About X-COM: Terror from the Deep
X-COM: Terror from the Deep is a strategy game that MicroProse developed and published for the PC, with the DOS version arriving in March 1995. A PlayStation version followed in 1996 and a Windows release in 1998. It is the sequel to UFO: Enemy Unknown, which North American players know as X-COM: UFO Defense, and the second game in the X-COM series. This time the war against a renewed alien invasion moves into Earth’s oceans, a change of setting from the first game.
Stephen Goss designed the game, Stuart Whyte produced it, and John Broomhall and Allister Brimble wrote the music. Wikipedia lists its genres as both real-time strategy and turn-based tactics, and it is a single-player game with no multiplayer mode.
The rights to X-COM now sit with Take-Two Interactive, through its 2K label and Firaxis Games.
How it runs in your browser
Hit Play and the game’s listing on dos.zone opens in a new tab. From there, DOS.Zone boots the original MS-DOS release inside an emulated PC using js-dos, its open-source version of DOSBox made for the web, so the game looks and sounds as it did on a 1995 PC. Everything the game needs is served by the site, which means no installer, no CD of your own and no registration. DOS.Zone runs no ads.
The listing uses the full title, files the game under turn-based strategy and wargames, and shows a rating of 4.9 from 37 player reviews. Whether saved games survive between visits isn’t stated here, so check DOS.Zone’s page before you commit to a long campaign against the aliens.
Controls and devices
Terror from the Deep expects a keyboard and mouse. Once js-dos has started the game, click into its window so your clicks and key presses reach it. The key layout isn’t listed here, so learn the controls from the game’s own screens and menus.
DOS.Zone mentions virtual controls for mobile, and you can try them for free, but the game was designed around a mouse and keyboard and is far easier to manage on a computer. We haven’t tested it on a phone, and Chromebooks haven’t been confirmed.
Who it’s for
It’s for players who finished the first X-COM and want to carry the fight on underwater, and for fans of turn-based tactics who like their battles slow and deliberate. It also suits anyone who wants to try the 1995 original without setting up DOSBox at home, since both of the first two X-COM games run on DOS.Zone in their MS-DOS versions. If you’d like more MicroProse strategy afterwards, Civilization opens on DOS.Zone in the same way.
Is X-COM: Terror from the Deep Free, Safe and Official?
Can I play X-COM: Terror from the Deep online for free?
Yes. DOS.Zone runs the 1995 MS-DOS version free in a browser tab, with no registration and nothing to install. It’s a single-player game, so there’s no online multiplayer.
Is Terror from the Deep the same game as X-COM: UFO Defense?
No. Terror from the Deep is the sequel to UFO: Enemy Unknown, the game sold in North America as X-COM: UFO Defense. It’s the second X-COM game and moves the fight against the aliens into Earth’s oceans.
Does X-COM: Terror from the Deep work on a phone?
DOS.Zone offers virtual on-screen controls for phones, but the game was built for a keyboard and mouse, and we haven’t tested it on a touchscreen. A computer is the better fit.
