XCOM 2: Skill With a Douse of Luck
XCOM 2 is a turn-based tactical video game released by Firaxis in 2016. It serves as the sequel to XCOM Enemy Unknown and takes place in a timeline in which the alien force led by a group of aliens referred to as the Elders defeated the XCOM organization and successfully took over Earth. The player takes the role of the Commander of the now resistance group XCOM and must defeat the alien menace.
Gameplay is separated into two core aspects, the geoscape and the battlescape. In the geoscape, the player can pass time in certain regions in order to receive things such as supplies or new soldiers along with making contact with various resistance groups across the world in order to further increase their monthly income. The player can also decide to research upgrades that progress while scanning along with spending resources to make new equipment for their soldiers. After a certain amount of time passes, the player will usually be notified of a mission or a selection of missions that they will need to do.
Before entering a mission, the player can customize their squad of up to 6 soldiers depending on the mission and current upgrades. Once starting the mission, the player’s squad is often given concealment, allowing them to position themselves before deciding to engage in combat. The battlescape is simple in that every unit starts with 2 actions every turn though some actions such as shooting will use up both points if done first. Missions often contain 10 or more enemies scattered in groups referred to as pods. Pods are made up of 2–4 enemies and often the player will only be dealing one or two at a given time.
What makes XCOM 2 charming is that it can be very easy to get attached to your soldiers despite how easy it is for one of them to die. XCOM 2 knows this and added a character pool feature. This allows you to create soldiers that can appear during your campaign along with adding allowing you to add the soldiers you grew attached to into the pool, allowing them to show up to join your side in other playthroughs.
Despite all the good things in XCOM 2 , it still has its own fair share of flaws. The game does an excellent job of creating stress, sometimes it does too well at this. In the battlescape, it is fully possible to accidentally trigger additional pods which can quickly overwhelm the player causing them to make even further mistakes. Furthermore, the geoscape can enhance the stress a player feels after suffering losses from a difficult mission rather than allowing the player a break to calm down. This is because the game sometimes will constantly notify you of advancements made by the aliens while one of the characters warns you that you cannot afford to fail another mission and have to hurry before the aliens get too powerful despite the fact, the player may have just lost some of their best soldiers and is in no shape to take on more, difficult missions.
If I had to choose a moment that stood out to me the most in my playthrough, it would be the final mission of the game which I was so excited to do, I even called my friend who was a huge fan of the series to witness it with me. The mission was going smoothly until I ended up accidentally activating multiple groups of difficult enemies that killed my beloved soldiers one by one. Upon seeing the failure screen, I actually felt relieved, by being forced to restart the mission, I was able to prevent my soldiers I cared about from dying.On my second try I got through the mission pretty smoothly and when the final boss only had a small amount of health left, the game unintentionally offered a great choice to me; who would get the final hit. I could have picked a soldier who was with me from the beginning, a soldier who was actually on his first mission, or some random enemy I took control of a turn ago. This choice was significant not because it could have severe repercussions but because it would end up being the final touch of this run’s story. I actually had to spend a few minutes discussing with my friend which would be the best choice, who did I want to remember for being the one to win me the game.
Overall, XCOM 2 achieves the goal of being a difficult strategy game that gets the player invested. While it is not for people who want a soothing and stress relieving experience, those who could handle the challenges the game provides will find it an enjoyable and memorable experience.
