USC: Counterforce – How much force, exactly?

Whilst the campaign isn’t a strong point, the missions in USC: Counterforce are enjoyably challenging.

I haven’t reviewed an XCOM style game in a while, although it’s safe to say I’ve been a fan of the genre as far back as the original Microprose game from back when I was a lad. I feel old. Anyway, there have been some really good imitations of the modern Firaxis remakes, with the likes of Phantom Doctrine and Othercide showing interesting twists on that formula. USC: Counterforce is more interested in bringing back the more dense feel of those classic games, something closer to the likes of Xenonauts or Phoenix Point. Whilst its campaign leaves a lot to be desired, messing around with team builds in single missions provides a lot of enjoyment.

There’s a loose narrative to the campaign, with you being a commander of a small military force sent to a planet to handle alien monsters that have suddenly started appearing around mining and research centres which had been set up by humanity some time ago. Where have they come from? What even are they? And how many bullets can you put in them? Some of these questions are answered if you play it through.

The campaign is the weakest area of USC: Counterforce, simply because it’s so unbelievably dense with the level of micromanagement and under-explanation. You’ll be presented with a hex-based overworld where you can scan regions, build bases, and engage in missions. Building bases is barely explained unless you’ve played a completely separate mode with its own tutorial, but is essential for acquiring resources to gain better equipment and complete missions for various human factions.

The mission gameplay is actually a lot of fun, which I’ll get to shortly, but in the campaign it feels messy. You’ll deploy units to clear out or defend regions, but the aliens that appear there are wildly unpredictable. There’s no real sense of escalation in the campaign, as you’ll get basic enemies mixed in with absolute monsters from the very first mission which means that there’s nothing to surprise you or force you to shift your approach later on. 

What doesn’t help is that before you’ve even dropped into a mission you’ll need to manage your squads in what must be one of the most cluttered UIs I’ve ever seen. You start with around forty troops, and you’ll need to deal with every single one of their attribute points, weapons, armour, equipment, and primary/secondary abilities. This again comes down to that lack of build-up, with you needing to look after so many systems without much in the way of guiding you through those early stages. I really didn’t enjoy the campaign for this reason. XCOM and its modern luminaries thrive on the smaller team sizes that you can become attached to over time, and USC: Counterforce completely lacks that.

With all that said, I really enjoyed the single mission and operations modes. Here, you can set up parameters however you want, from objectives and map type, to squad sizes and weapon firing modes. You can then set up one or two squads to take on the mission, deciding on stats and equipment within a cost limit. Because you’ll only have at most twelve to deal with, you suddenly have a much smaller number of troops to manage, and you’ll find yourself more attached to them as they persist between missions. There’s no perma-death, but you can always change a soldier if they die on a deployment to play into that yourself.

There’s a good array of weapons to choose from, and having a variety on hand on any mission is somewhat important. Whilst anyone can use any item in real terms, spending skill points in suitable areas will help. Marksmen with rifles will deal with small to midsize enemies, backed up by medics to patch them up. Engineers can open and lock doors, whilst heavy support grenade launchers can rip through groups of aliens, but risk damaging mission rewards. 

You’ll want those bonus objectives too, as there are unlockables even in this single mission mode. Earning resources will allow you to unlock prototype weapons and items, whilst completing specific challenges will release powerful tools to be equipped in future engagements. I really enjoyed this sense of continuity without having to play through the campaign.

Missions themselves are fun but often punishingly difficult, factoring in that turn-based squad combat system that fans of the genre will be so familiar with. Moving, shooting, opening doors, and equipping items use up action points which need to be managed carefully to ensure survival past the first few rounds. Enemies hit hard and are incredibly numerous, so you’d better be prepared.

You’ll be swarmed by enemies by the second turn at the latest. This isn’t a game where you set out to hunt down your foes as they’ll be gunning for you the second you touch down. Big open maps on a planet’s surface are a nightmare as there’s little room for funnelling to set up kill zones, but carefully spreading out your forces can allow you to hold your ground. Combat in buildings or on ships gives you tighter spaces to force enemies into, but you can’t shoot through allies and those aliens may just smash through a wall. 

At first glance it seems like just a slugfest with the enemy force, but when you slow down and think about your options and weapons you’re packing, you can turn the odds in your favour. You’re fighting on two fronts? Maybe you could weld shut the door to slow down enemies on one side. Rifleman being charged down? Putting a melee soldier in a defensive stance in front of them could help them last longer, so long as they crouch to allow shots to fly over them. Barrels blocking your overwatch options? Blow them up with a grenade! I liked the freedom I had to play in different ways without having to worry about lost troops scuppering the rest of the campaign.

Operations mode gives you a sequence of two or three missions to complete without being able to reset your squad between, giving you a mini campaign of sorts. This is fun too, but some of the more challenging ones are vicious. There’s a defend the base mode too, which links to the campaign, challenging you to build a base and use a squad to defend it over a number of waves. Having the option to build your own base, including defences and chokepoints is interesting, but your cost limit is too tight to make anything genuinely interesting. It’s nice to have the option though.

Now visuals are worth a mention, being quite simple. This is fine, as USC: Counterforce is trying to evoke classic XCOM style games, but the sheer number of icons on the screen can be quite irritating. There’s a pop out legend on the map to remind you of what symbol means what, but I feel this shouldn’t be needed and there are simply too many different status ailments, leading to more of that cluttered display. Something I really did like was the bodycam though. Each character’s first person view can be seen in the corner when selecting them, reminding me of Space Hulk and Aliens. Mechanically it adds absolutely nothing, but it’s such a neat little piece of visual flare that from an immersion perspective it’s a brilliant inclusion. Aliens are distinctive enough, and it’s fairly easy to tell what abilities each one will have. I’d like to be able to click on them to get more of a breakdown than the vague bit of text at the top of the screen, but with enough gameplay experience you start to know what you’re dealing with.

Sounds are fine and nothing more. The music is generic as it comes, and there are only a handful of weapon and alien sound effects. Characters in missions are voiced solidly enough, and I liked the option to pitch shift the voices when creating a soldier to add some variety. There’s no voice acting in the campaign though.

USC: Counterforce is certainly not for everyone. People looking for a recreation of the classic XCOM campaign won’t find it here. Those looking for a return to that squad level tactical gameplay, complete with brutal levels of challenge will probably be happy. There’s a good chance you know if you want to play this already, so rest assured that at the mission level you’ll probably have a really good time. Just don’t expect to get a campaign out of it.

USC: Counterforce is available now on PC.