I had it all beautifully planned – Sharpshooter on the roof, Grenadier hidden on the floor below and Specialist close by the alien sensor to hack it. I sent the Ranger forward to check for enemy positions. Then, suddenly, the aliens appeared at the next turn.
I watch helplessly as the powerful Archon hit the building, causing it to collapse in flames and take down half my squad.
The other half panicked and ran right into the enemy’s ambush. After cursing and wailing in despair, I reloaded my last save game for the third time and changed tactics in hope that my squad survived the next time.
That, in a nutshell, is XCOM 2, the latest in the XCOM series of tactical turn-based games.
For those not familiar, you have to strategically position your squad members on a map to defeat hostile aliens forces. In XCOM 2, your squad members can be Rangers, Grenadiers, Specialists or Sharpshooters, each with different abilities and weapons.
How well you use them on the various maps will determine the success of the missions. Objectives range from extracting a VIP, rescuing civilians, recovering or protecting equipment, hacking into an alien system, taking over supplies and, almost always, neutralising the hostile alien forces.
XCOM 2 is the sequel to 2012’s XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Set in 2035, 20 years after the events of the last game, XCOM 2 features similar gameplay but improved interface and graphics.
In XCOM 2, you play the Commander of XCOM – Extraterrestrial Combat Unit – the resistance faction that battles the alien regime that have taken over Earth. The alien forces are now co-existing with humans on Earth. Alien rule is enforced by Advent troops, seemingly a humanoid-alien hybrid species, that actively suppresses any form of retaliation from humans.
Throughout the game, you see plenty of propaganda showing the seemingly peaceful co-existence between alien and human, but the intelligence you gather through espionage and hacking alien communications reveals the actual horrors that the aliens are inflicting on humankind.
Try, Die, Reload, Repeat
XCOM 2 is not a game for the easily frustrated or the faint of heart – it’s challenging and unpredictable, and keeps throwing surprises at you that can sometimes feel unfair.
But the developers have tried to level the playing field, perhaps because of the many complaints about the first XCOM being too difficult. For example, as you level up and upgrade your espionage abilities, you will be shown how many and what type of enemies you will encounter in the selected mission.
As you play more you will also learn what tricks and tactics the enemies can use on your squad, preparing you for future encounters. The newly introduced Concealment ability lets your squad remain hidden if the enemy has not sighted you – this gives you a chance to move and set up an ambush before plunging into a firefight at once.
Not all missions confer you that advantage though, so there were times that my squad took a couple of steps forward and were immediately set upon by enemies.
XCOM 2’s gameplay pushes you along with great urgency, with the aliens progressing fast in their projects and gaining bonuses against you as they progress. This gives you impetus to get a move on in the tough missions to hit at the aliens hardest.
Although it’s nice to take a few days off for the wounded to heal at the HQ, it is a luxury I could ill afford. Very often I had to assemble a group with some rookies just to attempt to complete some missions to disrupt the opponent’s progress.
Apart from tactical gameplay during the missions, there is also the strategy component. You need to allocate resources for research, engineering, armoury and facility upgrades.
These upgrades can either help your squads in their missions directly through technological advancements, weapon, armour or ability upgrades, and enhanced communications that help you get in touch with resistance cells in other parts of the world to unlock more missions.
During missions, you can also loot fallen enemies for supplies and artifacts to upgrade weapons, and occasionally rescue more Engineers or Scientists to aid your cause. You also get to choose what skills you want your squad members to upgrade, which affects squad selection and tactics for each mission.
Want to take enemies down by surprise? Take a Ranger with the Conceal ability along for the mission. If you intend to destroy all cover and expose the aliens, ensure you have a Grenadier with the Demolition ability on the team.
What I really enjoyed about XCOM 2 was the unpredictability. If you restart a mission, the map would change and you will lose any advantage you might have had of the aliens’ location.
Also, the maps are designed such that many different tactical manoeuvers can be employed. You can scale buildings for overwatch, or set up ambushes inside buildings.
The diverse types of enemies and their varied tactics also keep you constantly on your toes. Thought it was safe to evacuate your teammates at the end of the mission? You could be interrupted by incoming enemy reinforcements after half your squad has evacuated.
Like XCOM: Enemy Unknown, the game is really tough – squad members often get wounded, and sometimes killed due to the enemies being so unpredictable and clever.
Sometimes it wears me down in reloading and replaying the missions to save very experienced members I cannot afford to lose. Saving and reloading the game often is a cowardly way out but sometimes it feels like the only way to complete the mission.
For particularly grueling missions, I would sacrifice the rookies if the more skilled members can be saved. Completing a mission makes one feel incredibly accomplished – especially for the really tough ones. Even your squad members will be smiling on their way back to base after a job well done.
Look and feel
XCOM 2 has a nice clean interface both for the tactical missions as well as the base on the ship Avenger, which is a re-purposed alien supply craft. All available options for your squad members are visible on the display, which is helpful when you have newly unlocked abilities or new squad members.
I particularly like the cutaway view of the ship Avenger where you can see the different areas you can build upgraded facilities for, as well as the background of the terrain the ship is currently at.
Graphics for XCOM 2 are also nicer than the previous installment. The city designs with futuristic lighting and the cinematic cutscenes are a real visual treat.
In heavy battles, XCOM 2 can be occasionally laggy if too much is going on, like fire, rain and smoke, making each action agonisingly slow to execute. I had also experienced black screens and crashing to my PC’s Windows desktop but this was fixed when I disabled AMD’s Raptr app.
The music, sound and cinematics are grand and on par with an action movie – you can feel the intensity of the battles, the creepy movement and terrifying shrieking of aliens.
If you are wondering how a tactical game seen in an isometric view can be scary, imagine watching the dead aliens you have just killed being reanimated right behind your best sniper whom you thought was safely behind cover. And you can only watch helplessly as the alien tears apart your now vulnerable sniper while awaiting your turn to move.
XCOM 2 also attempts to pull you closer to the action with the occasional “action cinematic cutscene” that shows your squad member running to position on the ground level. There is also the tense slow motion effect when an enemy on overwatch is firing at your running squad member which makes me yell “come on! move it!” in spite of myself.
Apart from upgrading weapons for your squad, you can use the Customise function for vanity reasons – give the weapons fancy names, choose a colour and an overlay design to make your squad stand out. Since I am the Commander, I command my troop carry bright purple weapons with crazy prints. Not quite realistic in actual warfare but see how cool they look here!
XCOM 2 will be released in Singapore on February 5. It costs S$79.90 on Steam.
TL;DR
If you like futuristic science fiction, have a bone to pick with hostile aliens and like to use your brain to play strategy and tactical games that are unpredictable and challenging, XCOM 2 will be an immensely satisfying game.
If you crave twitchy “shoot everything that moves” games or cry every time a squad member dies, this might not suit you.
