User Score
4.8

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 326 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 96 out of 326

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  1. Apr 26, 2020
    4
    this release is a big step backwards for the xcom series, after the good last 2 xcom games from firaxis. i am not sure what the game designer was thinking when they created this. the comic strip style presentation of the game is completely odd for an xcom game. xcom is great b'c it has the dark tension and fear of being killed by aliens at any minute. this Chimera Squad has none of thethis release is a big step backwards for the xcom series, after the good last 2 xcom games from firaxis. i am not sure what the game designer was thinking when they created this. the comic strip style presentation of the game is completely odd for an xcom game. xcom is great b'c it has the dark tension and fear of being killed by aliens at any minute. this Chimera Squad has none of the great elements that made xcom good. it tries too hard to be colorful and fun when it is not relevant. in addition, the laughable dialogues make it more of a CCC game than a AAA release. clearly this release belongs to the junk pile and is yet another example of the cash grab methods by a declining Firaxis/2K. gaming companies nowadays seem to have taken the Disney route of taking old classical game titles and juicing them dry by creating rubbish to hoodwink gamers. sure they might succeed this once but people are not stupid and Firaxis is just damaging themselves in the long run with the bad reputation that they getting. is there any wonder why pirating games is still so widely done? B's who the **** is going to pay for such rubbish!?! Expand
  2. Nov 8, 2022
    4
    This game took the old X-com formula and added a few interresting new features. Sadly it also took some of the things I liked about X-com the most. I liked the fact that I could make my soldiers background up just the way I wanted to and had lots of customisation options.
    I appreciate that they tried to create their own characters, but in my opinion most of them are ruther unlikable. I
    This game took the old X-com formula and added a few interresting new features. Sadly it also took some of the things I liked about X-com the most. I liked the fact that I could make my soldiers background up just the way I wanted to and had lots of customisation options.
    I appreciate that they tried to create their own characters, but in my opinion most of them are ruther unlikable. I grew from annoyed with them to straight up hating most of them rather fast. Thera are exeptions to that ( I liked claymore and Axiom, and I loved Torque.) but they are outweighed by the characters i disliked and I ended up wishing most of my characters to die.
    The graphics are ok. They aren't groundbreaking but they are nice to look at most of the time. Most enemys designs are good aswell.
    The music is good but nothing I would go out of my way to listen to (unlike X-Com 2).
    I can't judge the quality of the story as I couldn't bring myself to finish this game.

    Tl;dr: I can see X-Com fans and fans of round based stratey games enjoying this game, but its just not for me.
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  3. Feb 25, 2023
    4
    Infelizmente, as novidades mais limitam o game do que ajudam na diversão.
    Em vez de combater uma força invasora com suas tropas, dessa vez você comanda tipo uma SWAT, Tem algumas novidades legais como a fase de entrada numa área, mas acabaram errando na mão.
    Eu insisti o quanto deu, mas chegou uma hora que achei melhor abandonar mesmo. Pontos Positivos: + Um pouco de frescor à série
    Infelizmente, as novidades mais limitam o game do que ajudam na diversão.
    Em vez de combater uma força invasora com suas tropas, dessa vez você comanda tipo uma SWAT, Tem algumas novidades legais como a fase de entrada numa área, mas acabaram errando na mão.
    Eu insisti o quanto deu, mas chegou uma hora que achei melhor abandonar mesmo.

    Pontos Positivos:
    + Um pouco de frescor à série Xcom
    + Nova sequência de iniciativas individual por personagem

    Pontos Negativos:
    + Apesar de interessante, o momento de entrada numa área (Breach) acaba de limitando mais, já que a maioria das fases é separada em 3 áreas, forçando essa mecânica em cada uma delas.
    + Apesar dos personagens serem interessantes, acabou super personalização que tinha nos outros.
    + Os mesmos bugs bizarros de animações, travamentos e instabilidades dos outros Xcom.
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  4. Jan 27, 2022
    4
    When I first saw the trailer for this game I starting laughing because I was certain it was a joke. Oh no, it wasn't a joke, that was the actual game. What?! I guess these dudes think it's really cool to shine on and show complete contempt to their multi-decade loyal fan base. Good luck with that in the long run, if this is where they're taking our games, we won't be sticking around.
  5. May 12, 2020
    4
    It isn't terrible for what it is, but I am tired of seeing franchises streamlined to death. I'm tired of having all the talent that was obviously involved wasted to dumb down yet another experience. But I guess it was either that - designing the game to become boring very fast so that you have an incentive to buy more stuff ("The Sims" has been doing this for more than 20 years) - orIt isn't terrible for what it is, but I am tired of seeing franchises streamlined to death. I'm tired of having all the talent that was obviously involved wasted to dumb down yet another experience. But I guess it was either that - designing the game to become boring very fast so that you have an incentive to buy more stuff ("The Sims" has been doing this for more than 20 years) - or another "Live Service"-game.

    This fittingly named "Chimera" was obviously made by people who don't understand the series.

    What makes it even more disappointing is that "War of the Chosen" did so many things right, and was praised for it - so why run in the opposite direction? Taking out customization and replay value, cutting out strategic options, killing basebuilding and management would be bad enough.

    But doing it so that you can chain me to a sub-par plot, trading player incentive and a personal experience against linear fan-fic-fluff when all that people wanted was more of the same is baffling.
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  6. Apr 24, 2020
    4
    The gameplay is pretty basic, nothing exciting, but it is a budget game. However the writing and characters are just awful, I can't deal with all these sassy people and woke dialog. Why do they keep doing this in movies and games when it always results in failure?
  7. Mar 24, 2022
    4
    XCOM: Chimera Squad is a turn-based tactical video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K Games as part of the XCOM series. It is set as a sequel to XCOM 2: War of the Chosen, after a tenuous peace accord between warring human and alien forces has been achieved. The player controls a mixed squad of human and alien special forces soldiers that help maintain the fragile peace ofXCOM: Chimera Squad is a turn-based tactical video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K Games as part of the XCOM series. It is set as a sequel to XCOM 2: War of the Chosen, after a tenuous peace accord between warring human and alien forces has been achieved. The player controls a mixed squad of human and alien special forces soldiers that help maintain the fragile peace of City 31, an experimental city where humans and aliens are attempting cohabitation. While Chimera Squad follows similar tactical elements of the XCOM series, it introduces new gameplay concepts to accelerate the pace of gameplay. Expand
  8. May 1, 2020
    4
    I do not usually write bad reviews but, I do not understand the change they have made to the game, with that artistic section of cartoons fornite style, this game is easier than its previous ones and does not generate tension in their confrontations since the characters, in principle, you don't lose them forever when they die. The characters are created and configured and there is nothingI do not usually write bad reviews but, I do not understand the change they have made to the game, with that artistic section of cartoons fornite style, this game is easier than its previous ones and does not generate tension in their confrontations since the characters, in principle, you don't lose them forever when they die. The characters are created and configured and there is nothing you can do to modify them. The story is terrible (are aliens now our friends?). In short, it seems that they have simplified and infantilized the game. I do not recommend it. Expand
  9. Apr 28, 2020
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is perhaps the most disappointing game I've played so far in 2020. Unlike XCOM 2, XCOM: CS actually took away many of the good mechanics such as research, squad size and tech upgrades. While the turnbased mechanics and breech mode bring something fresh to the series, they do not make up for the lackluster and repetitive gameplay. The most upsetting part about the game is the actual story with an ending that does nothing to make the game more interesting. In fact the entire plot of the game could be removed and be replaced with Central eating a sandwich and the game's ending would not be effected by it. Enemies are bland and not fleshed out, the three enemy factions, while hosting a unique enemy variety, do not have much purpose behind them and have no story behind them. The final boss, Atlas/Sovereign, is barely touched upon when you finally encounter him. Atlas not only has no character but he barely has a presence in the story, despite him and his mercenary squad playing a pivotal role in the game.

    TLDR: The game can be fun to play and the new breech mechanics do make the game unique in its own rights. The game's plot/story is lackluster at best and the enemies have no impact. Many fun mechanics from XCOM 2 were taken away. If you got the game for $10 then go ahead and play it. It's not worth more than that.
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  10. May 5, 2020
    4
    Dont mind me, game is good, but not what we need. I don't sympathize to this new world, to characters. I dont feel tension as in XCOM 2 or Phoenix point. I dont feel any connections between me and characters. Please make new game more like Phoenix point do or Gears tactics, but with all things from XCOM like globe, tension, dispare, Evolution, Base managment. Thats just all this genre needs.
  11. May 21, 2020
    4
    This is not an X-Com game. Period.
    They should have made another game title for this, everything except X-Com, because all the feature that X-Com had were stripped down or distorted to te point you feel like playing a totally different product:
    -NO soldier customization -BAD choice of interface and ingame color -UNINSPIRED story that push you to see the aliens as innocent bystander,
    This is not an X-Com game. Period.
    They should have made another game title for this, everything except X-Com, because all the feature that X-Com had were stripped down or distorted to te point you feel like playing a totally different product:
    -NO soldier customization
    -BAD choice of interface and ingame color
    -UNINSPIRED story that push you to see the aliens as innocent bystander, except you kill those same aliens when it come to forward your agenda.
    -REPETITIVE gameplay.
    -APPALLING and uncharismatic character you're forced to play with.

    They say it's a spin-off for a new X-Com serie: i surely won't buy it.
    The say it's a spin
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  12. Apr 28, 2020
    3
    FORGET THIS GAME AND BUY GEARS TACTICS INSTEAD that Microsoft strategy game is much better than Xcom Chimera !! This is not XCOM should be renamed to "Alien Nation police" or something like that. Where to start from the stupid cringy dialogues, the cartoony characters (even the aliens talk exactly like humans) all maps are small, if 1 soldier dies you lose the game, you almost do the sameFORGET THIS GAME AND BUY GEARS TACTICS INSTEAD that Microsoft strategy game is much better than Xcom Chimera !! This is not XCOM should be renamed to "Alien Nation police" or something like that. Where to start from the stupid cringy dialogues, the cartoony characters (even the aliens talk exactly like humans) all maps are small, if 1 soldier dies you lose the game, you almost do the same missions over and over again and plenty of weird glitches and bugs. I hope XCOM 3 is not as bad as this... Expand
  13. May 13, 2020
    3
    incomplete buggy game with short game play :( sadly.
    Would have been nice if they could have more in depth strategy and base building and story and not have such a short half-assed game with truncated short missions .. not to mention taking control away from the players on multiple aspect of the game.
    Like another guy said .. it is like a dumb-down, scaled down, simplistic, mobile
    incomplete buggy game with short game play :( sadly.
    Would have been nice if they could have more in depth strategy and base building and story and not have such a short half-assed game with truncated short missions .. not to mention taking control away from the players on multiple aspect of the game.

    Like another guy said .. it is like a dumb-down, scaled down, simplistic, mobile game version.
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  14. Apr 28, 2020
    3
    Huge fan of XCOM 2; You will be disappointed, or worst, with this "spin-off". Gameplay is extremely repetitive; map are ridiculously small which negate 90% of tactics and strategy you normally have in an Xcom game. Characters are childish and flavorless and if one dies; you lose the game. The small maps makes the game EXTREMELY hard (basically; 1 grenade will always kill 1-2 of yourHuge fan of XCOM 2; You will be disappointed, or worst, with this "spin-off". Gameplay is extremely repetitive; map are ridiculously small which negate 90% of tactics and strategy you normally have in an Xcom game. Characters are childish and flavorless and if one dies; you lose the game. The small maps makes the game EXTREMELY hard (basically; 1 grenade will always kill 1-2 of your characters); even in XCOM standard and since you cannot lose even 1 character; I found myself restarting some encounters 1-2-5 times... So you will savescum A LOT.
    Storywise, I... I dont even know since I couldnt care, nor stand, to listen to the poorly written & acted dialogue.
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  15. May 18, 2020
    3
    The positives:

    + Smooth and solid gameplay, short rounds, you can play this game for half an hour at a time. + For the price, you get a decent deal in gameplay quality. The negatives: - Boring as hell after a few hours. 95% of the missions feel the same, breach here, shoot them, rinse and repeat. except some late faction missions. - "Epic" weapons are a joke, the added
    The positives:

    + Smooth and solid gameplay, short rounds, you can play this game for half an hour at a time.

    + For the price, you get a decent deal in gameplay quality.

    The negatives:

    - Boring as hell after a few hours. 95% of the missions feel the same, breach here, shoot them, rinse and repeat. except some late faction missions.

    - "Epic" weapons are a joke, the added bonuses don't even improve the basic dmg, you only get a different skin.

    - Upgrades trough the armory or purchased feel worthless.

    - Personally, i don't like the new time-slot combat order system. takes away a lot of tactical thinking.

    - Painful and too obvious "woke" ideology being displayed, i try not to pay attention to those sort of things and just play a game, but after a while i smelled the stench of positive discrimination (which is still discrimination, only more subversive) oozing out of this game.

    - And my biggest gripe: The whole atmosphere feels childish and cringeworthy, the so-called banter between your X-COM personnel is so horrible that, in a way, i wish that i could grab a shotgun and, with 99% accuracy, unload it on their faces (and probably miss).
    The 3D style is too cartoony, and the 2D "art" work looks like it's been drawn by a toddler in MS paint.

    This is meant to be an X-COM lite with a small price-tag, sure enough, but for me it feels like i'm playing a **** mobile phone game on a PC.
    I hope the developers and publishers realise what a shame this is on the X-COM franchise.

    3/10
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  16. May 22, 2020
    3
    Even worse than previous remakes, bleh. Many mechanics got cut. You cant build, you cant sell stuff, research tree got cut - you can research the best armor literally in 2 steps. You can capture aliens, but this gives you nothing but some points. Remember how hard and rewarding it was to capture Eternal guy? Missions are quite the same, there are no "terror" or "alien base" type missions.Even worse than previous remakes, bleh. Many mechanics got cut. You cant build, you cant sell stuff, research tree got cut - you can research the best armor literally in 2 steps. You can capture aliens, but this gives you nothing but some points. Remember how hard and rewarding it was to capture Eternal guy? Missions are quite the same, there are no "terror" or "alien base" type missions. There are some intresting abilities combinations, but other that that all characters looks the same, even blant chitchat between missions cant help it. 3 of 10 at best. Expand
  17. Apr 27, 2020
    3
    Seems almost everything these days has been whacked with the woke stick. Guess I should not be surprised that games are getting a "make over" too.

    This is diversity loving, inclusive huggie XCom where people have made peace with the mean old aliens and now have coffee and do lunch with them. Its all sooo nice the world has turned pink and a nice lady called "mother" runs the show. If
    Seems almost everything these days has been whacked with the woke stick. Guess I should not be surprised that games are getting a "make over" too.

    This is diversity loving, inclusive huggie XCom where people have made peace with the mean old aliens and now have coffee and do lunch with them. Its all sooo nice the world has turned pink and a nice lady called "mother" runs the show.

    If that sounds horrible to you, you are not alone. What I liked about XCom was its cold edge, the sense that this was as much as horror as a sci fi game where you faced off against a menacing unrelenting other. This for me is like taking the creature from Aliens and dressing it in a pink floppy hat whilst sharing a margarita with it.

    Yuck. 3/10.
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  18. Apr 29, 2020
    3
    First I want to say that this game isn't bad, it's a decent game, with working and tested methanics in known universe and is quite lengthy. Now to bad stuff... The game is overly repetitive. It's so bad that after just 4 hours I didn't want to start the game anymore. There are balancing issues, where some of your units are becoming super soldiers. The fact that the maps are now extremelyFirst I want to say that this game isn't bad, it's a decent game, with working and tested methanics in known universe and is quite lengthy. Now to bad stuff... The game is overly repetitive. It's so bad that after just 4 hours I didn't want to start the game anymore. There are balancing issues, where some of your units are becoming super soldiers. The fact that the maps are now extremely smalls, the came lost its tactical aspect and the fights are taking 5-10 minutes. Even with those small maps, the games occasionally having issues in top hardware. Each fight starts the same with the new mechanic, which is interesting few dozen times, however gets annoying afterwards. Attempt and failure of making character driven story (or story in general) For the price they are asking, the game is solid 6 out of 10 (if not the very bad part) Very bad stuff: (also minor spoiler) The game is full of LGBT messages, which has no business in video games and especially in xcom universe. Males are in squad quite weaker, just because. The main "bad guy" is of course white male, with no story nor reasons nor plan. Aliens which were originally genderless, now have **** for some reason?! I am honestly afraid for xcom series and civ, if this is the direction they want to go. Now about the game play: everything shows that this game was originally designed for mobile platform, from small maps and very short encounters. However (I assume it haze something to do with release of gears tactics or the fact that they didn't managed to optimized it for mobile) it was quickly reworked for pc. Which explains also low price and poor optimization. I personally am against rushed projects, since they are usually anti customer. Expand
  19. Nov 29, 2022
    3
    Ne şimdi, bu ne yani???????????????????????????????????????????????????????
  20. Apr 29, 2020
    3
    “Heroes never die!” I mean seriously, is this a really tactic about war and battle scenes or some childish girl daydreaming story? But even it’s story is boring as hell. Characters remind dull dolls with nearly no personality and backstory, and you can’t even find anyone to personalise yourself with. I have no idea who is this game made for, but I can tell that official reviewers had been“Heroes never die!” I mean seriously, is this a really tactic about war and battle scenes or some childish girl daydreaming story? But even it’s story is boring as hell. Characters remind dull dolls with nearly no personality and backstory, and you can’t even find anyone to personalise yourself with. I have no idea who is this game made for, but I can tell that official reviewers had been paid or threatened to write their extremely positive opinion Expand
  21. Jul 26, 2020
    3
    XCOM: CHIMERA SQUAD really disappointed me. Instead of a large map in a mission of 1-2 rooms. Everything is very simplistic. More like a mobile game. Some kind of budget version of XCOM.
  22. Apr 26, 2020
    3
    Maybe it's only me but, all the X-Com, UFO games were for me about being a part of my own story. Customizing my character and all the team as my closest friends so I would care about each of them and want to keep them alive.
    When an alien or one of the main characters from Chimera fells down ... I just can't care less.
    That's just subjective opinion but lack of customization killed it
    Maybe it's only me but, all the X-Com, UFO games were for me about being a part of my own story. Customizing my character and all the team as my closest friends so I would care about each of them and want to keep them alive.
    When an alien or one of the main characters from Chimera fells down ... I just can't care less.

    That's just subjective opinion but lack of customization killed it for me.
    I hope they will release mod/addon whatever (even without this story mode which I don't care about) where I will be able to play missions as it used to be and make my own personalized team.
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  23. May 6, 2020
    3
    HUGE fan of Xcom 1 & 2. Have no idea why they released this game for PC - it is visible that this is meant to be a mobile game for phones and tablets. Breach mechanic is ok, but gets boring when doing it every mission. The timeline mechanic can be heavily abused - you can give like 3-4 actions to one squad member + the 2-3 actions that he/she already have + the free actions like grenadesHUGE fan of Xcom 1 & 2. Have no idea why they released this game for PC - it is visible that this is meant to be a mobile game for phones and tablets. Breach mechanic is ok, but gets boring when doing it every mission. The timeline mechanic can be heavily abused - you can give like 3-4 actions to one squad member + the 2-3 actions that he/she already have + the free actions like grenades and items. The comic book animations, voice acting, characters could be much, much better. Even don`t want to mention the bugs - needed to activate the console to continue my game. Yes, I know that this game was 10 euros/dollars at launch, but please don`t tell me that this childish, cartoony, colorful thing they call Chimera Squad is the future of Xcom ... Expand
  24. Nov 22, 2020
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Game không đán chơi, không thể thêm lính, hoạt hình quá nhiều, không được lựa chọn như xcom and xcom 2 Expand
  25. Apr 24, 2020
    2
    I was suprised this game was so mediocre, being made by the legendary Firaxis. The first thing that struck me which I found jarring was the dialogue, it's just so corny, with the banter between sqaud mates being really corny, with jokes landing flat. The tutorial was so boring I didn't even bother with the game. Introducing you to a small amount of game mechanics shouldn't be that dull.I was suprised this game was so mediocre, being made by the legendary Firaxis. The first thing that struck me which I found jarring was the dialogue, it's just so corny, with the banter between sqaud mates being really corny, with jokes landing flat. The tutorial was so boring I didn't even bother with the game. Introducing you to a small amount of game mechanics shouldn't be that dull. The 'turn' queue doesn't work for me with this title. It makes battles way too predictable. I can't help thinking this title is just a convenient cash cow that they didn't have to make too much effort on. Surely a new title in the xcom universe should be rivalling or surpassing the last one, not be a step backwards. Refunded this after 20mins and went back to War of the Chosen. Expand
  26. Apr 27, 2020
    2
    Firaxis developers have sold themselves to politicians, they disgrace the great franchise.
    Firaxis and 2k games are ashamed.
    -1 loyal customer
  27. Apr 27, 2020
    2
    It's just... i don't know what to say. It's worst game of this series. Just don't spend your money for this sh*et
  28. Apr 27, 2020
    2
    First and foremost, the amount of bugs this game has, it really feels unfinished and unpolished.

    It's really, really boring. There's not a lot of strategic options, so every encounter is pretty much the same routine due to lack of strategic potential. Some characters are so much more rich and interesting than others, really unbalanced. Cover doesn't mean a thing in this game. The
    First and foremost, the amount of bugs this game has, it really feels unfinished and unpolished.

    It's really, really boring. There's not a lot of strategic options, so every encounter is pretty much the same routine due to lack of strategic potential. Some characters are so much more rich and interesting than others, really unbalanced.

    Cover doesn't mean a thing in this game.

    The assembly projects are really weird, you just upgrade crappy material instead of getting interesting stuff. It feels they were really lazy.

    The lack of customization is insulting. No character development, at all. Everyone is either black or an alien. Quite the racial balance there.

    Don't buy this game, play XCOM 2: Long War 2 instead.
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  29. May 8, 2020
    2
    Firaxis - who has allowed xcom to be pushed in this stupid direction?! You are one of the only studios that make serious tactical games, why the hell would your long time customer base (played xcom before firaxis 20 odd years and counting) want to see your excellent game model deteriorated to bring in teenagers? What the hell? Do not do this again. XCOM 2 / WoTC was a masterpiece. Get backFiraxis - who has allowed xcom to be pushed in this stupid direction?! You are one of the only studios that make serious tactical games, why the hell would your long time customer base (played xcom before firaxis 20 odd years and counting) want to see your excellent game model deteriorated to bring in teenagers? What the hell? Do not do this again. XCOM 2 / WoTC was a masterpiece. Get back to what you are excellent at, let the kids play fortnite. Expand
  30. Apr 29, 2020
    2
    OMG Firaxis what are you doing?! I am very afraid for the future XCOM series.
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 74 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 56 out of 74
  2. Negative: 1 out of 74
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jul 24, 2020
    80
    A small tactical game that plays well and looks good. If you like XCOM and you don´t have a problem with more stereotypical missions and sometimes a bigger role of RNG, you will probably like it. [Issue#304]
  2. CD-Action
    Jun 25, 2020
    85
    It’s a fantastic, albeit rushed, XCOM for beginners. And a whole lot of freshness in the franchise. [07/2020, p.43]
  3. Jun 22, 2020
    65
    I do not regret the time I spent playing Chimera Squad, but it’s a definite downgrade compared to the excellent XCOM 2: War of the Chosen.