In case for whatever reason you’re still here and not downloading XCOM 2 free of charge from the Epic Games Store (opens in new tab), let me explain why you should do exactly that and then cancel your weekend plans to save the world from aliens. XCOM 2 is a turn-based strategy game where you fight off aliens by out-maneuvering them around various maps. The story takes place after aliens win the fight against humans in the first game (also excellent) and you’re tasked with starting from scratch and expelling the bad guys from your planet.

The original XCOM is an undisputed classic, but XCOM 2 has improved visuals, more diverse gameplay thanks to revamped classes and a wider range of foes, and its procedurally generated maps make it highly replayable. Oh, and mod support adds even more to do once you’ve played and replayed through the game proper. We were among the many publications to give XCOM 2 a perfect, or near-perfect score when it launched back in 2016.

XCOM 2 retails for $60, and although it isn’t hard to find on sale if you’re happy to wait, it’s rarely ever completely free, so I heartedly recommend snagging it before the deal ends on Thursday, April 21.

Once you’ve played and inevitably fallen in love with XCOM, here are some great games like XCOM to try afterward.

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Commanding Presence 

Why XCOM 2 and why now? Well, the news of the Switch re-release (opens in new tab) reminded me that I’ve been waiting for the right time to tackle XCOM 2 properly, and well, we all know that we’ve had a bit more spare time on our hands recently. Not that I’d imagine most are heading to a game which involves making constant decisions that could directly lead to the end of humanity. At least the threat in XCOM is extra-terrestrial, rather than a pandemic. 

If you’ve been holding off on trying XCOM 2, the set-up is simple. Earth has been colonised by an alien force known as Advent, who present themselves as a benevolent force looking to usher in a new era for humanity, rather than the malevolent occupier who are abducting humans en masse for various nefarious reasons. As the commander, your job is to guide your team in missions, slowly building a resistance across the globe, all while racing against the alien’s ‘Avatar Project’, which you slowly learn more about as you play. 

The not-so-secret to the series’ success is the permadeath for the hardy soldiers who make up your guerrilla unit. It’s easy to send wave after wave of anonymous grunts into certain death in some strategy games, knowing the cost is having a less experienced unit in your next mission. It’s much harder to make that choice when you’re sending in Major. Agatha “Crispy” Blitz, who has got 74 kills in her 25 missions, into a situation that can be charitably described as proper grim. That’s as true now as it was back in 2016 and will be for the players picking up the Nintendo Switch version.  

But what makes XCOM 2 even more excruciatingly exhilarating is the Avatar Project. Progress made on it ticks away in the background, putting you under a constant time pressure. Tackle main missions quickly and you could be underpowered, losing soldiers and risking failure, Try to gather resources to gain better equipment for your squad and you could end up running out of time. The game puts a mountain of pressure on you from minute one and keeps piling on from there. 

Critical hit

I realise that doesn’t make this sound soothing or relaxing in the way other games people are turning to at the moment are. But, for me at least, a huge part of the reason why XCOM 2 is a perfect game for this moment in time (outside of the fact that it is very good) is because XCOM 2 is a utilitarian dream. Every choice you make will have a consequence, no matter what, so the game becomes a minor reflection of our current stay-at-home state. The difference is that the chaos of real life can’t be managed, whereas the chaos in XCOM can. 

For instance, having managed to drag myself to the endgame, my options were various shades of bad. I was taking on the aliens at the heart of the Avatar Project with a battered and bruised squad who were outnumbered and significantly outgunned. For every squad member, there were at least another three aliens. At that point, my sole focus was on taking out the Avatars who kept spawning into the fray, whose high hitpoints and range of abilities meant the longer they stood, the less likely my chances of survival. 

What tipped the tide of that battle was an unexpected critical shot. The moment where my sniper (who got the nickname Top Shelf) took out half an Avatar’s HP in a single shot on a 64% chance was a weird mix of elation and heightened tension. The dice had landed in my favour on this shot, but would the rest? Those moments, fleeting relief for a second, feel all the more hardly won for how rare they are. 

Save (scumming) the world

Of course, there’s one key difference between real life and XCOM. Save scumming. The process of an attack, move, or decision failing and rebooting an old save file to do things differently.  And friends, I save scummed the hell out of XCOM 2. Whether that’s right or wrong is an argument for a different time, but controlling an element of the chaos that I can’t in real life meant that things never got too frustrating. I can only apologise to the soldiers who died because I felt like I was save scumming too much in the early game.

Like many of you, this period in time will have been marked by periods of tough choices. How can we be safe when we leave the house to pick up supplies or exercise? How can we keep those who are less fortunate than us safe. Some of you will have had much harder choices to make, such as how we might be able to comfort ill family and friends without being by their side. By turning to a game that turns this tough mindset onto something similar but distinctly fantastical, I found it easier to put reality aside for a few hours. XCOM 2 shows that those hard choices may have consequences, but they also have endings. The chaos eventually calms. That’s a perfect thing to think about when you’re in the middle of it. 

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XCOM: Enemy Unknown (opens in new tab) hit all three platforms simultaneously, but console gamers will have to wait the better part of a year to start playing its sequel. Console developer The Workshop (which also worked on Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons and The Evil Within) might be spending some of that time working on a console control scheme, since XCOM 2 only launched with native support with that wacky Steam Controller.

Aside from the controls, XCOM 2 will play the same on consoles as it did on PC: players will build out their mobile headquarters, recruit resistance fighters, and engage in grid-based skirmishes with alien forces. It will also include a head-to-head multiplayer mode, letting players build human/alien hybrid squads to take on their peers in randomly generated arenas.

Pre-ordering XCOM 2 (it’s set to retail for $59.99 in the US) will get you the Resistance Warrior Pack, which includes a “Survivor of the Old War” recruit and extra soldier customization options. A digital deluxe edition will also be available, which includes all paid DLC for the game and the Resistance Warrior Pack.

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Planning well means finding that sweet spot between all the shiny new toys XCOM 2 throws your way and making sure the basics of research and cash flow are covered. This is harder than it sounds because XCOM 2 has more of everything – from horrible aliens all the way down to different flavors of ammo. And when you’re finally in a position to put all this newness to work, it propells the series’ signature turn-based combat to new heights.

Multiplayer

XCOM 2 lifts the same sort of multiplayer structure as Enemy Unknown. You’re given a fixed amount of points to build out a team of humans and aliens that do battle against an opposing team. It’s a simple setup that gives you an opportunity to finally take control of the enemy units you’ve been shooting at the entire game. Just don’t be the person who fields an entire team of Chrysalids.

XCOM 2 begins at the end. Earth has fallen, humanity bends a knee to its “benevolent” overlords, and the aliens have some Howard Stern look-alike as their spokesperson – it’s bad times all around. XCOM is a rogue nation – outmanned and outgunned – and you’re the proverbial Tom Cruise who must piece it back together. You spend your days aboard The Avenger airship leading soldiers in battle and traveling the world collecting supplies and uniting the resistance. Naturally, the aliens hound you every step of the way.

The aliens’ final bid for world domination is their mysterious Avatar project, the progress of which is tracked by a panic-inducing red meter on the world map. This meter signals your imminent doom, and increases at erratic intervals month after month. Not knowing when the aliens will make a major breakthrough adds some needed tension to the day-to-day business of running XCOM, and makes every opportunity to undermine them all the more valuable.

These opportunities play out in turn-based battles. Cover is still your best friend as you take turns scrambling troops between trees and buildings while gunning down your alien foes. Each soldier class in XCOM 2 has been overhauled, with the new drone-operating Specialist and sword-wielding Hunter being unrecognizable from the Support and Assault classes, respectively. These revamped classes provide tons of new tactical options to discover, but the most comedic one has to be the Specialist’s hacking ability. Taking command of an enemy Sectopod, and using it to rampage through buildings unabated, is very cathartic.

You’ll need every advantage you can get, as the tempo of any battle can take wild, exciting shifts from turn to turn. One turn your squad may be concealed – a new mechanic that lets them sneak up on enemies – and the next they’re “Going loud!” as you execute the perfect ambush. But, even as the last alien falls, the imminent arrival of reinforcements or the constant ticking of your objective’s timer will keep tensions running high. These surprises, and plenty others, keep firefights engaging well into your second playthrough and beyond.

The alien lineup has received a complete overhaul as well, with plenty of new faces ready to pump you full of white-hot plasma. Instead of progressing from Muton to Muton Elite or Floater to Heavy Floater, every alien has its own unique design and abilities that require you to switch up your strategy on the fly if you don’t want to end up six-feet under. At first this stream of new enemies can feel overwhelming, but after a dozen encounters or so you learn how certain enemies think and can quickly deduce the highest threats from any lineup.

Unfortunately, while the aliens really bear their fangs on the battlefield, their presence is missed on the world map. As the days scroll by, the aliens will deploy various ‘Dark Events’ which can grant them special bonuses and add progress to the Avatar project. You counter these events by going on missions, creating a sort of tug of war between advancing XCOM’s objectives and undermining the aliens.

But this conflict feels passive and indirect. The aliens may have taken over the planet, but it sure doesn’t feel that way when you can hop in your airship and cruise around Earth whenever you feel like it. One standout exception is when a UFO is sent to hunt The Avenger, culminating in a desperate encounter reminiscent of Enemy Within’s base assault mission. The fact that you can see the enemy UFO zipping around the map – and must actively avoid it – makes the alien’s presence known.

At first not having to deal with the aliens on the world map is a blessing, as you have about three-too-many things on your plate at a time. Gradually, however, these various assignments narrow down to a fine point, at which time you can comfortably ignore certain requests because, hey, you already have plenty of supplies thank you very much. Without an active threat on the world map, that sense of urgency that is so sharp on the battlefield feels dulled.

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XCOM 2 gives you a ton of choices right up front. Here are a few tips for making the most of your first campaign – or at least surviving your first month.

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Engineers are you lifeblood in XCOM 2. They can add power to your ship, speed up construction times, help train soldiers, and more. Recruit them quickly.

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You’re going to want a laboratory, power generator, and resistance radio station online fast. Hold off on the specialized structures until these are finished.

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Between the different weapon attachments, stat boosters, and other upgrades, it’s very tempting to create one or two super soldiers. Fight this urge.

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Very rarely, the game’s pathfinding will route your soldier through fire or other hazards. Hold down the CTRL key to set waypoints around these hazards.

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If you’re not sure whether a soldier will be able to see their target after moving, mouse over their destination and see if a crosshair icon appears on the target.

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Enemies that are currently on overwatch have a little eyeball icon under the health bar, always double check for that before you move.

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Don’t let this happen to you.

I should also warn you that, during my time with the game, I ran into some minor bugs and glitches. Thankfully, they all turned out to be very mundane – animations that didn’t load, weird camera movements, endlessly looping gun noises – so they didn’t amount to more than a minor annoyance. The best was the Sectopod whose walking animation didn’t load, meaning it would snap suddenly around the battlefield, instantly flattening anything in its path. Hopefully these lesser issues will be patched out by the time you’re reading this.

Foibles aside, XCOM 2 is still a wonderfully engrossing strategy game that can very easily leave you spellbound throughout 2016 and beyond. The myriad of tactical options at your disposal – from new soldier classes to the various weapon upgrades – is delicately balanced against the ever-changing extraterrestrial monstrosities. You’ll constantly discover new, better ways of honing your craft, and XCOM 2 will happily meet your challenge in kind.

This game was reviewed on PC.

The Verdict

4.5

4.5 out of 5

XCOM 2

With an arsenal of new gadgets and upgrades at your disposal, XCOM 2 feels like XCOM: Enemy Unknown with a million mods enabled, creating a deep and engrossing strategy game.

The post XCOM 2 review appeared first on Game News.

However, some previous XCOM assets were soon noticed in the concept art and all the evidence continued pointing that way. Now, we have the official reveal. Oddly, it’s PC only this time after an all-formats release previously for Enemy Unknown. I’m guessing console sales weren’t up to scratch? Here’s the trailer:

The set up is that whoever played the previous game last clearly didn’t do a good job, and now the aliens control earth. Humans live in ET-run Advent cities, apparently unaware of their evil overlords and XCOM effectively operates as a guerrilla organisation from a new flying skybase. Among fresh features are new soldier classes and aliens, procedurally generated maps and mention of ‘stealth-infused tactics’. Presumably that’s come from the new focus on fighting through fully enemy controlled urban locations.

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