Ufo alien invasion vs. xcom7/28/2023 ![]() ![]() Possibly the biggest criticism of Enemy Unknown was that eventually the “regular” missions would start to repeat, and you’d definitely get the same maps now and again. The thing that impressed me most about XCOM 2 is the sheer variety of missions. I’m sure some players will try to get through entire missions in stealth, making this a much-welcome implementation. Still, having Concealment totally changes the most crucial part of XCOM combat - the start - and there are classes that can re-enter it later. Concealment allows the player to move their soldiers into a decent ambush position and then (hopefully) annihilate the first group of aliens they attack, but after that point their cover’s blown and it’s back to turn-based business as usual. With XCOM now operating in the shadows stealth is now more of a focus, and your squad won’t automatically be detected when they spot enemy troops. ![]() The turn-based combat itself largely remains unchanged… except for an addition that alters the entire flow and really changes the game into a more satisfying sequel. It does all get a little frustrating, as you can guarantee you will never complete a scan with something interrupting it like an ADVENT attack, but it’s so wonderfully strategic with so much to think about that it’s never boring. Furthermore always remember to expand and make contact with other areas. Scanning at XCOM Headquarters in the United States East Coast has an optional bonus like healing soldiers quicker, but with all of these you can only scan one area at a time so if you spend 4 days scanning Mexico to get Supplies the scan counter won’t decrease on the Intel counter in Spain. This sounds tedious, but Firaxis kindly pinpoint the areas you need to scan and how long they’ll take to get resources such as Supplies, Intel, Scientists, Engineers, Power or other bonuses. Now the Earth has been divided up into sectors that need to be scanned separately. No more single “scan for activity” button as it was in 1994’s UFO/X-COM with events just popping up and you reacting to them. The differences are subtle at first - being able to assign Engineers to areas to boost their output, new rooms like the Shadow Chamber, these types of things.īut head on to the Geoscape map and things are wildly different. Yes you do research, dig out holes, build rooms on those holes, fast forward time until something interesting happens, these sorts of things. While things appear basically the same in the lovely Ant Farm that is your new SHIELD Helicarrier-style base, there’s been a lot of change. The non-combat side of things has received a significant upgrade so that it almost feels like a condensed version of Civilization in terms of strategy. Imagine if your squad all quipped like the Firefly gang? The little conversations the characters have back at base are a highlight, and the one downside of having such cool and extensive soldier customization options is that while you get attached to little Jools “Badass” McButtface and Farty Fartburgerson it’s sad they don’t have more personality. Lily Shen the engineer seems to have more humanity than Dr Tygan, but then the good doctor goes and admits to you that he misses ADVENT burgers which makes him more endearing. Yes everyone still fits into a Scientist, Engineer, Captain and Mysterious Shadowy Government Liaison role, but each feel like an actual person this time. In Enemy Unknown it was all cute but easily skippable, although here there are twists, surprises, and interesting characters. ![]() I think probably what surprised me most about XCOM 2 was how vital the story was to the experience. After retrieving their beloved Commander the XCOM troops and their mobile headquarters properly rally against ADVENT, but time is against them since the countdown to the aliens’ ultimate weapon the Avatar Project has already begun. Earth lost the battle against the alien invasion early, the aliens took over Earth and formed the new oppressive ADVENT government, and XCOM was forced to become an underground resistance movement. While trying not to spoil anything crucial of XCOM 2’s story, in a novel twist the majority of the events of Enemy Unknown either didn’t happen or were a “training exercise”. ![]()
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