Chaos Concepts has a second patch for UFO:ET that "contains several bugfixes and extended suport for graphics cards without hardware vertex shaders (e.g. Intel 915/945)".

A fairly low score of UFO: ET at Game Over with their review handing down 61% and citing poor production values and balance:

In concept, Extraterrestrials could work. I sometimes feel nostalgic for X-COM: UFO Defense, and Extraterrestrials is a game that attempts to be as much like it as possible. But there are two things that utterly and completely sabotage the game: the amateurish production values, and a whole host of incomprehensible design and balance decisions.

I'm not clear what happened to Jolt's original UFO: ET review linked the other day but having been pulled, Mute wrote in to point out a new one with a score of 5.9/10 (originally 7.8/10) has now popped up:

As a homage dedicated to the hardcore fans, UFO: Extraterrestrials is adequate, while flawed. Thankfully the community is taking matters into their own hands with mods and support. While this is a neat touch, it would have been preferable if the developers had just made a decent game in the first place. It will probably expand the shelf life a little, but certainly not until someone gets around to actually making a UFO game that captures the intense gameplay of old, and combines it with the look of the new.

Jolt's review of UFO:ET is reasonably positive and carries a score of 7.8/10:

The game is a real mixed bag of action and strategy that, while not quite recreating the magic of X-COM, gives a pretty good showing of itself. Is it a true next generation of the genre? Probably not. It avoids a lot of the issues associated with the Aftermath games, but such improvements come at a price – that price being not an awful lot of variety. Additionally, to get the most out of the game, you have to be prepared to put up some pretty deep levels of micro management that need a big pay off to make it all worthwhile. This pay off isn’t quite delivered, although the game does hint that there is more to come in a sequel, and there’s sure to be one as developers move closer to nailing exactly what made X-COM such a genre legend.

Eurogamer is one of the handful of major sites to review UFO: ET.  The score is 6/10 with the author clearly conflicted between the solid underlying gameplay and some of the implementation issues, as well as the overall concept:

Then there's the issue of plagiarism, on which I'm actually conflicted, despite everything I've said earlier. You rip off a concept which eight-thousands people have ripped off, you're just working in a tradition. You rip off something no-one else has been brave enough to, you're a plagiarist. That doesn't seem fair - surely it's better that we have something akin to X-com to play in the modern day? Imagine if there hadn't been a one-on-one fighting game released for eight years or so. That's a bit like this.

But in this case, I think what actually annoys is the exactness of the lifts - for example, the Terror missions - which grate. If this was an X-Com-clone with some obvious ideas of its own, it would be easier to forgive. When it really doesn't, you end up recalling that the Gollops are off working as an independent-developer on great-but-minor games like Laser Squad Nemesis and the Game Boy Advance title Rebelstar: Tactical Command. In any fair world they'd be - oh, I don't know - Britain's answer to Sid Meier or something.

After a flurry of initial activity things have been quiet for UFO:ET but  Gameplay Monthly has a review with a grade of B+ :

I honestly can't remember the last time I played a game so much. Probably not since the original X-com, which I played for 3-4 days straight without sleep. This isn't quite as addictive, but close. I think I spent close to 50 hours on it during the first week I had it, sneaking in an hour or two during the day, then at night playing until 5am.

A patch has been released for UFO:ET.  You can grab the 4.83Mb file from Gamers Hell and here is the improvements part of the patch notes:

 Game improvements
-----------------

* extended settings
- multiple resolution support, 1024*768 and higher, windowed mode
- controls for speed of in mission units
- controls for in mission bullets and scrolling speed
- control for camera behavior
* autosave support
- game is saved into special slot before and after each mission and at the start of each game month
* increased selling price of most items
* extended damage of base defenses
* units move faster and smoother in missions
* added hotkeys

GameShark has a review of UFO:ET, with the ordinary score of C+ .  They don't seem too impressed with the idea of a remake and here's a snip:

The truth of the matter is that UFO is too much of an X-COM clone. The genre of the tactical squad based strategy game took off in the mid to late 1990s and when you compare UFO to other games like Warhammer 40K: Chaos Gate, Jagged Alliance, and especially the immensely underrated alien killing game Incubation, this knock-off just doesn’t stack up too well. In fact, Incubation, a game released back in 1998, even looks better than UFO Extraterrestrials. The sound is equally bad with rudimentary effects that add absolutely nothing to the atmosphere. It also wins the award for the worst intro-movie of all time. You simply need to see it to believe just how cornball it is. Even when the goal is to emulate X-COM, there’s just no excuse for these types of things when you want to charge $40. Playing old games of systems gone by is all the rage nowadays…but rarely are you asked to pony up full price.

Blue's has news that UFO: ET has finally shipped to NA retail:

Upton, MA, May 30th, 2007 – Tri Synergy (www.trisynergy.com) and Chaos Concept (http://www.ufo-extraterrestrials.com/) are excited to announce that their sci-fi strategy hit, UFO: Extraterrestrials, is now available at retail stores across North America. Now gamers can enjoy the fast-paced action of aerial combat and the intense tactical battles throughout the rugged landscape of Esperanza by purchasing UFO: Extraterrestrials from Gamestop, EB Games, and other fine PC retail stores.

Apart from the shining reviews and feedback Chaos Concept has been receiving from gamers, the critics have also been raving about UFO: Extraterrestrials. UFO: Extraterrestrials has been held in high esteem by Gamepro.com who gave the game 4.25 out of 5. According to Gamepro.com, UFO: Extraterrestrials will no doubt bring any strategy fan “a damn fine gaming experience.” Additionally, Strategy Informer awarded UFO: Extraterrestrials a fantastic score of 7.2/10 and stated that “Overall the game is well done and will be very much enjoyed by fans of the classic X:COM games and anyone who enjoys tactical combat.”

Shane Nestler, President of Tri Synergy, said “UFO: Extraterrestrials has been incredibly well received by sci-fi strategy fans and with a game this solid, it’s no wonder. UFO: Extraterrestrials provides fans of strategic/tactical blends like this with a great balance between innovation and reverence for the classic sci-fi strategy titles which trail blazed before it.”

The latest UFO: ET review comes from Strategy Informer, who awarded a middling 7.2/10 in a short article:

This part of the game shows the most major difference from X:COM game play. The geoscape, and base management portions of the game have been greatly simplified. You are only allowed to have one main base where you do your research and workshop activities as well as launch all your tactical missions from. While you may construct bases in other locations on Esperanza you may only build hangers and base defenses there. You can locate fighter aircraft in these bases but are unable to even build living quarters or any of the specialized modules that are only allowed in your main base. Base management as been further simplified by removing the requirement that you track storage space, living space and the number of soldiers, scientists and technicians on the base. Each laboratory or workshop that you build in your main base provides 10 additional scientists or technicians. Each soldier arrives as they are trained and sent by the government of Esperanza. The player has no insight into when soldiers will arrive and can not request more as needed. This can be a problem if all your soldiers become wounded or killed leaving the player with few options to continue fighting the alien invaders. Funding is the primary problem in this portion of the game - craft returning to your base appear to automatically rearm which drains funds from your account each time. It appears to be automatically reordering items (or perhaps fuel) instead of requiring the player to manually manage the base supplies. While I would prefer to manage those actions myself other players may find it convenient for the game to take care of those details for them. You are also allowed to run a deficit in some areas, when your funds drop below zero research and manufacturing activities are placed on hold but you can continue to attack UFOs as they are detected and your ships will continue to rearm and refuel when they return to base increasing your deficit. Once you are able to increase your available funds back above zero, by either receiving monthly funding from the government or by selling captured or surplus equipment the research and manufacturing processes begin again.

UFO: ET has been reviewed at Out of Eight, scoring 5/8.  The text is fairly positive and notes the game is "a few tweaks short of a completely recommendable title":

In UFO: Extraterrestrials, you are defending the planet of Esperanza (Earth has long been taken over) against constant alien invasions. The first thing you’ll notice in the game is a complete lack of a tutorial. This is inexcusable, and the manual doesn’t provide enough information for veteran players (where are my weapon lists and research tree?), so if you’re not accustomed to games in the X-COM ilk, you’ll need to restart the game several times before you get the hang of it. Heck, I’ve played other UFO/X-COM games and I needed to restart the game thrice before I got everything “right.” The game plays out in two phases: global base construction and defense and tactical battles. On the global map, you will start with one base and detected alien craft will appear on-screen. Then, you will need to send fighter aircraft to destroy the ship and then send a crew in a transport to deal with the survivors (which are always there if the crash occurred on land). The UFO appearances are randomized, so you can replay the game over again and see a different frequency of alien activity. Of course, the research trees are the same, so each new game isn’t totally different. Esperanza is divided up into nine different countries and your income is dependent on how well you defend them from alien attacks. New bases can only have a limited amount of structures built on them (hangers for aircraft and defenses); this is a design decision to limit the ability to make the human player outpace the alien AI. Whether you like the decision is up to you (personally I don’t have a problem with it), so if you’re used to powering your way through X-COM, the reins will be quite a bit tighter in UFO: Extraterrestrials.

The first of the big reviews is in for UFO: ET and it isn't pretty, with GameSpot handing down a score of only 5.2/10 and saying the game is only for "desperate diehards":

Nobody has yet recreated the magic of MicroProse's X-COM, but it hasn't been for want of trying. It seems like every six months or so, someone has been releasing a fresh take on this early 90s strategy masterwork about shooting down flying saucers and sending soldiers to hunt down the survivors, and each attempt has only sent disappointed diehards back to the original. UFO: Extraterrestrials adds another chapter to that unhappy saga. This effort by development studio Chaos Concept is dissatisfying both as a rip-off of a legend and as a game in its own right because of odd design decisions, bugs, and bottom-drawer graphics and sound. The best that can be said about the game is that its sci-fi atmosphere and smart artificial intelligence make it a somewhat acceptable way for the desperate to whittle away a couple of dozen hours waiting for someone to finally do a proper remake of X-COM.

Matrix Games has announced the DD version UFO: ET is now available from the Matrix Store (approx 1.8Gb), with the retail version following on May 21st:

Matrix Games,Tri Synergy (www.trisynergy.com) and Chaos Concept (www.ufo-extraterrestrials.com) are proud to announce the digital download release of UFO: Extraterrestrials in North America! Years of dedicated development and the excitement of fans across the world will now combine to elevate UFO: Extraterrestrials to critical and gamer acclaim it has been anticipated to reach.

UFO: Extraterrestrials has already been warmly received by Gamepro.com who gave the game 4.25 out of 5 and proclaimed that UFO: Extraterrestrials brings “a damn fine gaming experience.” The Wargamer’s recent preview also confidently declared that veterans of previous titles in the genre will no doubt be pleased with UFO: Extraterrestrials: “So X-COM fans rejoice! If you are a fan of the original series you won't be disappointed.”

David Heath, Director of Operations at Matrix Games, said “The excitement surrounding UFO: Extraterrestrials has reached a fever pitch over past few months. We’re truly thrilled that gamers will now get to set their laser sights on this fantastic real-time/turn-based strategy blend. We’re confident that the game’s quality, playability, and addicting gameplay will show gamers that UFO: Extraterrestrials has been well worth the wait.”

UFO: Extraterrestrials is set in 2025 on the newly colonized planet Esperanza, where mankind’s foray into outer space has a meeting with alien life. However, these extraterrestrials aren’t just interested in contact; they’re out for blood and riches. In defense of their fledgling outer space outpost, the player is summoned by the Esperanza government to face this threat from deep space. The player will have at their disposal squads of soldiers, light and heavy support combat vehicles, robots and air units located in bases throughout the Esperanza. In addition, UFO: Extraterrestrials combines global strategy with small, squad-based tactical combat against an alien invasion. To repel the alien invasion the player must take full advantage of the terrain and his surrounding environments.

Get more information on UFO: Extraterrestrials from its official Matrix Games webpage and be sure to check out the fresh new screenshots and gameplay video!

UFO: Extraterrestrials will be available from Matrix Games and Tri Synergy. The North American retail release will be available the week of May 21^st at EB Games and GameStop stores. Check the Tri Synergy website for more information and other available retail stores.

The first UFO: ET review is up just in advance of the May 1st release with GamePro posting a short critique.  The score is a promising 4.25/5 and here's the opening:

There have been few games as well loved as the original X-COM: UFO Defense, and none so remarkable in their longevity. Released in 1993 to near-universal acclaim, X-COM was able to flawlessly blend strategic and tactical layers into a solid all-around strategy game that still retains a loyal following today. Developed out of the Czech Republic by Chaos Concept, UFO: Extraterrestrials comes as closer to becoming the successor of X-COM than any other game yet, which is a great accomplishment indeed. However, it comes just painfully short thanks to several unfortunate design choices.

After many, many delays, UFO: ET has gone Gold and will be available for digital download from May 1st and in retail a couple of weeks thereafter.  Here's the press release via Blue's:

Upton, MA, April 18th, 2007 – Tri Synergy (www.trisynergy.com is proud to announce that their highly anticipated sci-fi strategy title, UFO: Extraterrestrials, has gone gold! UFO: Extraterrestrials combines fast-paced real time action on the strategic level with intense turn-based tactical battles.

To celebrate the arrival of the Gold-Master build of UFO: Extraterrestrials, Tri Synergy is releasing a sneak peek at the opening cinematic trailer in addition to a new bundle of screenshots, with more gameplay footage and screens to follow!

UFO: Extraterrestrials has been one of the most anticipated strategy games of the year. Here’s what the critics have been saying about UFO: Extraterrestrials:

    “X-COM Fans Rejoice! If you are a fan of the original series you won’t be disappointed.” - Wargamer.com

    “…strategic elements are particularly well constructed – numerous attachments can be made to the bases, such as new laboratories, hangars, autopsy rooms, and even base defense muddles. Likewise, research and manufacturing is every bit as impressive as they were in the original X-COM, allowing players to produce their own weaponry and gear.” – Gamepro.com

Set on the distant planet Esperanza in 2025, the player is thrust into the tough position of leading the defense of this isolated planet against a never-ending assault of hostile alien invaders. UFO: Extraterrestrials will please tactical and strategy fans alike all while including an immersive sci-fi setting. When waging war against the enemy on the ground, advanced artificial intelligence will challenge the player’s tactical mettle while fully destructible environments will grant unprecedented free form of gameplay. There’s no one correct way to approach any tactical situation! Take all this and couple it with weapon and technology advancement at the player’s home base that allow for new and improved weapons, armor, vehicles and more to be developed, and UFO: Extraterrestrials will provide gamers with addicting gameplay that always leaves them coming back for more!

This real time strategy/turn-based tactical blend will be available May 1st for digital download from Matrix Games (www.matrixgames.com), with a retail store release during the second week of May. Get more information on UFO: Extraterrestrials from Tri Synergy or the official game page at UFO-Extraterrestrials.com. 

According to Blue's, there are new screens at the UFO: Extraterrestrials site as we head to the April 16th release date.

Our previous sporadic coverage of UFO: Extraterrestrials seems to have generated some interest so we may as well pay more attention from here on, starting with a preview at IGN.  Here's a bit that will please a lot of people, if true:

This April Chaos Concepts will release UFO: Extraterrrestrials, a game that's so close to the original X-COM design that we're wondering when the IP's lawyers are going to start calling. It's true that games like UFO: Afterlight and Rebelstar Tactical Command cribbed some of the mechanics and basic setup from X-COM but UFO Extraterrestrials follows the original game feature by feature.

Thanks to dteowner for some useful information on UFO: Extraterrestrials, pointing out a post on the official forums that is enlightening (especially with a new, new date of April 16th on the main page ) :

This is the message from one of the developers posted in the Czech version of the message board. I tried to translate it for you:

As all of you have noticed the release date has been again unexpectedly postponed. To prevent gossips such as they don't care, it won't be released etc., the truth is:

The game is done. Now the work is being done on translations, supporting materials such as game manual, covers, prints...that's from our side also done, now it´s all in the hands of publishers who are preparing localizations for their regions.

I promised a playable demo version to be out on the 28th February. Unfortunately this will probably not be released either. By mutual agreement with the publisher the demo version was decided to be multilingual and the translations are now being worked on. Thus I hope we will manage to prepare at least some other surprise on the 28th February. So hold on for a while, the constant new dates are embarrassing, but nothing can be done about it, we're just like that. We are doing the maximum and trying our best.

We may as well follow up the recent UFO: Extraterrestrials release date announcement with some (hopefully) new screens at FileFront.

It's a quiet day so we may as well take the off-topic news that UFO: Extraterrestrials has a new release date (again...):

Brace for impact! The latest incarnation of the UFO series is crashing through the atmosphere this March

Upton, MA, February 21st, 2007 – Tri Synergy, Inc. (www.trisynergy.com) has sent word that a new release date has been set for the latest addition to the popular UFO series, UFO: Extraterrestrials. The highly anticipated sequel to an already addictive and innovative series will now be available to gamers on March 16th, 2007.

UFO: Extraterrestrials is set in 2025 on the newly colonized planet Esperanza, where mankind’s foray into outer space has a meeting with alien life. However, these extraterrestrials aren’t just interested in contact; they’re out for blood and riches. In defense of their fledgling outer space outpost, the player is summoned by the Esperanza government to face this threat from deep space. The player will have at their disposal squads of soldiers, light and heavy support combat vehicles, robots and air units located in bases throughout the Esperanza.In addition, UFO: Extraterrestrials combines global strategy with small, squad-based tactical combat against an alien invasion. To repel the alien invasion the player must take full advantage of the terrain and his surrounding environments.

Get more information on UFO: Extraterrestrials from the official Tri Synergy webpage.

Some readers will know we have kept an occasional eye on the X-COM inspired UFO: Extraterrestrials, despite it being out of our usual coverage.  A new preview is available at Hooked Gamers and here's a snip:

 The game isn’t just the spiritual successor to the X-COM series, in many ways it feels like a real sequel. The sound and gameplay mechanics are more than a little similar to those of X-COM but modeling a game after X-COM is not a bad thing. When it was released in the mid-90’s X-COM garnered much praise and is loved by many gamers (myself included). It is very infrequent that I will enjoy a game that I am absolutely terrible at but that was how it was with the X-COM series; I loved it and boy was I terrible at it.

It's a bit quiet news-wise so this is a good time to catch up with UFO: Extraterrestrials, the XCom "remake" we have previously followed a little.  With a current release date of Autumn 2006, the site has news they have identified 206 bugs and have worked through 147 of them, although more are expected.  Thanks, dte!

Prague, Czech Republic, UFO-Extraterrestrials for PC is nearing completion.
A new release date of Fall 2006 has been set and a demo video is now
available. Why is this a big deal? Because, the turn-based tactical gaming community is finally getting their Holy Grail, an updated X-Com successor.

The experienced gaming community is no stranger to X-Com, it was 1995's game of the year. Several of the editors at PC Gamer magazine list it among their all time top favorite games. The cult like following of this game has survived for over a decade now. What other game can claim such long lasting effect on the gamers?

Ever since the first X-Com released, gamers have been hungry for more, but have consistently been disappointed by rumors of a new X-Com and sub par clone attempts. Microprose promised a new first person game, then closed shop. Hasbro Interactive promised to pick up the torch and subsequently closed. Then Atari acquired the titles, promised a new game, and then scrapped the plan.

But fear not, developer Chaos Concept has come to the rescue. Since 2002 this first time developer has been quietly working on the true successor to the X-Com universe. Without fanfare or a heavy marketing campaign this title has been coming along very nicely as a labor of love for the lead developer Michal Dolezal.

After many years and heavy pressure from fans to get a playable version, the young developers have shone true maturity and perseverance to do the right thing and release "when it's done". The new release date has been set for Fall 2006.

Now fans can finally see the proof that this game is the true successor to X-Com. A long awaited demo video is being released. Get it here. The video is almost 15 minutes long and give a very good look at what game play will be like. It shows 6 different environments as well as the Geoscape complete with dogfights and soldier equipment load out screens, and all the goodies we have been longing for. The game play visuals will instantly take you back to memories of long nights on your 486-DX, swearing that you will go to bed after just one more turn. The video requires the divx codec which can be downloaded at www.divx.com/divx/windows .