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. Talibamn
    Aug 15, 2022
    10
    An instant classic that refines, evolves, and redefines the ideas that came before. Strategy perfection
  2. Hyperfailure
    Nov 27, 2022
    8
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  3. BladeWise
    Dec 31, 2022
    10
    A great game, both visually and in terms of gameplay. Even after 6 years, it is still one of the best in its genere.
  4. CaptainChaos
    Jan 14, 2020
    7
    I loved XCOM1 and I wanted to love this game also. I do in many ways but there are WAY too many FRUSTRATING things about this game that wants to make me uninstall it every few hours.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    SAVE SAVE SAVE. Or you will put your hand through your monitor. You might still. I like this game. I want to love it. But ARG.    … Expand
  5. 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
  6. Aeryx
    Jun 4, 2020
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Remember the tutorial mission of XCOM? That scary mission that first introduces you to the aliens? With all the creepy noises you hear and your team member getting killed? That's gone. XCOM 2 doesn't make any effort to be subtle and creepy and scary. Despite having some improved game mechanics, XCOM 2 hits you with a bad story and feels much less immersive and has less depth.

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

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

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

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

    Overall, XCOM 2 feels like a step back from XCOM: Enemy Unknown. The only redeeming quality is that it the regression isn't as bad as it could have been.    … Expand
  7. Pickle
    Mar 12, 2021
    5
    Ridiculously difficult, the game can't compensate with its beautiful presentation, and fantastic sound design, for what it is essentially a game with deeply flawed gameplay and balancing options in regards to its level of difficulty, It's beyond me as to why developers choose to make their games as challenging only to then add difficulty options that, really, don't provide any differenceRidiculously difficult, the game can't compensate with its beautiful presentation, and fantastic sound design, for what it is essentially a game with deeply flawed gameplay and balancing options in regards to its level of difficulty, It's beyond me as to why developers choose to make their games as challenging only to then add difficulty options that, really, don't provide any difference when it comes to the overall difficulty of theg ame.… Expand
  8. Ogurechka
    Dec 20, 2022
    7
    The game causes very mixed feelings. On the one hand, this is a good and modern representative of the turn-based tactics genre. In general, it is the restart of the XCOM series that the entire genre owes its recent revival. On the other hand, the game has a lot of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ game design decisions, and some things were done, and as if they didn’t understand why, and just scored.

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

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

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

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

    I can rate it 7/10, but I'm afraid it's not more.    … Expand
  9. Zahrada
    Apr 23, 2018
    2
    The game is surprisingly unatractive from the very start. The strategy element is hard to find. It all seems to happen on a predetermined route. The missions are not designed for strategy, but for the fastest way possible, which leaves no choice, but to advance the shortest and fastest way and simply rely on rng. It's probably the first UFO/XCOM game in last 24 years which I did not like.
  10. SRKNZ
    Aug 5, 2018
    4
    Take a mediocre game franchise and make it worse. That's my impression of XCom 2. The first series was marred by an overly linear controlling approach to base management which is perpetuated in the second game. The horrible GUI is back too with all its quirks and limitations in place. The horrible counter intuitive R&D system is there too and its as confusing and unclear what you areTake a mediocre game franchise and make it worse. That's my impression of XCom 2. The first series was marred by an overly linear controlling approach to base management which is perpetuated in the second game. The horrible GUI is back too with all its quirks and limitations in place. The horrible counter intuitive R&D system is there too and its as confusing and unclear what you are supposed to do as ever. To really show up the glaring shortcomings in the aforementioned a time restriction is imposed making the whole frustrating, joyless experience even more crapulent.

    In short for me there is very little to like here aside from the overriding theme that I felt has been better executed in other titles like Xenonaughts.

    The only upside is the eye candy but its this title is so hamstrung by its awkward and clumsy game mechanics its not enough to really amount to anything significant. Played for a short time and quickly lost interest.    … Expand
  11. nickdos
    Jan 22, 2018
    4
    There are a lot of bugs that remain from XCOM-EU and are because of the engine and persist with XCOM2.
    The game is unbalanced and ridiculous on higher difficulties because of the very short timers.
    I see the reason they added them, but they could do the same thing with a little more lax time frames. Shame that an amateur developer of a mod for EU can do a better job designing a tactical    There are a lot of bugs that remain from XCOM-EU and are because of the engine and persist with XCOM2.
    The game is unbalanced and ridiculous on higher difficulties because of the very short timers.
    I see the reason they added them, but they could do the same thing with a little more lax time frames.
    Shame that an amateur developer of a mod for EU can do a better job designing a tactical game than a AAA studio.    … Expand
  12. I3ordo
    Oct 4, 2021
    3
    Xcom is disbanded and what remains is a small faction and underdog!
    then WHY THE HELL the mission REQUIRES me to both rescue hostage, and then KILL ALL Remaining enemies on map? Why can't i get the hostage and F off? Cause , everybody calls you the "COMMANDER" but Firaxis is the actual commander and Demands you what do as exactly told and dont accept anything else.
    First game was    Xcom is disbanded and what remains is a small faction and underdog!
    then WHY THE HELL the mission REQUIRES me to both rescue hostage, and then KILL ALL Remaining enemies on map? Why can't i get the hostage and F off? Cause , everybody calls you the "COMMANDER" but Firaxis is the actual commander and Demands you what do as exactly told and dont accept anything else.

    First game was alright because it was based of some one else's work, now it s the second game and we all saw how moronic the melodies came out of their own guitar.    … Expand
  13. Wiebe
    Feb 26, 2020
    6
    To similar to the first game, and the new elements are boring the game up, could not play trough the whole thing
  14. MusclePig
    Jul 24, 2021
    3
    Sometimes you can just tell when a game has been created with no love from the devs whatsoever. This was merely them doing their job.
  15. 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...
  16. Gaarq
    Mar 8, 2023
    5
    generally, xcom 2 is a good sequel, with lots of new stuff, and new mechanistics, but there are at least two things which i consider negative. first, the constant time pressure. i know, it is supposed to be fun to solve problems under stress and with limited resources, but sometimes it is too much. the stupid thing of "scanning" the region to get smth eats time and makes the stress evengenerally, xcom 2 is a good sequel, with lots of new stuff, and new mechanistics, but there are at least two things which i consider negative. first, the constant time pressure. i know, it is supposed to be fun to solve problems under stress and with limited resources, but sometimes it is too much. the stupid thing of "scanning" the region to get smth eats time and makes the stress even pushier. the missions are jumping one after the other, it is difficult to decide which one is more important than the other. second, the very slow healing and shortage of staff, decimating the men without time and resources to improve armament, not funny at all. yes, i successfully finished it, but it was far less fun than xcom 1 aka enemy unknown. if i want a stress i go to wurck ;) third, last and least, it is still a bit buggy, especially the ruler aliens. well, i like to often replay xcom 1, but xcom 2 i tried to play only thrice.… Expand
  17. compgeek
    Apr 17, 2017
    6
    I played all previous version and had a lot of fun. This version is no fun, it is a hard work - for what? It pissed me off with all stupid limits - I can handle hard enemies and replay the missions, but both Avatar project which you can not stop because you didn't upgrade your facilities and mission is locked, this lock on lock on lock is stupid - if the creators of the game wanted to pissI played all previous version and had a lot of fun. This version is no fun, it is a hard work - for what? It pissed me off with all stupid limits - I can handle hard enemies and replay the missions, but both Avatar project which you can not stop because you didn't upgrade your facilities and mission is locked, this lock on lock on lock is stupid - if the creators of the game wanted to piss their customers off, they succeed. Add terrible frame rate when something moves on my i7-6800 / 16Gb of DDR4-3600 / EVGA 980Ti / Samsung SSD 950 Pro 512 Gb / 850W EVGA PS / Asus Hero VIII mobo - how any game can be designed like that? I play a lot of games, none has such delays and frame rates. I through away Civilization 6 after about 15 min of game play, but continue to play Civilization 5 ... now its time to drop XCOM 2 and never buy Firaxis games again.
    Finished the game at veteran level in 64 hours during the last fight with 3 Avatars. Still have the same opinion about the game, although it becomes to be a little bit better when you are able to slow down the Avatar project. Final verdict:
    1. The game is not balanced at all - at different levels the difficulty changes.
    2. It is too buggy - had to reinstall it to get rid of the crashes, has many other bugs and glitches.
    3. It is not designed as all previous versions, it is not polished at all - some items you research several times, views are incorrect, etc.
    4. Nothing new and exciting comparing to the older games.    … Expand
  18. PogoTime
    May 25, 2017
    4
    Why I bought the game: Because there were a lot of good reviews and a perma-death game normally is always a good challenge with its special feeling

    Why the game lost me: Most of the game is so heavy on RNG that this kills my immersion completely. I stopped counting the situations where i sneaked behind an enemy with a shotgun, got initiative; an still misses 100% of the shot. This is    Why I bought the game: Because there were a lot of good reviews and a perma-death game normally is always a good challenge with its special feeling

    Why the game lost me: Most of the game is so heavy on RNG that this kills my immersion completely. I stopped counting the situations where i sneaked behind an enemy with a shotgun, got initiative; an still misses 100% of the shot. This is just too much RNG for me standing 1m behind an enemy and missing with a shotgun....come on.

    And this situations can often lead to complete wipes or death of you teammates.

    This erased all the fun out of this game, cause you can be as good as you want, you will still get screwed by RNG.    … Expand
  19. nik_balani
    Dec 24, 2017
    7
    I loved the original X:COM Terror from the deep. This game has a similar feel and style of gameplay which is great. The story line is interesting and the graphics fluid. However the time limits placed on missions is frustrating making it difficult to hunker down and defend certain spots as you often need to stay on the move to complete the objective. A mixture of mission types would haveI loved the original X:COM Terror from the deep. This game has a similar feel and style of gameplay which is great. The story line is interesting and the graphics fluid. However the time limits placed on missions is frustrating making it difficult to hunker down and defend certain spots as you often need to stay on the move to complete the objective. A mixture of mission types would have been better.… Expand
  20. Xodis99
    Jun 6, 2018
    5
    The game can most definitely be fun at times and the modding community is amazing not only for creating new and custom content, to fixing/adding features in the game (most of which the developers should have taken care of). However the entire game is drastically brought down by a number of things, most glaring of the issues is the optimization. The game runs rather poorly even on computersThe game can most definitely be fun at times and the modding community is amazing not only for creating new and custom content, to fixing/adding features in the game (most of which the developers should have taken care of). However the entire game is drastically brought down by a number of things, most glaring of the issues is the optimization. The game runs rather poorly even on computers that are well above the recommended requirements and the developers have said they are aware of these issues, yet not a single thing has been done to fix said issue. It is hard to enjoy the game when every action seems to cause the game to freeze and stutter. Next is the mission timers and lack of mission variety. Adding turn timers to nearly every single mission in the game does not equal fun, it equals annoyance. If there was no mod to remove them the game would be borderline unplayable with these on. On top of it all the game boils down to 3-4 mission types, disable bomb/comms uplink, bring civilian to extract, and clear area of enemies, the rest are linear story missions so all of it gets rather repetitive. Lastly, they have the nerve to still ave the base game cost $60 then have $15 DLC then a $40 DLC with content that should have been in the base game is outright insulting. Do not offer people a "season pass" version and then lock the biggest piece of content out of that behind a single DLC that costs 2/3 of the game you already purchased. $115 for a "complete" experience is absurd especially when the game itself is an optimized mess as it is and simply a scummy business practice. The game is not even a big budget "triple A" title, it is a half baked strategy game with little variety and passion put into it by 2K.… Expand
  21. Shimmeywill
    Feb 20, 2020
    6
    A solid build upon the reboot title. Bunch more customisation and baddies to fights. Ultimately was a touch derivative and the randomisation of the gameplay, whilst integral, is more frustrating the second time round. Not that its a bad game....
  22. MazrimTaim14
    Oct 14, 2019
    7
    Need to fill your SRPG needs then try this tactical shooter/RPG game.

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

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

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

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

    Also a negative aspect of the game is suddenly the enemy got 100% vision on your team when only one is detected. turns stealth into all out shooter. I was hoping its not the case so that we can do diversion runs (with units not specifically design to be invi like scouts) and have a different approach to things.    … Expand
  23. apjs
    Jun 9, 2020
    1
    The game is much worse than Enemy Unknown - which I loved. The performance is very poor even if you run it on a gaming PC with very good hardware. The level design is not good. You can shoot and fight through solid walls, pick up squad mates from the other side of a wall etc. The voiceovers are completely random. You will ge the "running low on ammo" voiceover from a soldier with *full*The game is much worse than Enemy Unknown - which I loved. The performance is very poor even if you run it on a gaming PC with very good hardware. The level design is not good. You can shoot and fight through solid walls, pick up squad mates from the other side of a wall etc. The voiceovers are completely random. You will ge the "running low on ammo" voiceover from a soldier with *full* ammo. The difficulty is very weird. The normal missions are super easy even on the hardest difficulty. And then the final mission is barely beatable on normal difficulty. The problem is the difficulty spike at the end. Either make it continuously harder each mission or leave the difficulty the same. But it is very frustrating if you beat all regular missions on hard withe a flawless or excellent score and for the final mission, you barely beat it after reducing the settings to normal difficulty.… Expand
  24. LazyLoad08
    Dec 19, 2020
    7
    Recommend for fans of XCOM, it is definitely a worthy entry.
    Overall a good game, unfortunately my experience was marred by bugs. Every cutscene (story, resistance contact, surgeries...) had what felt like a 50% chance to crash my game.
    I appreciate the tactical approach and overall gameplay. Line of sight is somehow janky and not really intuitive. I would say succeeding in missions and    Recommend for fans of XCOM, it is definitely a worthy entry.
    Overall a good game, unfortunately my experience was marred by bugs. Every cutscene (story, resistance contact, surgeries...) had what felt like a 50% chance to crash my game.
    I appreciate the tactical approach and overall gameplay. Line of sight is somehow janky and not really intuitive. I would say succeeding in missions and winning the game feels satisfying. Menu navigation is slow and cluttered.
    Recommended mods: Faster Avenger Navigation; Stop Wasting My Time; Flank Preview    … Expand
  25. Wrathzo
    Mar 22, 2022
    6
    XCOM 2 is a 2016 turn-based tactics video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K Games. It takes place 20 years after the events of Enemy Unknown. XCOM, a military organization trying to fight off an alien invasion, has lost the war and is now a resistance force against the occupation of Earth and the established totalitarian regime and military dictatorship. Gameplay is splitXCOM 2 is a 2016 turn-based tactics video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K Games. It takes place 20 years after the events of Enemy Unknown. XCOM, a military organization trying to fight off an alien invasion, has lost the war and is now a resistance force against the occupation of Earth and the established totalitarian regime and military dictatorship. Gameplay is split between turn-based combat in which players command a squad of soldiers to fight enemies, and strategy elements in which players manage and control the operations of the Avenger, an alien ship that is used as a mobile base for XCOM.… Expand
  26. O3liveon
    Jan 20, 2023
    7
    This game only came out in 2016 but it just feels so old. It feels way older then it is. If it was made today I'd be all over it because you can't get better then this in this genre. If you like this type of game you have to play it, but for where I'm at right now and how much more there is to get through I just can't give up the time to this particular world. It's a good game but it feelsThis game only came out in 2016 but it just feels so old. It feels way older then it is. If it was made today I'd be all over it because you can't get better then this in this genre. If you like this type of game you have to play it, but for where I'm at right now and how much more there is to get through I just can't give up the time to this particular world. It's a good game but it feels 8 years older then it actually is.… Expand
  27. Realnoobman
    Jul 19, 2020
    6
    Pc version is so much better than the ps4 one: loading times are so much lower and gameplay is smoother. Character creation mechanics of the soldiers is a great extra feature i wish many games of this kind had. Unfortunately sometimes walls do not properly block the line of sight of enemies, furthermore, the fact that the enemy level after level churns out stronger and stronger aliensPc version is so much better than the ps4 one: loading times are so much lower and gameplay is smoother. Character creation mechanics of the soldiers is a great extra feature i wish many games of this kind had. Unfortunately sometimes walls do not properly block the line of sight of enemies, furthermore, the fact that the enemy level after level churns out stronger and stronger aliens reaches exaggerated levels and is unpleasant… Expand
  28. Man_of_duty
    Jul 23, 2020
    6
    Even for it's love-hate situations it still dominates other games with the same genre of gameplay. No game has the magic like XCOM has.

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

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

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

    Animations are very useless and time consuming, there is a mod that helps you to skip combat animations but somehow it doesn't work for me. After some hours you're just gonna get so sick of it.    … Expand
  29. Oshiri_Maeda
    Apr 13, 2023
    5
    By 2023 this game has nothing but a famous name. By this point many xcom-like games are just straight up better. Mutant Year Zero as an example.
  30. RealPlayer666
    Nov 9, 2020
    4
    This game is bad. Strongly not recommended. Everything inside is like a one big script (even shooting). 80-95% to shoot a target and miss. Load and one more try... miss again. One more try miss again and over and over again. You can move and shoot but you can't shoot and move at start. Many pointless skills. X-COM extraterrestrial gold edition is much better then this game (2007). AnotherThis game is bad. Strongly not recommended. Everything inside is like a one big script (even shooting). 80-95% to shoot a target and miss. Load and one more try... miss again. One more try miss again and over and over again. You can move and shoot but you can't shoot and move at start. Many pointless skills. X-COM extraterrestrial gold edition is much better then this game (2007). Another game based on very good (legendary) title f...d up. Sad...… Expand
  31. MusclyMcGee
    Apr 18, 2022
    5
    Not fun when all enemies are bullet sponges and your soldiers can't hit Sh**, and can all be killed in one turn if you are unlucky (which is what the core gameplay revolves around). Everything else is actually quite good, I enjoyed the stuff on the ship, such as customising your soldiers and upgrading your ships rooms. I also found the story/lore to be quite intriguing, which you get a lotNot fun when all enemies are bullet sponges and your soldiers can't hit Sh**, and can all be killed in one turn if you are unlucky (which is what the core gameplay revolves around). Everything else is actually quite good, I enjoyed the stuff on the ship, such as customising your soldiers and upgrading your ships rooms. I also found the story/lore to be quite intriguing, which you get a lot of. PS, this game is hard AF (or just simply unfair/rng based), even on the easy difficulty.… Expand
  32. eefeef
    Aug 31, 2023
    8
    This game is about battles for the sake of battles, and those battles are fun every time, until you get tired of them and then the game is over.
  33. tontonac
    May 16, 2022
    7
    Very good TB strategy game, but the campaign is generic and not very interesting. I really don't want to make another playthrough.
  34. Milo2904
    Feb 13, 2022
    6
    Aiming system is rigged AF. Game has technical difficulties on Switch. So, lizards can pull you even from a rooftop? Who tf made that game? There is absolutely no logic in fighting system.
  35. Alexrouz
    Apr 21, 2022
    1
    I have played this game for over 50 hours. At first I loved this game for the setting, level design and soldiers, I considered this game to be good and that it would become one of my favorites even then. But with every 5 hours of playing, I learned how terrible the gameplay of the game is and that this is one of the worst games I have ever played. Spoilers are minimal. 1) Even afterI have played this game for over 50 hours. At first I loved this game for the setting, level design and soldiers, I considered this game to be good and that it would become one of my favorites even then. But with every 5 hours of playing, I learned how terrible the gameplay of the game is and that this is one of the worst games I have ever played. Spoilers are minimal. 1) Even after releasing a large-scale addition to the game, the developers did not remove the huge randomness in shooting, when the machine gunner at point-blank range in 1-2-3 cells has a low chance of hitting and how miserable it looks in the game when he misses a huge alien that is standing right in front of him. 2) Bugs. They are everywhere. Bugs with shooting animations, bugs when the game is paused when there is a lot of shooting from spectator modes, bugs with grenade explosions, bugs with the abilities of the chosen ones, bugs when using engineers in the power relay. What the developers were doing preparing the addition to the game is unclear. 3) Stealth. It doesn't work normally. When successfully using stealth and bypassing enemy points, patrols at some point begin to go towards the player for no reason, and this happens all the time during missions with penetration to specific points. No logic, no development. Complete failure of the mechanics. 4) The worst is the sequence of moves, which is not reset if you are given an additional move of the last soldier for killing (for example), but the game does not allow you to do this and at that moment a plot event occurs (for example, the resurrection of the chosen one) and the game takes your turn, making a full one progress in the opponent's event, and you get back your half-one move left only for moving. As a result, the enemy makes literally 2 moves, until you absolutely could not do anything and this one does not depend on you in any way. Worst turn based game design I've ever seen in the history of gaming. 5) There is absolutely no tactics. It all comes down to random whether the enemy will hit through the cover / pass the stun / miss. The computer opponent does both completely stupid actions and brilliant ones at the same time, absolutely killing all the seriousness of what is happening, which you look at with laughter. Perhaps this is normal if you play on a low difficulty and score on logic and realism, but this is not interesting for experienced players. 6) Terrible development of the fog of war, when, for example, the Wanderers are close to Advent (which they also attack as a player), but until you open the fog of war, they just stand still and do nothing. And as soon as you opened it, they begin to act and then ignore the fact that they are point-blank to the enemy. They begin to stupidly run around and it looks like a clownery. And such missions also start in stealth, which absolutely destroys your tactics, since they can accidentally run out at the moment the fog of war opens and run out to you (although they break down exactly on the opponent of Advent according to the mechanics of the game when you are still in stealth). Summing up, I will say that this is only part of the problems and not all that terrible that is in the game design of the game. The game has a lot more problems and is more offensive just because the game initially seems good due to the setting and the design of the squad with the levels of locations. To bury such potential with such terrible gameplay I have never seen. I don't recommend anyone to play this… Expand
  36. Shadowxxx
    Jan 13, 2023
    0
    disgusting trash disgusting trash disgusting trash disgusting trash disgusting trash
  37. Puppup
    Apr 14, 2022
    0
    Utter **** Controls are **** awful. no depth just full rush against turns all the time. cant spin the map or **** you chump. Even at £3 on steam or free on Epic its **** over priced. If you want cancer play this game.
  38. Jabbawockee
    May 6, 2022
    6
    XCOM is a game that has a lot to offer but needs far too much time for its formula to become satisfying, after the mid point of the game it runs out of curveballs to throw at you to keep the gameplay engaging and dynamic, so instead chooses to ramp up the difficulty. While I'm aware XCOM is known for said difficulty, it doesn't make the gameplay fun when everything is decided by a literalXCOM is a game that has a lot to offer but needs far too much time for its formula to become satisfying, after the mid point of the game it runs out of curveballs to throw at you to keep the gameplay engaging and dynamic, so instead chooses to ramp up the difficulty. While I'm aware XCOM is known for said difficulty, it doesn't make the gameplay fun when everything is decided by a literal dice-roll yet is so unforgiving, you just end up feeling cheated. The game is optimized poorly for PC and had many bugs that forced me to abandon missions due to being soft-locked.
    While the setting, premise and first few hours of gameplay did a lot to salvage my opinion as a whole, the game falls off heavily as it goes on and by the end I was left disappointed.
    If you're a fan of RTS games then give this one a shot if it's on sale, otherwise I'd say don't buy it.    … Expand
  39. IliaGlobal
    Apr 7, 2023
    7
    I really liked the game! Interesting plot, good characters and good graphics for the time the game was made! Thank you, very much dear developers!
  40. HydrophobikFish
    Jun 9, 2023
    5
    Did not do it for me at all. Have tried multiple times to get into, but something about it does not grab me. I think the way timed missions force you to make risky decisions feels bad because soldiers getting wounded or dying can often have disproportionate consequences, but if I mod out the timer its obvious the game was designed with it in mind and it becomes too easy. Overall, just notDid not do it for me at all. Have tried multiple times to get into, but something about it does not grab me. I think the way timed missions force you to make risky decisions feels bad because soldiers getting wounded or dying can often have disproportionate consequences, but if I mod out the timer its obvious the game was designed with it in mind and it becomes too easy. Overall, just not for me. Too punishing in ways that feel unfair.… Expand
  41. PR9Gaming
    Aug 12, 2023
    8
    XCOM turned up to 12, but on amps that should really be at 10 max. It gets way crazier, but still follows the formula of being a strugglebus in the beginning to being a cakewalk without any challenge at late game.
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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.
    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
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