Xenonauts 2

A slow-burning, but extremely rewarding experience that doesn’t hold back. Xenonauts 2 knows exactly what it wants to be and does it well.

Xenonauts 2 is one of the most interesting and successful attempts to breathe new life into the spirit of the classic UFO/X-COM in a contemporary form. There are games that strive at all costs to be modern. And there are games that simply aim to be really, really good. Xenonauts 2 clearly falls into the latter category.

Xenonauts 2 is a highly competent, albeit unofficial, successor to the original XCOM. Its old-school aesthetic may be an acquired taste, but fans of this niche genre will find a deep and challenging experience, both in base management and in combat, that is highly rewarding and benefits thoughtful tactical thinking.

Xenonauts 2 is a great modern take on the ideas of classic X-COM, made popular, focused on complex systems, solid tactical battles, and an escalating challenge. Players will handle shadowy political influence campaigns, research and manufacturing, base building, aerial interception, and, of course, tactical battles. The game is mechanically sound, tense, and rewards good planning and careful execution. Each turn-based engagement, whether against humans or aliens, is engaging and tense. Xenonauts 2 isn’t accessible or dynamic enough to bring in new fans, but it will satisfy anyone who loved the first X-COM or the Long War mod for modern XCOM.

Xenonauts 2 is filled with complexities and challenges, but the tactical options keeps you on your toes and offers an exciting gameplay loop.

You won't win your first campaign, and you might not even win your fifth. But Xenonauts 2 makes failure fun by gradually revealing enormous depth and rewarding the long game.

Modernizes the original X-COM's challenging tactical battles with a varied campaign and more charm than screenshots will let you know.

As a spiritual successor to the original UFO games, it's excellent; as a full-fledged sequel to Xenonauts 1, however, it's rather disappointing. While it still plays well and offers exploration, combat, construction and management, after 10 years of development, we certainly expected more.

A loving homage to the original X-COM, that’s far more interested in turning up the difficulty than coming up with any new ideas.

Xenonauts 2 is quite impressive in its faithfulness to the oldest form of X-Com. I appreciate how far it goes to capture those old-school vibes, and I can very easily see what Goldhawk Interactive improved upon from the first game. This is a shamelessly difficult alien invasion tactical strategy, where every success or failure rely on careful, timely decisions and a bit of luck. I wish the aircraft game was a better piece of the overall puzzle, but it’s hard to be too sore about that when I’m just outright relieved to get all of my squaddies home in one piece and ready to prep for the next contact.

Even coming short of perfection, you nerds are going to love Xenonauts 2. It lacks the bombast and superpowers of reboot-era XCOM, but it more than compensates with logistical complexity. It may not be sexy, but Xenonauts 2 is a well-designed strategy game, thoughtfully made by a team who knows the genre. And if you are a youngster who missed the 90s? Here’s an approachable piece of video game history given form. Figuring out how to run an old DOS game is a headache. Xenonauts 2 in out and ready for your orders commander.

It has a structure that takes you back to the classic XCOM days, and they've tried to offer an experience as close to its source of inspiration as possible. However, Xenonauts 2 is a game that hasn't fully realized its potential due to some fundamental issues that are still unresolved. Nevertheless, it's worth noting that it's one of the games that fans of the genre should check out.