XCOM 2
2016
Audio: Italian, French, Spanish, English, German · Subtitles: Japanese, Italian, Spanish, German, French, Chinese, Korean, Polish, Russian, English
- role-playing (rpg)
- simulator
- strategy
- turn-based strategy (tbs)
- tactical
- science fiction
- single player
- multiplayer
The story
XCOM 2 is the sequel to XCOM: Enemy Unknown, the 2012 award-winning strategy game of the year. Earth has changed and is now under alien rule. Facing impossible odds you must rebuild XCOM, and ignite a global resistance to reclaim our world and save humanity.
What it’s like
Grimy, washed-out sci-fi with a cold blue-grey palette, dim resistance hideouts lit by flickering monitors and the sickly green glow of alien tech, and harsh, clinical light over the battlefield. Cities under occupation look bleached and oppressive, while the turn-based tactical maps are rendered in tight, shadowed close-up, with dramatic camera pans whenever a soldier lands a critical shot. The score is a brooding, synth-driven pulse that swells under pressure and drops to tense quiet between missions, and the sound of gunfire and alien chittering stays crisp and tactile. The vibe is tense, grim and quietly hopeful, a slow-burn dread broken by sudden flashes of triumph. Pacing is deliberate: each turn is a considered puzzle, and downtime at the base is a steady loop of managing soldiers, research and supplies. Violence is frequent and stylised, with soldiers wounded or killed in brief, sharp bursts, and the loss of a favourite squad member lands hard. Its emotional arc follows a ragtag group of recruits who slowly become a hardened, tightly knit unit. For people who want strategic depth, a grim but rewarding resistance story, and tactical challenge with a bit of bleak atmosphere.
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