So (since it seems I wasn't actually as excited about this game as I could be), I wound up watching The Avengers again.

And I came to a realization: The Avengers is basically XCOM with superheroes. I'm serious, go watch it. Notice things? SHIELD is dedicated to protecting humanity from extraterrestrial threats, they gather and reverse engineer alien technology for use by their own agents, they recruit elite agents, and they dispatch response teams all over the globe to combat threats. They even report to a shadowy council of people who sit in badly lit rooms and secretly rule the world.

Basically, SHIELD is XCOM. Except that we don't have guys like Thor and Iron Man, we just have, well, you guys. We kit you up as best we can, and we throw you into hell.

What would the world do to protect itself without superheroes? Let's find out. Two days to first contact!