XCOM 2 — A Whole New Experience

This week I played XCOM 2, developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K Games. XCOM 2 is a tactical strategy game in which you play as XCOM which is now a resistance group trying to save the world from alien invaders. XCOM was originally created in 1994 as UFO: Enemy Unknown, there were two more installments to the series in the following years up until 2001 when XCOM: Enforcer was the last one for 11 years. XCOM 2 is the sequel to 2012’s XCOM: Enemy Unknown which was the revival of the series. I have to say the new mechanics and story are an amazing way to follow up XCOM: Enemy Unknown. I’d played XCOM 2 in the past and had an absolute blast but this time I played with all of the downloadable content that had been released throughout the years, the most notable being “War of the Chosen” and I have to say this changed everything.

In XCOM 2 you manage your base by building essential facilities, researching new technology, and building equipment to help outfit your soldiers when they go into battle. Part of the strategy is adapting on the fly to what is going on in your base based on the actions that the aliens take. The base building is important but the most well known thing about XCOM games is the combat. Combat in XCOM is notorious for being unforgiving and sometimes frustrating do to the fact that if one of your soldiers dies they stay dead, no reviving people in this game. Its for this reason and the strategic nature of the game that make people really invested in the game and their individual soldiers.

With the “War of the Chosen” DLC XCOM 2 feels very different, the addition of new maps, missions, factions, and mechanics really make this stand out. I lost count of how many hours I was playing multiple times when I first started and I’m still not even done yet. There’s so much content in it that someone can spend countless hours playing and not even scratching the surface of what the game has to offer. The other DLC also offers many different additions to the game such as more side story content, new equipment and new missions.

Going back to this game after all of this content was added really made me appreciate how much work Firaxis put into it. I haven’t been disappointed by XCOM before and I can’t say I ever will as long as they keep doing what doing.