XCOM 2 Reviews
Exceptionally tough, rewarding strategy and a masterful reworking of the XCOM formula. We'll play this forever.
Punishing and precise, Firaxis has created one of the most demanding - and thrilling - strategy games ever.
With a focus on variety and replayability, this sequel has an answer to most of my complaints about 2012's excellent XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and aside from some mostly cosmetic bugs, it comes together brilliantly. Thanks to a new spin on the same great tactical combat, plus unpredictable maps and randomized objectives and loot, XCOM 2 is an amazing game I'll easily put hundreds of hours into.
A superb sequel that improves on every aspect of the already excellent originals, and offers one of the most absorbing and unpredictable strategy experiences ever seen.
Impossible to recommend ahead of the PC version because of some issues with the port, but nonetheless one of the most unique experiences on console.
With an arsenal of new gadgets and upgrades at your disposal, XCOM 2 feels like XCOM: Enemy Unknown with a million mods enabled, creating a deep and engrossing strategy game.
Alien firefights play out like deadly games of chess. The difficulty tests your resolve, but XCOM remains one of the deepest and most rewarding strategy games on the market
In spite of a few glaring technical issues, XCOM 2 represents a high water mark for the entire franchise. Firaxis successfully tells an evocative story. It treats players with respect and includes so many small quality of life improvements over the original they are simply too numerous to mention. It is challenging enough at its basic difficulty level to feel like a complete experience. Despite the bugs, it's still the best-looking, most exciting turn-based tactical game I've ever played.
Firaxis turn-based strategy sequel brings major improvements to the multilayered XCOM formula.
Firaxis delivers a fantastic sequel in many regards, but a large assortment of technical issues plague the overall experience.
A fresh, fast tactical strategy game that makes 2012's XCOM feel ancient.
XCOM 2 updates the franchise's formula without sacrificing what works in the original game. You have more freedom than before, and relatively superfluous elements like the Interceptors have been cut. More importantly, the pacing and structure really does make you really do feel like a band of renegades taking on an occupying force. It's been a fun ride, and with more mods on the way, I'm looking forward to playing it again - the best possible compliment I can pay to a tactics game.
I would love to be able to give XCOM 2 my unreserved recommendation, but I can't ignore the elephant in the room. If you don't intend on playing on Ironman mode, and have enough patience to deal with (not so) occasional glitches, it's excellent. If you were looking forward to a hardcore playthrough, or can't stand it when technical issues get in the way of a good time, you'll definitely want to wait for a patch or two before deploying.
XCOM 2 more or less maintains the XCOM series as one of the best strategy titles today. The very nature of concealment and fast-and-loose guerrilla tactics lends itself to an almost obsessive amount of trial and error, but that doesn't mean you won't want to try over and over again until you pass unscathed. I've sunk hours into XCOM 2, and there's no doubt that you will too. 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.
XCOM 2 somehow manages to improve upon the 2012 series reboot in almost every single way; from the way that the concealment ramps up the pacing, to the minor changes to battles and management that both fit the theme wonderfully and make for great gameplay. Aside from a few moments where the impossible happened and a some optimisation issues XCOM 2 suffers from, this is one uprising worth taking part in.
There's a lot to love in XCOM 2, and hopefully patches and mods will shore up its weakest elements. Even though I think it misses what ought to have been a super easy shot in many ways, it's still among the funnest and most rewarding games I've played in months.
In many ways, XCOM 2 is more of what we already enjoyed in the recent reboot, with a few considerable improvements. The new units liven up the experience and add much more variety, while the procedurally generated maps help to customize every player's experience into a one of a kind novelty. If you're a newcomer to the resistance or an old veteran, XCOM 2 is a smartly designed action-strategy game with a staggering amount of content and replayability.
Deep, atmospheric and a blast to play. Best XCOM ever, period.
Review in Italian | Read full review
A great port that only could have been better including the steam Workshop integration. We know that's impossible, but it's an issue that makes this version worse than the original.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
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.