XCOM 2 doesn’t fix this problem, but it does lessen it by offering a number of unique mission objectives more complicated than simply eliminating the enemy and, simple as it may seem, providing a far greater array of level geography.Īll of this works to great effect. Despite the thrill that comes from succeeding in a battle-or the warranted frustration of a bitter defeat-the act of repeating such taxing fights, again and again and again, can begin to wear as a campaign nears its conclusion.
At a certain point in each of Firaxis’ XCOM games, the cycle of strategic management and (often exhaustingly stressful) on-the-ground combat inevitably becomes a bit of a grind. It isn’t an overstatement to say that the attention paid to diversifying the look and tactical possibilities of the levels is key to what makes XCOM 2 work. There are constant reminders that the player is participating in a world ravaged and controlled by an advanced species-that the game’s version of earth is one in which extraterrestrial culture has influenced urban architecture and past wars have destroyed much of our wilderness. Whether in futuristic city streets, replete with hologram billboards and laser-grid windowpanes, or arctic woods, covered in snow and spotted with broken tree trunks, the game creates a sense of identity far stronger than Enemy Unknown. This attention to terrain is reflected in XCOM 2’s visual design, too. Done well, three or four aliens can be taken out in a single player turn, providing a massive advantage in the rest of the battle. Until they’ve fired an opening volley (or stumbled into the red tiles indicating an enemy’s field of awareness), troops can carefully position themselves so they’re ready to ambush the opponent. At the beginning of some fights, the XCOM squad drops onto the battlefield far enough from the aliens that they can temporarily remain hidden. The addition of a “concealment” system works in concert with these changes. The constant reminder that failure is only a few missteps away evokes a sense of doom, urging the player to consider the high stakes of every battle. What exactly this will mean isn’t clear until near the end of the campaign, but XCOM 2 is quick to inform that, should the bar fill up and the project complete, the game is lost. Periodically, pips on a red progress bar fill up on the top of the screen, acknowledging that the aliens are moving ever closer to Avatar’s completion. While resource balancing and agonizing research choices do much of the work, a significant contributor to this tone is the alien’s “Avatar Project”-an ominous icon in the middle of the ocean that the invaders are constructing. Rather than simply use occasional cinematics and dialogue to state that the XCOM project has become small, inadequately funded, and desperately outmatched, Firaxis infuses every moment of play with a palpable sense of desperation. The soldiers who drop into direct battle never seem to be as well equipped as they could be-with the game’s “supply” currency being so hard to accumulate. Inside the team’s mobile base, there always seem to be at least half a dozen construction and research projects that need attention. The overhead strategic map-an overview of the globe with points of interest marked in various regions-is dotted with oppressed nations waiting for the XCOM resistance’s help. Where Enemy Unknown was a game about managing a deteriorating situation, the player always growing more powerful as they fought back the alien invasion, XCOM 2 is focused on making the best out of a bad situation. In the years that passed between the two games, the aliens have been integrated into national governments, leaving only a small resistance movement commanded by the player to fight back against a totalitarian force.ĭespite the relative unoriginality of its underdog storyline, XCOM 2’s narrative provides a welcome change in tone from its predecessor. Whether or not the player triumphed in Enemy Unknown, XCOM 2 starts with the earth having been dominated by the invaders. The opening mission sees the player taking control of a handful of soldiers planning a guerrilla attack on an alien-dominated city.
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