I can't say I'm all that interested. I loved X-Com, thought UFO Aftermath might be a good throwback, tried the demo, hated it, and pretty much ignored Aftershock and Afterlight.
See I had the same problem, I missed all the X com apocolypse crap and waited. I gave Aftermath all my time and thorughly enjoyed it. I have Aftershock and haven't even played it yet.
Like you I'm a die hard UFO and Xcom, time based games have always pleased me, but I'm telling you give Aftermath another go, it is very good.
Aftershock I struggled with for about an hour then uninstalled it. I'm not going to give up on it though. Stick with it man, and give Aftermath a go!