XCOM® 2

Like all FIraxis games "just one more turn and I go to sleep" is the biggest lie! Super addictive gameplay with masochist mechanics that let you personalize your character just to permadeath them a mission after or even worst, let you level up your favourite character just to crush your soul when that effin snake poison him or her. Want to know what is the worst? That you will love it and will become a toxic relationship. Now I heard a lot of good things about LONG WAR OF THE CHOSEN, probably should try that next, nothing bad could happen. The autor of this review never bath again after or have a social life after that...

This is an overall great game. The tactical genre always had its charm with user generated stories. This is still here, but enhanced with an actual plot too. Gameplay is awesome. The tactics are the bests that I have ever seen. Performance, variety and sound design are also top quality. This is a work of craftmanship. My only complaints are subjective: 1) The aesthetics have shifted a bit more to exaggerated and cartoonish and less realistic. Same with the dialogue some times. 2) The gameplay is *too* streamlined. Yes, you practically go from mission to mission, always with some clear goal in mind and just one new gimmick. But it ends up feeling a bit artificial and lacking of strategic depth, which was somehow better preserved on the previous title.

XCOM 2 follows the same formula. Instead of raising satellites over nations to keep panic down, maintain loyalty from nation states and allow for a steady revenue stream to finance your scientific, manufacturing and exotic weaponry, you make contact with gorilla groups all over the world. Contact will open new territories that will allow raids of alien facilities. Destroying alien facilities will reduce progression towards world domination. Failing to do so will top up the alien progression bar towards dominance and risking losing the game. World map will be dotted with contacts, supplies and radio antennas that take between 3 to 7 days to scan. Scan to reap the rewards. A Black Market returns. Some missions are time sensitive, while others remain on the map indefinitely. Scans will be interrupted by missions. A skipped mission will have consequences allowing the aliens to advance the progression bar, attack your base of operation, sabotage recruitment, enable better equipment enemy troops, allow increased deployment of enemy troops etc... Again, you will manage your barracks, hire soldiers, upgrade armour, ordnance, gear, perks, psych abilities etc... Missions consist of killing aliens, saving VIPs and civilians, capturing tech and skulljacking soldiers for intel. Battles become more challenging as you advance in the game leading to an all out assault on an underwater alien base. Psych abilities are handled a bit differently in XCOM 2. In XCOM: Enemy Unknown, you could use your ranked soldiers to train their psychic abilities. However, in XCOM 2, once you build the psi chamber you will need to train rookies from scratch. It's worth doing so, as their psychic abilities are on steroids and will be very useful end game. Unlike the first game where you gain control of an enemy for 3 rounds, the psychics can now control a single enemy for the rest of the mission! Psychics have even greater control over area of effect. Game took just over 67 hours to complete.

I personally enjoy the customization of character, it makes you involved more on the gameplay

Really good game. The story isn't super interesting but works enough to build up a gameplay which is amazing board game.