XCOM 2

 PC
User Score
7.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 1694 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,117 out of 1694
  2. Mixed: 275 out of 1694
  3. Negative: 302 out of 1694
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  1. HydrophobikFish
    Jun 9, 2023
    5
    Did not do it for me at all. Have tried multiple times to get into, but something about it does not grab me. I think the way timed missions force you to make risky decisions feels bad because soldiers getting wounded or dying can often have disproportionate consequences, but if I mod out the timer its obvious the game was designed with it in mind and it becomes too easy. Overall, just notDid not do it for me at all. Have tried multiple times to get into, but something about it does not grab me. I think the way timed missions force you to make risky decisions feels bad because soldiers getting wounded or dying can often have disproportionate consequences, but if I mod out the timer its obvious the game was designed with it in mind and it becomes too easy. Overall, just not for me. Too punishing in ways that feel unfair.… Expand
  2. Oshiri_Maeda
    Apr 13, 2023
    5
    By 2023 this game has nothing but a famous name. By this point many xcom-like games are just straight up better. Mutant Year Zero as an example.
  3. IliaGlobal
    Apr 7, 2023
    7
    I really liked the game! Interesting plot, good characters and good graphics for the time the game was made! Thank you, very much dear developers!
  4. Gaarq
    Mar 8, 2023
    5
    generally, xcom 2 is a good sequel, with lots of new stuff, and new mechanistics, but there are at least two things which i consider negative. first, the constant time pressure. i know, it is supposed to be fun to solve problems under stress and with limited resources, but sometimes it is too much. the stupid thing of "scanning" the region to get smth eats time and makes the stress evengenerally, xcom 2 is a good sequel, with lots of new stuff, and new mechanistics, but there are at least two things which i consider negative. first, the constant time pressure. i know, it is supposed to be fun to solve problems under stress and with limited resources, but sometimes it is too much. the stupid thing of "scanning" the region to get smth eats time and makes the stress even pushier. the missions are jumping one after the other, it is difficult to decide which one is more important than the other. second, the very slow healing and shortage of staff, decimating the men without time and resources to improve armament, not funny at all. yes, i successfully finished it, but it was far less fun than xcom 1 aka enemy unknown. if i want a stress i go to wurck ;) third, last and least, it is still a bit buggy, especially the ruler aliens. well, i like to often replay xcom 1, but xcom 2 i tried to play only thrice.… Expand
  5. O3liveon
    Jan 20, 2023
    7
    This game only came out in 2016 but it just feels so old. It feels way older then it is. If it was made today I'd be all over it because you can't get better then this in this genre. If you like this type of game you have to play it, but for where I'm at right now and how much more there is to get through I just can't give up the time to this particular world. It's a good game but it feelsThis game only came out in 2016 but it just feels so old. It feels way older then it is. If it was made today I'd be all over it because you can't get better then this in this genre. If you like this type of game you have to play it, but for where I'm at right now and how much more there is to get through I just can't give up the time to this particular world. It's a good game but it feels 8 years older then it actually is.… Expand
  6. Ogurechka
    Dec 20, 2022
    7
    The game causes very mixed feelings. On the one hand, this is a good and modern representative of the turn-based tactics genre. In general, it is the restart of the XCOM series that the entire genre owes its recent revival. On the other hand, the game has a lot of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ game design decisions, and some things were done, and as if they didn’t understand why, and just scored.

    All in    The game causes very mixed feelings. On the one hand, this is a good and modern representative of the turn-based tactics genre. In general, it is the restart of the XCOM series that the entire genre owes its recent revival. On the other hand, the game has a lot of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ game design decisions, and some things were done, and as if they didn’t understand why, and just scored.

    All in all, if you've played Enemy Unknown (the first part of the reboot), you won't see many changes. Whether it's good or bad, everyone decides for himself. The plot continues the events of the reboot and you will meet some familiar characters. But you need to understand that the plot here is basically banal and for show. There are few story missions themselves, basically you will play the same random events with generated cards. The graphics have become much better, despite the fact that the game is already 8 years old (at the time of writing this review), and its system requirements are weak. This is basically a rarity for tactics. The dynamic camera during shooting and just moving units is also pleasing to the eye. The visual customization of the fighters is also well done. But all this was already in the first part. The destructibility of objects at the levels is present, but not ideal, you can often see a situation where the wall and roof of the building are destroyed, and the boxes and partitions remain hanging in the air.

    But bad innovations, in my opinion, much more. These include absolutely ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ system for calculating hits on the enemy. Units regularly and not on business smear, reboots do not save from this, despite the fact that sometimes the game looks like a simulator of eternal saves and loads. An annoying global timer on the world map - you can't calmly rebuild your base, do research and improve equipment, the game constantly pushes you to complete story missions, otherwise you simply won't have time and will have to start from the beginning. An even more annoying timer on almost all side missions, you are given a measly 6-8 turns to complete the task, otherwise the mission will fail. Because of this, you constantly have to substitute fighters in unfavorable combat situations, and as a result, lose them or get injured, and because of this, they will not be able to participate in other missions for a long time. And yes, the permanent death of units cannot be turned off, although even the famous and hardcore Fire Emblem has already allowed it to be done for ten years. The very number of additional missions and frequency of their appearance is annoying to the point of madness, and if you refuse them, you will simply start to lose funding for your organization from other countries and lose for economic reasons. The difficulty of the game is basically unpleasant, at least if you're not a masochist.And of course, all sorts of unnecessary little things like mods for weapons and characters, they fall out extremely rarely, and they have few varieties, this is just the example when for some reason they made mechanics, but seemed to have scored on it.
    Of the minuses of both restarts, it is also worth noting that there is no action point system, and all actions are divided into two stages - movement and shooting. You can run far, but then you won't be able to shoot on that turn. Reloads, heals also cost precious actions. Classes like Snipers can't fire their primary weapons at all after moving or reloading, making the class's usefulness often questionable.There are people who like this system more than the famous AP, but here it is not implemented very well.

    To summarize, it may seem that the game has more disadvantages, this is not entirely true. I am sure that someone will like these innovations, especially lovers of additional complexity. If you are a fan of the genre, or you really liked the first part, then you need to try XCOM 2. If you are a beginner, then, probably, this is not the best representative of tactics from which you need to start acquaintance, your ass will burn and discourage all desire to touch other similar games.

    I can rate it 7/10, but I'm afraid it's not more.    … Expand
  7. tontonac
    May 16, 2022
    7
    Very good TB strategy game, but the campaign is generic and not very interesting. I really don't want to make another playthrough.
  8. Jabbawockee
    May 6, 2022
    6
    XCOM is a game that has a lot to offer but needs far too much time for its formula to become satisfying, after the mid point of the game it runs out of curveballs to throw at you to keep the gameplay engaging and dynamic, so instead chooses to ramp up the difficulty. While I'm aware XCOM is known for said difficulty, it doesn't make the gameplay fun when everything is decided by a literalXCOM is a game that has a lot to offer but needs far too much time for its formula to become satisfying, after the mid point of the game it runs out of curveballs to throw at you to keep the gameplay engaging and dynamic, so instead chooses to ramp up the difficulty. While I'm aware XCOM is known for said difficulty, it doesn't make the gameplay fun when everything is decided by a literal dice-roll yet is so unforgiving, you just end up feeling cheated. The game is optimized poorly for PC and had many bugs that forced me to abandon missions due to being soft-locked.
    While the setting, premise and first few hours of gameplay did a lot to salvage my opinion as a whole, the game falls off heavily as it goes on and by the end I was left disappointed.
    If you're a fan of RTS games then give this one a shot if it's on sale, otherwise I'd say don't buy it.    … Expand
  9. MusclyMcGee
    Apr 18, 2022
    5
    Not fun when all enemies are bullet sponges and your soldiers can't hit Sh**, and can all be killed in one turn if you are unlucky (which is what the core gameplay revolves around). Everything else is actually quite good, I enjoyed the stuff on the ship, such as customising your soldiers and upgrading your ships rooms. I also found the story/lore to be quite intriguing, which you get a lotNot fun when all enemies are bullet sponges and your soldiers can't hit Sh**, and can all be killed in one turn if you are unlucky (which is what the core gameplay revolves around). Everything else is actually quite good, I enjoyed the stuff on the ship, such as customising your soldiers and upgrading your ships rooms. I also found the story/lore to be quite intriguing, which you get a lot of. PS, this game is hard AF (or just simply unfair/rng based), even on the easy difficulty.… Expand
  10. Wrathzo
    Mar 22, 2022
    6
    XCOM 2 is a 2016 turn-based tactics video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K Games. It takes place 20 years after the events of Enemy Unknown. XCOM, a military organization trying to fight off an alien invasion, has lost the war and is now a resistance force against the occupation of Earth and the established totalitarian regime and military dictatorship. Gameplay is splitXCOM 2 is a 2016 turn-based tactics video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K Games. It takes place 20 years after the events of Enemy Unknown. XCOM, a military organization trying to fight off an alien invasion, has lost the war and is now a resistance force against the occupation of Earth and the established totalitarian regime and military dictatorship. Gameplay is split between turn-based combat in which players command a squad of soldiers to fight enemies, and strategy elements in which players manage and control the operations of the Avenger, an alien ship that is used as a mobile base for XCOM.… Expand
  11. Milo2904
    Feb 13, 2022
    6
    Aiming system is rigged AF. Game has technical difficulties on Switch. So, lizards can pull you even from a rooftop? Who tf made that game? There is absolutely no logic in fighting system.
  12. Pickle
    Mar 12, 2021
    5
    Ridiculously difficult, the game can't compensate with its beautiful presentation, and fantastic sound design, for what it is essentially a game with deeply flawed gameplay and balancing options in regards to its level of difficulty, It's beyond me as to why developers choose to make their games as challenging only to then add difficulty options that, really, don't provide any differenceRidiculously difficult, the game can't compensate with its beautiful presentation, and fantastic sound design, for what it is essentially a game with deeply flawed gameplay and balancing options in regards to its level of difficulty, It's beyond me as to why developers choose to make their games as challenging only to then add difficulty options that, really, don't provide any difference when it comes to the overall difficulty of theg ame.… Expand
  13. LazyLoad08
    Dec 19, 2020
    7
    Recommend for fans of XCOM, it is definitely a worthy entry.
    Overall a good game, unfortunately my experience was marred by bugs. Every cutscene (story, resistance contact, surgeries...) had what felt like a 50% chance to crash my game.
    I appreciate the tactical approach and overall gameplay. Line of sight is somehow janky and not really intuitive. I would say succeeding in missions and    Recommend for fans of XCOM, it is definitely a worthy entry.
    Overall a good game, unfortunately my experience was marred by bugs. Every cutscene (story, resistance contact, surgeries...) had what felt like a 50% chance to crash my game.
    I appreciate the tactical approach and overall gameplay. Line of sight is somehow janky and not really intuitive. I would say succeeding in missions and winning the game feels satisfying. Menu navigation is slow and cluttered.
    Recommended mods: Faster Avenger Navigation; Stop Wasting My Time; Flank Preview    … Expand
  14. Man_of_duty
    Jul 23, 2020
    6
    Even for it's love-hate situations it still dominates other games with the same genre of gameplay. No game has the magic like XCOM has.

    All cool things aside this game only made me frustrated, the main mission event is a time bomb nagging you to stop the enemy project or you're gonna lose the game. The start was awful, I got short on the supplies immediately, therefore I had to skip a    Even for it's love-hate situations it still dominates other games with the same genre of gameplay. No game has the magic like XCOM has.

    All cool things aside this game only made me frustrated, the main mission event is a time bomb nagging you to stop the enemy project or you're gonna lose the game. The start was awful, I got short on the supplies immediately, therefore I had to skip a few missions so my squad can heal up. Luckily I started getting PTSD flashbacks from the old game and remembered the pattern. I can't imagine how a newbie would feel like playing this game for the first time.

    Most of the missions are turns limited, that means that if you overplay the amount of turns you are supposed to play, you will lose the mission and the squad too. Not fun at all. Also, everything depends on the percentage of how successful your soldier's aim will be, that means lots of save/load situations.

    Animations are very useless and time consuming, there is a mod that helps you to skip combat animations but somehow it doesn't work for me. After some hours you're just gonna get so sick of it.    … Expand
  15. Realnoobman
    Jul 19, 2020
    6
    Pc version is so much better than the ps4 one: loading times are so much lower and gameplay is smoother. Character creation mechanics of the soldiers is a great extra feature i wish many games of this kind had. Unfortunately sometimes walls do not properly block the line of sight of enemies, furthermore, the fact that the enemy level after level churns out stronger and stronger aliensPc version is so much better than the ps4 one: loading times are so much lower and gameplay is smoother. Character creation mechanics of the soldiers is a great extra feature i wish many games of this kind had. Unfortunately sometimes walls do not properly block the line of sight of enemies, furthermore, the fact that the enemy level after level churns out stronger and stronger aliens reaches exaggerated levels and is unpleasant… Expand
  16. Aeryx
    Jun 4, 2020
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Remember the tutorial mission of XCOM? That scary mission that first introduces you to the aliens? With all the creepy noises you hear and your team member getting killed? That's gone. XCOM 2 doesn't make any effort to be subtle and creepy and scary. Despite having some improved game mechanics, XCOM 2 hits you with a bad story and feels much less immersive and has less depth.

    Let's begin with the story. It's mediocre and the goals that XCOM tries to achieve are ridiculous. The avatar project has a timer but the game doesn't bother explaining how and why does that timer work and why XCOM loses if it runs out. We know that the aliens are attempting to harvest humans, but why does it matter that them doing it makes you lose even if they cannot get to you? They've been doing it for 20 years but you lose if they do it for a few more months even if they can't defeat you? It feels very forced and ridiculous. Self-detonating charges on missions even if the enemy has no idea you are there? Stupid idea. The characters have comically huge weapons, just like the first, and the characters and enemies talk way too much. Do I need to tell the developers that quiet and subtle enemies are far scarier and more menacing than ones who talk like professional wrestlers? What a joke! The game is also riddled in bugs--- serious bugs, like my keyboard getting disabled if I load a game before the game establishes a link to 2k online. Also, why are there no more UFOs? You only encounter one throughout the whole game and once it hits you with an EMP, it disappears forever and doesn't bother chasing you again. What happened to the alien battleships and shooting them down from the first game? All gone. It doesn't make sense how the aliens cannot locate the Avenger with all their advanced tech and they just seem so dumb nowadays, hardly reacting to what XCOM does without any direction or strategy. The alien designs also look more cartoony as opposed to scary realistic. Advent is a total joke and and the game doesn't even explain why humans didn't know that Advent turns people to alien-like entities AFTER 20 YEARS OF OCCUPATION. When somebody works for advent military, don't they have to come back to their families and take off their helmets? Also, if unauthorized users of Advent weapons die upon using them, why do we see civilians using them in the final cutscenes without consequence? Also, why did they use the portal to reach the alien base under the ocean, that base is unimportant. They could have done so many smarter things with it! It would have been better to use the gateway to teleport an alien superweapon or nuke equivalent to the alien homeworlds and blow it. Instead, we go to an alien base under the ocean and kill their avatars and accomplish nothing else, because the aliens will still keep coming after the final mission. The only thing funny about the game is that they are obsessed with advent burgers. The rest is really bad. I could go on, but you get the picture.

    Gameplay-wise, there are some improvements, but these hardly compensate for the awful story and writing. Dark events are nice and the new currencies are an improvement. The game also gives you missions that address your lack of resources (like supply raids) when you need it. The weapons and research are an improvement, but the suits should have 3 slots, not two. The weapon attachments should also have 3 and not just 2. The combat mechanics and hit percentages are still awful, but that's XCOM. The graphics are mediocre and cartoony, but not too awful. The sound and music is actually good, and gets the job done, but is inferior to XCOM: EU.

    Graphics are poorly optimized. Even with RTX2060, the game lags in many places and in-between cutscenes, with loading times dragging out. Terrible optimization work right there.

    Maybe next time, the game should introduce rare weapons and armor dropped by enemies. That would be very nice. Stats for the characters are also nice. Some of these issues are addressed in WoTC, but the terrible writing and story remain even in the expansion.

    Overall, XCOM 2 feels like a step back from XCOM: Enemy Unknown. The only redeeming quality is that it the regression isn't as bad as it could have been.    … Expand
  17. pyhriel
    Apr 25, 2020
    6
    I am a big fan of XCom: Enemy Unknonwn, loved the challenge there. In this one there is still much of the core elements that are fun and some of the new ones, like the combat mechanics, the new classes, etc.

    My main issue with this game, and it does end up making the game a lot less fun to play is the timed missions that happen far too often. It kind of breaks the overall strategy feel    I am a big fan of XCom: Enemy Unknonwn, loved the challenge there. In this one there is still much of the core elements that are fun and some of the new ones, like the combat mechanics, the new classes, etc.

    My main issue with this game, and it does end up making the game a lot less fun to play is the timed missions that happen far too often. It kind of breaks the overall strategy feel of the game. If it happened only once in a while it'd be okay, but in XCom2 most missions have this timed element. I'd say this is the main problem I have with it, because it ends up limiting your choices and also limits what is an efficient build-up. Building up for stealth is not as effective when you need to rush-in, so you should build up for fast, heavy damage output.

    The second thing I don't like much about this game is the difficulty. I don't mind a challenging game, XCom : Enemy unknown was challenging, but in this one, there is a lot of luck based difficulty. The monsters that reacts to your every move can be either easy or impossibly tough depending on how they act, and it does seem a bit arbitrary. As a general rule, I didn't like fighting them that much. I loved seeing them pop up in battles unexpectedly, but I hated the battle mechanics for fighting them. There was really just one tactic that seemed to work against them : heavy damage as quickly as possible.

    Finally, the game timer in this game is ... average. it isn't that fun how its implemented. Its starts fun, but becomes tedious after a while. I understand the desire to change things from the first one, but it didn't make the game fun.

    I don't really recommend buying this game. It's ok, but it ends up not being that much fun in the end. It's kind of sad, I was really hoping it would be as good as the previous one.    … Expand
  18. Wiebe
    Feb 26, 2020
    6
    To similar to the first game, and the new elements are boring the game up, could not play trough the whole thing
  19. Shimmeywill
    Feb 20, 2020
    6
    A solid build upon the reboot title. Bunch more customisation and baddies to fights. Ultimately was a touch derivative and the randomisation of the gameplay, whilst integral, is more frustrating the second time round. Not that its a bad game....
  20. CaptainChaos
    Jan 14, 2020
    7
    I loved XCOM1 and I wanted to love this game also. I do in many ways but there are WAY too many FRUSTRATING things about this game that wants to make me uninstall it every few hours.

    You should know that in my first full playthrough of XCOM I barely cheated (maybe reloaded a misplaced grenade shot I didn't understand where it was going), and playing on normal difficulty I almost won (I    I loved XCOM1 and I wanted to love this game also. I do in many ways but there are WAY too many FRUSTRATING things about this game that wants to make me uninstall it every few hours.

    You should know that in my first full playthrough of XCOM I barely cheated (maybe reloaded a misplaced grenade shot I didn't understand where it was going), and playing on normal difficulty I almost won (I lost the last battle). I LOVED the challenge and difficulty and brutality. I find much of this game is just nonsensical a lot. random and just frustrating. For example

    1. The ingame instructions are fair to miserable. Half the time I have no idea how to use certain weapons, or abilities or who has them, nor do I understand much of the UI.

    2. Unlike AOW Planetfall which tells you the percentage chance to hit something BEFORE you move to a tile this does not. I had to search REDDIT to even know that there was a tiny target thingy over enemy units that is displayed when you mouse over a potential tile to which you might consider moving, so that at least you know if you can even "see" the unit to shoot at it (you still don't know if your to-hit is 10% or 100% until after you move, although before you shoot).

    3. I'm stuck on one mission b/c one of the characters you find has an important weapon to use on the last encounter - only they don't warn of you that and I used it already. Thanks guys! Good thing I don't trust any game and have 100 saves. I feel sorry for anyone else playing iron man mode or who doesn't save every other turn. EDIT: I had to go back about 20 moves and reload that save and now I'm passed it. Ugh. In all fairness though, turns out you can use the environment to help you but I didn't know that (like exploding generators - but I found out by accident).

    4. There's just a lot of ways to screw up the game for not understanding it and it is a very challenging and unforgiving game. I like challenges, but I can't tell you how many times on a timed mission I couldn't even figure out where to go or how to complete the objective when I got there forcing me to reload 100 times.

    5. Finally the overwatch / combat system is very very poorly implemented. Most missions you start off in concealment which is great. But then you engage, only YOUR FIRST UNIT and those units that were in overwatch basically get to attack (and those overwatch attacks only work if the enemy moves, not if they fire). That might have been an XCOM 1 thing also I don't remember, but then they should have fixed it. Every other "normal" system in the world would give your whole team a round of surprise attacks, but you have to set them all up in overwatch to do that. That also means you spend 3x as long as moving on the map b/c EVERYONE ELSE has to do overwatch FIRST (DO IT FIRST!!) b/c if your other team member stumbles on enemies when it moves, it blows it for everyone and anyone not in overwatch LOSES THEIR TURN essentially while the aliens go. STUPID. Really STUPID. Sorry.

    On the plus side, it is XCOM with way better graphics, so if you enjoyed the original and the frustrations don't make you pull your hair out, the rest of the game is quite fun and addictive.

    SAVE SAVE SAVE. Or you will put your hand through your monitor. You might still. I like this game. I want to love it. But ARG.    … Expand
  21. MazrimTaim14
    Oct 14, 2019
    7
    Need to fill your SRPG needs then try this tactical shooter/RPG game.

    Permadeath gives the dread of going into missions. Can't leave someone out to dry and forces you to move into as a team. On the timed missions, its a pet peeve of mine. Although it would be nice instead of failing the mission when the time runs out, we got tons of reinforcement from enemies which in turn is kind of    Need to fill your SRPG needs then try this tactical shooter/RPG game.

    Permadeath gives the dread of going into missions. Can't leave someone out to dry and forces you to move into as a team.

    On the timed missions, its a pet peeve of mine. Although it would be nice instead of failing the mission when the time runs out, we got tons of reinforcement from enemies which in turn is kind of a game over but more challenging since extraction will be a lot of harder and will force you to leave one to hold of enemies.

    the game has performance issues, especially the fps drops which should be inexcusable for a single player game.

    Also a negative aspect of the game is suddenly the enemy got 100% vision on your team when only one is detected. turns stealth into all out shooter. I was hoping its not the case so that we can do diversion runs (with units not specifically design to be invi like scouts) and have a different approach to things.    … Expand
  22. whatever523
    Feb 13, 2019
    7
    XCOM 2 is a good game, but a lot of things could have been improved.

    * The user interface could be better. HP bars cover half the screen, navigating the base has too many annoying animations, you can't see what items your team have equipped during the missions etc. * There are still quite some bugs. * Line of sight needs a lot of improvements, especially with storied buildings. * RNG    XCOM 2 is a good game, but a lot of things could have been improved.

    * The user interface could be better. HP bars cover half the screen, navigating the base has too many annoying animations, you can't see what items your team have equipped during the missions etc.
    * There are still quite some bugs.
    * Line of sight needs a lot of improvements, especially with storied buildings.
    * RNG seems even worse than in the first part and it's often frustrating.
    * Missions are kinda boring and repetitive.

    The strengths are the same as in XCOM. The gameplay and customization options are good, but there's too much that distracts from it. Feels like XCOM 1.5.    … Expand
  23. Xodis99
    Jun 6, 2018
    5
    The game can most definitely be fun at times and the modding community is amazing not only for creating new and custom content, to fixing/adding features in the game (most of which the developers should have taken care of). However the entire game is drastically brought down by a number of things, most glaring of the issues is the optimization. The game runs rather poorly even on computersThe game can most definitely be fun at times and the modding community is amazing not only for creating new and custom content, to fixing/adding features in the game (most of which the developers should have taken care of). However the entire game is drastically brought down by a number of things, most glaring of the issues is the optimization. The game runs rather poorly even on computers that are well above the recommended requirements and the developers have said they are aware of these issues, yet not a single thing has been done to fix said issue. It is hard to enjoy the game when every action seems to cause the game to freeze and stutter. Next is the mission timers and lack of mission variety. Adding turn timers to nearly every single mission in the game does not equal fun, it equals annoyance. If there was no mod to remove them the game would be borderline unplayable with these on. On top of it all the game boils down to 3-4 mission types, disable bomb/comms uplink, bring civilian to extract, and clear area of enemies, the rest are linear story missions so all of it gets rather repetitive. Lastly, they have the nerve to still ave the base game cost $60 then have $15 DLC then a $40 DLC with content that should have been in the base game is outright insulting. Do not offer people a "season pass" version and then lock the biggest piece of content out of that behind a single DLC that costs 2/3 of the game you already purchased. $115 for a "complete" experience is absurd especially when the game itself is an optimized mess as it is and simply a scummy business practice. The game is not even a big budget "triple A" title, it is a half baked strategy game with little variety and passion put into it by 2K.… Expand
  24. nik_balani
    Dec 24, 2017
    7
    I loved the original X:COM Terror from the deep. This game has a similar feel and style of gameplay which is great. The story line is interesting and the graphics fluid. However the time limits placed on missions is frustrating making it difficult to hunker down and defend certain spots as you often need to stay on the move to complete the objective. A mixture of mission types would haveI loved the original X:COM Terror from the deep. This game has a similar feel and style of gameplay which is great. The story line is interesting and the graphics fluid. However the time limits placed on missions is frustrating making it difficult to hunker down and defend certain spots as you often need to stay on the move to complete the objective. A mixture of mission types would have been better.… Expand
  25. trash-46645
    Nov 10, 2017
    5
    Review after some 20 or so hours of gameplay. I'm an X-COM veteran - I played the original UFO: EU, X-COM: TFTD, X-COM: Apocalypse and even the previous X-COM:EU game (which I quite liked) so I'm no noob. I would score the game much higher but what I really dislike in this latest version is the ever present timer on pretty much all missions (only a minority do not have a timer). In theReview after some 20 or so hours of gameplay. I'm an X-COM veteran - I played the original UFO: EU, X-COM: TFTD, X-COM: Apocalypse and even the previous X-COM:EU game (which I quite liked) so I'm no noob. I would score the game much higher but what I really dislike in this latest version is the ever present timer on pretty much all missions (only a minority do not have a timer). In the previous X-COM:EU there also were timers on those containers but it was always this sort of "bonus" objective that was good if you done it but you didn't have to, unlike now where the timer is the goal. The game is constantly pushing you to rush, never allowing you to take your time and work your way tactically through the mission. I really dislike this design decision. Also I dislike the concealment mechanics. Clearly this is not an infiltration game and the whole concealment mechanics is pretty much pointless - again it's there to push you into early rush into a position near the objective and hope for the best once the fight starts instead of allowing you to work your way towards it tactically. I don't like that. Otherwise the game seems solid - it contains all the elements we like in an X-COM game but for me it's ruined by the timers which prevent me to play the game the way I like and forces me to rush the objective, every time. Forget about taking the longer route around the map to avoid the patrols, or carefully position your squad before the assault, looking for the best spot, none of that - the game forces you to go front in guns blazing otherwise you will miss the timer which means mission failed. The same rush design can unfortunately be seen even in the overall war management - you are constantly bombarded by events, the game never gives you any time to breathe, take your time, prepare. Some might think this makes the game challenging but I don't agree, it makes the game annoying. I'm fine with challenge but when presented with one I'd like to be able to face it my way. Unfortunately there seems to be only one way - rush or fail. That's not a challenge, that's just limiting game design and a step back from previous version which rewarded you for successful rush (getting the containers in time) but also allowed you to play more carefully and tactically.… Expand
  26. compgeek
    Apr 17, 2017
    6
    I played all previous version and had a lot of fun. This version is no fun, it is a hard work - for what? It pissed me off with all stupid limits - I can handle hard enemies and replay the missions, but both Avatar project which you can not stop because you didn't upgrade your facilities and mission is locked, this lock on lock on lock is stupid - if the creators of the game wanted to pissI played all previous version and had a lot of fun. This version is no fun, it is a hard work - for what? It pissed me off with all stupid limits - I can handle hard enemies and replay the missions, but both Avatar project which you can not stop because you didn't upgrade your facilities and mission is locked, this lock on lock on lock is stupid - if the creators of the game wanted to piss their customers off, they succeed. Add terrible frame rate when something moves on my i7-6800 / 16Gb of DDR4-3600 / EVGA 980Ti / Samsung SSD 950 Pro 512 Gb / 850W EVGA PS / Asus Hero VIII mobo - how any game can be designed like that? I play a lot of games, none has such delays and frame rates. I through away Civilization 6 after about 15 min of game play, but continue to play Civilization 5 ... now its time to drop XCOM 2 and never buy Firaxis games again.
    Finished the game at veteran level in 64 hours during the last fight with 3 Avatars. Still have the same opinion about the game, although it becomes to be a little bit better when you are able to slow down the Avatar project. Final verdict:
    1. The game is not balanced at all - at different levels the difficulty changes.
    2. It is too buggy - had to reinstall it to get rid of the crashes, has many other bugs and glitches.
    3. It is not designed as all previous versions, it is not polished at all - some items you research several times, views are incorrect, etc.
    4. Nothing new and exciting comparing to the older games.    … Expand
  27. TwoEars
    Mar 15, 2017
    7
    XCOM 2 is an amazing game which one year after release still feels like it never left the beta development phase, and as much as I had a blast playing it it's also really hard to recommend. There are so many parts of this game I love; the new flying base is awesome, the story has a kind of x-files vibe to it, upgrading and customizing my soldiers is kick-ass. And when you get your squad ofXCOM 2 is an amazing game which one year after release still feels like it never left the beta development phase, and as much as I had a blast playing it it's also really hard to recommend. There are so many parts of this game I love; the new flying base is awesome, the story has a kind of x-files vibe to it, upgrading and customizing my soldiers is kick-ass. And when you get your squad of trained marines into position and make a brilliant tactical move, or decimate the enemy using "overwatch" or "killzone"... man this game can be a blast. Pure tactical turn based bliss.

    So it's painful then that still one year after release this game never really comes across as "finished". Despite having the latest patch and DLC I experienced so many bugs and issues it's almost comical. I shot enemies through walls, got shot at through wall, enemies would grab me though wall, the keyboard controls stopped working, the game froze on loading screens, the mission timer is stupid and breaks the flow of the game (I modded it out), there are difficultly balancing issues early to late game, some enemies are just cheap rather than clever (hello archon king), the fps is doing roller coaster rides with anything between 20-80 fps. The list goes on.

    If you're already an XCOM fan by all means pick up XCOM2; you're going to have a few issues, but you're also most likley going to have a lot of fun. However - if you're new to the series go and play "XCOM Enemy Unkown" instead, and then you can play the "Long War" mod for that. It's not as good looking but it's a much more polished and less frustrating experience, and at the moment it's the better turn based game. And it's also cheaper.

    Currently XCOM2 is not worth its full asking price, unless they fix all the bugs and gameplay issues this isn't worth more than $20 or so. In no way is it worth the full sticker price with all the issues I had and saw. I have to wonder what the heck Firaxis is up to, it's been over a year since release and still the game is full sticker price and shock full with bugs. I'm a big fan of the series and would love to see XCOM3, but they have to step up their QC-QA and play testing. XCOM2 could have been a "Solid 9" score type game if it had spent maybe 6 months more in QC-QA and play testing.    … Expand
  28. iseeall
    Jan 24, 2017
    6
    XCOM2 is very similar to XCOM1, it carries over all the bad design decisions, adds even more cutscenes, more animations, and more quality-of-life improvements here and there. If you didn't like XCOM1 much (like myself) you won't like this game either. If you did like XCOM1, here is more of the same for you.

    I will only list good and bad things compared to XCOM1, since it's almost the    XCOM2 is very similar to XCOM1, it carries over all the bad design decisions, adds even more cutscenes, more animations, and more quality-of-life improvements here and there. If you didn't like XCOM1 much (like myself) you won't like this game either. If you did like XCOM1, here is more of the same for you.

    I will only list good and bad things compared to XCOM1, since it's almost the same game.

    The good:
    - even more aliens, more weapons, more abilities
    - the story about human resistance after the aliens have conquered the Earth is fun at least at first. Though I couldn't suspend my disbelief that aliens would actually want to keep any humans alive at all. The designers used this old cliche of a tyrannical government (this time run by aliens) which needs to be overthrown. Though if you think of it the whole setting of aliens attacking the Earth is overused to the extreme, and you would need to not think of the absurdity of the concept of an alien invasion first to enjoy any of the XCom games

    The so-so:
    - there are even more cutscenes in the game now. So many that the game starts to feel like a movie which is occasionally interrupted for tactical battles. This makes the game look even dumber than XCOM1 was

    The bad:
    - all the bad stuff is still there, and the devs think it's fine: 2-actions system, strange cover system, enemies making "extra" turns to take cover after seeing you, enemies appearing from the sky mid-turn etc etc

    So, my advice would be to only buy it on a sale. If you didn't like XCOM1, this game fixes nothing and goes even further into the realm of dumbness; and if you liked XCOM1, they are basically selling to you the same game once again, and you won't gain much new.    … Expand
  29. Skulb
    Jan 16, 2017
    7
    Easily the best Xcom game released since the 90s in my opinion. It addresses a few of the issues with the unimpressive first game in this particular reboot. The mission maps are larger so you have more tactical options and the strategic map has more interesting stuff happening on it. It's still far from perfect, and completely lacks the first contact element that made the original fromEasily the best Xcom game released since the 90s in my opinion. It addresses a few of the issues with the unimpressive first game in this particular reboot. The mission maps are larger so you have more tactical options and the strategic map has more interesting stuff happening on it. It's still far from perfect, and completely lacks the first contact element that made the original from 1996 so compelling. Instead the aliens are entrenched behind a global puppet regime, almost like real life bankers in our society. The problem with this is that it feels a lot less like a war against aliens and more like a war against uniformed goons, lab experiments and robots. There is a pop-up event where you get to salvage a crashed UFO, but it's the same one every time and offers no new opponents or anything else of note.
    Regardless; Xcom 2 is a lot of fun to play, and gives you a nice system of upgrades, promotions and researc. It even manages to give you a little base building inside your now mobile base. It isn't amazing but at least it's there this time.
    Still missing is a proper inventory for your soldiers, a more detailed action point system like the originals had, UFO hunting, actual aliens and above all a way to turn off the unskippable radio communications during missions. These are not fun when you're reloading a save.

    Pros:
    - Great graphics and physics. Even on low settings the game looks amazing, which is made even more impressive by almost fully destructible environments.
    - Satisfying tactical combat. Cover really matters, but almost everything you're able to hide behind can also be destroyed very easily. Moving around from cover to cover while trying to survive a hectic battle is always fun, and is done better here than in almost any game in the genre I can think of.
    - Good economy. Resources salvaged during missions are needed to build base improvements and gear for your soldiers, as well as providing you with objects for your scientists to research. This makes it hard to stop playing, as there is always something to upgrade or improve between each mission.
    - Good AI. Isolated enemies will sometimes retreat to join up with other groups of enemies, making the next fight that much harder for you. Enemies generally seem to want to stay alive if possible, rather than mindlessly suicide on your strong positions. They flank, teleport and do all sorts of things to get around your defenses, and it feels quite realistic sometimes. At least as realistic as fighting off an alien invasion could feel.

    Cons
    - Obviously designed for consoles and ported to the PC. The game therefore fails to take advantage of the PC's controls, and you end up with things like no inventories, simplistic menus and an overall reduction in the level of detail all over the place. The UI has to be kept simple for console users and this is a shame for PC users, who could handle more complexity. You're supposed to play this game with a hand controller, which PC users usually don't. It would be a very different game if it had been designed for the PC. More like the original Xcom maybe. Personally I would score it higher if it had been developed for the gaming system I am using. But it hasn't.
    - Horribly generic music. The usual awful horn assault to signify to simpletons that something heroic is occurring.
    - Similarly generic US brand militarism. This is of course completely nauseating to anyone who isn't an American, but also to quite a few people that are. Kidnap someone and they become a "package". Shoot or bomb them and they become a "target", a "bogey" or even "collateral", my personal favorite. The horrible man who serves as a narrator of sorts is something of a satire of a prototypical American war horse posing as a hero. Personally I wanted to go to war against him sometimes rather than the aliens. Go away John Wayne/Dick Cheney/generic Pentagon criminal!
    - Performance issues. Lags, crashes, long loading times and corruption of saves. Once all my saves even became completely impossible to load so I had to restart the game.
    - Unskippable parts are annoying. Some videos are like this and are sometimes tedious if you're seen them before. But mostly I have an issue with the awful, horrible man who keeps talking to me during missions so I have to stop what I'm doing to listen to his drivel. If you have radio communications during missions just run them in the background. Don't take control of the game away from me to tell me stuff I don't want or need to hear.
    - Skydiving mobs, groups of mobs that trigger fully if you move into the wrong square. This too is very console-y and a cheap, annoying way to structure the tactical combat. Trying to flank a group of mobs, just to take one example, is very likely to pull another group instead of giving you a tactical advantage. Individual mob reactions and some system of initiative would have been much better. As it is the game basically forces you to save scum to get anywhere    … Expand
  30. smilzoboboz
    Jan 10, 2017
    7
    A good XCOM game, probably not the best, somehow poorly optimized and a bit cryptic on its mechanics.

    I'd like to start off with what I hate (exactly) of this game: stutter and loading times (on an SSD). First things first I'm playing this game on linux and since the game engine makes use of OpenGl and it's based on the old XCOM game (at least I heard that was it) I was expecting a few    A good XCOM game, probably not the best, somehow poorly optimized and a bit cryptic on its mechanics.

    I'd like to start off with what I hate (exactly) of this game: stutter and loading times (on an SSD). First things first I'm playing this game on linux and since the game engine makes use of OpenGl and it's based on the old XCOM game (at least I heard that was it) I was expecting a few issues, but not at "medium" detail level on a GTX-1060 with 6GB of VRAM. About the loading times, I spend like a whole minute (or even more) staring at the loading screen before missions, that's a lot of idle time which gets added to already "long" cutscenes, etc. A lot of idle time.

    Performance aside, as I wrote before this is a very nice XCOM game, but of course it's still an XCOM game, meaning that after a few successful perfect or excellent missions, after you manage to get decorated soldiers and after you feel everything is going great, you miss a point blank 90%+ shot, your whole team is killed and your hardcore game experience ends there.
    The percentage system is really not my thing, point blank on a flanked enemy you shouldn't need to worry about anything, I don't care if you can get a lucky shot on a 30% enemy, as a tactician I don't even bother trying with percentages below 50.
    In general the RNG component on this one is quite more present than in XCOM: Enemy Unknown and this often invalidates any possible tactic, they made an harder game by decreasing your chances of actually influencing the course of action.

    The new introduced mechanics on the other hand are what makes this game worth the trouble. Even if a bit cryptic at first (it's quite more complicated than XCOM: Enemy Unknown on the non-combat phase of the game) every new mechanic fits perfectly and often mitigates the awful/typical XCOM games RNG percentage system. I won't spoil anything because I think part of the fun is to get a grasp on your tools and exploit them for the victory.

    Last but not least there are several bugs, often gamebreaking (like enemies standing still without attacking or moving), encountered a few after just 10h of gameplay.

    So in the end for me it's a good turn-based tactical combat games, a worthy successor of the previous XCOM: Enemy Unknown (and "Within"), but definitely not the best turn-based tactical combat game out there, check out "Invisible Inc." if you like the genre, you may enjoy it more than this one.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

8
#8 Best PC Game of 2016
6
#6 Most Discussed PC Game of 2016
19
#19 Most Shared PC Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
88

Generally favorable reviews - based on 104 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 97 out of 104
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 104
  3. Negative: 1 out of 104
  1. Wccftech
    Apr 22, 2016
    80
    Firaxis managed to improve upon the already great Enemy Unknown in almost every way, with the exception of multiplayer. Unfortunately, the shockingly bad performance prevents XCOM 2 from reaching the status of a true masterpiece.
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  2. High-Def Digest
    Apr 10, 2016
    90
    It is a tactical experience without peer, better even than its predecessors. It is draining and agonizing, but in a good way. The high difficulty may turn off some gamers, but it’s worth every second.
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  3. IGN Denmark
    Apr 6, 2016
    90
    XCOM 2 is a gem. There is more story in the game, and the ending does not feel as abrupt as it did in the first game.
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