What is XCOM?

A deep dive into the iconic tactical strategy franchise’s design

Now that I have a new PC, I could finally sit down and play XCOM 2: War of the Chosen without any of the technical issues I encountered on my old PC. This enabled me to really play the game as it was intended. I’ve said many times in the past that Firaxis’ take on the venerable franchise comes close to being my perfect game — but there are certainly issues that keep it from attaining that lofty position.

In thinking about both XCOM and XCOM 2, I realized that it’s not enough to assess these titles on their own terms. That is, I’ve been able to play a wide range of tactical strategy games throughout the last year, and this has equipped me to think more clearly about what does and doesn’t work for me when it comes to XCOM.

What is XCOM?

To appreciate the difference between Firaxis’ take on XCOM versus other tactical strategy games, it’s important to grasp one key concept; it’s an idea that Jake Solomon (Creative Lead on XCOM) discussed this in some detail in various interviews and videos.

In early versions of the game, the famous “time units” (which dictated the actions a squaddie could do in a single turn) were on display. But upon playtesting, Jake and the team came to the realization that this time…