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
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. tsinik55
    Feb 7, 2016
    2
    The game is a complete cr@p . Why? One word: timers.

    I played first XCOM: Enemy Unknown back in 1995. That was a real gem. Often, the game was really chess-like: it forced you to plan your moves in advance, to think ahead. XCOM 2 it's more like a Counter-Strike with a save functionality: run, shoot, miss, reload, run, shoot, miss, reload... the whole concept of thinking is gone. I    The game is a complete cr@p . Why? One word: timers.

    I played first XCOM: Enemy Unknown back in 1995. That was a real gem. Often, the game was really chess-like: it forced you to plan your moves in advance, to think ahead.
    XCOM 2 it's more like a Counter-Strike with a save functionality: run, shoot, miss, reload, run, shoot, miss, reload... the whole concept of thinking is gone.

    I do not care about loading times, I do not care much about graphics. The only thing I ever want from strategy game is strategy. And in XCOM 2 there's no even slightest hint of it.    … Expand
  2. Callabaddie
    Feb 6, 2016
    2
    XCOM 2 is a prime example of a game development company taking an already simplified and limited game, and then taking the bulk of the assets for that game. Porting it over into a shoddily designed engine. Adding in a bunch of overlapping and clunky special effects. Failing to address development issues such as (animations actually working, good lord) - before release. And then shovelingXCOM 2 is a prime example of a game development company taking an already simplified and limited game, and then taking the bulk of the assets for that game. Porting it over into a shoddily designed engine. Adding in a bunch of overlapping and clunky special effects. Failing to address development issues such as (animations actually working, good lord) - before release. And then shoveling it out at AAA price.

    XCOM 2 is Enemy Unknown with a facelift that makes it look more like a revamped Sectoid corpse.

    The game has no real RNG. The game actively cheats to counter you. The game feels soulless and tedious. The story is just as bad, if not worse than Enemy Unknown's. It is not mechanically satisfying. It is not anything new or engaging.

    It's the same old **** for 20% more than the old ****.

    If you can get it for less than 10 dollars, it might not be a waste monetarily. It'll last you longer than a cheap fast food lunch.

    On the downside, you'll have wasted every single moment, hoping that maybe it's as good as the hype.    … Expand
  3. 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
  4. Merku
    Feb 17, 2016
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. X-COM 2 pretty much this game franchise's ROME 2. And that's not a compliment. As others said XCOM 2 is challenging. But for all the wrong reasons. There's a Game over timer called the "Avatar project". The only way to stop or slow it down is to raid the Blacksite facilities.. Which are very heavily guarded. The other reason the game is challenging. Timed Missions. Gotta rescue an VIP. Or destroy something.. You have to do it in 10 turns or something or you auto lose.

    The story bland too. Never once is the premise explained in any sort of depth. "Oh Commander we rescued you from the aliens... Let's get to work." No "This is what happened while you were out.." You have an whiney clichie collaborator seeking redemption for a Scientist and an stereotypical cyberpunk Asian Engineer who is always bickering with said scientist. The Enemies.. Are borning. Enemies that should be tough are easy. Such as Sectopods. The first one I found I killed in a single turn. I remember in EU took like 3 or 5 turns with a full squad fully upgraded going all out. Aliens that should be weak are too tough. Sectoids. They're nasty buggers. And they're right from the bat there.

    The ending is dull with censored violence. Oh looks like that Advent trooper is about to get his face bashed in and... Cut to the bottom of the ocean for terror from the deep lead in.

    Last point the game is game breakingly buggy. Runs like cold **** Your soldiers will randomly fall through the map and die sometimes. The game crashes often. Actually the bugs are so numorous and gameplay hindering it makes Bethesda look great at debugging.    … Expand
  5. MrWonderful
    Feb 9, 2016
    6
    I bought the retail box version to save on the huge bandwidth-eating-download of going thru Steam. Four DVDs to install and 45 minutes and guess what...there was still a 9GB download required from Steam! Once everything was installed I fired XCom 2 up and proceeded with the tutorial mission to see what is new. Guess what...there's a bug that may or may not happen, but it happened to me,I bought the retail box version to save on the huge bandwidth-eating-download of going thru Steam. Four DVDs to install and 45 minutes and guess what...there was still a 9GB download required from Steam! Once everything was installed I fired XCom 2 up and proceeded with the tutorial mission to see what is new. Guess what...there's a bug that may or may not happen, but it happened to me, where a character can't move to cover as the instructions state. The fix was to do the Three Finger Salute(tm) back to desktop since at this point everything is frozen and then relaunch the game. So far I'm not too impressed, especially reading about the turn timer implemented in the game now. I've stopped playing XCom 2 because I still need to finish some other games on backlog. Maybe when it's time to get back it things will have improved. For those that are curious...on my Core i7 desktop with GTX780ti everything is on high/medium @2560x1080. I won't even bother loading it onto my 4 year old ASUS ROG laptop with a measly GTX560M gpu.… Expand
  6. ForeShadow
    Feb 15, 2016
    4
    Just can't play it like I want to.80% of missions that force you to rush with ridiculous timers. I spend my time reloading saved games when it doesn't go my way. Which is a huge amount of reloads per mission. Timed missions are a great idea, if it occurred once every 7-10 missions, but not every mission with a few exceptions. 1 mistake makes you almost automatically fail the timer. How didJust can't play it like I want to.80% of missions that force you to rush with ridiculous timers. I spend my time reloading saved games when it doesn't go my way. Which is a huge amount of reloads per mission. Timed missions are a great idea, if it occurred once every 7-10 missions, but not every mission with a few exceptions. 1 mistake makes you almost automatically fail the timer. How did this AAA title pass play test and Beta with these timers?

    Difficulty curve of enemies is ridiculous. They start out with overpowered abilities, such as mind control and run behind cover, pull and immobilize, run and melee stun/kill attacks. They all have very high HP.

    Concealment is practically useless and can maybe allow you to get a first free shot.

    This would otherwise be a 8/10 if the timers were removed and I could actually play without reloading all the time. I could live through the initial extremely hard starting missions and having some failed missions, but the timer drops this from 8 to 4 rating.

    Can't even manage to get the mod working or find the timer address in CheatEngine in order to disable it.    … Expand
  7. DutchieSmurf
    Apr 28, 2016
    4
    This is a very boring and repetitive game. I see it more as a remake of the first game due to the lack of new features or gameplay elements. It is plagued with even more bugs than the first one and at the end of the day it's a just a mediocre strategy game...
  8. Mordobb
    Feb 9, 2016
    4
    Chances are, if you loved Xcom1 from fireaxis you will love it. But if you expected more...sorry.
    Its merely Enemy Within with all its tactical shallowness repixelated.
    Tactically its not worth to be called an expansion merely a DLC, which by the way remove the tactical aspect of the game with so many timed missions. The designers (if they can be called so much) of this marvel confound    Chances are, if you loved Xcom1 from fireaxis you will love it. But if you expected more...sorry.
    Its merely Enemy Within with all its tactical shallowness repixelated.
    Tactically its not worth to be called an expansion merely a DLC, which by the way remove the tactical aspect of the game with so many timed missions.
    The designers (if they can be called so much) of this marvel confound masochism with tactical deph (death?), and many sycophants approves.
    Noe the base aspect game although exactly the same is a bit refreshing because now you move and have to take decisions.

    Chances are if you are an old fan of the 90 games. EU, TFTD, Apocalips... you ll hate by what has been said above. Tactical limitation shallowness in tactics...boring after the 15th mission due to the counter.
    Bad designs, bad implementation of good concepts.
    A disaster.
    Wait for sales to acquire it you ll probably gain optimization too and smart modders that will enhance
    the tactical part so it gets bearable.
    Keep playing the long war.    … Expand
  9. ZaPaAl
    Mar 24, 2016
    6
    It's ok, but it's so terribly casualized, that it's rather difficult to have fun with. It's terrible performance is very remarkable, but game doesn't look that extraordinary great to justify.

    A lot of the tactical setup is ruined by unforgiving timers on everything. Story exists, with some ok scenes, but it only prepares the stage for a cliffhanger ending. Overall progress and    It's ok, but it's so terribly casualized, that it's rather difficult to have fun with. It's terrible performance is very remarkable, but game doesn't look that extraordinary great to justify.

    A lot of the tactical setup is ruined by unforgiving timers on everything.

    Story exists, with some ok scenes, but it only prepares the stage for a cliffhanger ending.

    Overall progress and research is boring. Yes, you want that new weapon or armor to get a upper hand, but each time the progress feels very underwhelming. Not that much game altering elements to research anyway.

    Repetitive missions and scenery.

    I had some fun at start, but now I am glad it's over. Last missions were only an overlong rehash of already experienced enemies and gameplay. Felt like one of the cheap remakes, with even cheaper gameplay, but superior graphics.    … Expand
  10. max1c
    Feb 8, 2016
    7
    The good:
    - Art/Graphics
    - Music - Cut scenes/Voice Acting - Story - Customization options The bad: - Numerous bugs - Sluggish interface - Inconsistent mechanics - Overly Repetitive I really want to give this game an 8, but I simply can not. I'm sure once all the bugs get ironed out and some performance improvements are made this game will easily be deserving of an 8 - 8.5    The good:
    - Art/Graphics
    - Music
    - Cut scenes/Voice Acting
    - Story
    - Customization options

    The bad:
    - Numerous bugs
    - Sluggish interface
    - Inconsistent mechanics
    - Overly Repetitive

    I really want to give this game an 8, but I simply can not. I'm sure once all the bugs get ironed out and some performance improvements are made this game will easily be deserving of an 8 - 8.5 rating. The biggest problems with the game are it's poor performing interface and a very inconsistent behaviour in mechanics. AI cheats/performs moves that simply should be impossible according to the rules of the gameplay.

    I enjoyed the cutscenes and the music. However, the game got repetitive and boring quickly. Overall, a good game plagued by bugs.    … Expand
  11. SHy
    Mar 12, 2016
    3
    X com была одной из первых игры на ПК которую я поиграл это было... черти когда, так что когда вышел прошлый, он пошел на ура он был в новинку... Вторая часть наскучила уже на втором часу игры. Сугубо мое мнение, он игра сырая и сделана "на отвали".
    минусы
    - цена - постоянные паузы(пустая трата времени) - не оптимизирована(просадки до 2 fps) - графика на максимум а картинка на уровне    X com была одной из первых игры на ПК которую я поиграл это было... черти когда, так что когда вышел прошлый, он пошел на ура он был в новинку... Вторая часть наскучила уже на втором часу игры. Сугубо мое мнение, он игра сырая и сделана "на отвали".
    минусы
    - цена
    - постоянные паузы(пустая трата времени)
    - не оптимизирована(просадки до 2 fps)
    - графика на максимум а картинка на уровне 2000 года
    - почти все миссии с таймером(на время)
    - элемент рпг ... ну это трудно назвать элементом рпг
    - свобода действий отсутствует
    - таймер даже в не миссии в целом тебя постоянно куда-то гонят
    можно долго продолжать ... лень
    итог если в первый не играли то будет хорошее впечатление если играли то вторую часть брать не стоит    … Expand
  12. TerryMc
    Feb 12, 2016
    2
    I love this game, but it has unresolved technical issues. The biggest problem for me was the random loss of ALL my saved games. Paid good money for a game I won't play until someone tells me this is fixed.

    I really enjoyed the earlier games, and was disappointed this one is unplayable.
  13. Myon-Neutrino
    Oct 26, 2017
    9
    Original Comment from early 2016: I´m a "newcomer" in round-based games and discovered XCOM when Enemy Unknown/within happened and I immediately fell in love with it! So i was looking forward to the new game. I´ve played Xcom 2 for about 15 hours on normal difficulty, when the ultimate rage-quit happened. This game annoyed me with all its rushed demands all the time: Go and get supplies,Original Comment from early 2016: I´m a "newcomer" in round-based games and discovered XCOM when Enemy Unknown/within happened and I immediately fell in love with it! So i was looking forward to the new game. I´ve played Xcom 2 for about 15 hours on normal difficulty, when the ultimate rage-quit happened. This game annoyed me with all its rushed demands all the time: Go and get supplies, go and rescue valen, go and rescue engineers, don´t forget all those damn avatar-upgrades, keep your avenger-micromanagements going, do this, do that - all simultaneously. Ridiculously tight timers in a lot of missions and a general let-down in the whole round-based gameplay concept by introducing that damn ruler-reactions every single time. The rulers are too hard, their actions are illogical and random, I don´t get it. And still the performance sucks (22-28FPS with a i7 4790K / Radeon 7970 GHz Ed. OC machine @ medium/high settings) What a disappointment. ( I gave it a rating of 5 )

    Update 27.10.2017:
    I recently figured out there is a XCOM2 Mod which disables those ridiculous timers during some missions so I gave it another shot with that Mod activated. Now I´m about 30 hours in and the gameflow is fluid and fair, that Mod improved XCOM2 overwhelmingly! No rants or rage anymore, but a fun time and still difficult as hell, at least for me. The performance and overall graphics got better (Using a i7 6700K / AMD RX 480 / 16GB RAM / Samsung 850 SSD Rig, 45-60FPS during actual gameplay @ FHD / Max Details. Cutscenes however sometimes stutter and got some framedrops). You have to install this game on a SSD for the loading times to be acceptable. Also a lot of bugfixing and balancing happened, further there exist some really well done DLCs now. I´m genuinely impressed and upgraded my score to 9 (WITH disabled timer mod activated)! Without that mod I´d still rate this a 5 or 6... Buy, mod and enjoy!    … Expand
  14. 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
  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. 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
  17. meathelmet2001
    Mar 5, 2016
    6
    Loved every XCOM up to now. This one is unforgiving to the point of being no fun.

    Like others have said, there is too many timed missions which throws a lot of strategy out the window. I can't tell you how many missions I played where everything went to sh*t in one round, all because your team has to race across the map. Just seems like the creators took the lazy way out here. Sucks    Loved every XCOM up to now. This one is unforgiving to the point of being no fun.

    Like others have said, there is too many timed missions which throws a lot of strategy out the window. I can't tell you how many missions I played where everything went to sh*t in one round, all because your team has to race across the map. Just seems like the creators took the lazy way out here. Sucks that they ruined my favorite part of the game...the tactics.

    Not terrible, but could have been better.    … Expand
  18. 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
  19. Carewolf
    Feb 8, 2016
    7
    Very addictive game, but buggy as ....!!

    it has several mechinics issues, some it inherited from its predecessor, but many new. In tactical combat, there is now only two states: Either the AI knows where you are, or they don't. You usually start concealed, but once unconcealed all AI that you can see will be omniscient and can find all of your members. The AI is also suicidal and    Very addictive game, but buggy as ....!!

    it has several mechinics issues, some it inherited from its predecessor, but many new.

    In tactical combat, there is now only two states: Either the AI knows where you are, or they don't. You usually start concealed, but once unconcealed all AI that you can see will be omniscient and can find all of your members. The AI is also suicidal and will rush any position to do any kind of damage without trying to protect themselves. Added to that is that melee now has twice the range than most "ranged" weapons, means suicidal melee fighters (half of all AI) can sprint from out-of-range to melee and make a full attack (which is 100% to hit and deadly) in a single turn. This means the only way to protect your troops is by playing as cheasy as possible. Abusing the mechanics that the AI only knows where you are if you can see them, so the best approach is to NEVER scout, since knowing anything triggers the AI.

    Overwatch is mostly broken. You only get one shot and only at longest range where you are sure to miss, and many enemy actions does not even trigger overwatch. For instance some AI can teleport right up next your soldiers and shoot them, but an enemy teleporting into the middle of your squad does not trigger overwatch.

    Also there are turn timers on more missions than I like, but they are not really a problem, only how common they are. Whenever there is a timer snipers are useless beause they take time to setup. On top of scouting being negative, it reduces the usefulness of most characters in most missions.

    Finally I had one great mission where I had to hack a computer. I managed to get all the way in without being noticed (by cleverly avoiding noticing any AI) hacked the computer and got out. The game considered that a mission fail because I didn't kill anyone!!.. The game really doesn't give a **** about strategy.

    Still I find the game addictive, and can find amusement in twisting the games stupid design decisions against it.    … Expand
  20. Yukar
    Feb 26, 2016
    6
    Good game, but (very) disappointing.

    Customisation is a huge step up in looks, weapons, tools, passive traits, and unique skills. Somewhat perfect. (Well, almost, when the gloomy character you made in the pool will show with an idiotic smile instead, you may feel a bit let down, their attitude is randomized, immersion lost). And, that's it. Everything else seems "more less" (DLCs    Good game, but (very) disappointing.

    Customisation is a huge step up in looks, weapons, tools, passive traits, and unique skills. Somewhat perfect. (Well, almost, when the gloomy character you made in the pool will show with an idiotic smile instead, you may feel a bit let down, their attitude is randomized, immersion lost). And, that's it.
    Everything else seems "more less" (DLCs pattern).

    The worldmap.
    Oh man, I was so kicked by it on the teasers.. By the looks of it, It may be like Aftershock, maybe even more, like the one in Afterlight.. Well, it is not.
    It is an empty land with pop-ups. Where you are urged to slow the "Avatar Project" by Captain Obvious every 2 minutes, actually by wasting this so precious time, moving and locking your camera and controls away for the time he repeats the same phrase over and over again. (In order to show you a spot where you can only interact with on the very last mission).
    Of course this pattern so had to happen while in missions too.
    Can feel like Internet without ad-blockers. Old days.

    The resistance.
    After contacting them, well, they will write you a check after the end of each month.
    And they get passively slaughtered on retaliation missions ('cause aliens don't like them for writing you checks), as Bradford will unavoidably never fail to mention.
    A resistance that doesn't actually resists. Strange concept. (To be fair, they may not carry wepons, but they will manage to take down some UFO's for you, to remind you the name of the original title).

    The Base.
    You build what you can, when you can. Thats's about it, with a bit of management. Feels better than the last one, can't compare to the originals (was more like mini-SimCity).
    Discussions between staff can be muted, if not, they don't freeze your screen when talking (wich is something someone could have learnt from his comrades).

    Research.
    It is deeply simplified, for the second time (so long old-timers) : Research Tier 2 weapons & armor, research Tier 3 weapons & armor. Autopsies unlock new tools, and they made the option to instantly research those after some "breakthrough" on the next Tier.
    So, do you want to research x for 3 days, y for 4, then next Tier for 10 ? Or next Tier for 10 and instant x & y ? Tough choice.
    Let me break your expectations, there are bullets, laser, plasma. Yes, those are the same (more straightforward). And no, there's no MEC.

    Overall progression.
    Fine by your troops, slow and steady, each skill, every bit of scrap seem to matter. Very well done.
    The way new ennemies are introduced every two missions however is not.
    It soon feels like a freak show, and utterly destroys the low profile Aliens are supposed to have (Sure Bradford, they don't have to hide, but frightening the population doesn't seem great either).

    More coherence would have been nice, like maybe only Advents troops in cities, other species represented in the "wild", or in Resistance lands, maybe common/rare types, etc.
    Some are underused and replaced, other overused. "Codex" is a perfect example, so great ennemy, brillant design, until it becomes absolutely common in every mission, therefore losing all of its aura.

    The combat.
    The system still works, stealth mecanic is also a fine addition. But it lacks coherence.
    Why the ennemy would blow up his precious installation without him knowing we're here ? Why is all squad revealed when only one member is detected ?
    Just to justify the turn-limit and the one scout class, who will be better at never actually fighting. Not enough for me. It limits the way you play more than it opens it, not so good for tactics.

    The turn-limit system and very small maps resume gameplay to :
    1) Take a direct shot at 30%.
    2) Make a flanking move (with a 70% to trigger new ennemies).
    3) Blow up cover with explosives and shot after.
    Answer is 3) until you have to make 2) due to the turn limit. I think the precedent system of ennemy triggering and their free move & turn should have been arranged to better fit this new layout.

    In its current state, all of this will be darkened by the fact that you will be detected for no reason, sometimes even shot at the very same moment, melee & shot through walls, moving on another tile than the one you clicked, suffering from performance issues, etc.
    If you haven't already bought the game, spare yourself the disappointment now and buy it when the actual release comes out, wich is programmed for the second half of 2016.

    + Another XCOM
    + We can play before release !
    - Shouldn't have been released yet.
    - Way too oftenly Bradforded    … Expand
  21. mrdollar
    Mar 28, 2017
    2
    1. Tired of missing 90% hit rates, your soldier literately misses point blank shots without cover all the time.
    2. Almost every mission is timed of 6-8 turns and you are fighting 4-5 groups of enemies.
    3. Optimization of game is really bad, even high end pc lags using higher graphics settings. 4. Bugs and glitches, you can easily cheat saving the game before enemy turn and load. It will    1. Tired of missing 90% hit rates, your soldier literately misses point blank shots without cover all the time.
    2. Almost every mission is timed of 6-8 turns and you are fighting 4-5 groups of enemies.
    3. Optimization of game is really bad, even high end pc lags using higher graphics settings.
    4. Bugs and glitches, you can easily cheat saving the game before enemy turn and load. It will skip enemy turn lol.
    5. When you counter enemy on your last move, enemy gain second turn, not fair.    … Expand
  22. slipgatecentral
    Feb 7, 2016
    3
    I am raging so hard as I'm writing this. I'm so unbelievably mad right now, my blood pressure is ten times of a normal persons, I think I might have popped a vein or two.

    Firaxis, you made an awesome game and a very decent sequel to a very successful and creative Xcom reboot. You make people emotionally invest into your game, and **** is so intense and violent, it literally makes your    I am raging so hard as I'm writing this. I'm so unbelievably mad right now, my blood pressure is ten times of a normal persons, I think I might have popped a vein or two.

    Firaxis, you made an awesome game and a very decent sequel to a very successful and creative Xcom reboot. You make people emotionally invest into your game, and **** is so intense and violent, it literally makes your balls sweat. This game is always on your ass, and I mean it. I've never played squad tactics that felt like an actual action movie, where there's always a need to rush forward, and you can't just sit back or slowly proceed forward. Everything must be done quick, and this ****faced resistance guy that calls you "commander" only makes things worse, **** about how slow you are and "we must act faster". Oh **** you guy, for ****s sake, It's not like I'm not trying, but why the **** you pushing me so hard?

    Eventually player gets used to this mad pace, and gets better stuff and his squad of cold-eyed assassins will chew through packs of aliens like it's nothing. You get them cutting edge tech and armor that looks so badass, it scares even themselves. You start to feel it, you finally start to think you can make it and push Avatar project back to the stone age. You grow attached to this game.

    And then game ****s your **** up.

    Firaxis, you put this Ironman mode button there for a reason, right? You said something like "Do it only if you want ultimate Xcom experience". Well, I am no **** when it comes to this, I do want ultimate experience. I want to care, I want to be punished for wrong decisions, and greatly rewarded for success.

    What I do not want, is to be ****ed in the ass after playing for 15 hours, like it happened today. My save file got corrupted. The ONLY save file Ironman mode generates.

    What the **** happened to your QA for ****s sake. How could you not see this coming? Where is my backup file? Why do you do this to me?

    **** this, **** this **** I'm done, not playing it again, even if you fix this. **** off.    … Expand
  23. Glamredhel
    Feb 6, 2016
    4
    Forget the varied tactics of the first XCOM game. In XCOM 2 all of that has been thrown out the window by making the missions timed and having you start stupidly far from the objective. To cover the distance you will need to have your soldiers use both their turn units to make it in time. This results in not being able to shoot back when you stumble upon the enemies, of which they usuallyForget the varied tactics of the first XCOM game. In XCOM 2 all of that has been thrown out the window by making the missions timed and having you start stupidly far from the objective. To cover the distance you will need to have your soldiers use both their turn units to make it in time. This results in not being able to shoot back when you stumble upon the enemies, of which they usually throw quite a lot between you and the objective.

    Basically missions are summed up as run as far as you can as fast as you can, stumble upon a group of enemies who now get 2 turns (their reveal turn and then their normal turn) to outflank you. If you do make it to the objective after fighting through the enemy you will now have to choose a soldier you don't mind getting killed as they run up to the item that needs to be hacked to stop the countdown timer and are now exposed to being flanked.

    It's like they took the first XCOM game, decided to add 100 new features and then forgot about including any tactical decisions in the tactical missions beyond just run as fast as you can to the objective.

    Can not recommend in its current state.    … Expand
  24. Xerxes72
    Feb 7, 2016
    4
    Leaving aside the many technical issues that plagued its launch, from performance issues to LOS malfunctions to vanishing savegames, that (if the first XCOM was any indication) will likely take them months to address and resolve, with XCOM2 Firaxis doubles down on some of the worst aspects of their successful "reimagining" of the venerable classic and stretches even further the definitionLeaving aside the many technical issues that plagued its launch, from performance issues to LOS malfunctions to vanishing savegames, that (if the first XCOM was any indication) will likely take them months to address and resolve, with XCOM2 Firaxis doubles down on some of the worst aspects of their successful "reimagining" of the venerable classic and stretches even further the definition of strategy when it comes to PC gaming.

    Their whole philosophy seems to involve replacing variety of choice and room for maneuver with a linear experience which uses the word strategy only as flavor for those who thought King's Bounty was an RPG. Want to stray a bit from the optimal path on the "strategic" layer, even if you're doing well on the tactical missions? Sorry, dead man walking. And when on the field, every guy in your inexplicably puny squad is essential. Got unlucky and lost a couple of soldiers to randomly spawning enemies, with 10+ still to kill and a stupid clock ticking down? Get used to it-- in Firaxis' twisted world, those things are necessary to cover the lack of a functional AI and a sound design. Aliens will still teleport under the FOW and trigger when they're scripted to while you're hopefully still gaping at the pretty graphics.

    And ahhh, the ultimate insult, the timed missions. It's all part of the same "philosophy", or rather lack thereof. Unless you believe Firaxis included the timers as a way to counter the creeping *their own design encouraged* with a "solution" that's worse than the original problem.

    This is not a strategy game. It's a "corridor strategy" game. It's like calling the latest Call of Duty an open world game. The package is slick but there's no more strategy involved than in your typical CYOA book. If you're a real strategy fan and loved the original series, my suggestion is that you save your money and frustration, wait for Xenonauts 2 and avoid anything with the name "Jake Solomon" in the credits.    … Expand
  25. Kriss_A
    Feb 19, 2016
    0
    Currently broken. Do not buy.

    Performance issues.
    Gameplay bugs.
    Crashes.
    Is actually really light on content, certainly not worth full price.
    Pre-order exclusive DLC currently not available.

    The game is ok, it's not very good, but it's not horrible, but every single aspect outside of the core design is lacking horribly.
  26. Katrin
    Feb 7, 2016
    1
    üäAll the timers are way too annoying to enjoy the game
    - A lot of missions have a round timer.
    - People bleeding to death? Timer - People need to get to the escape shuttle ? Timer - Destroy the communication station? Timer - Destroy the Sting? Timer This game sucks so much because of the over use of timers. It is not even half as fun as part one and it is double frustrating. I    üäAll the timers are way too annoying to enjoy the game
    - A lot of missions have a round timer.
    - People bleeding to death? Timer
    - People need to get to the escape shuttle ? Timer
    - Destroy the communication station? Timer
    - Destroy the Sting? Timer
    This game sucks so much because of the over use of timers. It is not even half as fun as part one and it is double frustrating. I sitill remeber Some missions you almost have to replay because they get a lucky monstershuttle in and you come one round short. When playing again the mission gets way to easy its all a luck thing.
    I get the idea behind the bleeding to death timer but In my case whenever someone was bleeding to death there was nothing I could do about it. It was situational but there was nothing. Right now when someone is bleeding I just reload.
    I loved part one. Hate this part 2.
    Avoid at all costs when you are easy to frustrate.    … Expand
  27. ajc368
    Feb 7, 2016
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Super corto y aburrido. todas las misiones son iguales.
    Las armaduras que trae son horribles
    los graficos peores que el xcom eu. (lo jugué todo al máximo con una gtx 970)
    cero estrategia en la misiones.
    El juego no engancha en ningún momento.
    los tiempos de carga espantosos (corei7 6700k -16gbram - disco ssd)
    Lo peor que perdió su esencia. es super aburrido, todas las misiones iguales si una pisca de extrategia. la personalización de las tropas que parecía buena termino siendo una cagada mucho peor que en el enemy unknow. las armaduras son horribles apenas trae un par de cascos de muy mal gusto.
    en resumen y sacando el tema de los bug que tienen arreglo en futuros parches el juego es malo muy malo desde su concepto. y perdió en opciones en táctica y en graficos con su antecesor.    … Expand
  28. ReviewCow
    Feb 7, 2016
    0
    They released a game that wasn't finished, as simple as that. Cant really comment on much else, since the game crashes constantly. Graphics are nice and the game got a nice feel to it. But, wait for the first major patch release, otherwise you'll just be doing their beta testing for them. I do feel kinda cheated though, should really stop pre-ordering games.

    I have to give a bad rating,    They released a game that wasn't finished, as simple as that. Cant really comment on much else, since the game crashes constantly. Graphics are nice and the game got a nice feel to it. But, wait for the first major patch release, otherwise you'll just be doing their beta testing for them. I do feel kinda cheated though, should really stop pre-ordering games.

    I have to give a bad rating, since the game is unplayable and expensive.    … Expand
  29. Vasot
    Feb 8, 2016
    6
    Most promising but also it's very buggy, unbalanced and very unoptimised. Even a GTX980Ti struggles which is ridiculous !! A lot of missions have a timer which puts me off personally. Anyway game has some great ideas but feels rushed i suggest you wait until the company releases some patches before buying it
  30. Paulystan
    Feb 23, 2016
    1
    So... I am and will remain a big fan of the original XCOM games which were awesome. They were clever, in depth, made you jump at times, really amazing games for the time. They were apparently also really amazing games for now. XCOM 2 is more of the same rubbish as XCOM Enemy Unknown but with some tweaks. Some of those tweaks are just down right silly at that. These new XCOM games are justSo... I am and will remain a big fan of the original XCOM games which were awesome. They were clever, in depth, made you jump at times, really amazing games for the time. They were apparently also really amazing games for now. XCOM 2 is more of the same rubbish as XCOM Enemy Unknown but with some tweaks. Some of those tweaks are just down right silly at that. These new XCOM games are just shadows of a previously excellent series and I feel ripped off that I would get excited and hopeful about them only to be dashed.

    They have some basic things going for them in their own right but I cannot help but compare them to a much more brilliant past. Bring XCOM back the way it should be, awesome.This is a veneer thin, poorly planned and frustratingly executed pile of poop.    … Expand
Page:

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.
    Read full review
  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.
    Read full review
  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
See all critic reviews »