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. HansV
    Jan 22, 2017
    10
    Very very very good game. Good mix between time based missions and free missions.
    Comparing this to Jagged Alliance (very old), two points could maybe be changed: it would somewhat add to the experience if your enemies would include not only aliens and mutated humans but "real" humans and you could decapitate them with a head-shot and the like; sounds gruesome but killings in JA2 are more    Very very very good game. Good mix between time based missions and free missions.
    Comparing this to Jagged Alliance (very old), two points could maybe be changed: it would somewhat add to the experience if your enemies would include not only aliens and mutated humans but "real" humans and you could decapitate them with a head-shot and the like; sounds gruesome but killings in JA2 are more satisfying than in XCOM2 - sorry. Secondly, if your soldiers would be more characterized from the start, it would increase your attachment to the team-members and any loss would hurt extra.    … Expand
  2. Bruno2rech
    Jan 20, 2017
    8
    the game is brilliant I love the random generated maps and the intresting game play and tactics that you need to use is like playing chess on steroids. I also love the caricature props and the different research options thou I would prefer more of a research tree and I would also like to see. it would be nice thou if they could allow you to build your own resistance out posts at land basesthe game is brilliant I love the random generated maps and the intresting game play and tactics that you need to use is like playing chess on steroids. I also love the caricature props and the different research options thou I would prefer more of a research tree and I would also like to see. it would be nice thou if they could allow you to build your own resistance out posts at land bases at captured resistance settlements and then defend them against attackers. the only thing that bugs me with the game is the bugs and that at higher levels of difficulty they do not increase the amount of enemies you fight they only lower your percentage hit chance which is not all that great.… Expand
  3. eroeru
    Jan 19, 2017
    3
    It's a piece of garbage software. Runs horribly. Enemy Unknown ran perfectly on high settings, this one stutters on minimal. And looks ugly at it.

    As to the actual contents - it's cheesy and unconcincing as f***. A cut scene fiesta with "epic" music and dumb lines. As to the whole premise of fighting to bring back a commander from 20 years back who is so very special and without whom    It's a piece of garbage software. Runs horribly. Enemy Unknown ran perfectly on high settings, this one stutters on minimal. And looks ugly at it.

    As to the actual contents - it's cheesy and unconcincing as f***. A cut scene fiesta with "epic" music and dumb lines. As to the whole premise of fighting to bring back a commander from 20 years back who is so very special and without whom the soldiers are doomed - f'ing ridiculous.

    Free, more laidback and aplenty tactics options are taken away and you're left with running to some objective and trying to RNG oponents on the way. It also doesn't make an effort in regards to the cool options available - for example, even though there's an option to hear a soldier speak its mother tongue, most speak English. Is it somehow insulting to Americans that other, frankly more interesting languages exist? The few lines for Asian and smaller European languages wouldn't take any money, especially as to how XCOM:EU made the dev lots. This lacking seems just out of fear of alienating Americans.

    First game had a more believable and nicely eerie feel to it. This one's a severely unoptimized flunk.

    To paraphrase a title from fake game journalism: XCOM 2 is a far worse game than its predecessor in almost every way that matters.    … Expand
  4. malcolmm
    Jan 18, 2017
    4
    So many issues with this game, I'm glad I only paid $12 for it from Humble Bundle. As usual for a AAA title the "professional" reviews rate the game much higher than the general public.

    First off, the tutorial is terrible, pretty much completely useless. It hardly merits being called a tutorial, it is just a short mission with a few prompts. It misses many important parts of the mission    So many issues with this game, I'm glad I only paid $12 for it from Humble Bundle. As usual for a AAA title the "professional" reviews rate the game much higher than the general public.

    First off, the tutorial is terrible, pretty much completely useless. It hardly merits being called a tutorial, it is just a short mission with a few prompts. It misses many important parts of the mission interface. As for the rest of the game, good luck, no tutorial for what to do back at the base. I did play the previous XCOM but that was years ago, I've forgotten pretty much everything about the game. There is a manual but it is useless, it just repeats what the equally useless tutorial tells you.

    Most of the game consists of video sequences, it is obvious where most of the budget went. The missions themselves are extremely simple yet very frustrating. Still the same over emphasis on luck. Making most of the missions timed was a huge mistake, you mostly have to rush the target with little time for tactics.

    I normally don't buy AAA titles, mostly boring graphics showcases. XCOM2 is a prime example of this, all flash but no substance. Microprose did it so much better, Firaxis has managed to ruin both XCOM and Civilization.    … Expand
  5. 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
  6. 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
  7. dobserver
    Jan 3, 2017
    7
    Never played XCOM before but played a lot of turn based strategy games before like Fire Emblem and Tactics Ogre. Obviously the graphics of this game are a lot better than those ones however the strategic element of it needs a bit of work. I played it on Veteran and found myself quite defeated as I got into the mid game with the enemies being much overpowered compared to my squad. INever played XCOM before but played a lot of turn based strategy games before like Fire Emblem and Tactics Ogre. Obviously the graphics of this game are a lot better than those ones however the strategic element of it needs a bit of work. I played it on Veteran and found myself quite defeated as I got into the mid game with the enemies being much overpowered compared to my squad. I restarted on Rookie, and amazingly it is still quite difficult if you do not research and prioritzie certain things over others. There are clearly 'better' research and resources compared to others in the game but the game does not really explain this. So a lot of the time is wasted doing things in a sub optimal way, which leads to the dark event bar filling up faster and the enemy progressing faster than you can. I am fine with restarting and retrying new ways, but I think the game is much too difficult in a 'rookie' setting then it should be.

    Good:
    - strategic elements like fog of war, cover, half cover, elevation, status effects,
    - squad customization, classes are interesting,
    - attack effects and destructible environment is fun and intersting
    - research options and engineering build options allow for a more varied squad

    Bad:
    - enemies some time ignore terrain effects and building cover
    - constant 'doomsday' clock and limited turns in both in game combat and the overall game
    - camera is frustrating when trying to zoom into multilevel buildings
    - research paths appear to be 'open' but in fact punish you for prioritizing and trying out new things
    - difficulty for 'rookie' is much too hard for a casual newbie in my opinion

    Verdict:
    - pick it up if you enjoy a good turn based strategy game, but understand the faults it has before and see if you can live with it    … Expand
  8. Shatter77
    Dec 29, 2016
    3
    I'm not sure I can finish this game, because it has decided to crash again and again in the same place. Load, do a few moves, quickly save before it crashes may yet get me out oft his crash fest. Nearly a year old, and the game being in this state is unconscionable.

    Further boatload of criticism: - This game is essentially the same as Enemy Unknown: the mechanics are virtually    I'm not sure I can finish this game, because it has decided to crash again and again in the same place. Load, do a few moves, quickly save before it crashes may yet get me out oft his crash fest. Nearly a year old, and the game being in this state is unconscionable.

    Further boatload of criticism:

    - This game is essentially the same as Enemy Unknown: the mechanics are virtually identical.
    - Enemies are still grouped in mobs that get interrupt moves as you discover them, regardless of whether they can see you. Normally turn based games have an initiative stat to govern who goes first. Not here and it practically forces you to try to set up ambushes by reloading then preventing triggering seeing the mob before you are ready.
    - Game play is largely a matter of luck. I do not believe anyone can play this game to the end without relying on save/reload a lot.
    - Wounded team members are out of action for up to a month, which is extremely long.
    - It's extremely easy for your soldiers to die, and extremely time consuming to level them up. I've been playing for 40 hours and more or less just got a few colonel level soldiers. I doubt it's possible to lose a colonel, then level up a replacement before the game ends. So, lose a soldier and you're practically forced to reload.
    - A clock is ticking on the campaign map and nearly every mission also has a turn limit on it. So you are forced to take risks and push forward in a game that ruthlessly punishes that very behaviour.
    - The mouse interface is an insulting afterthought. Drag the world map, and pass an interactive icon will trigger that icon.
    - Did I mention the interface is atrocious?
    - Your base interface has you step through multiple layers with camera swivels in between all the time. Dizzying, useless. Slow.
    - The interface does nothing to help you select the best equipment for your current team, as wounded soldiers are rotated out. In one screen the "make weapons available" button is not there. Mostly those buttons don't even work. Prepare to spend several hours of your playtime hunting for that piece of armour or that weapon that's not on any of the selected soldiers.    … Expand
  9. supercagan
    Dec 18, 2016
    3
    If you like squad tactics games play Jagged alliance, even the old one is better than this one.
    Locate the aliens in building... check
    Approach in stealth and surround building...check When all members are in ambush position shoot 1 alien out of 4...check The other 3 aliens go alert, jump out of the building, pass all the team members as they watch, run down the street and hide behind    If you like squad tactics games play Jagged alliance, even the old one is better than this one.
    Locate the aliens in building... check
    Approach in stealth and surround building...check
    When all members are in ambush position shoot 1 alien out of 4...check
    The other 3 aliens go alert, jump out of the building, pass all the team members as they watch, run down the street and hide behind a truck. Now my guys cant shoot them because they are behind full cover, and the next turn I miss three 90% shots and the aliens shoot once and kill my sniper...
    UNINSTALLED, not to mention the other 2 groups of aliens hear all the explosions and do not do anything because they did not see me behind the corner yet...

    Horrible AI
    Horrible team tactics -especially aliens run 100 yards and hide behind cover when you are discovered
    Would definitely Uninstall again...    … Expand
  10. Klewer
    Dec 15, 2016
    7
    I really want to love this game, but it makes it so difficult. It has all the core mechanics and game play to make this a great game. It just has issues with the combat, even on the lowest difficulty there feels like there is so much RNG involved. Worth a look for fans of these games but it can be tough at times.
  11. Garingo41
    Oct 9, 2016
    1
    Too many timed mission, which is a boring incentive to rise pressure to the player to hurry with the mission.
    The only way to pass time on the world map is to scan some stupid **** icon that does give you a marginal improvement in currency, so youcan buy some other ****...
    1 Hour in the game and i already lost 7 people because of stupid RNG missing enemys 1 meter in front of the    Too many timed mission, which is a boring incentive to rise pressure to the player to hurry with the mission.
    The only way to pass time on the world map is to scan some stupid **** icon that does give you a marginal improvement in currency, so youcan buy some other ****...
    1 Hour in the game and i already lost 7 people because of stupid RNG missing enemys 1 meter in front of the soldiers.

    I read this game has some performance issues (cynical brit) on release date so i didn't bought it and forgot about it.
    So now, half a year later, I played this game and it still performs like ****.

    The game flow is very ugly. You don't have enough time to micromanage your base and build equipment like it was in the older games. You click on the scan icon and 1 second later another stupid mission pops up that you have to attend to, or else you will loose instantly.

    This game is not worth the money.    … Expand
  12. ashyyay2
    Oct 7, 2016
    8
    بازی ایکس کام 2 یک بازی بسیار خوب است.اما متاسفانه برای افرادی که با ژانر استراتژیک یا حتی استراتژیک نوبتی اشنا نیستند بازی بسیار بدی است همچنین دارای مشکلات زیدازی هست و بهینه سازی بسیار بدی روی سیستم های ضعیف دارد
  13. choppy
    Oct 2, 2016
    4
    The cosmetics change from Xcom 1, but little else. In order to make it seem like a new game, and to please all the long-war geeks, the difficulty is cranked up in a bunch of artificial ways. Almost every mission has a timer or constant stream of scripted enemy drop-ins. And this is the overall theme of the game: you are constantly being spammed with so many events and non-meaningfulThe cosmetics change from Xcom 1, but little else. In order to make it seem like a new game, and to please all the long-war geeks, the difficulty is cranked up in a bunch of artificial ways. Almost every mission has a timer or constant stream of scripted enemy drop-ins. And this is the overall theme of the game: you are constantly being spammed with so many events and non-meaningful choices that it's almost impossible to keep up with basic tasks, and eventually you will be forced to make a detrimental choice. Strategy gaming at its finest!

    Once again, all percentages are pre-determined at the start of every mission, so an 80 or 90 percentage shot is completely meaningless - it doesn't matter what you do or where you move, from the beginning of the mission it's been determined whether you're going to hit or miss (this is true - search the forums for discussion). You can stand right next to an enemy, going full auto, and still miss every time. So ridiculous. You the mouseclicker aren't even necessary for the game, because everything's already determined. It could just run the percentages itself and determine the same outcome. Your actions have literally no effect on whether you hit or miss - just like real life and real combat, right?

    Given that every mission relies on pre-scripted events and pre-determined enemy placements, the only "strategy" or "tactics" are remembering where the enemies are going to spawn and pre-placing your troops to ambush them. So, the only thing that matters is positioning, based on either luck in the fog of war or your knowledge of previous failures.

    This game might as well be calling "Pathing Manager 2016", since pathing is the only meaningful thing you control and the singular thing that makes the difference between success and failure in the mission. If most of your paths succeed on the first try, you got lucky. If most of your paths fail, suck it up and lose, or try new paths on a reload. And that's it. That's all you do in the entire game. This is obscured by other crap like "Dark Events", which are basically 'pick which 1 out of 3 bad things you want to try to stop' through another 'pick-a-path' mission. Again, totally meaningless for the overall outcome, but it's very deep "strategy", right? Not so much.    … Expand
  14. TemplarGR
    Sep 18, 2016
    4
    I was very dissapointed by this game. I am a fun of the original XCOM games, and i played them to death as a kid. Especially Apocalypse, which in my personal opinion is the best of the franchise to date. I played the first game from 2K and while it was very "streamlined" (aka dumbed down), i kinda liked it. Not the best, but certainly a worthwhile experience for a playthrough or two.I was very dissapointed by this game. I am a fun of the original XCOM games, and i played them to death as a kid. Especially Apocalypse, which in my personal opinion is the best of the franchise to date. I played the first game from 2K and while it was very "streamlined" (aka dumbed down), i kinda liked it. Not the best, but certainly a worthwhile experience for a playthrough or two.

    So, i was expecting to like this one as well, and i was VERY disappointed. At launch it was a broken mess, with ton of bugs, ran like sh1t on perfectly capable hardware. It is somewhat fixed today, with far better performance and not that many game-breaking bugs. Still, i don't understand why it has those steep hardware requirements. I am playing it at max settings and it doesn't look that much better compared to the first XCOM.

    As for the game, it is more or less the same thing, with more timers on missions and other minor changes and additions of some new enemies. Again, the changes are welcome, but insignificant. I believe Enemy Within expansion was a larger improvement to Enemy Uknown, than the sequel. And that says a lot.

    It is not a bad game by any means, but it is not a good one either. I am feeling cheated by this. You are better off just playing Enemy Within again. It is cheaper, more feature complete, requires a far cheaper computer to run it, and you won't notice much of a difference anyway.

    All in all, 4.    … Expand
  15. elaintahra
    Sep 14, 2016
    3
    This game is somehow broken. It works really well graphics wise and the base building & unit customization is really good and fun - the mods make it even better.

    But the missions? How is it that 9/10 of the missions they have a 'turn timer'; If you don't do this or that in 6 turns, you lose. This is the case with almost in every mission. This makes the game a constant save/reload -fest.    This game is somehow broken. It works really well graphics wise and the base building & unit customization is really good and fun - the mods make it even better.

    But the missions? How is it that 9/10 of the missions they have a 'turn timer'; If you don't do this or that in 6 turns, you lose. This is the case with almost in every mission. This makes the game a constant save/reload -fest. The tactics that you try to implement mean almost *absolutely* nothing. It does not matter in which position you place your units.. Where ever they are placed they will get shredded in any case. Only way - I mean the only way - to get through the missions is to save/reload through the RNG.

    The animations, they have been copied over from previous XCOM, as has almost everything else. Line of sight - while working OK when shooting - looks like **** when the soldiers stick their gun thru wall and shoot..

    I even tried to play with novice and still it is not fun, the same concept applies.. It should be fun to fail and try a new approach, but soon you realize the new approach matters nothing, only RNG matters. Not that you changed your units to better positions, its all numbers game.. really shameful

    The enemies spawn out of nowhere and each mission tries to be different but in essence they are all exactly the same.

    I can not recommend this game, I really would like to but the missions really are broken.

    + the unit customization
    + metagame in the "ship"
    + performance (looks ok, runs flawlessly)

    - each mission completely same
    - each mission insanely difficult
    - doesn't matter where you place your units, they get killed each time (reload)
    - concealment is a state of the game, it is not something your units can use: when 'concealment' is blown, your units will be seen by enemy all the time, even if behind full cover walls.. lazy lazy lazy programmers..
    - RNG
    - RNG
    - RNG
    - RNG
    - RNG

    As User "Avadon" writes, I agree completely:

    "You can mod out all the crazy 8 turn limits and massive random spikes in Avatar progress though. Great. What you are left with then is an extremely easy game. Guess why. Because that's what it is. An extremely easy game, made hard only through RNG rigged to screw you as a core design philosophy. The encounters themselves are easy and the maps are poorly designed, like everything procedural. There's no actual depth. There are no "damn, I'm a genious" moments as you lure an overwhelming force back to a well fortified position with half of your squad lying in the perfect ambush. The game gives you no time to think. No time to strategize. No time to have fun."

    and Silverflame :)
    ""Oh, that's a rule," the colonel said excitedly. "The black advents get free moves while it's your turn to play, and some newly appearing pieces even get to hit your pieces without the roulette wheel most of the time!" "    … Expand
  16. BigDegs29
    Sep 12, 2016
    8
    As much as I enjoyed the original XCOM, this one still improves. Somehow they managed to make everything easier to do, while also adding additional depth to the game. That's a difficult balance to get right! The game is highly addicting.

    Here's a caveat; it's been over 6 months since the game release, so I'm reviewing this based on the game after several patches. As far as I can    As much as I enjoyed the original XCOM, this one still improves. Somehow they managed to make everything easier to do, while also adding additional depth to the game. That's a difficult balance to get right! The game is highly addicting.

    Here's a caveat; it's been over 6 months since the game release, so I'm reviewing this based on the game after several patches. As far as I can tell, most of the bugs have been ironed out. The only bugs I seem to encounter is that sometimes the mouse jumps from tile to tile without your input.

    The other "bug" is more serious. As with its predecessor, the "hit probability" appears to be inaccurate at times. Not a lot of the time, but in a game where you rely heavily on the hit probability to make up your strategy and where the life the death of your squad is determined, it's incredibly important to have accurate information.

    I was playing a location and it came to a critical point where I had to make a short, otherwise several of my characters would die. The probably showed 60%, so I made the shot...missed. Normally I don't reload saves unless something catastrophic happens, but the death of half my squad and the impending failure of the mission made me reload. Again, I took the shot...missed. I reloaded again, and again, and again. All the same result: missed. I did this fifteen times in a row to see if the game really was screwy. All misses. Finally hit the 16th try.

    Now, that is statistically possible, but the odds are 1in 931323 that it happens.

    I've run into these situations numerous times. It's virtually impossible that those stats are completely accurate. It seems to me that the game sometimes misrepresents the hit probability to the player. For whatever reason. The game loses a point for this rare, but critical flaw.

    Another point is lost through repetition. One, timed missions are annoying unless used infrequently. The game is dominated by them. I modded them out. Two, they have limited number of mission types. Rescue the VIP, abduct the VIP, hack the terminal, plant charges, and kill all enemies. Hack and plant charges are basically the same type of mission, and rescue and abduct the VIP are basically the same. So three main types. But the biggest fault of them all: too many missions require that you completely neutralize alien forces, even in missions where it doesn't make sense. This undercuts their "concealment" mechanic, which is a great addition to the game. You should be able to complete missions in a variety of ways. If you're required to always kill all aliens, that type of gameplay gets boring after awhile.

    Other than those two gripes, the game is fantastic. I'm sure I'll end up putting 100 hours or so into it.    … Expand
  17. masamuneriku
    Sep 3, 2016
    7
    Very similar to Xcom EU with improved graphics. No significant changes or notable innovation compared to Xcom EU. Overall still a fun strategy game though sometimes can be frustrating when you miss a 95% hit chance flanking shot.

    The game is badly optimized with tons of bugs and frequent crashes: Stuck at alien's turn, killed on successful hacking due to previous feedback damage, slow    Very similar to Xcom EU with improved graphics. No significant changes or notable innovation compared to Xcom EU. Overall still a fun strategy game though sometimes can be frustrating when you miss a 95% hit chance flanking shot.

    The game is badly optimized with tons of bugs and frequent crashes: Stuck at alien's turn, killed on successful hacking due to previous feedback damage, slow response time, etc. Minus 1 score due to unresolved bugs and issues even though it is already more than 6 months after release.    … Expand
  18. DeonCadme
    Sep 3, 2016
    7
    The original XCOM game is by many, seen as one of those genre defining games. It was thus a pleasant surprise to see such a good interpretation of the original game and this sequel improves the formula. The only flaw is that the game haven't really reached the success of the original games from the 90:s because the procedural system isn't really able to provide the same replay-ability andThe original XCOM game is by many, seen as one of those genre defining games. It was thus a pleasant surprise to see such a good interpretation of the original game and this sequel improves the formula. The only flaw is that the game haven't really reached the success of the original games from the 90:s because the procedural system isn't really able to provide the same replay-ability and the difficulty isn't hard enough without getting ridiculous. It happens on harder settings that the game decides to give you more of a challenge and this results sometimes in bullet-sponges with ridiculous weapons that one shot the whole team. At least I knew in the old games why these enemies appeared and where I have to do better with my research in the next playthrough. I guess this is needed though because the enemies can be ridiculous stupid at times simply gather at the same place, at a tight spot that you simply throw a grenade or two into... Or they come running at you in a perfect impression of Leroy Jenkins.
    Also, a lot of content doesn't feel important. I often researched past an armor or weapon without using it because I (1) Could very easily research something better (2) Already had something better (3) The upgrade was a pointless resource sink.

    Also, why is the robot part a DLC? :(    … Expand
  19. Cbcibryant
    Aug 29, 2016
    10
    This is one of my most favorites games. It is a tactical turn based strategy game. The critics are right: it can be unforging of mistakes. It is difficult. It takes a lot of patience. But if you spend time with the game it is absolutely addicting. You are always at a disadvantage. You are always juggling priorities. You are always worried to advance too fast or advance too slow. But thatThis is one of my most favorites games. It is a tactical turn based strategy game. The critics are right: it can be unforging of mistakes. It is difficult. It takes a lot of patience. But if you spend time with the game it is absolutely addicting. You are always at a disadvantage. You are always juggling priorities. You are always worried to advance too fast or advance too slow. But that what makes the game so fun. This is not a game that requires any dexterity. It is a game that requires a lot of thinking and creativity. Not everyone's cup of tea but it is certainly mine.… Expand
  20. keredd1010
    Aug 28, 2016
    7
    If only the game worked as it should this could possibly get a 9 or a 10. Vastly improves on it's predecessor but riddled with bugs that no game should be released it that state. However, I will go as far as to say that this is the quintessential turn-based strategy game. This game is to turn-based what COD is to FPS. But dear god man is it buggy.
  21. aimilios
    Aug 3, 2016
    4
    The game is simply too hard in normal mode (can't imagine more difficult settings). One can try more and more approaches by loading and try again, but at some point the game becomes unbeateable. If you even try to expand your team, there's not enough time to do it...
  22. Crank101
    Aug 1, 2016
    7
    I was only recently able to play the game due to upgrades needed to my PC. I was extremely excited to play this game due to my love for previous installments. I had a great time and it did feel a lot harder than previous versions games.

    Now for what I wanted this game to have. 1) The story line is very Linear. They could have made a much better experience if your choices changed the    I was only recently able to play the game due to upgrades needed to my PC. I was extremely excited to play this game due to my love for previous installments. I had a great time and it did feel a lot harder than previous versions games.

    Now for what I wanted this game to have.
    1) The story line is very Linear. They could have made a much better experience if your choices changed the war against Advent. For instance the VIP Missions where you could extract or kill them, if you saved them you got a engineer or a scientist, that is it. This was a great opportunity to have side quests and different outcomes.
    2) Soldiers was fully changeable even their back stories. I would have liked to see some cultural perks in some characters hidden until a certain rank. (Good or Bad) For example a soldier from Africa in the assault class being able to throw their blade as an auto over-watch perk. Or a Irish character can be immune to panic, a french guy got a extra retreat movement after being shot at. simple things that could get you more invested in your team.

    Just in finishing, This is still one of my favorite franchised and even thou it was still fun to play I hope they start taking their end users a bit serious. Recent games have shown what is possible with today's technology. Give us consequences for our choices!!!    … Expand
  23. Vevo99
    Jul 26, 2016
    10
    Estou jogando e curtindo cada minuto desse game , desafiador do jeito que eu gosto , cada missão transmite a sensação que Dark Souls transmite , o jogo é difícil , se você não curte jogos desafiadores passe longe .
  24. vevo00
    Jul 26, 2016
    10
    Eu amei esse jogo , ta que o pariu , as analises negativas são desses noobs chorões , o jogo é dificil é sim , mas vale a pena , aquela sensação de Dark Souls a cada missão feita , valeu a pena ter comprado . Jogão , se você é noob e acha tudo difícil volte pro seu COD
  25. zombie326
    Jul 20, 2016
    5
    Unreliable statistics(i.e missing on 100%) turn counters for each mission (Yes you're limited to about 8 turns every mission) and plenty of bugs ruin a beloved franchise. An X-COM game should never be a 5.
  26. Oniin
    Jul 13, 2016
    9
    A truly great game. I rate 9 out of 10 for glitches but most of these have been fixed in patches. The difficulty might be an issue for some people but XCOM 2 is a difficult game anyone wanting something else shouldn't play this game. There is a lot of complaints about the RNG nature of combat but this a core part of it; knowing when to risk that 50% shot or not is part of the skillsA truly great game. I rate 9 out of 10 for glitches but most of these have been fixed in patches. The difficulty might be an issue for some people but XCOM 2 is a difficult game anyone wanting something else shouldn't play this game. There is a lot of complaints about the RNG nature of combat but this a core part of it; knowing when to risk that 50% shot or not is part of the skills required to play this game. My only personal issue with the accuracy is when a soldier is standing so close to the enemy his weapon actually clips into their model but still misses. And if you find you really cant get the hang of the accuracy u can always save and reset.… Expand
  27. Hfx
    Jul 11, 2016
    2
    This game forces a player to rush from point A to B as fast as possible and discourages actual tactical gameplay.

    Rush. Get spotted. reload. Rush. Get spotted. reload. Rush, etc The Bad -Almost every single mission in on a timer. -Soldiers take ages to heal. -When you're not in a timed mission the main game itself is on a timer. -Bosses are not bound by turns The Good: -I    This game forces a player to rush from point A to B as fast as possible and discourages actual tactical gameplay.

    Rush. Get spotted. reload. Rush. Get spotted. reload. Rush, etc

    The Bad

    -Almost every single mission in on a timer.
    -Soldiers take ages to heal.
    -When you're not in a timed mission the main game itself is on a timer.
    -Bosses are not bound by turns

    The Good:

    -I bought it on the steam sale for 50% off.
    -That's-literally-it

    Conclusion:

    -This game is no fun. Hopefully future patches and mods will be able to bring back the magic of EU&EW
    -Replay XCom Enemy Within again for the 7th time. At least it'll be fun    … Expand
  28. xKTN
    Jun 18, 2016
    5
    I'm new to XCOM series. Haven't played older games yet, so I decided to try this one. I like gameplay, except one thing - aim percentage. It's ridiculous when you miss, staying in front of enemy with 85% chance to successful hit. The other thing I don't like are time-wasting and completely unnecessary animations after all actions. Fortunately there are mods that allow player to skip them.I'm new to XCOM series. Haven't played older games yet, so I decided to try this one. I like gameplay, except one thing - aim percentage. It's ridiculous when you miss, staying in front of enemy with 85% chance to successful hit. The other thing I don't like are time-wasting and completely unnecessary animations after all actions. Fortunately there are mods that allow player to skip them. And bugs. Maaaany bugs. I think every player faced some kind of bugs in this game. Starting from jumping under ground, ending on game breaking red screens or mission crashes. The most of bugs are fixed but I can't rate this game higher than 5.… Expand
  29. Robobob
    Jun 15, 2016
    4
    This is my third time writing a review for this game, each time I've played it more, I've lowered the score further and now I can't drop it any more. I loved the first X-Com:EU and would rate it very highly. (9-10) This was the first game I researched getting a refund on Steam. Turns out I had 2 hours of play and a week or 2 to return it. So, too late for me. So I keep playing just toThis is my third time writing a review for this game, each time I've played it more, I've lowered the score further and now I can't drop it any more. I loved the first X-Com:EU and would rate it very highly. (9-10) This was the first game I researched getting a refund on Steam. Turns out I had 2 hours of play and a week or 2 to return it. So, too late for me. So I keep playing just to get my money's worth. The more I play the more ridiculous $#it I see. A lot of the complaints you read on here are true and I still can't see why anyone can possibly give this game a 10. I understand people have different tastes, but come on! The game is buggy, with lackluster graphics, slow, tedious and terribly unbalanced. I'll give you examples for all.
    The mouse is buggy in that you are not always highlighting the square you are attempting to target and the zooming through different heights of the map is cumbersome. I often target the wrong square. Good thing I save every turn. Reload.
    Graphics. My machine ran the new Tomb Raider on high and 3 years later this game just looks bad. Weird character proportions. Low q textures. The camera is constantly blocked by obstacles.
    Animations in mission are soooo slow making the gameplay of a single mission sometimes taking an hour or more. Why are there long pauses after enemy movement and animations? Why can't we skip through in-game talky cutscenes we've seen a million times?
    In a "tactical" game why is cover so meaningless? Everything, including steel walls and boulders can be blown away with ease. The enemy has mind attacks that ignore cover, are almost always successful, and remove a soldier from the action like Mind Control, Stun, Knock Unconscious, Panic. These are all on EASY missions, no less! There's an attack that ignores cover, drags a soldier to the enemy and traps them doing damage each turn. YAY! There's an attack that depletes all of your troops ammo with in a radius and explodes the next turn if they don't move. So, don't group them too close, yet group them too far and they get eaten up quickly. Many enemies can run up and smack you for obscene unavoidable damage THROUGH WALLS?!? YAY! It seems like there are few actual firefights in this game. You better rush enemies because if they have any cover you chances are about 50%, which feels more like 5%, LOL.
    The one aspect that annoys be the most about this game is that the AI gets a free turn to move to cover whenever they spot you. Starting some missions in stealth is genius, but it means absolutely nothing when every enemy on the map gets a free move to cover when your first soldier is spotted. You have to use Overwatch to get your attacks in, setting them up into position and wasting a whole turn to do this. I think Overwatch made the enemy's free move to cover a necessity and, in fact, ruined this game.
    Save Spamming: You HAVE TO save and save often in this game. The odds are so stacked against you, you can easily lose your best solider in the blink of an eye. This just happened to me in the last mission I rage quit on. 5th level soldier (Cpt?) gets "marked" by an Officer. That same officer attacks and hits. The next 2 Advent troopers attack and hit. 13 hitpoints with Armor and she's gone in one turn, those attacks were 15 square range. YAY!
    Mission Counters: nearly every mission has one in some way. The ones that don't have to rescue 6 out of 12 pedestrians before they are slaughtered with the annoying voice over telling you EVERY turn "commander! People are getting slaughtered out there!" I know, they are on the other side of the map and it's turn 2. YAY!
    Hit percentages are weird. Some enemies have inexplicably lower % for no reason. They can be 2 squares away behind partial cover and 44% to hit? What? They are within arms reach and I can't just shoot them in the face? YAY!
    Finally: The overly complicated and busy World Map. Right away you are slammed with a half dozen things to research, 2 of them critical. Need to start rebuilding your helicarrier, but there is a critical mission addition to build...and you need more power... and you need to build radio to contact resistance. When you get your supply drop you have to fly to that continent and "scan"?!?! for it for a week everytime!?!? A quarter of each month is wasted scanning for valuable supplies! Meanwhile critical missions pop up that you need to get to ASAP.
    I made the very crucial mistake of spending too much of my "intel" currency early in my second playthrough. Well, the enemy started its Avatar countdown project and for me to slow it down I needed to fly to another country. Sound simple? No. I need to stop and contact resistance (5 days) and spend intel on each country on the way to an enemy base 2-3 territories away. Meanwhile more bases are popping up adding to the count down before I can get to the first. Might as well end this playthrough and start over..

    or throw this game in the trash    … Expand
  30. cabbages
    Jun 11, 2016
    0
    Its just horrible, the same is so un-balanced. Enermy 3-4x your level every mission, sometimes you need to kill 15 of these 3-4x your level enermy in under 10 turns or you lose your whole squad.

    The enermy gets free moves when you see them, so often your moving towards your objective and some of your soldiers has use there turns, then boom your guys see 6 enermy, and they all run to you    Its just horrible, the same is so un-balanced. Enermy 3-4x your level every mission, sometimes you need to kill 15 of these 3-4x your level enermy in under 10 turns or you lose your whole squad.

    The enermy gets free moves when you see them, so often your moving towards your objective and some of your soldiers has use there turns, then boom your guys see 6 enermy, and they all run to you and you have no move left, you just got to watch the enermy turn.

    Its so bad, i honestly don't know how this has been rated so highly by so called professional reviews, Over the years I've often suspected they're on the payroll of big game companies, and this feels like another one, just like all those same cod game that keeps getting 9.9    … 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

All reviews »
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.
    Read full review
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