10 Behind-The-Scenes Facts You Never Knew About The XCOM Franchise

A sign of a good cover is if someone who has no idea about the product can guess what genre it's in and what it's going to be about. It doesn't take a gaming expert to look at Halo 4 's cover and know instantly that not only is Master Chief the hero but that the game is going to consist of him at war with the odds stacked solidly against him, exemplified by him kneeling beneath the crumbling world ab


Like any good work of art, Far Cry 5 is dripping with interesting details and insight at every turn, with the influx of guns in front of a church showing it's not the sort of place for a relaxing Sunday pra


Whereas other 4X games let players see their sprawling empire across city to city, Crusader Kings gives players a more strategic and "realistic" approach. In this grand strategy game, players relive 1066 to 1452 in their own image. Historically, these mark the day after William the Conqueror's coronation and the fall of Constantinople. Unlike other fantasy games that prominently feature knights and sorcerers , Crusader Kings tries to be as realistic as possi


The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is regarded by some to have the greatest open-world in the genre's history. It's easy to see why, as Breath of the Wild 's map wastes little space despite its enormous size, with things to do and see around every cor


Borderlands 3 isn't the only game to take inspiration from religious artwork, as Far Cry 5 's cover is a clear reference to one of the most famous paintings of all time, Leanardo De Vinci's The Last Supper. The reference is an ingenious way of telling players just how highly regarded Joseph Seed is among his cult memb


The PSP re-release of Final Fantasy Tactics was mostly just the PS1 game’s graphics. The one big addition the port got was animated cutscenes drawn in a style that fit the game’s theme. That is what this game and its predecessor, Octopath Traveler, www.Slgnewshub.com lacked. The in-game animations are fine but they still look goofy. Square Enix definitely has the budget for cutscenes since this style is trying to harken back to the PS1 days alre


When it comes to strategy games, Civilization probably remains as one of the most memorable in the bunch. After all, it's this series that popularized the 4X genre, and it's staying strong to this day. Thanks to Civilization 6 , gamers can relive making a civilization from scratch and see it thrive with better graphics and gameplay. Moreover, the wide variety of world leaders to choose from can make for a ton of fun historical scenar


To combat the new threat, XCOM can recruit 3 new player-friendly factions into the fray: The Skirmishers are direct combat units with multiple actions, The Reapers are stealthier than anyone else in the game, and The Templars' unique melee and ranged psionic attacks can make a world of difference. As players perform certain covert missions on behalf of these factions, they'll earn the trust of their respective leaders and be able to activate monthly bonuses, like starting a mission with a turncoat ADVENT on the player's side, or have enemies drop more loot. As can be expected, learning how to use each Faction to its fullest potential is quite a learning process, and it's likely some bodies will drop during the proc


Players of Stellaris aren't "Evil," but only brave souls would dare venture into the vastness of Stellaris and its 4X experience. Similar to other strategy games, Stellaris players control their own colony , this time in space. Additionally, alongside this premise are the usual things found in 4X games. These include resource gathering and tech trees, diplomacy and warfare, and even dealing with various wacky scenar


That is because XCOM 2 lies to the player about a character's hit percentage. In actuality, the game gives players a much higher chance of hitting than what's on display. On easier difficulty settings, an 85% chance is closer to a 95% chance according to an interview with Jake Solomon , the lead designer for XCOM 2 . As for why 100% hits can miss, the game rounds up if a shot has half of a percent chance or higher of hitting. Don't expect this sort of percentage leniency on Legendary difficulty , however, as this percentage favoritism towards the player is disabled on higher difficulty setti


We'll start with namesake of the entire expansion, The Chosen. The three unique champions of the ADVENT forces spend the entire game trying to track down the player and blow the Avenger out of the sky (which is a thing that can absolutely happen), and have a tendency to show up during difficult missions and make things twice as difficult. If players are in a pickle trying to survive a particularly tedious mission, imagine how things go if a Chosen arrives and starts spawning down more enemies and taking powerful sniper shots from across the


Players of grand strategy games might have heard of Endless Legend. Moreover, it's perhaps one of the most interesting fantasy-science fiction 4X titles to have graced the PC. In this game, players end up as one of the many remnants of races in a changing Auriga. The game features 14 playable factions, with five others in expansi