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. 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.
  2. 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
  3. Lother
    Jun 19, 2023
    1
    You start with two stunning and brave women on the team, one asian, one african-american(don't even know what word is considered "correct" anymore) and a bunch of aliens that act like human simps, not at all like aliens of a different culture would act. The mayor is a woman, your BOSS is a woman. When you fail a mission, your boss says "you did not fail, you did SO well getting there inYou start with two stunning and brave women on the team, one asian, one african-american(don't even know what word is considered "correct" anymore) and a bunch of aliens that act like human simps, not at all like aliens of a different culture would act. The mayor is a woman, your BOSS is a woman. When you fail a mission, your boss says "you did not fail, you did SO well getting there in under 3 hours, I'm PROUD of you". In woke culture, women are never allowed to show weakness or be criticized. Ever.

    Wkeness is ruining our franchises. Stop making wke trash for SJWs who do NOT support the franchises WE do.    … Expand
  4. 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
  5. pcapinheiro
    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.    … Expand
  6. Soullex
    Nov 29, 2022
    3
    Ne şimdi, bu ne yani???????????????????????????????????????????????????????
  7. DasDoktoerchen
    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.    … Expand
  8. Tomle1202
    Jul 31, 2022
    7
    The watered-down XCOM formula still works in Chimera Squad, but it is watered-down nonetheless.
  9. 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.
  10. Wrathzo
    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
  11. 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.
  12. gentlebenno
    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.
  13. ChoicestGames
    Nov 24, 2021
    8
    XCOM: Chimera Squad is a cut-down version of XCOM that does away with permadeath and character customisation to focus on the exploits of an elite counter-terrorism unit investigating the murder of a mayor in a post-ADVENT world. The game could have used more polish and the difficulty spike at the end of the game is infuriating but the addition of Breach Mode, an overhaul to the way turnsXCOM: Chimera Squad is a cut-down version of XCOM that does away with permadeath and character customisation to focus on the exploits of an elite counter-terrorism unit investigating the murder of a mayor in a post-ADVENT world. The game could have used more polish and the difficulty spike at the end of the game is infuriating but the addition of Breach Mode, an overhaul to the way turns work, an awesome soundtrack and a colourful cast of characters are all very welcome. Recommended.… Expand
  14. 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.
  15. xxanderr000
    Oct 9, 2021
    0
    This game is just a woke s**t. I have never seen anything as woke as this steaming pile of s**t.
  16. 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
  17. 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.
  18. 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
  19. Citizenpete
    Feb 15, 2021
    2
    I've been playing the Xcom games since the first one in the nineties, but this one just doesn't work for me. It seems like Firaxis/2K is in desperate need of cash, the game collects and sells an extraordinary amount of telemetry data from players/customers. It seems to be unfinished, because all the time the game gets stuck, stutters or even crashes. The design and style are veryI've been playing the Xcom games since the first one in the nineties, but this one just doesn't work for me. It seems like Firaxis/2K is in desperate need of cash, the game collects and sells an extraordinary amount of telemetry data from players/customers. It seems to be unfinished, because all the time the game gets stuck, stutters or even crashes. The design and style are very youth-oriented, artificial and forcedly progressive. The innovations can't inspire for very long and somehow I miss the real Xcom feeling very quickly. It seems like a project of an ambitious modder. Refund. I would have never thought it, but it just doesn't grab me. A great pity. I hope the (real) third one continues the quality of the predecessors.… Expand
  20. 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.
  21. Jevgenijus
    Jan 27, 2021
    2
    Buggy as hell. Buggs are so seriuos, that makes it impossible to go thourght the game!!
  22. DENNNN13
    Jan 23, 2021
    0
    Stupid sh*t of stupid sh*t. I hope they won't use features from this game in xcom 3.
    Dont buy, Dont play. I regret that bought this sh*t.
  23. Kestranor
    Jan 10, 2021
    9
    I feel like this game does not deserve the hate it gets here. People just cry woke or compare it to an AAA title, then give this game a 0 score just because it features playable aliens or a diverse squad or a different turn system. I have played literally ALL X-COM (and UFO) games in the past, starting from the nineties. I enjoyed the DOS originals, I really enjoy the latest reboot, andI feel like this game does not deserve the hate it gets here. People just cry woke or compare it to an AAA title, then give this game a 0 score just because it features playable aliens or a diverse squad or a different turn system. I have played literally ALL X-COM (and UFO) games in the past, starting from the nineties. I enjoyed the DOS originals, I really enjoy the latest reboot, and played the "After" series and everything in between.
    This game clearly had a different approach in mind, but it was never hidden. All the information is available when people make the purchase, yet it doesn't stop them from **** and moaning that they get something different here. The game delivers exactly what it promises, and for the price, it is a great little tactical game, set within the new X-COM universe. The new turn order is refreshing, as well as the breach system. Agent abilities are varied, and since you can't get them all in one playthrough, there is incentive to replay it using different tactics.
    One of the common points for criticism is it's repetitiveness, which is somewhat valid, however, let's face it. All X-COM games are "repetitive" in nature. There's only so many variants of missions you can play before you've seen it all. However, this game features quick (15-30 mins) in and out encounters, which really makes hopping in and out of it easy. If I played it for 1 month straight, I'd probably be bored. Instead I played it as an off-game for some quick tactical fix, playing through 3-6 missions a day, and it's been fun. It also presents a lighter atmosphere, the characters are enjoyable, the banter is good, there's a lot of lore presented in various forms. Does this make the game woke? Maybe... I usually hate overly forced woke content as well, but I never felt it here. I just enjoyed it for what it is, not comparing it to a full price AAA title, or a full blown x-com game, giving it a chance to show it's vision for a different utopia. I wish more people could do the same.    … Expand
  24. bmt3103
    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. MCmetacritic
    Nov 10, 2020
    0
    To say this game is repetitive would be to say this game is repetitive would be to say this game is repetitive would be to say this game is repetitive would be to say this game is repetitive would be to say this game is repetitive would be to say this game is repetitive would be to say this game is repetitive would be . . . a bit of an understatement.
  26. 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
  27. fallout7050
    Aug 27, 2020
    0
    The game is totally disappointing at first it seems that it can be interesting but there is little that the new mechanics presented before 3 or more Crashes can do caused by the bad idea of ​​putting infinite enemies seriously, who came up with that idea? Not to mention that the Most enemies are generic and they get boring after a while like a continuation of xcom sucks and it shows thatThe game is totally disappointing at first it seems that it can be interesting but there is little that the new mechanics presented before 3 or more Crashes can do caused by the bad idea of ​​putting infinite enemies seriously, who came up with that idea? Not to mention that the Most enemies are generic and they get boring after a while like a continuation of xcom sucks and it shows that they could do something better like what they did with xcom 2 but they did not release an unfinished game and with many errors for me this is the rating the game deserves a 0… Expand
  28. Spectralfire
    Aug 24, 2020
    8
    I enjoyed this game quite a bit. It felt a bit simpler and easier to manage than previous titles. At first I thought I wouldn't like this. I'd assumed this change would cut out too much of the strategy, but on the plus side it actually cuts out having to traverse large terrain areas (where you would leap frog position your units) and surprise random patrolling squads found in XCOM2. II enjoyed this game quite a bit. It felt a bit simpler and easier to manage than previous titles. At first I thought I wouldn't like this. I'd assumed this change would cut out too much of the strategy, but on the plus side it actually cuts out having to traverse large terrain areas (where you would leap frog position your units) and surprise random patrolling squads found in XCOM2. I didn't miss being caught out of position by those roaming squads. The story is more microfocused on a small group as opposed to a larger war. There is variety to be found in the characters' personalities and tool kits. Both story and mechanics have a smaller scope and this is also reflected in the price. It's a solid value at it's price. There are a few bugs that I would have liked to see resolved that prevent me from giving the game a 9, but overall a nice experience.… Expand
  29. 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.
  30. 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.
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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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