XCOM 2 - Is Ridiculously Exciting

[HiddenX]

Rock, Paper, Shotgun tells us 14 reasons why XCOM 2 is really exiting to play:

XCOM 2 Is Ridiculously Exciting

I don’t mean “I’m excited that this videogame sequel is coming out,” but rather that the game itself works so hard and does so much to create a constant sense of near-euphoric drama. In an age where sequels=darker, because far too many people believe that The Empire Strikes Back is the highest watermark of popular culture, XCOM 2 [official site]s lurch towards brightly-coloured celebratory heroism is a welcome one – and it does this even though, thematically, we’re talking a post-alien-invasion Earth and all the horror that implies. It wouldn’t be unfair to invoke Independence Day comparisons, but it wouldn’t be quite correct either: XCOM 2 does have that hoorah-heroism, but fortunately it’s bereft of flag-waving. This is the bright dystopia, the heroic rebellion rather than the forlorn resistance.

When I play XCOM 2, I feel incredibly excited most of the time, and it’s not just because of soaring military march soundtrack – there are dozens of tiny things it does to make me feel like an action hero (or a least a commander of action heroes).



Screw it, I’m doing a list. It’s either that or weirdly disassociated paragraphs.

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More information.

 

[you]

Lots of balance complaints in steam reviews.

 

[joxer]

Unbalanced?
You mean like... Some stuff is overpowered and some underpowered? Or there is no effective counter to something (like stun vs slow, or silence vs instakill spell)?

 

[NFLed]

The hype machine is starting to get to me (in a positive way), though even if I wanted this game it would have to wait for a long time as I catch up on other games. I enjoyed XCOM 1 from a few years ago but near the end I got tired of it and I had to really push myself to finish it, so I doubt I will get this but there is that hype machine (i.e. good reviews) so I'll see in maybe a year.

 

[rune_74]

Lots of balance complaints in steam reviews.

It's hard, so that could be causing that.

 

[Carnifex]

It can certainly be challenging, at least for me so far it has been. I have to remember to pace myself, and, above all else, overwatch is your friend. That thing will save your bloody life, and has been the cause of many an ambush on my little alien friends. Once I got armour and mag weapons, and my squad up to the lou level, things got easier, surviving to that point was tough. Medic!!!!

 

[rune_74]

It can certainly be challenging, at least for me so far it has been. I have to remember to pace myself, and, above all else, overwatch is your friend. That thing will save your bloody life, and has been the cause of many an ambush on my little alien friends. Once I got armour and mag weapons, and my squad up to the lou level, things got easier, surviving to that point was tough. Medic!!!!

I think you have to accept that it won't always be easy to come away with everyone.

 

[Carnifex]

Yup I have five lou's and one sarge because like, right at the end of a mission my medic got headshot from half the field away.....was a total bummer. We made a nice memorial for her and carried on!

 

[bizorker]

I think you have to accept that it won't always be easy to come away with everyone.

This is what made the last game really exciting and different in my opinion. When a party member dies you feel the pain but you don't feel like you need to reload. Losing a team member is part of the game. I look forward to playing this one.

 

[rune_74]

This is what made the last game really exciting and different in my opinion. When a party member dies you feel the pain but you don't feel like you need to reload. Losing a team member is part of the game. I look forward to playing this one.

Last game you could really game the system that you rarely lost anyone....this one forces you to take risks, getting out of overwatch mode all the time.

Adds a lot of pace.

 

[Carnifex]

I suspect that the turn limits on some of the missions are specifically for that purpose, to the point of you just cannot sit there spamming overwatch, kill all the foes, then do the mission. You have to move constantly and be ready for almost anything to happen. And I'm ok with all of that!

 

[rune_74]

I suspect that the turn limits on some of the missions are specifically for that purpose, to the point of you just cannot sit there spamming overwatch, kill all the foes, then do the mission. You have to move constantly and be ready for almost anything to happen. And I'm ok with all of that!

Makes it a bit more tense for sure.

 

[Capt. Huggy Face]

Simply mentioning the game in the same sentence as Independence Day makes me not want to play it. I'm going to try to push that movie out of my mind as I fire up the game now.