Small but niggling

[Strong Bob]

The aliens may be designed for one purpose, but they also appear to be "fodder". Essentially, they are expendable troops for a greater cause (To take over humanity through the method of replacing human bloodstreams with Micronoid ooze.) and this is proven by the fact that none of the aliens can exist on Earth for more than a few days at a time. There is clearly little chance of any ground team ever returning home, so it's likely each attack is a basic suicide mission that is either intended to wittle down defenses or simply observe and research.

 

The aliens don't seem to employ very destructive tactics until they bring about Battleships, Motherships, and the Overspawn, indicating that all prior attempts were not meant to cause any considerable change in the city beyond collateral damage and potentially swaying the allegiances of other organizations. It is obvious they are aware of the different groups of humans, since if they beam a team into a Cult of Sirius building, whether you Raid or Search the building, you will be fighting both the Cultists and Aliens. (I've tested this one... I have no idea why it hasn't worked for others.)

 

The fact you find Sectiods in their dimension also raises an interesting branch of story. The base in the Micronoid dimension doesn't have even remotely comparable resources compared the Aliens of the first war. How were they able to not only fight them, but capture a decent amount of Sectoids? This would mean they have another base elsewhere, or perhaps other planets entirely. (It's possible that you're not even passing through to another dimension, but rather simply to another world populated by Micronoid-controlled aliens.) This could mean that there are other wars out there, and the Micronoids may yet be another threat that the original Aliens are decking it out with.

 

I always felt that the Apocalypse Aliens had such an extreme depth to them. Enough so, that I find it weird they're discarded as the worst in the series... So much possibility here gone to waste!

 

Sorry, I rambled there. (Probably should've started another topic...) To stay on track with the topic thus far...

 

My absolute biggest peeve was the story. Not enough explained, too many questions unanswered... And the UFOpaedia thinks I'm science illiterate... How is an "Anti-Matter Implosion" even possible?

 

My second peeve is the lack of diplomacy. I hope one day someone mods this game so that alliances actually mean something! C'mon... Cheaper prices at the shop, maybe some help shooting down UFOs... Anything that gives diplomacy some value!