XCOM 2 Reviews
We really wanted XCOM 2 to be something amazing, but unfortunately it falls short.
It's a game that creates moments you'll remember with characters you've created and care about and is quite possibly the best example of its genre to date.
One of last generation's best sci-fi games returns to consoles and continues apace, changing very little but adding a lot to the mix.
XCOM 2 doubles down on everything that players enjoyed about the previous game. A deeper story, more strategy options, more enemies, and just more mechanics makes for an improved experience all around. Some technical issues pop up, and newcomers will have trouble wrapping their head around the vast array of game mechanics, but once it all clicks there is a lot to love about this game.
XCOM 2 is more tense and thrilling than a turn-based strategy has any right to be. There are some great additions to the original gameplay, but the port to console is an imperfect one.
Hella hard strategy game outdoes its predecessor with deeper strategy, procedural maps, and a more progressive campaign
XCOM 2 is an improvement on its predecessor in every way and the vast majority of those improvements have been applied so intelligently that they risk making Enemy Unknown obsolete. That game was a smart remake of a classic. XCOM 2 is a classic in its own right and as good a sequel as I can remember.
XCOM 2 rises above these small errors, and is still a highly recommendable strategy game for those both new and familiar with the franchise. Both friendly and hostile upgrades are doled out to yourself and the opposition over the course of the entire campaign, ensuring variety through to the end. Whether or not you will make it there is entirely on you, which is why success is celebrated and losses so discouraging. XCOM 2 introduces new elements that keep the strategy game fresh, continues to overwhelm the player with options, and challenges you to overthrow the alien overlords in power. There isn't much more I could ask for.
XCOM 2 is one of the richest and best designed strategy games we've ever played.
Great strategy games are few and far between, and XCOM 2 is an absolute treat for anyone craving a challenge on every level. Marred only be a few technical presentation hiccups and slow loading times, XCOM 2 is a deep mental and emotional experience that tests each player's resolve to triumph against overwhelming odds and failure. While losing a top soldier can be a most devastating defeat, coming back from that loss and completing a mission with a group of rookies to honor that soldier's sacrifice can be an incredible accomplishment. You may still lose the war, but each campaign's small victories drive that feeling that success is possible, no matter the insurmountable odds placed before you.
It is rare when the sequel surpasses its predecessor, but XCOM 2 does it with style and verve. Unlike grenades in Enemy Unknown, everything in XCOM 2 matters. Choices have purpose, lives are no longer trivial. Maps no longer repeat, and neither do outcomes. XCOM 2 is punishing, but that just makes success taste that much sweeter.
Overlooking XCOM 2's few problems is easy in the face of its overwhelmingly solid experience. Console players who had been eyeing this title since its release in February shouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger.
A brilliant concept coupled with smart design choices results in a hugely rewarding game that over-delivers in almost every area
A truly remarkable strategy game
XCOM 2 succeeds in making a more cinematic experience for the story and adds a little bit more personality to the supporting characters of Officer Bradford and Proffessor Tygen.
Overall, the ingenious method XCOM 2 deploys is keeping so much of the same, but adding just enough new features and slight changes to make it absolutely phenomenal.
If you can take punishment as well as you can dish it out, then XCOM 2 strikes the right balance. Its tactics are hardlined, its urgency is persistent, and it will wear you down even as it builds you up. A beautiful, brutal beast of a tactics game. But do what you can to clean up these graphical and gameplay hitches, Firaxis; this game deserves it.
While the occasional technical issues might hamper the experience somewhat, XCOM 2 remains a superb strategy game that expertly weaves stellar mechanics and emotional story-telling into an engrossing campaign in which every choice that you make feels genuinely important. It can be both brutally difficult and depressingly ruthless, but the scant moments of joy that you'll experience in your attempts to overthrow the alien regime should provide more than enough incentive to keep fighting the good fight.