XCOM: Chimera Squad

 PC
User Score
4.8

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 326 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 96 out of 326
  2. Mixed: 75 out of 326
  3. Negative: 155 out of 326

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  1. Cleomer
    Apr 25, 2020
    5
    It's a reasonably fun Xcom game, but the off-game political propaganda is a little too strong to ignore. Yet another game company that is more worried about lecturing us than entertaining us.
  2. Lamp
    Feb 7, 2021
    6
    Horrible, cheesy, Archer knockoff characters; obfuscated mechanics (like how much dmg does the burning status effect do?); clumsy UI; underdeveloped breach mechanic and base activities like the market. Crashes occasionally (often as the game tries to introduce reinforcements), but autosaves make that only a minor annoyance. Combat is serviceable.

    $10 is a fair price.
  3. AJCk19
    Jun 25, 2022
    5
    This is their 2nd time experimenting, within the newly rebooted series. But I rather just wait for the Xcom 3. Or just replay Xcom and Xcom2 with their associated expansions.

    It was worth trying and I guess they got to test out some new features, but never again will I play this.
  4. Tomle1202
    Jul 31, 2022
    7
    The watered-down XCOM formula still works in Chimera Squad, but it is watered-down nonetheless.
  5. Bwnez0
    Aug 3, 2020
    5
    Never got around to finishing it and don’t intend to. I’d rather they just didn’t make this and invested more money into an eventual xcom 3 since xcom 2 and its expansion were so incredible. This is a decline in terms of gameplay though it does run quite smoothly compared to previous entries in the series.
  6. wiski
    Apr 26, 2020
    5
    It feels like a stripped down version of XCOM 2: War of the Chosen, which I guess is okay for the price, but my main gripe is that instead of feeling like I'm leading a badass squad of special agents into combat, the voices and writing make me feel like I'm leading a group of smart-ass college kids out to see who can make the best quips.

    The feel of this game is more Saturday morning    It feels like a stripped down version of XCOM 2: War of the Chosen, which I guess is okay for the price, but my main gripe is that instead of feeling like I'm leading a badass squad of special agents into combat, the voices and writing make me feel like I'm leading a group of smart-ass college kids out to see who can make the best quips.

    The feel of this game is more Saturday morning cartoon than intense tactical shooter partially because of it. The artwork used for character portraits, dialogue scenes and cutscenes also looks kind of low budget and I think it would have been better to just use the in-game character models, which look much better. The first thing it brought to mind was 'Battleborn' with it's janky looking intro video and artwork, honestly. (just as far as the art style goes)

    For the current sale price of $10 US I guess it's okay if you turn off the voices, but if you're looking for XCOM action similar to XCOM 2 or War of the Chosen, this ain't it.    … Expand
  7. Babutto
    May 11, 2020
    5
    Pros.:
    - all characters are unique with unique abilities;
    - the system of the breach is quite good at the very beginning (something new); - the concept "if you lose a character, you're done". Cons.: - it quickly becomes boring; - the storyline is simple and predictable; - too long to do all the training and research; - breach becomes ridiculous closer to the end; - useless    Pros.:
    - all characters are unique with unique abilities;
    - the system of the breach is quite good at the very beginning (something new);
    - the concept "if you lose a character, you're done".

    Cons.:
    - it quickly becomes boring;
    - the storyline is simple and predictable;
    - too long to do all the training and research;
    - breach becomes ridiculous closer to the end;
    - useless drones.

    I don't understand. When you play the old original X-Com, you try to kill everyone with precision. You may hurt your own squad member. You like the world because you do the research, read about each species, ships, research the new ships and missiles.

    Why couldn't they include more research, real investigations, interrogations here with the proper characteristics and buffs from the characters? Why couldn't they include reinforcement during critical missions? This game seems very underdeveloped.    … Expand
  8. FlyingCavetroll
    May 6, 2020
    5
    I bought the game for 10 bucks. And it's probably worth exactly that.

    Everything feels so extremely low budget. The best things in this game already existed and are ripped from XCOM 2. The good: - The basic tactical gameplay, feels like a miniature version of XCOM 2 - The idea of a diverse police unit in a city with many different species itself was pretty decent. - The breach    I bought the game for 10 bucks. And it's probably worth exactly that.

    Everything feels so extremely low budget. The best things in this game already existed and are ripped from XCOM 2.

    The good:
    - The basic tactical gameplay, feels like a miniature version of XCOM 2

    - The idea of a diverse police unit in a city with many different species itself was pretty decent.

    - The breach mode looks and feels awesome.

    The bad:
    - The character design is just so cringe worthy. The writers tried to make them sound cool but actually made them look like a bunch of useless fools. Seriously, it's like a 10 year old wrote the dialogues. Or in short: the exact **** you would expect from SJWs I was glad that I found a few modded agents to replace the vanilla ones. They looked better, had a better background story and didn't talk. Also the backup robot has more personality than the vanilla characters combined.

    - The story writing is just cheap. It's like they ran out of money halfway in the development. The main villain doesn't get explained at all.

    - The voice acting is on par with the bad writing. Remember the hulking meat mountains that were the mutons in XCOM 2? You would expect them to have a impressive voice right? Here in this game they sound like pre puberty teenagers. I'm not kidding. Same applies to the other aliens.

    - The forced diversity makes everything hard to believe and destroys the immersion. Sure, the aliens were in a way also victims of the elders. But if a average human thinks back at the occupation he would definetly see an alien face. Racism, prejudice and deep rooted hate would be part of everydays life. Instead there is no such thing at all. All aliens are completely integrated in the society with no one even batting an eye. They even lack a own language, culture or at least speech pattern.

    - A severe lack of customization. You can change the main clothing color of your agents and that's it. No different armor parts or looks and even your god damn guns won't change appearance with additional attachments. In XCOM 2 one of the main incentives was the total customization of your soldiers. You could change their looks, nationality, voice, gender and armor. Here you have jack****. They couldn't even just rip the system from the old game.

    - Only 3 game modes. Breach the wall/door and kill/arrest eevryone. Escort/Bust out a VIP. Go in and secure evidence. No real hostage situations where you have to act under a time limit or stealth missions. It gets repetitive really fast.

    - They must have fired many of the programmers. The game runs instable and crashes fairly often. I can't even see the end of the credits since the game crashes before I get there.

    If this game would have a good story but bad game mechanics it would be redeemable with mods. If it had a terrible story but good gameplay then you could fix it with some serious customization of your characters. But this game has neither. It's a repetetive game, with bad writing and no customization options at all. I would give it a 4.5 if Metacriic would allow half points.

    Keep the damn SJWs away from our beloved franchises. Put in more thought in the game and try to fix the biggest technical issues. In it's current state I wouldn't recommend anyone to pay 15 or 20 bucks for this.

    If you are interested in trying it out yourself, then wait until the game is on sale again and until there are more mods available to make the experience somewhat interesting.    … Expand
  9. bancandrei
    May 9, 2021
    5
    I see a lot of people complaining how they changed the feel of the series. I am not an XCOM fan, so for me it is a pretty good tactics game. However it tends to get a bit repetitive. And it has some mobile game mechanics, but none of the UI cleanliness or the addictiveness. The rating would be higher if they went all in, in any direction.
  10. macbodziak
    May 1, 2020
    6
    This is a nice game for fans of XCOM like games, but do not expect it to be the next milestone in the genre.

    PRO: cover fire now covers only a certain sector, which requires you to plan more tactically, and is more realistic. The game features a full length campaign. Considering the low price, it is actually a pretty good deal and I was positively surprised. The new turn system is an    This is a nice game for fans of XCOM like games, but do not expect it to be the next milestone in the genre.

    PRO:
    cover fire now covers only a certain sector, which requires you to plan more tactically, and is more realistic.
    The game features a full length campaign. Considering the low price, it is actually a pretty good deal and I was positively surprised.
    The new turn system is an interesting approach, not better, not worse, but it is something new.

    CONS:
    The game has so many bugs of different magnitude. After a certain point I wasn't sure if something is a feature or a bug, seriously.
    The difficulty curve is not well balanced. In the beginning the game was really a challenge, but once your characters level up, you acquire new gear and learn how to play, the game is just to easy. I have played on hard, and switched latter to impossibly, and yet it was not a real challenge. After a while I just found myself grinding to the end of the game. To be fair, the final fight on impossible difficulty was a challenge, but overall the game was to easy.
    There is no permadeath in this game, so you do not feel the same pressure and and sense of risk when playing. If one of your characters dies, you just have to replay the mission. It defeats the purpose of ironman mode, which I found very rewarding when playing XCOM 2.
    In general i felt like this game is a simplified and shallow version of XCOM 2, you get into the action right away on pretty small maps, there is no strategic placing of your characters, the cover and placement of your soldiers doesn't really play such a role as it did in XCOM. I have also found, that the maps repeat itself, so much for procedural generated levels.    … Expand
  11. EmMortull
    May 17, 2020
    5
    Точная копия XCOM2 в другой обертке.
    Новых механик нет;
    Новых моделей крайне мало. Почти что нет; Нового вооружения нет; Отсутствие приемлемой кастомизации - есть; Старый движок - есть; Баги - есть; Промахи по противнику в упор - есть; Желание 2К срубить денег на достойной франшизе сильно не утруждаясь - есть. Это вполне мог бы быть аддон к XCOM2 после окончания оригинального    Точная копия XCOM2 в другой обертке.
    Новых механик нет;
    Новых моделей крайне мало. Почти что нет;
    Нового вооружения нет;

    Отсутствие приемлемой кастомизации - есть;
    Старый движок - есть;
    Баги - есть;
    Промахи по противнику в упор - есть;
    Желание 2К срубить денег на достойной франшизе сильно не утруждаясь - есть.

    Это вполне мог бы быть аддон к XCOM2 после окончания оригинального сюжета, но 2К захотели срубить денег по быстрому и поэтому втюхивают нам это как полноценную игру. А это оказался тот же XCOM2    … Expand
  12. LordTiger
    Apr 29, 2020
    6
    XCOM:Chimera Squad is a small sequel to XCOM 2 and its just 10$ so don't expect a game like XCOM 2 .
    Gameplay is very rudimentary and simple but its pretty amusing and it can get addicting after a while u play. I know many video games are broken at launch but unfortunately this game was horribly buggy and crashed almost every 30 min so i verified game files and 53 files were missing!!!    XCOM:Chimera Squad is a small sequel to XCOM 2 and its just 10$ so don't expect a game like XCOM 2 .
    Gameplay is very rudimentary and simple but its pretty amusing and it can get addicting after a while u play. I know many video games are broken at launch but unfortunately this game was horribly buggy and crashed almost every 30 min so i verified game files and 53 files were missing!!! anyway it fixed some issues and i finished the game 2 times to unlock all 11 squad Members.    … Expand
  13. greenisgood
    Nov 8, 2020
    6
    TL;DR - Keeping in mind the low production budget of Chimera Squad, at the time I purchased it at 9.99 this title is an adequate experience albeit with a few Majorly confusing design choices. Apparently it is now 19.99 so if you have never played XCOM in your life it's best to skip Chimera Squad and buy the XCOM and XCOM 2 games along with the DLC for both of them which are better firstTL;DR - Keeping in mind the low production budget of Chimera Squad, at the time I purchased it at 9.99 this title is an adequate experience albeit with a few Majorly confusing design choices. Apparently it is now 19.99 so if you have never played XCOM in your life it's best to skip Chimera Squad and buy the XCOM and XCOM 2 games along with the DLC for both of them which are better first experiences of far more intense, engaging and rewarding game-play than Chimera Squad ever manages to be.

    The Good -
    Breach mode was an interesting and fun addition to the new XCOM style of play since 2012; breaching charges, scanners, cease fire options were all fun tactics that remained fresh till the end. My initial reaction to not being able to create my own characters were quickly offset with the characters given for the campaign, there was one of every type which formed a well rounded team for the encounters with additional training options unlocking or upgrading skills.
    Aliens and Humans co-operating is an amazing sci-fi concept brought to the game successfully keeping the overall feel of the setting the game is based in fun bordering on cringe but not crossing the line.
    Unique weapons were a good addition to offset the traditional and annoyingly fun XCOM RNG shot percentages.

    The Bad -
    Many decisions regarding the game mechanics were baffling and downright hurts the experience of Chimera Squad.
    Game balance, mostly useless supply shop, fixed number of agent slots from start to finish, small repetitive maps, directional overwatch, change from team turn based to player turn based and a few more.
    These small things start building up fast considering the short length of the game and by the end they start making the game tedious without that traditional lurking fear of what is around the next corner that the XCOM games successfully incite.
    The experience of the encounters vary wildly from the two extremes of stupidly easy ending within 5 - 8 min or stupidly easy but against an annoying number of enemies that you start getting bored of staying in the same room for 15 min, excluding the gate-keeper fight that literally drove me up the wall in fear, excitement and XCOM RNG rage/fun.
    Strangely another important aspect of Movement was not focused on in this Spinoff since I spent more than 95% of my mission in the same spot after the breach till the end of the encounter, enemy numbers and small maps kept me from wanting to move around to escape from or get to better vantage points.
    The player turn based over the team turn based also really takes out a big chunk of the experience of XCOM since fun little tactics like setting up a kill box, overwatch wipes, chasing a hidden enemy, searching the map for that last a-hole skittering around in the shadows all integral and addictive parts of the missions.

    Overall like I said at the current bargain price it is an alright experience for a Spin-off and gave a little scratch to my XCOM itch but it was unsatisfying and probably makes me crave for the whole experience even more so equivalent of being blue balled after a really good but slightly underwhelming tease.
    XCOM 3 needs to get here soon.    … Expand
  14. spadePerfect
    Apr 26, 2020
    7
    I don't think this game should be judged by changing up the XCOM formular because it is a spin-off.
    Breaking up the formula meaning:
    - No more perma death. A unit dies, you restart the mission. - No custom characters. All units are predetermined and named along with a skill-tree, classes and biographies. - More dynamic turn based gameplay: no longer do you and the enemy take turns    I don't think this game should be judged by changing up the XCOM formular because it is a spin-off.
    Breaking up the formula meaning:
    - No more perma death. A unit dies, you restart the mission.
    - No custom characters. All units are predetermined and named along with a skill-tree, classes and biographies.
    - More dynamic turn based gameplay: no longer do you and the enemy take turns after each other, but all units are assigned to individual spots in an overall timeline.

    These aren't issues for me personally but I can see why people are against these approaches.
    It's happened many times that classic, hardcore franchises have been watered down to appeal to a wider audience and lose some of their most interesting selling points in order to make more money.

    As for Chimera Squad, I think the changes fit the game very well. It is not supposed to be XCOM 3, and it is not full price. At the time of this review the game is still on sale for 9,99 instead of 19,99 on Steam, which is an amazing price, in my opinion.

    Everything in XCOM Chimera Squad is scaled down: smaller maps, shorter missions, smaller squads, less customization, overall less content.
    But not necessarily in a bad way. I really like the new Breach mechanics, giving you a fresh start 2-3 times in missions and giving you unique options to approach the situations. I really hope this feature makes it into special missions in XCOM 3 because it really adds to the "Special Operations" feeling.

    The city map is really confusing at first but you get used to it once you realize you don't really have as many options as you think.
    The units all have different abilities which I find refreshing. I've gotten so used to the classes in XCOM 2 that each unit having multiple unique abilities is really interesting to me.
    In general, playable aliens are great! It feels damn good to finally have your own Viper do a "Doge: grazed". How you like that, alien scum??

    Although I really enjoy the game as a small version of XCOM, I can't believe the games technical state.
    XCOM 2, which is 90% of this games mechanics, assets etc., released in February 2016.
    Yet we still get units looking in random directions, shooting through walls, turns taking minutes to load or not load at all - forcing you to load an older save. The game hard-crashed 2 times in ~12 hours of playtime. Sometimes the timeline is also messed up by unique abilities, not showing the correct turn order etc etc.

    The game is fun and all. But it's a joke we still have to put up with launch issues from a 4 year old game in this newer release.
    If you can't wait for XCOM 3, this is the way to go. But do expect to be annoyed with its bugs and glitches, as sadly with all major XCOM releases in the past years.    … Expand
  15. TotalyNormalGuy
    Apr 29, 2020
    6
    The game is ok. Don't expect X-COM 3. It is a spinoff that is worth the 10 bucks I paid for it. Combat is kind of dumbed down, but unique and acceptable.
  16. larfenix
    Apr 27, 2020
    6
    Este xcom no es malo tiene una historia interesante y novedades en el sistema de combate, abruma al principio sobre todo si vienes de los anteriores pero bajo mi punto de vista le han quitado lo que le hacía único, la creación de personajes, aquí todos los personajes vienen ya creados con lo que lo convierte en otro juego con historia y sistema de juego de xcom, ya no podrás crear tusEste xcom no es malo tiene una historia interesante y novedades en el sistema de combate, abruma al principio sobre todo si vienes de los anteriores pero bajo mi punto de vista le han quitado lo que le hacía único, la creación de personajes, aquí todos los personajes vienen ya creados con lo que lo convierte en otro juego con historia y sistema de juego de xcom, ya no podrás crear tus personajes y crear tus historias paralelas al argumento, ni sufrir la muerte de uno de tus personajes queridos. Creo que eso lo hacía único y ya no lo es, es un buen juego pero a perdido su esencia.… Expand
  17. Turulo
    Apr 26, 2020
    7
    The game is very good for it's price, I don't care for the story it's like a cheap comic spin off.

    The main problem in this game is the UI, it's god awful. The [Accept] and [Cancel] buttons are inverted (like in linux) which seems silly but is extremely annoying. Most of the stuff you have to deal with is unintelligible by reading the descriptions and sometimes you don't even get    The game is very good for it's price, I don't care for the story it's like a cheap comic spin off.

    The main problem in this game is the UI, it's god awful. The [Accept] and [Cancel] buttons are inverted (like in linux) which seems silly but is extremely annoying. Most of the stuff you have to deal with is unintelligible by reading the descriptions and sometimes you don't even get descriptions but just an icon.

    The beginning as always is difficult because you don't have any choice as you don't have any spare resources to actually decide anything. In the regular XCOM at least you can chose your soldiers but here we get 4 and you have to suck it up with them for a long time.

    This means that your soldiers won't die because you don't get replacements which is somewhat against the XCOM philosophy since getting your soldiers dead is part of the core of the game.

    Also the combat situations are not as varied as the regular XCOM game.

    So, It's fine as it's very cheap with the steam discount but the limited combat situations and the god awful UI ticks me off.    … Expand
  18. Pr8Dator2
    Apr 28, 2020
    7
    I was hesitant and worried it might feel like a cheap mobile port but in the end, for the cheap amount i paid, i actually had fun.
    What spoiled it for me is, like everyone said, the styling of the game... why are aliens talking like human and having pretty much the same voice and attitude. This feel is just not xcom. It feels not like a real game to me but a tech demo of the 2 features    I was hesitant and worried it might feel like a cheap mobile port but in the end, for the cheap amount i paid, i actually had fun.
    What spoiled it for me is, like everyone said, the styling of the game... why are aliens talking like human and having pretty much the same voice and attitude. This feel is just not xcom. It feels not like a real game to me but a tech demo of the 2 features they might be testing for XCOM3; Breach and timeline. I really do enjoy the 2 features and the timeline made it feel more tactical lile the warhammer mechanicus fel.    … Expand
  19. TheWaffle
    Jun 20, 2020
    7
    Chimera Squad packs good bang for your buck. It's a slimmed down XCOM for a fraction of the price. But it's not very satisfying compared to what I'd hoped out of an XCOM 3. This feels like an elaborate mod of XCOM 2. While the breaching mechanic is ok, it's not really as exciting as setting up your own ambushes in XCOM 2. And you're often taking risks that you don't realize you're taking,Chimera Squad packs good bang for your buck. It's a slimmed down XCOM for a fraction of the price. But it's not very satisfying compared to what I'd hoped out of an XCOM 3. This feels like an elaborate mod of XCOM 2. While the breaching mechanic is ok, it's not really as exciting as setting up your own ambushes in XCOM 2. And you're often taking risks that you don't realize you're taking, like when characters dart for cover after a breach, but end up behind low cover or in an exposed position. It seems like XCOM 2's stealth mechanic would have been perfect for setting up breaches, especially if you're trying to rescue a hostage, but stealth is gone along with most of the base building and character customization. I'm fine with them resetting the scale, after two games with world-ending consequences setting your sights on a city and maintaining public safety is a nice reset. But even though the missions are much shorter and smaller now, there isn't a ton of tactical depth. I don't hate Chimera Squad, but I don't really love it.… Expand
  20. SilverOrlov
    Jul 2, 2020
    6
    [Good] Juicy visual effects and sound. Pleasant music during battles. Interesting idea of alien cohabitation with humans and cooperation of them in one military/security force.
    [Normal] Unique agents - making all agents with their unique personality is a good idea, but making because of that "death drama" irrelevant for the game is a bad idea. In past games, this worked well, in this you    [Good] Juicy visual effects and sound. Pleasant music during battles. Interesting idea of alien cohabitation with humans and cooperation of them in one military/security force.
    [Normal] Unique agents - making all agents with their unique personality is a good idea, but making because of that "death drama" irrelevant for the game is a bad idea. In past games, this worked well, in this you do not compete with any of these personalities as you were upset with the deaths of ordinary soldiers in the past games. You by yourself endowed the personality of those of your comrades-in-arms ...Jokes: They are... childish. Not very bad or stupid but looks like taken from some third-rate american series about "police friend's-family squad". It's not the level of such serious theme like X-COM. Skills: Half of them are useless trash, the second half useful and interesting only from 3/4 of the game.
    [Bad] Art style - static comic with glamorous and glossy pictures(Muton with silicone lips and an ordinary male voice, wtf?) ...Sequence of moves: I think it is a disaster. What worked in games like Heroes of Might and Magic, didn't worked here. If it was bigger rooms or open zones for movements, maybe, but Chimera Squad - is a "Jar of spiders" because of the size of battle zones, this is not a tactics, and that's why wild sequence of moves doesn't work here.
    I really didn't like that I couldn't have opportunity to turn off auto-saves, I don't like that mess they do in save/load menu.
    Lots of minor annoying bugs. No... LOTS! of minor annoying bugs.
    [The same as in other parts]
    The motto of the whole series is Stupid and blind chance's random of hits. Honestly I like the idea, but after the finished experience with the first original game and 2nd one in 2016, you can already more responsibly approach this issue. Take into account any context in that percentage, because it is very stupid when the shotgun shoots close in a huge berserk body that stands still with a 80% chance but miss!!! ...And it is very stupid when you stand near the alien and put the rifle into it's face, and receive 60%... 50%... even 40%?!
    Choosing a path through bad cells... Do you understand me, don't you? When agent need to run through window/fire/poison/etc... through tables, computers, cars, enemies... just to get to the next corner.
    And the last: Everlasting Spam Reinforcements... that was the brain/heart/soul pain. I hate that part of the game. For me, half of tactics died with that "enemy spam". You plan how to kill the group of enemy and the next comes... and next... and next. Fuuuu...
    [The result] I can say that in some ways this game was interesting, but overwhelmingly it was an unsuccessful and bad experiment in everything: style, plot presentation, game-play, bugs. In the X-COM universe, this game for me is like the last season of the "Game of Thrones" ...epic, beautiful, but stupidly done due to the incompetence of the creators and inept attempts to make experiments.    … Expand
  21. Fhskjd
    Feb 22, 2022
    6
    The game is just fine and that is about all that can be said about it. It feels weird as an xcom game, I really hope the next one is more like 2 than this one was.
  22. 5unk3n
    Jul 27, 2020
    6
    It is different from the existing XCOM. I felt frustrated with this new turn-based system. but this game released with 50% discount. So XCOM fans can enjoy after story of XCOM2 at a low price.
  23. Turin_18
    Aug 10, 2020
    7
    Me lo esperaba peor, no esta a la altura de la saga xcom, pero si olvidas un poco los dos anteriores no es un mal juego, entretenido, no me arrepiento de su compra.
  24. Gabonius
    Oct 15, 2021
    6
    Good characters differentiation that brings new life to the gameplay, every characters has his own perks that allow you to choose your strategy.
    every other xcom had 4-5 default classes with a poor development through the game.
    Anyway the plot is flat and inconsistent, world-building is far away from the other titles of the series and the quests and the maps are very very similar and monotonous.
  25. apeot2002
    Apr 1, 2021
    5
    X-Com Chimera Squad tries to inject a bit of RPG into X-COM, but it goes too far and not far enough

    X-Com 2 is a great game and one of its greatest strengths is its ability to generate emergent stories within the mind of the player. I suspect that someone at Firaxis had this idea to push the envelope on this aspect of the game, and thus X-COM Chimera Squad was born. The place is City    X-Com Chimera Squad tries to inject a bit of RPG into X-COM, but it goes too far and not far enough

    X-Com 2 is a great game and one of its greatest strengths is its ability to generate emergent stories within the mind of the player. I suspect that someone at Firaxis had this idea to push the envelope on this aspect of the game, and thus X-COM Chimera Squad was born.

    The place is City 31, Earth. The time: A few years after X-COM won the war against the Elders. Humans and leftover aliens have tried to build a new society together, and Chimera Squad is a fully integrated SWAT team tasked with supporting the local police. Naturally, as soon as our team of up to eight plucky special forces rides into the city, the excrement hits the ventilator, and Chimera Squad has to swing the mop.

    The gameplay framework is basically the one from X-COM: There are tactical battles you have to win with a squad of four. Between battles you manage the squad itself, use the three resources you earn to improve the team’s gear and reduce the value of the doom counter, this time called “City Anarchy”, and, given the chance, level up your troops. So far so familiar for the X-COM franchise.

    Unfortunately, all these familiar mechanics are but a shadow of their former selves. The battles take place in smallish, mostly interior maps against almost exclusively humanoid enemies, who are all immediately visible. No more sneaking up on clumps of opposition. There are only two classes of weapons, standard and unique, and the latter ones don’t show until the last third of the game. Class talent trees have lost a level and only offer options on two of those levels. There is no base building. There is no permadeath. No more randomized looks for your troops.

    What’s new is that your troops are no longer voiceless randos wandering in from the street. Each of the eleven agents you can recruit are a fully formed character with voiced lines, a backstory and an individual look. They banter with each other, have unique reaction lines, unique talent trees… all good things.

    Is that enough to make up for the complexity that was lost? Not even close, in my opinion. None of these characters have an arc. Chimera Squad as a whole doesn’t have one, either. So all these interactions are inconsequential fluff. Their individual back stories never come into play. The individual looks are way less distinct than what was possible in the past.

    On top of that, the overarching plot also feels half-assed. Earlier X-COM-Titles offered far more intriguing mysteries. All Chimera Squad has to offer is the classic whodunnit. It doesn’t even offer much of a twist.

    So gameplay is rather lackluster and the story is meh, but I have one more bee in my bonnet
    I have to excise: Graphics. Past Firaxis X-COM games were grim affairs, but they were colorful: Crimson and emerald rays melted green and violet alien flesh, while gorgeous explosions athed the darkened landscapes in gorgeous shades of yellow and orange. So why was someone allowed to dump a metric ton of pink dust over everything. Suddenly the main color scheme is pastel! Who thought that was a good idea?

    I don’t have much more to say. Chimera Squad tried to be an RPG with defined characters and a directed plot while still being X-COM, but it didn’t go far enough, and gave up way too much of it’s X-COM heritage. Skip this one.

    TLDR: Not worth it. Instead of playing this dumbed-down boring derivative, go play X-COM 2 War of the Chosen.    … Expand
  26. eefeef
    Aug 31, 2023
    7
    A good introduction to the XCOM series. For beginners, it removes operations that can make you feel bored or overwhelmed, so you can enjoy easy, fun combat with less depth.
  27. Woolee
    Sep 29, 2021
    7
    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 i
  28. Ect0m0rph
    May 5, 2023
    7
    + Good graphics, easy combat system, fun to play.
    - It gets repetitive and boring pretty fast, very simplified, you have just a few upgrade or research options, small amount of hardware
  29. SashaVestePrada
    Jul 20, 2023
    5
    "Woke!" "LGBT bad" "Too many women!". The problem with those statements is they take their right wing political agenda to things that have nothing to do with the performance of a bad title. It's a bad title for Xcom, nothing to do with politics. For exemple: the alliance with aliens should have a whole game by itself, not be presented in this poor way in our faces. It's poor storytelling"Woke!" "LGBT bad" "Too many women!". The problem with those statements is they take their right wing political agenda to things that have nothing to do with the performance of a bad title. It's a bad title for Xcom, nothing to do with politics. For exemple: the alliance with aliens should have a whole game by itself, not be presented in this poor way in our faces. It's poor storytelling for a franchise, and I won't stand for it, it does't matter if I'm "left leaning", I'll never stand for weak storytelling. Kisses if you think I'm woke or whatever. Analyse things for their merits, every artist has their political "leaning", sometimes you just don't see. Analyse art for art, baby. Gameplay is good, but story is disappointing.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

31
#31 Most Discussed PC Game of 2020

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 74 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 56 out of 74
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 74
  3. 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. Riot Pixels
    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.
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