Starting the game was very exciting. The intro is very neat, and I had a good feeling. Playing the tutorial missions was a mixed pleasure however. I played the second lowest difficulty and was shot to pieces. I also had trouble remembering things like how to rotate the camera, and the tutorial didn't tell me. I think this may have been because parts of it were turned off, but I am not sure. Then, after getting into the control room and starting the actual game my excitement rose again. The missions were still challenging, but noting the improvements in using crouch, having men stunned and so on was great! After playing the game for an hour I very much felt like playing more!

Judging from my overall experiences I'd say that this will probably be a very good game for the core gamers. People who liked Aftermath, or fondly remember X-COM, may have a real treat on their hands. Aftermath was good, but Aftershock could end up great!

For newbies and casual gamers however, it might be a different story altogether. I don't think the game will grab them quickly enough, and thus never turn them into fans. Then again, this game weren't made for casual gamers, and I thus think ALTAR and Cenega made the right choice.