XCOM 2 Review

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The cover art may not have any striking images or elements of foreshadowing like the previous entries, though it does exactly what it sets out to do; show the updated visuals in a way that will warm the hearts of the franchise's pre-existing fans while making it vibrant enough to stand out to those who had never heard of the series bef

The story takes place decades after the XCOM: Enemy Unknown with the cannon conclusion being the so called "bad" ending. Humanity, as one would expect, suffered an unmeasurable loss being that it was unable to stop the alien invasion and has since been taken over, but not necessarily to the degree a lot of fiction tends to lean towards. This isn’t aliens downright enslaving humanity, but instead helping it off the ground by introducing new and improved technology, among other things. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows, though, as there are always conspiracies, and being an alien force, their intentions aren’t entirely for humanity’s sake. We liken them towards Nazis in that it’s a far more controlled and brutal way of ruling where, if someone steps out of line, they won’t hesitate to end them, whereas if you’re contributing member of society, they will leave you alone for the most part. They also don’t really have much of a regard for human rights or casualties where they’re willing to experiment on people without any regard for their wellbeing. Because of this new line of dictatorship from the alien invaders, there is a rebellion that has formed. Unfortunately, the sect you become a part of is small, very small, so it’s difficult to make a meaningful impact like you did in the original game. Your resources are limited, your time is short and your man power is usually understaffed. It’s a grueling situation, and for that, the story feels far more intriguing as you progress.

One feature that could have been great for Firaxis to implement is stealth. At the beginning of most missions, your team is concealed and unknown, so getting the drop on at least one enemy is fairly easy to accomplish. Unfortunately, there’s no way to actually keep concealment once an attack lands, so going back into the darkness to get the jump on another group of aliens is absent. As mentioned before, there are some characters such as the Ranger who has a skill that allows her to not be revealed when things go off, but after everyone in the vicinity is cleared and you progress further, enemies will instantly become aware of your position as they patrol their routine programming like nothing is going on. This is more of a half of a step rather than a full step in the right direction, something that could have benefited the core gameplay enormously. All-out war with your new alien overlords is fun, but a stealth component could have allowed for even more combat variance other than exchanging gunfire and hoping your shot hits every round.

XCOM 2 is not a game for those who think about what’s going on in a single instance. Everyone will need to think three turns ahead in every aspect of the campaign, and even then, it’s mostly about luck, creating an incredibly random experience in the process. Even from the beginning, players believing they’ll be able to keep everyone alive will run into a harsh reality check, whether they’re on the easiest or hardest difficulty settings. It’s not primarily the combat that can be difficult though, it’s the world management that can be a bit stressful. Similar to Enemy Unknown, there’s a time component to XCOM 2, ensuring you don’t take your sweet time to level up characters and accept every side mission that becomes available. There will be crucial choices to be made, but instead of ruining reputations based on countries and risking resources, these are classified as larger reaching outcomes to alien progression in the world. There’s so many systems at play that anyone could easily see themselves overwhelmed, and it doesn’t help that there’s an unfortunate lack of explanation on the various mechanics.

Regardless of these occurrences, Firaxis has done a great deal to enhance the overall XCOM experience by adding variety to its combat. For example, melee is a new feature to the XCOM universe, dealing massive damage to enemies Recommended Looking at the risk of having a character exposed out in the open. This generally does significant damage in comparison to standard projectiles, which adds a new layer of strategy outside of hunkering down or providing cover fire. This also ties somewhat into the improved character class system that allows for additional customization outside of the rather robust selection of aesthetics. Just as Enemy Unknown contained, each character has their own class tree that will be accessible based on promotions on the battlefield. The higher a character traverses in their class, the more powerful and capable they become, learning additional traits and abilities. There are some deviations from the traditional format in that the classes are specialized, and their traits feel like they provide far more assistance than ever before. For example, the new Ranger class that can wield a sword can pick up a skill that ensure concealment even after your party initiates a battle, or straight up do greater damage. Depending on their skillset, they can be completely different from a character in the same class, which can lead to some interesting pairings, especially later in the game when more party slots open up.