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Xenonauts 2 - Preview @ PC Gamer

by Hiddenx, 2023-07-15 21:03:27

Henriquejr spotted a Xenonauts 2 preview on PC Gamer:

Xenonauts 2 is a comprehensive but overly safe tribute to classic X-COM

Expect brutal combat and mounting panic as you save the world from aliens again, but don't expect much that's new.

The problem with saving the world from alien invasion is it can be difficult to know what to do next.

Transforming a clandestine global organisation from being clay pigeons for alien sharpshooters into the kind of force that can take down extraterrestrial motherships is an experience that's difficult to beat, and every successful X-COM game has grappled with following up such an alluring premise. Julian Gollop looked to the sea for inspiration, resulting in 1995's Terror from the Deep. Firaxis's XCOM 2, meanwhile, solved the problem with a clever bit of retconning. "Surprise sucker, you lost!" it yelled in the player's bewildered face. "Now you're fighting a guerrilla campaign against a hybrid human-alien dictatorship! How do you like THOSE bananas?"

Both games were ingenious ways of building a sequel that followed logically from the first game, while reinvigorating the entire concept at the same time. By comparison, Xenonauts 2's response is "What if you saved the world again, but… more?"

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Information about

Xenonauts 2

SP/MP: Single-player
Setting: Sci-Fi
Genre: Non-RPG
Platform: PC
Release: In development


Details