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XCOM 2 (PC)

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88
Metascore
 104 reviews
7.3
User Score
 1674 ratings

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Developer: Firaxis Games
Publisher: 2K Games
Game Details: 20 years have passed since world leaders unconditionally surrendered to alien forces and XCOM, the
20 years have passed since world leaders unconditionally surrendered to alien forces and XCOM, the world's last line of defense, was left destroyed and scattered. Now the aliens hold dominion over the Earth, building shining cities that promise a brilliant future for humanity on the surface, while hiding a sinister intent below and eliminating all who don't fall in like with their new order. Online those who live a the edges of the world have a modicum of freedom. Here, a force gathers20 years have passed since world leaders unconditionally surrendered to alien forces and XCOM, the world's last line of defense, was left destroyed and scattered. Now the aliens hold dominion over the Earth, building shining cities that promise a brilliant future for humanity on the surface, while hiding a sinister intent below and eliminating all who don't fall in like with their new order. Online those who live a the edges of the world have a modicum of freedom. Here, a force gathers once again to stand up for humanity. Consistently on the run, the remnant XCOM forces need to find a way to regroup, expose the nefarious truth behind the occupation, and eliminate the alien threat for good.… Expand
Developer: Firaxis Games
Publisher: 2K Games
Genre(s): Strategy Turn-Based General Tactics
Number of players: 2
Cheats: On GameFAQs
Rating: T
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  • XCOM 2: War Of The Chosen - Launch Trailer

    XCOM 2: War Of The Chosen - Lau...

  • XCOM 2 - Console Announcement Trailer

    XCOM 2 - Console Announcement T...

  • XCOM 2 - Shen's Last Gift DLC Launch Trailer

    XCOM 2 - Shen's Last Gift DLC L...

  • XCOM 2 - Alien Hunters DLC Pack Launch Trailer

    XCOM 2 - Alien Hunters DLC Pack...

  • XCOM 2 - Retaliation Trailer

    XCOM 2 - Retaliation Trailer

  • XCOM 2 - Announcement Trailer

    XCOM 2 - Announcement Trailer

  • XCOM 2 "Tour the Avenger" Trailer

    XCOM 2 "Tour the Avenger" Trailer

  • XCOM 2 - Launch Trailer

    XCOM 2 - Launch Trailer

  • XCOM 2: War Of The Chosen Reveal Trailer - E3 2017

    XCOM 2: War Of The Chosen Revea...

  • Superhuman Boss Battle In XCOM 2: War Of The Chosen

    Superhuman Boss Battle In XCOM ...

  • Stealing The Chosen Assassin's Weapons In XCOM 2 War Of The Chosen Gameplay

    Stealing The Chosen Assassin's ...

  • XCOM 2: War of the Chosen – Lost and Abandoned Gameplay Trailer

    XCOM 2: War of the Chosen – Los...

  • Chosen Elites Hate Each Other - XCOM 2: War of the Chosen Cutscene

    Chosen Elites Hate Each Other -...

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    Reapers And Skirmishers Fight Z...

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Critic Reviews
(107)
88
Metascore Generally favorable reviews
97 Positive Ratings 93%
6 Mixed Ratings 5%
1 Negative Ratings 0%
Based on 104 Critic Reviews View All
100
IBTimes UK
Apr 2, 2016
"It's a testament to the quality of XCOM 2 that despite performance hiccups on a mid-range PC I have been unable to put it down. It's at once radically different and reassuringly familiar, improving what needed to be improved and refining what needed to be refined without losing the core appeal of the series. XCOM has once again proven itself to be the strategy king." ... Read full review
95
Games Master UK
Mar 19, 2016
"An instant classic that refines, evolves, and redefines the ideas that came before. Strategy perfection. [March 2016, p.64]"
92
COGconnected
Feb 2, 2016
"Everything is bigger and better, XCOM 2 exceeds expectations and spawns new hope in future sequels. " ... Read full review
90
The Escapist
Feb 1, 2016
"XCOM 2 improves on its predecessor in almost every way, and proudly stands as one of the most deeply satisfying action-strategy games currently available." ... Read full review
90
Game Revolution
Feb 1, 2016
"With an unnerving sense of persistent tension and procedurally-generated maps that extend the value of every map, XCOM 2 survives the hype train with just a graze." ... Read full review
85
JeuxActu
Feb 3, 2016
"XCOM 2 is a worthy heir to the franchise with a few improvements to renew the gameplay, and a refreshing script which makes us join the resistance against alien invaders. A worthy investment indeed." ... Read full review
45
GameCritics
Feb 18, 2016
"To be perfectly blunt, XCOM 2 is a pretty bad experience right now, and the best advice I can give is simple: wait for upcoming patches to fix things before buying. There's a much better game hidden somewhere beneath the performance issues and gameplay flaws, and it's a shame. " ... Read full review
Critic Reviews
User Reviews
(438)
7.3
User Score Mixed or average reviews
1,103 Positive Ratings 65%
269 Mixed Ratings 16%
302 Negative Ratings 18%
Based on 1674 Ratings and 438 Reviews View All
10
sherbz
Feb 5, 2016
Quite simply the game is brilliant. It looks gorgeous, it plays very well, and it is one hell of a challenge. If you liked X COM theQuite simply the game is brilliant. It looks gorgeous, it plays very well, and it is one hell of a challenge. If you liked X COM the original, then you simply have to buy this. They have improved practically everything about the original. This feels more much more dynamic. Gone are the days of satellite spamming your way to victory. This game provides meaningful choices throughout so that you really dont know which way you want to go. And i think that many different paths to victory will be possible. I think this is probably the best looking turn based game we have ever seen. Kudos to Firaxis on a job well done. A sure contender for game of the year. The only thing that slightly spoils it are a few buggy camera angles and some dodgy hang times, but you can forgive it that as they dont spoil the fun. And it is in infinitely better shape than most games when released. But the real gem of this is the mods. Oh my goodness what a year we have in store.… Expand
10
lassek1981
Feb 8, 2016
This game is sooo cool! I am like another gamer and reviewer a veteran in the series.. played since child in DOS and later Xcom and Xcom EU...This game is sooo cool! I am like another gamer and reviewer a veteran in the series.. played since child in DOS and later Xcom and Xcom EU...

While the gamer suffers from missing performance optimizations and has some bugs here and there it is fully playable and never crashed on me one single time in the 4 days in a row 15 hours plus every day I played to complete it! I CANNOT remember when I sad up playing 15 hours straight since I was a boy.. I mean its very addictive.

I love everthing about it and it is really a 10/10 game!

However I think allthough the music, sfx and is great! there could be more music score like XCOM EU, that soundtrack was epic.. they should have hired them again for sound! :)… Expand
9
dkaizer
Mar 15, 2016
Thoroughly enjoyed this second release in the franchise as it ironed out a lot of the issues in the first game and improved on many otherThoroughly enjoyed this second release in the franchise as it ironed out a lot of the issues in the first game and improved on many other gameplay aspects. Frame rates dipped now and then but it did not draw my attention away from the fantastic gameplay and customization offered to your soldiers.

Liked the first game in 1994. Enjoyed the reboot in 2012. Loved the sequel in 2016.… Expand
8
DKDArtagnan
Feb 11, 2016
Obviously, since the reboot of X-Com was a success, they've chosen to stick with the same basic formula.

This includes the needlessly rigidObviously, since the reboot of X-Com was a success, they've chosen to stick with the same basic formula.

This includes the needlessly rigid 2-action system and the irksome inventory limitations.

But I can accept that - and once I got past it, I managed to enjoy my time with the game greatly. They've improved upon most aspects of the game, and even with the 2-action limit, the tactical game feels rich and reasonably varied.

It looks amazing for a turn-based game focused on cerebral stimulation. I'm not used to playing this kind of game with this level of visual fidelity. The battlefield looks positively alive - and there's a great variety in everything from the procedurally generated levels and wide array of enemies to the meaty arsenal of weaponry and the fully customizable soldiers. They all look great and imaginative - and the animations are quite superb.

That came at a cost, however, and the game suffers a lot when it comes to performance. I have a very high-end rig, and yet it stuttered and felt strangely lethargic at times. It also takes its sweet time showing individual actions in what I would call a very relaxed manner. Thankfully, what's shown is satisfying and the game is so full of tension that this very deliberate pace isn't as frustrating as it would be in a lesser game. But be warned, it's not a fast or smooth experience.

Then there's the controversial focus on having time-limits in most missions. I was worried when I first heard about it. I tend to have a strong distaste for time-limits in games that are otherwise focused on giving you reasons to be careful and to take your time doing things right. It's a somewhat conflicted design philosophy.

However, I must admit that I completed the game on Veteran without a single time-limit inspired problem. Well, ok, I did feel real tension on those "rescue civilians" missions - but that's pretty appropriate :) Such missions SHOULD feel tense and they should force you to take some chances.

So, ultimately, I don't think it's a problem on Veteran difficulty. I imagine it's a problem on higher levels - and it's not really my favorite kind of challenge. But I can't claim it's not a reasonably good fit for what they're trying to convey. You're supposed to be desperate and under immense pressure. Maybe that's not the best overall design - but you have to respect what developers are trying to do when you're reviewing their product.

As for the strategic layer, it's also quite improved - but I guess I'm not as thrilled with the direction as other players seem to be. To me, it goes back to my dislike for putting boardgames in my computer games. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy boardgames - but I prefer to play them with real friends in real life. I don't enjoy simplifying and streamlining when it actively works against what could have been rich and layered.

Personally, I think the choices you make on the world map feel entirely too binary and you're essentially never much in doubt about what your priority should be. Why? Because there's a rigid timer in place - and the consequences are always spelled out for you. This means the strategy involved is always picking the lesser of 2-3 evils - and that's it, really.

The great skill-trees are back - and they've expanded them to include "random skills" and leader skills. I love the way you get to customize your team both in terms of class setup and skill choices. It's not greatly expanded from the first game, but still enough to make it feel fresh, especially with the additon of the Ranger class - and the hacking Specialist class. The hacking aspect feels a bit undercooked, however, but at least it's there.

They've also added Weapon modifications and though it's somewhat simplistic, it still manages to add to the feeling of making interesting choices and feeling the progress of better gear. I just wish they'd expand upon it and go for a more exploration-oriented game. I'd love to roam the maps in "Jagged Alliance 2" style and search for alien loot.

Finally, I can't write a fair review without mentioning the bugs and quirks of the game. There's no way around the fact that this release wasn't quite ready. I experienced at least two game-breaking bugs during tactical missions - which forced me to reload a save from much earlier in the fight. One example was a downed soldier that I simply couldn't carry - because the game didn't recognize her existence. It's apparently a known bug with unconscious soldiers involving inconsistency with tile-placement. On several occasions, the animations associated with soldiers and/or enemies would "stop being there" - and you'd simply see the result without the actions taking place. This happened quite frequently and really disrupts the flow of the game. It can be fixed with a reload, however. Then we have the performance issues - which are quite significant.

Overall, a great game due to a combination of the original Gollop design and the new Firaxis spin on the formul… Expand
6
MrWonderful
Feb 9, 2016
I bought the retail box version to save on the huge bandwidth-eating-download of going thru Steam. Four DVDs to install and 45 minutes andI bought the retail box version to save on the huge bandwidth-eating-download of going thru Steam. Four DVDs to install and 45 minutes and guess what...there was still a 9GB download required from Steam! Once everything was installed I fired XCom 2 up and proceeded with the tutorial mission to see what is new. Guess what...there's a bug that may or may not happen, but it happened to me, where a character can't move to cover as the instructions state. The fix was to do the Three Finger Salute(tm) back to desktop since at this point everything is frozen and then relaunch the game. So far I'm not too impressed, especially reading about the turn timer implemented in the game now. I've stopped playing XCom 2 because I still need to finish some other games on backlog. Maybe when it's time to get back it things will have improved. For those that are curious...on my Core i7 desktop with GTX780ti everything is on high/medium @2560x1080. I won't even bother loading it onto my 4 year old ASUS ROG laptop with a measly GTX560M gpu.… Expand
4
Xerxes72
Feb 7, 2016
Leaving aside the many technical issues that plagued its launch, from performance issues to LOS malfunctions to vanishing savegames, that (ifLeaving aside the many technical issues that plagued its launch, from performance issues to LOS malfunctions to vanishing savegames, that (if the first XCOM was any indication) will likely take them months to address and resolve, with XCOM2 Firaxis doubles down on some of the worst aspects of their successful "reimagining" of the venerable classic and stretches even further the definition of strategy when it comes to PC gaming.

Their whole philosophy seems to involve replacing variety of choice and room for maneuver with a linear experience which uses the word strategy only as flavor for those who thought King's Bounty was an RPG. Want to stray a bit from the optimal path on the "strategic" layer, even if you're doing well on the tactical missions? Sorry, dead man walking. And when on the field, every guy in your inexplicably puny squad is essential. Got unlucky and lost a couple of soldiers to randomly spawning enemies, with 10+ still to kill and a stupid clock ticking down? Get used to it-- in Firaxis' twisted world, those things are necessary to cover the lack of a functional AI and a sound design. Aliens will still teleport under the FOW and trigger when they're scripted to while you're hopefully still gaping at the pretty graphics.

And ahhh, the ultimate insult, the timed missions. It's all part of the same "philosophy", or rather lack thereof. Unless you believe Firaxis included the timers as a way to counter the creeping *their own design encouraged* with a "solution" that's worse than the original problem.

This is not a strategy game. It's a "corridor strategy" game. It's like calling the latest Call of Duty an open world game. The package is slick but there's no more strategy involved than in your typical CYOA book. If you're a real strategy fan and loved the original series, my suggestion is that you save your money and frustration, wait for Xenonauts 2 and avoid anything with the name "Jake Solomon" in the credits.… Expand
0
qrooel
Mar 13, 2020
Timers in almost every mission. TBS with timers. Game is nearly unplayable because of this. No fun at all. Frustrating game ever.
User Reviews