XCOM: Enemy Within vs Hoplite

The gaming genre of turn based strategy lends itself very well to touch screen devices. It is actually easier to interact with the characters on screen with ones fingers instead of a mouse.

XCOM sets the standard as to what to expect in turn based strategy gaming. Players use soldiers to fight off an alien invasion by utilizing cover, flanking and other strategy tactics to defeat the alien baddies on each level of grid based environments.

For a series that is regarded as hardcore gaming even on PC, to see this franchise come to mobile is a godsend.

There is a new resource known as Meld that allows the user to purchase upgrades.

Epic game, same as PC version, for lower price.

Enemy Within is and expansion on the classic Enemy Unknown. With Enemy Withing players are given new options such as maps, missions, enemies and of course the new Mech Suits.

The choices the player makes from what kind of upgrades to use to what soldier to send where on a battle map will effect later game play.

There is support for asynchronous online multiplayer built into the game over Google Play Services.

A strategy game such as this is often not expected to have a storyline, or if so, a good one. But this game has an interesting and surprising one.

Many possibilities for upgrades are available in the game, which is impressive. Cybergenetics and genetics mods are some of the options you can use as upgrades in the game.

You must plan your movements and attacks, paying attention to all enemy positions and their attacks. This makes for a game that the player can pore over their options, for as long as they like, which can be pretty enveloping.

Someone called it "Chess, the roguelike". You have all the information before you move, every time. Enemies follow a simple ruleset, with no variation. There is almost no randomness. You know that you will die the turn before you do, and you will die because you painted yourself into a corner.

There is a good list of achievements, which creates a high replay value. It encourages the user to play very differently in subsequent replays. Which is great for keeping the game fresh.

Hoplite is a turn based game, making for something that people can take their time with, deciding on their strategy for each move.

Starting on level 16, the altars get replaced by a portal. The player has the choice to "win" the game by exiting through the portal, or to ignore the portal on that level and venture deeper, aiming for higher scores on progressively more difficult floors. This is great for those that enjoy more challenge and extra content past the regular ending.

Other, more popular, mobile roguelikes are far too random. A lot of people associate roguelikes with randomness, but a lot of effort goes into making sure that they provide consistently winnable games. When you lose a game it should be because you did something dumb, not because the RNG didn't deign it today. Hoplite nails this.

There is a wide array of enemies to encounter and fight, which keeps encounters fresh as well as the strategies needed.