Thanks, Hank. Though I just noticed that because I asked for you to swap out the "can't see enemy right beside me" picture, the pronoun gender is now wrong.
[quote name='j-cart']Crotch's XCOM picture also reminded me how annoying it was that we couldn't get the "drop" on aliens, because of their additional move upon finding them. Also, it's the future, why can't I have UAVs to scout with?[/QUOTE]
You can kinda-sorta. Battle Scanners can reveal enemies without activating them, which lets you target them with either squad-sight snipers or rocket launchers. Battle scanners are really

ing buggy though (see slideshow), so there's a point off that strategy. Enemies are also revealed if you manage to accidentally damage them without seeing them. Case in point: I just accidentally revealed a pack of mutons by missing a shot against a floater, hitting a vehicle behind them. When the vehicle blew up on the next turn, it damaged the unseen mutons standing next to it, revealing but not activating them. Finally, sometimes you just flat-out
see enemies on the edge of your vision without activating them (this usually involves them teleporting, in my experience) simply because the game is buggy as shit.
Srsly though, the patrol/activate mechanic in Enemy Unknown is dogshit. The game's a lot of fun, but that is a

ing stinker right there.