As a beloved cult classic franchise, XCOM has been around a long time and seen many forms of gameplay. While I eagerly await XCOM3 with a fervor that would put half-life 3 to shame, I’d love to hear your thoughts, stories and future hopes for the franchise. Spoiler warning, obviously.
My personal favorite is probably XCOM2, if only for the sheer number of mods that allow me to customize a single character for hours (only for them to die on their first mission) and completely overhaul the challenges and theme of the game.
I started with the XCOM reboot, which was such a delightfully crunchy little game full of steroid abusers wearing armor made out of hastily repurposed fridges. I would later look at a retrospective of the series and appreciate that the reboot simplified inventory management and condensed the base building down to just one base, which meant you could enjoy the strategy side of things without it wearing out its welcome. Just a fondly remembered game experience all around.
The DLC for XCOM was very welcome as well, adding new toys to play with but only letting you have them if you got off your ass and stopped over watching every turn. It was a good change that forced me to be aggressive in order to get a giant stompy mechsuit or a team full of go-go-gadget soldiers. It definitely refreshed the game for a playthrough or three.
Then came XCOM2, which turned the formula on its head and left me stunned that I canonically lost the last game. This inversion of not responding to random strikes all over the globe but /being the one doing them?/ I was SO in. Even on launch the game was a blast but they came out with some seriously solid DLC.
War of the Chosen is the closest I’ve seen to the universally praised (and regrettably copyrighted) Nemesis system from Shadow of Mordor since that game came out, and they adapted it quite well to the style of the game. It rebalanced a few things, added new toys to play with, and gave you just another chance to have a massive wrench thrown into your plans to train up your all-rookie backup squad.
XCOM 2.5 episode 1 Chimera squad. Honestly? I liked it. I think it should stay a side project, a spin-off I can happily say is part of the XCOM family but it isn’t required reading to understand the rest of the franchise nor is it a massive experience you can’t miss on its own merit. It’s good for when you’re itching for a change but still want some XCOM. Can’t complain.
I love this series, one day I’ll go back and try the OG if I can ever get over the controls. Until then I’ll just stay here enjoying good company. So, what are your thoughts and experiences with the franchise (pre or post reboot)? Any legendary tales to share?
I started with X-Com: Terror from the Deep on the PS1. Loved it, sucked at it. I can still remember the fantastic atmosphere though, fueled mostly by my men horribly dying every few turns and the great music of the PS1 version. An example.
I put some time into the reboot, but never made it far, as I insisted on playing on ironman. Tried XCOM2 when it was in a humble bundle, but the timed missions made me quit.
Gave XCOM2 another try a few days ago and timed missions made me quit again. I know I could mod them out but I am not really a fan of changing gameplay elements on the first playthrough. Any tips on how to handle them?
There’s an option in the WOTC dlc to double the turn timers, if you’re not willing to just mod it. Don’t let turn timers ruin a fantastic game. It was probably a mod (can’t recall) but when I played timers didn’t start ticking down until you had been revealed, which added a lot to ensuring you set up ambushes right.
I played two with a mod that disabled timed missions. Highly recommend if you want a less stressful experience.
If you play with the War of the chosen DLC it increases limit on missions