Most of the ever-present countdown timer worries in missions are gone, practically every type of mission redesigned in some way. ![]() Ability Points are rewarded for smart play such as for flanking enemies or performing sneak attacks, so playing well is further rewarded here.īeyond all this, god, XCOM 2 has just been improved on every level. These work a lot like hero units in other games with a unique ability point based upgrade structure rather than the usual leveling up. There's stealth expert Reapers, Advent turncoat Skirmishers and psionic beast from the Templars. The final major addition comes in the form of new allies to go alongside the new enemies - three new classes of ally all from factions outside of XCOM. Fighting them has a completely different flow, and you'll use skills in a different way, wary that loud fighting like explosions will draw even more hoardes to spawn near you. They're all weak with only a few points of health each but they also come in massive groups, with more of these enemies on screen than at any other point in XCOM 2. The Lost are proper zombies, too - the fast-moving kind, not the shambling kind. If the Lost encounter the aliens, they'll attack them too and you can totally use this to your advantage if you're careful. This leads to some properly amazing potential scenarios, like your squad trapped in the middle, fortified, while hoardes of zombies approach from one direction and a few aliens tactically push up on you from the other. The Lost are a new faction of sorts, zombified humans that show up in missions as the solo antagonist and also alongside the regular aliens. The chosen are the big tentpole addition, but they're not alone. The Chosen follow the now-regular XCOM difficulty curve where early on you'll be terrified of them but later on you'll be excited to face them down with your upgraded gear. Chosen left around for the finale will of course have an impact there - if you want the greatest challenge, you might well want to leave them alive a little longer. The Chosen can be defeated for good, but if you do or not depends on you - on your resources, your approach to the game and of course if you want to. Early on in the game the Chosen apply serious pressure, and merely the threat that they might show up on a mission will adjust how you approach it, something that feels a welcome addition to XCOM's gleefully stressful missions. Each of the Chosen has a different focus, with unique strengths, weaknesses and skills you won't see elsewhere. The chosen are one of a few little wrinkles into the flow of XCOM 2's missions, since their presence on the battlefield can turn the game's turn-based strategy into a seriously stressful affair on even the most routine of missions. They're not randomly generated and they don't grow in the same way, but they do get smarter and stronger as your game progresses, cropping up in missions to hinder you before teleporting away before they can be finished off for good. The titular Chosen are a new enemy type - special alien generals of a sort that sort of have a Shadow of Mordor's style nemesis system thing going on. "The Chosen apply serious pressure, and merely the threat that they might show up on a mission will adjust how you approach it." ![]() Had an all-new story been tossed in here instead of the old story retooled I would've happily accepted this as XCOM 3 thanks to the changes, additions and general improvements, and I think that's pretty impressive. It actually lives up to that promise of feeling like a new game, everything retooled and adjusted with new features layered on top that only serve to enhance the experience. ![]() That's thanks entirely to XCOM 2: War of the Chosen, the new and pricey expansion. Like Michael Corleone, I am dragged back in. ![]() Maybe I'll dabble here and there the odd campaign, some mod action, breaking the game with the command line. I struggled to tear myself away from it, sinking about 90 hours into a pre-release build 2K provided then another hundred-plus into the retail release.Īfter all that time I never thought I'd be sucked back into that degree again. The weird thing was that in many ways I didn't quite like XCOM 2 as much as its predecessor, but it was still ridiculously, disgustingly good. After around 250 hours, I was finally ready to put XCOM 2 down.
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