XCOM 2 Game Review
Nuanced strategy and tactical layers
Plethora of command decisions makes each playthrough different
Individual soldiers foster personal connections
Failure is essential and meaningful
Enemies sometimes ignore tactical rules
Some performance issues during cinematic moments
XCOM 2 imparts the weight of those decisions, and that's what makes it extraordinary. It's mathematical, emotional, and thoughtful all at once. It's exhilarating, even in the face of failure. It's compelling, even though we often lose. Victory is the goal, but that's just an afterthought here--it's the complex journey that counts.
About The Game
XCOM: Enemy Unknown was the 2012’s sequel of XCOM 2, the sequel is unforgiving, brutal and strategic world map and battlefields. XCOM 2 put the human resistance to rise up against the alien regime that has conquered the planet Earth for over 20 years.
XCOM 2 has its narrative and gameplay together in a way that every mission feel critical. The mission in the game are less about repelling the aliens but it is more about sabotaging their global operation. The player needs to build an army, research new technologies and put to use in strategic squad-based missions. Looting supply trains and intercepting the communication signals is one of the best ways to stop human eradication.
Game Features
The mission objectives in-game have changed, but so have the ways we approach them. XCOM 2 gameplay now has implemented a new concealment mechanic, which the soldiers drop is unnoticed into most missions, it allows you to sneak past enemies or do coordinate attacks on unsuspecting patrols.
This further elevates the idea of guerilla warfare in the game yet also allows for exhilarating ambushes, as you throw grenades into groups, fire machine gun, and pick off stragglers before they have a chance to react. Initiating firefights take just as much consideration as finishing them.
The total amounts of factors affecting any fight are staggering, it will make you think and ask some questions to yourself whether you move across the map, how many aliens are there? If your specialists have any medkits left? Who has the highest armor in the squad? Should whether a good idea to leave sniper in overwatch or move with the rest of the crew? How to beat the Sectoid before it uses its mind control abilities?
There is a timer pushing you forward in each mission, counting the turns until your target escapes or the aliens extract their secret data. There is always something to worry about something to consider during the battle, some things may go wrong as you fight in the mission and to keep your squad alive. Most of the time, opt for retreat because it is better to save your valuable fighters than letting them die if the mission objectives became impossible to reach.
However, XCOM 2’s difficulty sometimes surpasses challenging and become unbalanced or unfair gameplay. For the most part, enemies abide same game restrictions but sometimes they were able to shoot through walls and dodge point-blank shotgun bursts. Probably there is still some game technical glitches like action being halted during action camera sequences or enemies attacks happened all at once or were not shown at all. Overall it is a fun game to play though some players felt as if the game was overwhelmed.
XCOM 2 uses a procedural map and objective generation to ensure you to do different mission each time. You will defend new rooftops and alleyways in each campaign. This dynamic gameplay coupled with the aforementioned stealth techniques, extend XCOM 2’s longevity far past that of Enemy Unknown, in which missions get boring several campaigns in.
XCOM 2 has a multilayered experience wherein each level displays fine distinction but also contributes to the indeterminate ever-changing whole.
The squad firefights lay the foundation of the game, there are tactical considerations, from the advancement of the battlefield to the sightlines of the map’s structures.
There are character classes to choose from, each class with a world of possibilities to consider:
- A specialist can hack Advent security towers and buff your team in the field.
- Grenadier carrying capacity that makes him the pack mule of the group.
- Ranger has a lethal blade that is deadly in close-quarters force.
- PSI Operative uses the mind control powers against Advent, turning the fight into psychological battlegrounds.
Game Trailer
In order to have more insight into this game, you can watch this video from the following link:
You can visit the website of the XCOM 2 game to understand the game more.
