other choice. The fate of humanity resting on their shoulders, the Xenonauts readied themselves to face the coming storm...
Xenonauts is an indie, in-development X-Com 1 game. It's not an X-Com clone - because they think they can do better. Humans can't use alien weapons; instead, humans research alien technology and then make their own versions. There's an endless and free supply of basic equipment such as pistols, shotguns, assault rifles and combat shields. Combat shields? They're for storming into alien vessels, and provide cover. Cover? They've added directional cover system to the combat, so that flanking is not only useful but necessary, since the aliens know how to use cover, too. And as they go on to say, "equipment has been designed from the ground-up to work with the cover system, so everything from ballistic shields, flamethrowers and grenades to mechanised assault walkers will be available to ensure that dug-in troops can be shifted."
Flamethrowers? Mechanised assault walkers? It that metaphorically or literally dug-in? In an X-COM GAME???!
Yeah, good stuff. There isn't much info, yet, but it might be worthwhile to go looking through their forums' news section. They posted their first "Game Update" yesterday, and they sometimes mention some interesting details in there. Like, see these alien assault robots?
There are different models. Later models can walk through walls.
