If you’ve never heard of XCOM, you are not alone, which is a shame. Firaxis Games revolutionized turn-based combat by reinventingĀ the 1994 cult classic UFO: Enemy Unknown and releasing it asĀ XCOM: Enemy Unknown and later XCOM: Enemy Within. Through their unique mechanics and addicting and deep gameplay, both of these games set the bar for modern turn-based strategy games. Did anyone expect anything less from the creators of one of the greatest series of all time in Civilization? They aimed for even greater heights in XCOM 2.Ā How did they fare? Let’s find out.
Developed by:Ā Firaxis Games
PublishedĀ by:Ā 2K
Release date: February 5th, 2016
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC (Reviewed on PC)
Launch Price: 59.99 USD
Story & Setting
XCOM 2 is set in the aftermath of its predecessor and you find your self picking up the pieces of what is left of the human race 20 years after the conquest of Earth by the hostile alien invaders. In the opening sequence you are made aware that you are in fact the same nameless faceless protagonist you were in the first game. Welcome back Commander. Several of the same characters return, giving the game a nostalgic feel that immediately sucks you right back in like you’d never missed a beat. Manning the Avenger, you must guide the Resistance to victory over the alien overlords in the face of almost certain defeat.
The game does a fantastic job of taking a relatively simple plot and making it cinematic, dramatic and intense throughout the course of the game. The voice acting, the cinematography, and the pacing make the game not just a turn-based strategy, but one with real depth and substance. In games like Civilization you simply play for the gameplay and experience, but in XCOM 2 the dramatic music and excellent narrative are evocative and I found myself engaged and my emotions invested in the outcome. Strategy games are not known to be the most immersive experiences, but XCOM 2’s pacing and polish manages this feat. That is not an easy thing to accomplish in this genre, so hats off to Firaxis here.
Design
XCOM: Enemy Unknown was never really known for fantastic visuals. XCOM 2 aimed to rectify this, and to some degree they were successful. At first glance the game’s graphics are notĀ too impressive, but the more you progress into the campaign, the more you realize how much work and detail has gone into every single map and level. Every building and vehicle all featureĀ immense detail and objectsĀ catch fire, explode and make combat feelĀ realistic. Unfortunately the game suffers from severe performance issues that make playing on max graphics all but impossible. I have a 970 GTX and I was unable to maintain 30 FPS at max settings and had to set it down to High to get a consistent 30 FPS. There were also a tremendous amount of visual and audio bugs during my playthroughs. Most were bearable, but I can’t remember the last time I saw so many bugs in a game at launch. Hopefully future patches will address these issues.
The sound and music are simply some of the best I have seen in a turn-based game to date, if not the best. The music gets your blood flowing and really makes you want to kick some alien ass and take names later! The sound of a shotgun blast to some alienĀ face or a building exploding from a grenade you launched into it never gets old. The voice acting is some of the best in a game I’ve seen to date, and the timing of communications from your base to you give XCOM 2 such a blockbuster movie feel that you almost forget you are playing a game. You just feel like you are along for a ride.
Gameplay
This is where XCOM has ALWAYS shined and it is no different in XCOM 2. Players familiar with XCOM: Enemy Unknown will feel right at home and will be challenged at every turn by the game’s punishing difficulty. XCOM 2 is the Dark Souls of turn-based strategy. It’s brutal, unforgiving and even when everything is seemingly going right, you can still get completely wiped out in the blink of an eye. It took me 3 tries to complete the very first mission in the game and thanks to the random map generation, no 2 missions are ever alike which increases the challenge. You simply get better at playing the game or you get pummeled again and again until you improve. However, at the end of that extremely difficult mission is the satisfaction that you somehow found a way to overcome everything that the game threwĀ you. And trust me, it throws everything it has at you and then some.
When not on the battlefield, players will have to manage their resources and upgrade the Avenger with new Facilities, and research technology that will allow for better equipment for their Soldiers. Ā This all unfolds in a positive feedback loop that becomes incredibly deep. Managing your projects and the timing of your facilities’ construction and operation requires a lot of thought and careful planning, all of which is not immediately evident. The game does an ok job explaining the ins and outs but a lot has to be parsed out by the players. Taking the new goodies you’ve created, you will then have to outfit your unitsĀ with whatever weapons, armor, utility items, grenades and ammunition you think they will need to complete the mission set before them. Soldiers rank up and gain new abilities as they survive missions, making them more powerful nearly every time they deploy. This makes you particularly attached to them, and also makes it quite painful when you lose a highly ranked Soldier on a mission. You can also customize nearly every Soldier you use, from their name, hair style, color, armor color, weapon color, nationality, and language they speak. You can make all of your friends into characters and fight to save the planet with them just like you used to do when you were 10 years old and playing with action figures. That alone adds an element of fun to the game that is amazingly satisfying.
Multiplayer
XCOM 2 features a 1 vs. 1 PvP game type, just like Enemy Unknown. Players will be able to construct their squads with a max number of credits, with each Soldier and improvement to them costing a certain amount. Players can use every single human and alien found in the game in their squads, with combinations only being limited by the max number of credits you have to spend. In custom games you can raise this limit very high to allow for more options, but for ranked matches and quick matches it is fixed at 10,000. Unfortunately it seems as if most people areĀ not playing multiplayer yet as it is extremely difficult to find a match, even a week after release. I played 4 games oneĀ day and it matched me against the same person allĀ 4 times. He said he had been waiting a long time for a game which led me toĀ think we were the only ones playing.
Multiplayer is also horribly unbalanced. Some units are just way way better than others for the cost. It really feels like this particular part of the game was just not shown the love and attention that the rest of the game was. This is unfortunate, since the multiplayer can be a lot of fun. As it stands now, the only way to guarantee you’ll enjoy your multiplayer experience is if you and a friend set a time to play together and set custom rules on what is allowed.
Overall
XCOM 2 was an ambitious endeavor by Firaxis Games, and even though the game isĀ probablyĀ a patch or two away from full polish, it satisfiedĀ theĀ XCOM itch that I’d been dying to scratch from the momentĀ the sequel was announced. There are a few performance issues and some visual bugs that slightly detract from the experience but the game is simply too good to not forgiveĀ these issues. Firaxis and 2K nailed ALL of things that make a game great: A cinematic story, deep challenging gameplay, tons and tons of customization and lots of replay value because of their random level generator. If you’re a fan of table top games or have been looking for a good strategy game on PC, this is the game for you. If you are still unsure about spending 50$ on this game, do yourself a favor and go pick up XCOM: Enemy Unknown on Steam for 10$. If you don’t buy XCOM 2 immediately afterwards I would be absolutely shocked.
Good luck Commander.
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Summary
And outstanding sequel to an outstanding game. XCOM 2 is everything an XCOM fan could want and more. If you are a fan of turn-based strategy games, this is THE must own title for 2016. A few performance issues and numerous bugs prevent it from getting the score that it truly deserves.
13 responses to “XCOM 2: A Diamond in the Rough”
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not really. At least Dark souls gives you some control over whats gonna happen. In Xcom its all RNG and the aliens cheat gloriously at the early and end game, by having almost double the accuracy of your troops and killing them in one hit most of the time.
Its cheap sometimes, and I hate it. The review didn’t cover this. but you’l see if you try the higher difficulties, hell even normal has cheating enemies.
Might be because my luck is absolutely shit. And enemies always gets the hits on me. While I miss point blank shotgun shots š
Bumping this now that we know it’s getting a console release in September!
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I died on the first mission 3 times. The game is really really difficult. You either get better or you die horribly…and sometimes you die horribly anyway…
Cas
Angry Joe!
[BBvideo 560,340]https://youtu.be/1Jp8m2SPmzE[/BBvideo]
If it was on Ps4 , i would play it. I really liked the first one, although it was very watered down and easy compared to the 1994 original (one of my favorite games ever!)
The gameplay videos i have seen of this 2nd one look fun (still watered down, but fun).
The first mission took me ~2 hours to finish (Difficulty: Normal)! Either I’m bad at this, or this game is way harder than Enemy Unknown/Within…
I adore this game
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I loved XCOM 1, even with its 90% misses. Well, at least you know it’s not 100% lol. The switch between real-time strategy and turn-based strategy was awesome.
There was only one game that made me curse the whole % thing, and it was Wasteland 2, when my character couldn’t kill a 100% chance to hit guy, because of 1% chance to jam. Higher ground, superior position, and equipment.
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So you’re going to keep playing it?
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I disagree (sorry Cas). In DkS you get better by playing and the game becomes easier once you get familiarized. In XCOM you get familiarized with the bullshit mechanics that let 90% chance hits miss and 100% double cover soldier deaths.
After playing XCOM 1 in ironman classic (and completing it) I said I won’t ever play this game or anything that has to do with it.
Yeah the similarities between this and Dark Souls are definitely there. It’s all about learning and improving.
“XCOM 2 is the Dark Souls of turn-based strategy.”
This line… THIS LINE!
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