XCOM® 2 Reviews

Everything over 70 percent chance to hit is guaranteed to miss. One of the most frustrating games I've ever played, especially when there is a strategic timer associated with highest possible percentages. All it did was make me wonder about how they determine their die rolls.

Trash publisher 2k updated the TOS to access and process unnecessary data, on your PC that the game is installed on, that doesn't improve the game at all. Obviously they sell it to 3rd parties and god knows do whatever else with the data. I would advise uninstalling and not purchasing or supporting anything that 2k is involved with until this garbage tier TOS is removed or changed. Steam should remove this intrusive literal spyware off the store and a class action lawsuit should be in order because most of us purchased the game before this new, surrender you're soul to 2k TOS was in effect.

I'll start this by saying I LOVE difficult games, and I love strategy games. I've been wanting to try XCOM for years, and this most recent sale I snagged it. I have never genuinely despised and been so off put in the first five hours of a promising game. This game isn't hard. it's not even particularly difficult. It's ANNOYING. What isn't explained to you is that no matter how well you play, you're not intrinsically meant to win scenarios. They are beyond brutal, and in the most frustrating ways. Say you're playing this completely blind, and don't want to save scum. This game will randomly add in new elements of gameplay that will completely wipe HOURS of a mission in a split second, and there's absolutely nothing you could have done to stop it unless you had already failed it before or went in with spoilers. I can see how that could be perceived as fun? To a psycopath I guess The menus aren't designed well. It's incredibly easy to tap a key if you're a new player and completely lose your turn with no explanation as to why. That was really fun to figure out. "The game would have told you that if you'd kept playing". No, the game intended for you to run in and fail so I could learn that's a possibility. It straight up tells you that. EXCEPT YOUR CHARACTERS ARE PERMADEAD FOR THE "INSTRUCTION" EXPERIENCE. I understand that's not a flaw of the game, it's a design element. That doesn't mean it's not bad. It'd be one thing if it was just oh you might lose a character or two early on making simple mistakes. No. It's constant and in areas that don't even make sense. For example, I cleared an entire mission. Ran around for 15 minutes because the round wouldn't end and there were no enemies left. I already blew up the enemy beacon? Why isn't it over? No dialogue, no prompt, no subtitle, no warning. Finally, I walk back into the room I blew up the beacon in the first place. BOOM 3 mobs are now in my face and I lose my best person. I'm not okay with that? Why the fuck would I be okay with losing a character to a bug (THAT HAPPENED 3 TIMES) It happened in at least 30% of missions. Out of nowhere the fog of war will vanish and an entire swarm will have been roaming around you. The mobs are cranked to the absolute max in these scenarios too, so even playing safe it's not uncommon for five to just run up on you with two bonus turns and you're just dead. "It's level design". Sure, shitty level design. The solution? Save scum constantly throughout a level or face blatantly unfun surprises that will just wipe your party with no warning or counterplay. You literally cannot do anything in these scenarios unless you just happened to pick that gear for that specific mission, which I should let you know, the game doesn't always tell you exactly what you'll be doing. If you're like me and were hoping for this to be a real tactical strategy, just go in knowing it's close, but it's not balanced. I'd accept the "Get good" comments, if that were a possibility. Failing because of lack of information that wasn't provided isn't fun.

7/10 tentative thumbs up To put this review into perspective this is my first time jumping back into the series after xcom: ufo defense(ufo: enemy unknown). It's a good grid based roguelike, but if you really want to feel like you're masterminding the defense of earth from an alien invasion I highly recommend Xenonauts instead. I don't appreciate the design philosophy AAA gaming studios bring to these titles, xcom ufo defense was incredibly ahead of its time for being a grid based strategy set within an alien invasion defense simulator, i feel like if we went back in time and showed 1994 xcom: ufo defense players what the series looks like after 22 years they would be incredibly confused at how little the game has moved forward in any ways except for graphics and accessibility and be even more confused at how much the game has regressed in 22 years. Xcom 2 really feels like a mission based alien invasion themed grid based strategy game, is it bad at what its trying to do? Not at all, it is a very well designed grid based strategy with good graphics and engaging choices to make. BUT is it a good alien invasion simulator? God no, the gameplay loop isn't even comparable to ufo defense or xenonauts. From a design point of view Xcom 2 feels to me like another page in the eternal dumbing down of modern gaming, modern gamers couldn't be trusted to choose where to apply their defenses or have to make serious decisions about how to allocate resources, instead they are given a choose your own adventure style of decision making in what is basically a completely linear campaign. Is xcom 2 a bad game? No, it is just a much different game than its predecessors designed for a modern audience. Xcom 2 features more impactful unit decisions with its class system and takes away the trial and error of basebuilding and logistics. I just feel like we've went from a 4x title that truly made you feel like you were fighting off an alien invasion to a fun alien themed grid based strategy with roguelike elements. If i had to invest the time into playing a game like this, I'd rather be playing a modern final fantasy tactics. If i had to invest the time into playing the game this should of been, I'd rather be playing Xenonauts.

Enjoyed the first XCOM, so I was excited for its sequel,.. only to abandon it after a few missions. I understand and can congratulate the Firaxis Games for taking a game on the in-game timer and doomsday clock -- but it took all joy out of the experience. An always-present countdown made ever encounter feel unrewarding. As if every loss were expected, and we should just be happy that our attrition wasn't higher. And as a concept, that's interesting, but as a player, it wears thin fast.

Bugged as fuck and indicators are broken. Realy great for a turn-based game!

Probably my favorite game of all time. Easily 1000 hours between my time on PC and console. Mods are a blast but the base game has so much to offer I find myself getting the itch to play after long enough. Worth the money, worth the time.

I had XCOM 2 since its initial release and enjoyed the game very much. Same with War of the Chosen and Shen’s Last Gift. Not to mention the absolutely amazing Long War mod (more like overhaul) and its later iteration Long War of the Chosen. Overall the game is an absolutely amazing turn based strategy game that normally I’d recommend to anyone who enjoys these kinds of experiences. But here comes the twist. The publisher had to come in and change the EULA for a 9 year old game, with the text having some genuinely disturbing clauses. Granted, the EULA wouldn’t be enforceable in the EU, not to mention it potentially violates our privacy laws here, but that doesn’t change the fact that such clauses exist and that EULA was changed for a singleplayer game so many years after launch.

updated a great game almost a decade later so it can data farm - dont buy or play.

this game was the best thing since sliced bread, then 2k changed their terms of service