XCOM 2 Review

Three years after XCOM: Enemy Unknown took the strategy world by storm and proved that turn-based titles could still shake up the industry, Firaxis has followed up with a successor that is certainly capable of carrying on the name. Within XCOM 2 , players will find a challenging title that not only improves on the core gameplay experience from the original game, but adds plenty of new elements to keep die-hard fans on their t


Whenever a soldier dies, they will drop all their gear. This can be quite punishing if that gear is not recovered. To get it back, players can have a soldier carry the fallen companion to the Evac a


Most maps will have a hacking opportunity. If players can do so safely, they should attempt to take advantage of these opportunities as they will often reward players with supplies, intel, or even combat advanta


While XCOM 2: War of the Chosen does a great job shaking up the game from top to bottom, it isn't without cost: the Shen's Gift DLC mission is sacrificed by default to rebalance the game, being replaced with a simple research task. While player's can re-enable this in the options menu, we wish there was a way Firaxis could have kept the original content in balanced fashion. We also ran into a few minor glitches as late-game content progressed, so we recommend those trying ironman playthroughs perhaps consider a regular playthrough for now to avoid any potential post-launch err

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.


XCOM 2's Ironman runs can provide a very rewarding experience despite these drawbacks. Having permanent consequences gives more weight to each decision and rewards good strategy. Properly managing the XCOM headquarters, identifying what missions are most valuable, and learning to move carefully while dealing with mission timers are all crucial skills players will need to master to succeed in Ironman runs, especially at higher difficult


_XCOM 2 _ can be an extremely challenging game, and playing on Ironman can sometimes feel like a daunting experience. Unlike the normal modes, SLG Patch Notes Ironman does not allow players to load previous saves. All progress is kept on a single save that updates constantly, making every action and consequence permane


The AI has evidently gone through a large improvement as well, and we found that the ADVENT opposition (that is, the controlling alien power) were often searching for flanking opportunities and ways to maximize their damage output. The faceless oppressors do tend to go on suicide runs more often than one would expect, but we found that the AI performed with pure brutality across all difficulties, and fans accustomed to the high standard of challenge that XCOM is known for won't be disappointed here. Players will find themselves having to readjust strategies on the fly mid-mission more often than not, and that's part of the beauty of XC


The Heavy Floater does not have the toughest armor, or a particularly high damage potential, but its special abilities more than make up for those deficiencies. The most exasperating ability is that Floaters can launch themselves to any location in the battle zone. This is annoying when a Heavy Floater is near death then launches out of range. They can also bombard an area, which usually negates the cover the player’s soldiers are hiding behind. Lastly, when they are airborne, a Heavy Floater can evade incoming fire; which lowers the accuracy of the player’s soldiers by


Story-wise, we found the strings that weaved the plot together were a little far-fetched, but then again the series was never based on a completely believable storyline. As is always the case in an XCOM title, humanity is forced to adopt alien technology and use it against the occupying force, eventually leading to a one-chance strike that can bring the aliens to their kn


In short, it's a system that finally forces players to shuffle their rosters as the game progresses, and a clever solution to those who send the same soldiers into battle again and again. The challenges of maintaining a healthy roster of skilled soldiers adds plenty of surprising depth to the XCOM experie