The title has the question, Which of the UFO games are the first, i see afterlight, aftermath and aftershock, and to my knowledge, it just makes confusion...
Would someone PLEASE tell me the order of the games so i don't buy the wrong version?
Thanks in advance

1. Aftermath
2. Aftershock
3. Afterlight
In terms of chronology, Aftermath is first, with Aftershock and (I believe, haven't played it yet) Afterlight taking place simultaneously based on an....alternate ending to Aftermath.

There is none wrong version. What do you mean?
You should play all three, from Aftermath to Afterlight.
If you have time for only one, then I think you should play the 2nd one: Aftershock, in its last 1.3 patch.

I cant get aftershock to work without getting a new laptop...sorry not worth it for me =(

I haven't played any of them, but is debating with myself is i really wish to buy and complete the game... i think i'll get the Demo of the game... if there is any, and see if i even like the game...
It looks VERY interesting...
Ohh well..
thanks for the help, first time i experience a game with multiple releases without some form of numeric session...
Guese one time has to be the first time...

What? GOG has removed the release dates on the UFO game card?

You've got the right order.

Aftermath (the first of the UFO series) - Mini Review-
Not really as strategic as Xcom (base capturing instead of base building, base types), much more time will be spent in tactical. I played it with the ComboMod beta 3 (or so). I believe combomod added a horde of weapons to better balance the game. It wasn't a perfect fix, but it did help a bit. The difficulty ramps up quickly after your first fixed mission (has exclamation point in it), and gets hugely difficult on the 2nd and 3rd. Note: There is a game breaking bug in a certain mission's area! If you are supposed to carry an alien, box, what-have-you into the exit area - make sure it is in your hands when you do so! Failure to do so will have you starting over from scratch. Even if it is in your backpack, and you hit the abort button, it will say 'Mission Success' and you will silently fail, as the needed research options will be hidden from you. Yes, you *might* be able to use VFStool and some minor hackery to bring your characters from your old game to your newly started one, but who wants to repeat hours of playing?

Oh yes, the game itself is is limited to a resolution of 1024x768, and runs in Windows. In Wine, you might not have a cursor (that was Wine 1.1/NVidia).

Aftershock (the 2nd) - Mini Review -
Altar listened, there are a lot more strategic elements in this game. Each territory is made up of one or more provinces, one of which is considered a capitol. The capitol is your 'base' in which you can add/remove buildings. Each one of the buildings will serve a certain purpose, such as researching weapons blueprints, mass production of weapons, ammunition, and advanced technologies. The problem I have with this game is that it is supremely difficult. You start off with some high accuracy, low damage value weapons, and have to research (or steal) low accuracy, high damage value weapons. All I have to say about that is that you cannot please all of the people all of the time. By the time you find the 4th faction, someone (maybe two) will very likely hate you. Cannot be helped.

I will note, that I again played with with Okim's Aftershock 'Artwork' (total) conversion mod. Just make sure to get GoGs version, load the v1.3 from Altar's site, then then Okim's ACM 1.4 mod. Do not start a game until this is complete, or you will have tons of errors. Again, this games resolution is fixed at 1024x768. I will say that Aftershock's graphic style is distinctly different from Aftermath's.

For completeness, Afterlight is the 3rd in the series, based on Mars rather than earth. I just purchased it recently and haven't had a chance to try it out. I cannot even identify mods or patches that might work with it.

Is it worth getting? Well, it depends. If you are a hard core turn based fanatic, you will probably enjoy UFO Extra Terrestrials (UFO:ET) title better than this one. The realtime-pause that the tactical missions offer may not be your cup of tea. I myself preferred the Xcom style alien/human turns. That said, I liked the way that this was implemented. I don't feel like I am wasting any time on a mission. It is as tactical as you want it to be. You also have to get used to the idea that certain actions trump others, such as combat is priority 1, moving is priority 2 and digging in your backpack is priority 3. Actions of a higher priority will interrupt a lower priority. So if you don't want to attack the alien with a medikit (true story!), make sure the char is done digging in their backpack before firing. Oh, friendly fire is not a concern in the first UFO (explosions notwithstanding), but comes back with a vengeance in the -shock and -light titles, especially since solders like to wander in front of other soldiers while they are firing.

I've played all three, and I have to say that each of them are decent games. They all do tactical combat greatly, although, as mentioned above, the second game has some very challenging stretches where your technology is outclassed, and your only option is take some from rather powerful enemies.

However, they each play somewhat differently in the strategic game.

The first one is the least strategic, by far, with emphasis placed on the tactical combat. By itself, most XCom vets will find it somewhat shallow, but as part of a trilogy, I think it does a good job of introducing the hybrid combat system and the rpg elements. (There aren't a lot, but certainly more than XCom had). I especially liked the different training focuses you could give your troops, which really had an impact on the game-play as well as on the sense of individuality of the characters. This was also a feature of the second game, and, I believe there was something similar in Afterlight, though my memory is a little foggy at the moment.

The second ramps up the strategic game with improvements to base-building and research, but overall it plays a lot like the first.

The third, Aftershock, was my favorite. I'm not a fan of the art direction, which trades out the post-apocalyptic feel of the first two for something with more color and clean lines and geometry, but I do appreciate the change of scenery. The base building and such is again further improved, though because you lead a small group of colonists, you are limited to a single base. Likewise, because of your small pool of manpower, you only receive new troops, scientists, and technicians at scripted points in the story. (In fact, I think you recieve two soldiers above what you start with. So don't loose any!) This makes loosing soldiers especially painful, but pushes you to balance out your squads by researching and building modular robots.

Territories are just as important as it is in the first two games, but I felt it was more engaging. There are multiple factions in Afterlight, and you're competing for the same resources. A couple you can ally with, but most of them are hostile, and honestly, if your allies have a resource you need for research or production, you're likely to betray them for it.

All-in-all, I think it's the best of the series, and well worth it if you're looking for an XCom clone.