As a beloved cult classic franchise, XCOM has been around a long time and seen many forms of gameplay. While I eagerly await XCOM3 with a fervor that would put half-life 3 to shame, I’d love to hear your thoughts, stories and future hopes for the franchise. Spoiler warning, obviously.
My personal favorite is probably XCOM2, if only for the sheer number of mods that allow me to customize a single character for hours (only for them to die on their first mission) and completely overhaul the challenges and theme of the game.
I started with the XCOM reboot, which was such a delightfully crunchy little game full of steroid abusers wearing armor made out of hastily repurposed fridges. I would later look at a retrospective of the series and appreciate that the reboot simplified inventory management and condensed the base building down to just one base, which meant you could enjoy the strategy side of things without it wearing out its welcome. Just a fondly remembered game experience all around.
The DLC for XCOM was very welcome as well, adding new toys to play with but only letting you have them if you got off your ass and stopped over watching every turn. It was a good change that forced me to be aggressive in order to get a giant stompy mechsuit or a team full of go-go-gadget soldiers. It definitely refreshed the game for a playthrough or three.
Then came XCOM2, which turned the formula on its head and left me stunned that I canonically lost the last game. This inversion of not responding to random strikes all over the globe but /being the one doing them?/ I was SO in. Even on launch the game was a blast but they came out with some seriously solid DLC.
War of the Chosen is the closest I’ve seen to the universally praised (and regrettably copyrighted) Nemesis system from Shadow of Mordor since that game came out, and they adapted it quite well to the style of the game. It rebalanced a few things, added new toys to play with, and gave you just another chance to have a massive wrench thrown into your plans to train up your all-rookie backup squad.
XCOM 2.5 episode 1 Chimera squad. Honestly? I liked it. I think it should stay a side project, a spin-off I can happily say is part of the XCOM family but it isn’t required reading to understand the rest of the franchise nor is it a massive experience you can’t miss on its own merit. It’s good for when you’re itching for a change but still want some XCOM. Can’t complain.
I love this series, one day I’ll go back and try the OG if I can ever get over the controls. Until then I’ll just stay here enjoying good company. So, what are your thoughts and experiences with the franchise (pre or post reboot)? Any legendary tales to share?
I played X-COM UFO defence, TFTD, Apocalypse, XCOM Enemy Within, XCOM 2 War of the Chosen and even Chimera Squad.
One thing I can say is I like these type of games for different reasons, the older games were more logistically focused, less individually power fantasy but you knew your star players eventually from exemplary service and the gear you crafted did the heavy work. The power scaling felt good in the sense of being a managerial super star making sure your pixels were well equipped and armoured, you tried to understand your enemy and targeted their weaknesses. Bonus for the bullet physics felt “fair” - in the sense that it would go in the general direction where you fired.
Personally liked Apocalypse setting the best, even if it was incomplete and not fully realised.
Older games, I felt like desk jockey general drawing out the plans and thinking of the big picture.
The newer XCOMs streamlined the logistics and focused on that individual power scaling and making each soldier important as you are restricted to less per mission. I loved the MEC suits in Enemy Within and it played a lot smoother than the old ones, and I got used to and learned to enjoy the camp with War of the Chosen. It really made one care for soldiers and allowed for easier roleplaying. I personally get annoyed at the animation jank( especially misses) but overall the focus on ground combat is fun and challenging and I have a far easier time making stories in my mind how an operation played out.
I felt like my job was battlefield analysist and I would provide “real time” intelligence support.
Chimera Squad, I enjoyed the world building, breech mechanics and the turn system I think is a step in the right direction. I can accept the voiced and locked in team, but didn’t like the lose of freedom to manage a team. Felt like streamlining too far, still was a fun contained spin-off that has the roots of Apocalypse dragging around.