UFO trilogy
One of the 48 laws of power is 'Avoid filling a great man's shoes', and I think that a lot of the negativity surrounding the UFO series is due to its trying to follow the X-com games.
I've played X-com, like what it tried to do, but was constantly frustrated with the lack of refinements. (I think I've played games on my CPC464 that felt more refined). What it appears to have is 'starwars syndrome', where you experience it in your formative years, and imagine it as being better than it was, and much better than anything since.
Having played aftermath, here's what I thought:
The good:
1) Ooh, a 3-d rotatable map.
2) Real time action. Now I can order my squad to advance as one, and their actions and the aliens happen simultaneously.
3) the ability to stack orders. Now, I can create a sweep pattern for an area, and sit back while my troops execute it. If they find anything out of the ordinary, the game will auto-pause and I can re-assess.
4) On the strategic level, you expand your base by successfully clearing areas of aliens, rather than random placement.
5) No more funding to worry about.
6) You start the game unable to even *detect* enemy UFOs. You have to research everything.
7) Missions last longer on the strategic map. Each one lists it's impact, and it's urgency, letting you prioritise. You also have the option of delegating a mission.
8) Given the range of damage for weapons, it's a lot easier to incapacitate enemies.
The bad.
1) The maps do seem a bit bland (but given the post apocalyptic setting, not unrealistic)
2) you can't enter buildings. (probably a limitation of the game engine)
3) Takes a while to get used to the interface
4) Can't seem to order a change of facing. (Or if you can, I haven't worked out how)
5) Often the aliens are armed, but their weapons (things like desert eagle) aren't visible.
Other:
1) Bases now come in three types: Miltary, engineering, science. But, you don't do any specific building.
2) You only have one transport. (a chinook, with a capacity of 7 people)
I started playing at 10pm, and was on 'til 1am. I would have been playing longer, but most of my team were wiped out, and I wanted time to reassess.
I certainly think it's worth playing, and to me is an improvement over X-com.