Wasn't expecting a lot from this going in after the development hell it's been through and then all the bad reviews I saw. But it just goes to show not to trust reviewers much cause I really enjoyed it.
An interesting take on an alien invasion instead of Communist in 62. Gameplay was very similar to Mass Effect's squad based combat only more involved and tougher. In Mass Effect you can get away with doing most of it yourself and just pointing your team to attack big guys now and then. In this, you need to use everyone's abilities to the fullest to win. Combat overall was extremely satisfying and definitely the best part. But the story was also quite intriguing and I kept wanting to push forward seeing how the war would play out. I am unsure if this is official XCOM canon, but if it is, it's a pretty cool start to the agency. Although if that is the case, it doesn't explain why they were so woefully under-prepared when the aliens came back....
The hero was also very cool and Clint Eastwood-esque. But his story did not end quite the way I was hoping it would which was a bit of a let down. All in all very good stuff and I'm glad this turned out as well as it did. Hopefully now we can see more from the XCOM franchise of this quality (and of Enemy Unknown's quality as well). Bring it on. And fuck you, reviewers.