X-COM: Terror from the Deep

X-COM: Terror from the Deep
North American DOS cover art
Developer(s)	MicroProse
Publisher(s)	MicroProse Hasbro Interactive 2K Games
Producer(s)	Stuart Whyte
Designer(s)	Stephen Goss
Programmer(s)	Bill Barna Annette Bell Nick Thompson
Artist(s)	Paul Ayliffe Nick Cook Edward Garnier
Composer(s)	John Broomhall
Series	X-COM
Engine	UFO: Enemy Unknown (updated)
Platform(s)	PC (Windows or DOS), PlayStation
Release	1 June 1995 (PC) 1996 (PlayStation)
Genre(s)	Real-time strategy, turn-based tactics
Mode(s)	Single-player

X-COM: Terror from the Deep is a strategy video game developed and published by MicroProse in 1995 for the PC. It is the sequel to UFO: Enemy Unknown (aka X-COM: UFO Defense) and the second game of the X-COM series.

Terror from the Deep is set in 2040, four decades after the events of Enemy Unknown. Following the destruction of the alien Brain on Cydonia, a transmitter remained active there which awakened a group of aliens under the Earth's seas who had lain dormant for millions of years. After awakening, the aliens proceed to terrorize seagoing vessels and port cities, kidnapping humans to perform bizarre genetic experiments on them. X-COM, which had been disbanded after the first alien war, is revived by the Earth's governments to fight this new menace as the aliens' ultimate goal is to reawaken their supreme leader, a being that cannot be stopped once revived.

Eventually, it is revealed the aquatic aliens, cousins of the Sectoids from Enemy Unknown, came to Earth on a massive spacecraft, known as T'Leth, that crashed into what is now the Gulf of Mexico 65 million years ago, causing the extinction of the dinosaurs. Destruction of T'Leth by the player results in victory but also accidentally results in another worldwide environmental cataclysm, destroying the ecosystem of Earth and setting the stage for the third game in the series, X-COM: Apocalypse.

MicroProse wanted Mythos Games to make a sequel to Enemy Unknown in six months. Julian Gollop felt that the only way to do so was to change the graphics and make minor changes to the gameplay. Eventually, MicroProse licensed Mythos' code and their internal UK studio created Terror from the Deep within a year, while Mythos Games began developing Apocalypse. MicroProse artist Terry Greer recalled:

A decision was made to use the original engine, reskin the graphics and create a whole new story. By keeping changes to the absolute minimum a sequel could be created in just a few months. Also, by not inventing any new game features or game technology it would make the scheduling one largely led purely by asset creation – which makes it whole lot easier when it comes to estimating task durations and scheduling.