Xcom 2 is like playing a chess with a really great looking gameboard and chess pieces. Game is slow-paced and you are supposed to lose sometimes. If you are looking for fast action and immediately results this is not the game for you.

Core gameplay is solid gold. You can have up to 6 soldiers under your command per mission. Missions have different kind of goals and some require to be completed within 8 - 12 turns. Something like 3/5 missions have a turn timer but I didn't find it problematic as I nearly always had 2-3 turn "spare time" when I completed the mission goal. When people start dying it is often your own fault. There are total of 6 soldier classes, all with unique abilities and skills. Classes feels different with many combinations available how to assemble your squad. If you have played Xcom:EU you learn the new game mechanics within first few hours. All the enemies are new or atleast altered so you don't feel like playing Xcom: EU with a new plot.

Story is interesting and revealed by tiny pieces after completing missions and specific researches. There is a nice pacing with cutscenes and reading when moving forward the main plot. There ain't that many character in the game but they are all well written, besides that annoying little Shen.

In campaign map you make the big decisions: what recourses to get, what region to help, which missions to accept, where to build facilities, how to utilize your staff... You can't get everything, you usually choose what you need most at the time. Making these decions is the most rewarding part of the game.

Xcom 2 is still plagued by performance and optimize issues even the game was launched more than
half year ago. Animations lags sometimes even with no action on the screen and they lag like hell when there are multiple fire/acid burning animations going on. Loading a mission can take up to a minute to load and returning to base takes the same. Pretty often there are 10 to 20 seconds "pauses" during alien turns when the game clearly think what it should do. It is also a pain to board the skyranger as in some missions you have to invidially move all units to extraction area and watch the painfully slow animation about your soldiers getting aboard. Sure this is a minor thing as almost every con in this game but when there are too many of these annoying little things they really begin to affect your game experience. When game is turn-based = pretty slow going you really don't like any additional issues to slow the game down.

There is also one extremely frustrating bug that I have to mention here. Sometimes your soldiers and aliens can shoot through floors/roof when there is accessible multiple-floor building in the map. This line of sight bug has been in Xcom 2 since launch. Some people even argue that it is a feature because "aliens have supernatural powers and roof has holes for you to shoot through". No this is not the case, building can be in perfect condition and no one is outside the building to give you vision on enemies but magically you see them loud and clear.

Overall game experience was not as satisfying as Xcom: EU was, still I strongly recomend to try this if you liked the predecessor. It took 30 hours to beat the game on veteran diffulty and game was enternaining right to the end. There are amazing variety of mods available so you can tweak the game to suit better your playstyle/taste. Played with no mods, Anarchy's child and Shen's last gift DLCs enabled and Alien hunter DLC disabled as I had read some horrible feedback about the second DLC.

10 - Perfect game
9 - Excelent game, best of the genre
7 - Average game, nothing really special
6 - Bad game, avoid
5 - Painful to play, completely waste of time
4 - Failed game, unpayable

XCOM 2 continues on from the events of XCOM: Enemy Unknown and things play out in much the same way as they did before. Players once gain assume the mantle of commander and must oversee an entire war against the alien menace, organising strike teams, and researching better weapons and upgrades that will (hopefully) result in victory.

The aliens rule Earth now though and they've installed their own Orwellian world government that regulates every aspect of life on the planet. XCOM is no longer the sanctioned anti-alien outfit it used to be either; now it's a downtrodden rebel alliance intent on ousting the ADVENT council through covert tactics and guerilla warfare.

It's a fresh setup that brings new pressures to the planning phase. Your role as commander is as all-encompassing as it was before and your duties have expanded to include some interesting new responsibilities. You'll need to make contact with rebel settlements across the globe and construct communication relays in order to improve your network of resources. The aliens are more proactive too so you'll need to work fast in order to counter their battle plans whilst reserving time to investigate the numerous points of interest that appear on the world map.

This simulation side to XCOM 2's wider gameplay makes a good first impression and it provides some of the most thoughtful, if a little vague, decision-making moments that the game has to offer. The aliens' ominous Avatar Project acts as a game-ending timer for your actions at large. Answering distress calls and investigating supply sites costs valuable time and with each passing in-game month the project's completion bar ticks forward another space. Not wasting time is critical to your ongoing success and it means knowing when to make sacrifices in order to focus on the big picture.

The turn-based battles themselves have undergone dramatic changes with all of the showy muzzle flashes and tactical manoeuvrings being right where Firaxis left them. And yet, combat is also the first noticeable area where XCOM 2 as an experience begins to completely break down.

Nearly every mission in XCOM 2 is timed and success will often be measured by how quickly you can complete objectives before the timer expires. Whilst the objectives themselves are varied enough (kidnap a VIP, disarm an explosive etc.) the whole approach of limiting turns is completely at odds with the game's otherwise methodical turn-based gameplay. Carefully positioning your snipers and moving your forces between cover spaces is no longer a vital tactic as much as it is a luxury. Missions too often devolve into a mad dash towards another arbitrary point of interest and in a game that features character permadeath as a core gameplay mechanic, players will be re-loading their saves constantly.

This change in direction also highlights the new concealment system which masks your squad's position until the first bullet is fired. As a pseudo form of stealth, concealment allows your soldiers to get close to an enemy's position without immediately prompting return fire. Once concealment is broken though, it's pretty much lost for the remainder of the battle and any new enemies that enter line-of-sight at this time will be immediately alerted to your presence. This is incredibly annoying when your squad has already exhausted their actions for that turn as it leaves them completely wide open to attack and with XCOM being XCOM, you can always bet on losing at least one soldier in the crossfire.

Adding to this difficulty are several early game enemies that will happily wreak havoc upon your squad. The vcious snake people and Sectoid powerhouses have upwards of eight health points a piece and they have no qualms about binding, disorientating, or even mind-controlling your troops into submission. The ADVENT Stun Lancers are even more obnoxious in this regard as their huge movement pool allows them to cross the length of the battlefield (often ignoring retaliation fire) to strike your troops down, often in a single blow.

Enemies of this ilk are indeed a fine challenge when you consider how blissfully overpowered humans can get after a few levels, but when you're meeting these game-changing foes as early as mission 2 - a point where your squad can barely muster together a basic medkit - then it makes for a very unpleasant difficulty curve. Hearing that this is a very hard game probably won't come as much surprise considering the series' reputation for brutal difficulty, but XCOM 2 always feels cheap before it does challenging.

It's also worth mentioning that whilst the variety of enemies is strong (maybe even too strong), their anthropomorphised designs seem a tad stale. The new foot soldiers fit snugly into that 'dudes in armour' category, the existing Sectoid enemies have completely lost their quirkiness, and the snake warriors actually appear to have breasts for some reason. Similarly, the design of the infuriating new Codex enemy is so nonsensical in this regard that Firaxis Games should really be charged with first-degree Deviant Art baiting.

The "scarier" alien designs in XCOM 2 are also indicative of how seriously everything is treated this time around. Your communications manager called Central is a walking microcosm of this shift; his newly grizzled face and loss of charisma gelling awkwardly with an inability to keep his mouth shut. Like the world's most annoying project coordinator, he is always on your case. Everything is "ASAP" with this guy and he rarely stops explaining to you how "time is running out", or how "civilians are dying", or how you're presently doing a cruddy job at spinning all of these plates he's put in front of you.

Now in some ways XCOM 2 does improve on the formula established by its prequel. The base-building system is leaner for one, it's much easier to heal troops in the heat of battle, and the achievements are more interesting this time around. It's a visually impressive game too especially during those cutaways that show the soldiers (or aliens) gunning down their quarry in a blaze of plasma fire. And yet the game can be dreadfully slow when in motion. There's a noticeable delay upon issuing orders to your troops and transitioning between menus at XCOM HQ is tedious, especially when you consider how frequently the different departments request your attention.

Amid the odd performance concern (I experienced a few stutters and one CTD) there are a few mechanics that just seem weird. Damage indicators sometimes fail to display, troops can't seem to climb into trucks that have had their housing destroyed, and I'm still not sure how how a Viper at street level is able to grapple a sniper crouching atop a three-storey building.

The XCOM 2 Digital Deluxe Edition is a mixed bag too. Included in this version are several bonus DLC packs that add more missions to play and equipment to use. Extra weapons and costume parts are always welcome, but the idea of adding more missions is hilarious considering how much stuff you have to deal with already. Your attention is always being diverted by another alert from XCOM HQ or by another distress single or by another painfully slow update to the Avatar Project track.

It feels as if Firaxis Games went too far in satisfying the upper 1% of their playerbase. This is an unforgiving game at the best of times and it relies far too heavily on its brutal difficulty to provide a wider sense of character and appeal.

Read the full review at my blog »

A long time fan of strategy games of both real time and turn based, I found myself rather surprised that I did not enjoy Xcom 2, and in fact found myself rather hating it. Unlike it's most previous predecessor which I enjoyed throughly, the increased random get fukd elements of this game really put it off for me. Though the game makes a lot of steps forward that I enjoyed including increased troop customization for both loadout and looks, I spent the majority of the 20 hours of playtime not really enjoying my experience, with most failures and victories feeling that they occured merely thanks to chance than any actual error or insight on my part. People who enjoy less predictability in their strategy games might rather enjoy this, and from what I understand of previous Xcom titles this is more the norm, but for me this is not the case.

This game is awesome for anyone who loves turned based tactical shooters. Coupled with a vibrant modding community, the replay value is limitless.

This game is so close to being very good. But they made one huge mistake that destroyes it entirely and makes it incredibly frustrating to play. The line of sight is the worst I've ever seen in any game ever. Somehow enemies are able to see through solid walls and shoot my guy through a wall and two floors if my guy's face isn't pressed up against cover pointing just the right way. If there is an entire building between us, you shouldn't be able to shoot my guy. But since he's not hugging the right cover, he gets killed instantly.

I'd recommend this game but they need to come up with a soultion to fix all the performance issues.

Base game was good, I couldn't take the DLC. If you've played with mod, some of the content the DLC add (new accessories & robot) is already there for free. I thought the DLC were overpriced and didn't add much content. I had to start a new game to experience the DLC and it was just meh. Just get the base game for now and get the DLC if they're on sale, the last 2 DLC should've been about 5$ per.

"Good Luck, Commander"

Well if you play this game "luck" becomes more important then many other things (That moment when you have 95% chance to hit and miss :P)

There are many good things in the game, like the story which is in my opinion the main motiviator for that game. The unit classes, balance and Items are well made (especially the Items). There are many different weapons, special weapons, armor, nades,... which are really cool. Furthermore I think the Level Design in general is pretty nice.

Now to the bad part :/. First of all the difficulty. To be honest when my best unit becomes a headshot from an alien across the map and dies instantly, I feel thats a kind of joke. Furthermore the diffculy in general is extrem and really to high. (If you manage to play this game on ironman RESPECT!!!). Another negativ thing is that game has some really game breaking bugs. For example I get killed through the wall. Furthermore cover is sometimes calculated without direction. So if you have a cover on your right side and you shoot from the front he gets a ♥♥♥♥ing bonus !. So now to the time limits, through the entire game I was really stressed. Most missions have a time limit of 8 rounds which is really not funny. and the entire campange has an time limit aswell, so you can`t really relax at any time. Last but not least this is just for dlc, If you think the base game is to hard, well SUPRISE, get ready to lose your entire squad in 2 turns.

All in all it was a nice try but, there are too much problems, most imporant the high difficulty and the bugs (aswell as timelimit). The game has much potentical and I really dont like writing a bad review. But If you are not a hardcore Strategy Fan and love the Challenge you will not have much fun with this game, because you will see your loved squad dieing to often and will be depressed after some missions.

But don`t forget some people will have a hell of fun with this game so if still really want to get the game, give it a try ;D

This is a rant
Long version: new vs old game
With mods this game is pretty good considering only 1 of the DLC's (Shen's Gift) is any good. if only they would add secondwave options and somehow get the enemy with stuff with a third faction and gene mods while increasing the turns allowed in turn attack missions. The soldiers and abilities in this game are not as strong as in the old game (dont listen to totalbiscut) while the enemies are much stronger. they have removed key things in this game, such as proper base building like in the first one, Rockets are gon unless you use a heavy or power weapon with the powered armor. snapshot for snipers is gone (but they do start off with squad sight(and mods bring back snapshot)) SHIV's are gone (though they really werent vital in anyway) they completely removed air combat and medals are gone too. you dont even need to get psi troops to finish the game. this game is more cinamatic then the old one, more story driven. bradford gets facial hair and is much more annoying in this game. Terror missions are harder because you must save atleast 6/14 people or fail. the maps are much more diverse. and the game is buggy (say if you want a soldier to move right there behind cover the game might make a snap second option to send them right into the middle of an enemy group out of spite, because you are doing well)

short version: new game vs old one
weapons-weaker
abilities-weaker or equal to
enemies-stronger
gameplay options-way less
DLC-3 of 4 are bad
Mods-INSANELY AWESOME THERE ARE SO MANY!!!!!!!(they make up for the lack luster dlc)
how attached can you get to a soldier?-Very. you can write their own epitaph
customization- A LOT
voices-missing a few different countries but mods can bring you voices like deadpool, Lara Croft, Lana Kane, Homer, or even Duke Nukem , Ripely, Freemans Mind and much more.
bugs-common

Lot's of mixed emotions here, sadly the majority negative.

Short Version: I wanted to like this game so badly, but overall I can't. Too hard way too eary and unbalanced.
Longer Version:

-> Pros: -Game looks much better than the last one.
-Music is nice and has tracks for every occasion.
-Same turn based gameplay as the last one, so you'll be comforable if you played the last XCOM.
-Character customization is much more varied than last time.
-Much more story focus, hence adds to immersion and sense of purpose.
-Larger and better designed battlegrounds.
-Mod Suport

-> Cons (Hoo boy):
-Chances to hit don't feel anywhere near to how it felt in the last game. You'll miss WAY more often on a 60+% than last time. BUT NOT THE ENEMIES OH NO THEY ARE VERY ACCURATE.
-Almost every ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ mission is on a turn timer of some sort, it really ruins to game feel. (97% of missions are this)
-The save/load feature feels more like a necessity than a cheap option because of the point below.
-Enemies start way to strong for early game. Sectoids have I think 7 health and can mind control from the word 'go'.
-Tech research is boring compared to last game (from lazers and plasma, ... now we have "gauss").
-On that note WHY DO WE START OFF WITH 0% research on the aliens???
-The focus on stealth is completely nullified when alerting 1 enemy (even if killing a lone alien) will alert EVERYONE ELSE WHO WILL COME STRAIGHT OR YOU.

Conclusion: For what little cool new features they added hey threw out any sense of balance that the last game had in favor of appealing to the"Hardcore" demographic who liked the original 2D games obsured difficulty, without realizing that in that game you had 12 soldiers with you on every mission. Here you start with 4. Unbalanced. Wanted to love this game. Simply can't. 100+ hours in last XCOM, this made me quit after 6.