Veterans of Cydonia, soldiers of the last generation, listen up: there's a new XCOM game making the rounds. While the next installment of the updated saga is scheduled for release next February, a Reddit user has decided to create EXLCOM, a variant that runs entirely inside Excel. There's no doubt that Microsoft's software can do much more than process spreadsheets, but a game inspired by XCOM catches us by surprise.
The legacy of Enemy Unknown
The new edition of XCOM was very well received by fans. With an expansion under its belt and the possibility of picking up a copy at more than reasonable prices, XCOM: Enemy Unknown should have a place in any player's library. The same can be said for its original version, which many of us knew as UFO: Enemy Unknown. That game was ruthless to the core, and many who reached its ending (including yours truly) needed the help of a hex editor to make the battle more balanced. The new game doesn't just change the graphics, but also several story elements, but that doesn't prevent it from serving as inspiration for other personal projects.
One of them is EXLCOM, developed by Reddit user Crruzi. The most curious thing about EXLCOM is that it wasn't written as a standalone application, but uses Microsoft Excel as its execution platform. Apparently, Crruzi decided to create EXLCOM as "practice" to improve his VBA skills, and admits that two months ago he couldn't write a single line, which makes the project even more impressive. It still has multiple details to work out regarding bugs and balance, but something tells us he'll dedicate a few more months to it, at least until the release of XCOM 2.
Another aspect to highlight is that Crruzi has placed EXLCOM chronologically between the events of Enemy Unknown and what will be XCOM 2, which makes us think he has a more elaborate story planned for his game. Needless to say, the catch here is having a copy of Microsoft Excel, and from what we've seen, it has problems with 64-bit versions, something Crruzi is trying to fix. Beyond that… amazing.
