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XCOM 2

“XCOM 2 is one of the richest and best designed strategy games we’ve ever played.”
85%Game Brain Score
story, gameplay
optimization, stability
85% User Score Based on 111,978 reviews
Critic Score 86%Based on 45 reviews

Platforms

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About

In XCOM 2, players lead the resistance against an alien occupation on Earth, commanding a force of soldiers in turn-based combat missions. The game features strategy layers including base building, research, and global tactics to manage, with procedurally generated levels ensuring unique challenges. As the commander of XCOM, players must make difficult decisions and plan carefully to make every soldier count in the fight for humanity's survival.

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XCOM 2 screenshot
XCOM 2 screenshot
XCOM 2 screenshot
XCOM 2 screenshot
XCOM 2 screenshot
XCOM 2 screenshot
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XCOM 2 screenshot
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+11

85%
Audience ScoreBased on 111,978 reviews
story6.3k positive mentions
optimization1.6k negative mentions
  • The story of XCOM 2 is engaging and immersive, with rich character development that makes players genuinely care about their squad members.
  • The gameplay offers deep tactical mechanics and strategic depth, providing a challenging and engaging experience with high replayability, especially with the addition of mods and expansions.
  • The graphics are visually stunning, enhancing the gaming experience with detailed environments and impressive special effects.
  • The game suffers from significant performance issues, including bugs, crashes, and poor optimization, which detract from the overall experience.
  • Many players find the story repetitive and lacking depth compared to its predecessor, with some missions feeling tedious and overly reliant on RNG.
  • The monetization strategy has drawn criticism for being exploitative, with a forced launcher and overpriced DLCs that overshadow the game's quality.
  • story
    37,366 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story of "XCOM 2" is engaging and immersive, continuing the narrative of humanity's struggle against alien invaders with a mix of rebellion and resistance themes. Players appreciate the character development and emotional stakes, particularly as they grow attached to their soldiers, making each mission's outcome feel significant. However, some critiques highlight that the story can feel repetitive and lacks depth compared to its predecessor, with many missions being timed, which detracts from the strategic gameplay experience.

    • “Xcom 2 is a masterful blend of strategy and storytelling.”
    • “The storytelling is immersive, with rich character development that makes you genuinely care about your squad members.”
    • “The stakes feel incredibly high, and every decision you make resonates throughout the story.”
    • “The story is just an onerous bundle of clichés, and to me the stylized visuals mostly don't work.”
    • “The story is very bad, and the map design is strange on some randomly generated maps.”
    • “The story is essentially a rehash of the first game's, the DLCs are mostly junk, and the expansion ('War of the Chosen') basically adds 3 'bosses' that appear in the middle of your missions, use some seriously unbalanced and annoying abilities, and then teleport away when you 'kill' them, only to appear again a couple of missions later, at full health.”
  • gameplay
    15,464 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of XCOM 2 is characterized by its deep tactical mechanics and strategic depth, offering players a challenging and engaging experience. While many players appreciate the variety of customization options and the introduction of new mechanics like concealment and the avatar project, others criticize the reliance on RNG, frustrating mission timers, and occasional bugs that can disrupt the flow of gameplay. Overall, the game is praised for its addictive nature and replayability, especially with the addition of mods and expansions like War of the Chosen, which enhance the gameplay experience significantly.

    • “Challenging but invigorating gameplay!”
    • “There's so many mechanics and details that go into XCOM 2 that really place you in the perspective of a commander of a military resistance power, such as assigning research to improve upon equipment and tactical strategies, sending your troops on covert missions for miscellaneous advantages, building and upgrading various facilities to help the resistance on and off the field, and promoting your soldiers as they learn new abilities and become stronger - all while defending your ship and different outposts from the alien menace.”
    • “The gameplay is engaging, thought-provoking, and very fun.”
    • “Any fun the game offers is erased with weird combat mechanics and time limits that will leave you totally frustrated.”
    • “The gameplay loop quickly became more about frustration and complications rather than fun, so I wouldn't recommend this one.”
    • “The gameplay design in XCOM 2 fails miserably as it contradicts itself in various ways, leading to a janky, frustrating, and outright unpleasant experience.”
  • graphics
    6,702 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of XCOM 2 have received widespread praise for their impressive detail and aesthetic appeal, with many players noting that they hold up well even years after release. However, there are significant concerns regarding performance issues, including graphical glitches and frame rate drops, particularly on lower-end systems. Overall, while the visuals enhance the gaming experience, they can be marred by technical problems that detract from gameplay.

    • “The game's visuals are stunning, with detailed environments, dynamic lighting, and impressive special effects bringing its futuristic setting to life.”
    • “Graphically, XCOM 2 is a visual masterpiece.”
    • “XCOM 2 stands as a shining testament to the evolution of turn-based strategy games, offering an exhilarating combination of deep tactical gameplay and visually striking graphics that elevate the gaming experience to new heights.”
    • “First of all, the graphical upgrade comes at the cost of there being an absurd amount of graphical bugs and sometimes after a turn the game needs to sit and 'think' for up to like 15 seconds.”
    • “I set the graphics settings to minimal and the resolution as far down as it would allow, and it still looked like I was watching a poorly spaced-out PowerPoint.”
    • “The busy visuals make it near impossible to keep track of the actual tactical elements (exacerbated by soft textures and shoddy anti-aliasing), and the ranges and movements seldom fit within the available field of view and are a constant pain to manage.”
  • optimization
    5,598 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The optimization of XCOM 2 has been widely criticized, with many players reporting significant performance issues, including stuttering, frame rate drops, and long loading times, even on high-end systems. While some users have found workarounds and patches that improve performance, the game is still considered poorly optimized overall, leading to frustration among players. The expansion "War of the Chosen" has been noted to enhance performance, but many recommend waiting for further optimizations before purchasing the base game.

    • “Not least important, War of the Chosen is so much better optimized than the original XCOM 2, with loading times between missions a lot faster.”
    • “Graphics are good and the game runs smoothly on most hardware.”
    • “I would strongly recommend getting War of the Chosen as well, as it improves the game performance and adds some great features as well.”
    • “I thought it would be fine after 8 years but the constant stuttering and skipping in cut scenes, 5-10 second delays transitioning turns between humans and aliens, vice versa and the game crashing when I tried to equip a flash bang to an operator proved my assumptions wrong.”
    • “Get ready for some bad news though.... optimization for the game is mud level, with even high-end computers often struggling to load, stuttering throughout levels and all sorts of jank and crash city.”
    • “Big fan of XCOM, but this is so poorly optimized it almost cooks my computer constantly.”
  • stability
    3,674 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The stability of XCOM 2 has been a significant point of contention among players, with many describing it as "buggy" and "unstable." Common issues include frequent crashes, graphical glitches, and performance problems, particularly during loading screens and cutscenes. While some players report enjoying the game despite these issues, the overall consensus is that the game's numerous bugs detract from the experience, making it difficult to recommend, especially for those who prefer a smooth gameplay experience.

    • “It runs great and looks great on Steam Deck.”
    • “So far the game runs smoothly on high presets @ 2560x1440, no glitches.”
    • “Absolutely amazing game, really love it running silky smooth with no glitches or problems.”
    • “It is a buggy mess.”
    • “The game is a buggy, unpolished, frustrating mess.”
    • “This game is buggy as hell.”
  • replayability
    3,510 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    XCOM 2 is widely praised for its exceptional replayability, largely attributed to its procedural generation of maps and missions, which ensures that no two playthroughs are alike. The game's depth is further enhanced by a robust modding community that adds countless new content options, including missions, classes, and gameplay mechanics, making it nearly infinitely replayable. While some players note that the base game can feel linear after multiple runs, the combination of mods and expansions like "War of the Chosen" significantly boosts its replay value, keeping players engaged for hundreds of hours.

    • “An absolutely stellar tactical RPG, XCOM 2 is an infinitely replayable masterpiece with a vast combat system with depths deeper than the Mariana Trench when considering the base game, its fantastic DLC: War of the Chosen, and the rigorous modding community.”
    • “Moreover, the game’s modding community has expanded its replayability exponentially, offering new missions, classes, and challenges that keep the gameplay fresh long after the main story concludes.”
    • “The game's procedural generation makes each run and every roster of soldiers unique, ensuring near infinite replayability.”
    • “The replay value is average; while there is some potential for replaying, it can feel exhausted after a certain point—especially if you compare it to games like Civilization.”
    • “The campaign feels pretty much the same every time you play it, which would really hurt replayability, so you would need to add mods; not sure there are enough mods that adjust and change that side of the game.”
    • “It has high base replayability and an active and steam-integrated mod community, making it possible to tweak and adjust the game to your preference, making it harder or easier at your leisure.”
  • music
    1,326 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many praising its ability to enhance the atmosphere and tension during gameplay, particularly during combat scenarios. While some players appreciate the orchestral scores and the nostalgic inclusion of tracks from previous titles, others find the soundtrack repetitive and less memorable compared to earlier entries in the series. Overall, the music is generally considered good, with some standout moments, but it may not resonate with everyone, leading to a desire for more variety or the option to use mods for a different experience.

    • “The sheer gameplay variety, atmospheric music, and the well-made visual and sound effects make this my favourite turn-based tactical strategy game.”
    • “The game's soundtrack, composed by Tim Wynn, complements the action with stirring orchestral scores and ambient soundscapes that heighten the tension and drama of each mission.”
    • “Xcom 2 boasts a very impressive soundtrack that fits the feel of the game like a perfect puzzle; creating a murky atmosphere of danger and despair while still sustaining a sense of hope and determination.”
    • “The soundtrack does its job, but is not exceptional.”
    • “The music also distracts from, rather than adds to, the atmosphere in my opinion.”
    • “The music is almost non-existent, my memory is so clean about xcom2 music that I at some point thought it does not exist.”
  • grinding
    654 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The grinding aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it tedious and repetitive, particularly in the late game where missions can feel like a slog. Critics highlight issues such as slow pacing, excessive animations, and a lack of variety in mission types, which contribute to a frustrating experience. While some players appreciate the challenge and depth of strategy, the overall sentiment leans towards the game being a grindy experience that may require significant time investment to fully enjoy.

    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “It's basic and straightforward: excavate debris, build facilities which help you build stuff, research stuff to help you build stuff and fight the aliens, manage your soldiers, etc. Luckily, it's not tedious and doesn't take anything away from the game.”
    • “Player will experience tedious situations.”
    • “The missions are tedious and take a long time; the game feels more like a dragging pace with no idea which mission to choose.”
    • “If you can survive long enough to get all the equipment to fight against this, you'll find the gameplay loop is a slow slog as you peek corners, bait patrols, and eliminate blocks in a tedious and long-term commitment to monotony.”
    • “Xcom 2 is a miserable grinding simulator dressed up to look like something else, and they tacked on a bunch of casually irritating garbage like long load screens and a bad UI to really drive it home.”
  • humor
    648 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in XCOM 2 is a standout feature, with players frequently highlighting the game's blend of absurdity and frustration, particularly through its unpredictable RNG mechanics and quirky character interactions. Many reviews mention the comedic value of glitches, ragdoll physics, and the absurdity of tactical failures, which often lead to hilarious moments during gameplay. Overall, the game successfully balances its serious themes with a lighthearted tone, making it both entertaining and memorable.

    • “Where to start with XCOM 2... humor, frustration, and moments of pure euphoria in equal measure are indelible parts of this game.”
    • “Just make sure to have a sense of humor handy – you're going to need it when your best-laid plans go hilariously, spectacularly wrong.”
    • “The game has a great sense of humor, from the snarky commentary of your squadmates to the ridiculous alien designs.”
    • “Except it's not funny.”
    • “Not just boringly unfunny, but lacks any jokes or hints of mockery.”
    • “These contradictions make the game funny in a totally unfunny way.”
  • emotional
    626 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    XCOM 2 is widely regarded as an emotional rollercoaster, with players forming deep attachments to their customizable soldiers, only to face the heartbreak of permadeath. The game's mechanics, particularly the unpredictability of combat outcomes, amplify the emotional stakes, leading to intense feelings of loss and regret when beloved characters fall in battle. This emotional investment, combined with a well-crafted narrative and character development, makes XCOM 2 a standout experience in the strategy genre, often leaving players feeling both exhilarated and devastated.

    • “This personal investment is heightened by the permadeath system, where the loss of a soldier in battle is permanent, adding emotional weight to every decision on the battlefield.”
    • “You will grow to love and cherish the squad you build and get emotional at their demise.”
    • “The emotional roller coaster you experience throughout the campaign is something else, as your soldiers, all with unique names, styles, and skill-sets can die in any battle from any little mistake, permanently.”
    • “Clunky combat, boring story, extremely unbalanced and a sufferable interface make this a terrible turn-based strategy game.”
    • “Full of glitches, bugs, boring story, annoying voiceovers at the wrong time, and a horribly designed UI that makes you go over a lot of screens and animations repeatedly just to glance at certain stats and compare things.”
    • “Boring story and terrible voice acting too.”
  • atmosphere
    520 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The atmosphere in the game is generally praised for its immersive and cinematic qualities, with many players noting the impressive graphics, sound design, and music that enhance the overall experience. However, some reviews express disappointment that it lacks the darker, more oppressive atmosphere of previous titles, particularly the original XCOM, which had a more horror-like feel. Overall, while the game successfully creates a rich and engaging environment, it is seen as a step down in atmospheric depth compared to its predecessors.

    • “The atmosphere is incredibly well-crafted, immersing you deeply into the game and making each mission a thrilling experience.”
    • “From the towering skyscrapers of alien-controlled cities to the desolate wastelands of resistance strongholds, every location feels meticulously crafted and full of atmosphere.”
    • “Coupled with the immersive sound design and an excellent musical score, the game successfully creates an atmosphere that draws players deeper into its world.”
    • “One of the downsides is that compared to the other XCOM games, the atmosphere isn't as oppressive as usual.”
    • “I miss the thick, mysterious, terrifying atmosphere of XCOM.”
    • “While Enemy Unknown is much better and still keeps some of what made the original X-COM games great, this one has almost completely moved away from the atmosphere of the originals.”
  • character development
    180 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development in the game is a mixed bag, with many players praising the depth and customization options that enhance tactical gameplay and emotional investment in squad members. While some reviews highlight rich storytelling and immersive character arcs, others criticize the lack of background for certain characters and the overall narrative depth. Overall, the character design and development systems are seen as strong points, though opinions vary on their execution and impact on the gameplay experience.

    • “The storytelling is immersive, with rich character development that makes you genuinely care about your squad members.”
    • “This game also offers character development through skills upgrades that the player chooses for his characters, which eventually becomes a critical factor in how this character contributes to the success of team operations.”
    • “As much as I prefer and miss the micromanagement, ambience, and complexity of the classic ones, this game has an incredibly deep character development system and world building.”
    • “Not much of any specific character development or background on the VIPs we're saving or why retaliation and raids were happening.”
    • “The story has a ton of potential; however, the delivery falls short with hastily acted out cutscenes and practically non-existent character development.”
    • “There is a lack of character development beyond the basic leveling system that can be a drawback if you like more literary RPG games.”
  • monetization
    152 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The monetization strategy for this game has drawn significant criticism, with many players labeling it as a cash grab due to the forced use of a 2K launcher that inundates users with ads and requires extensive data agreements. While there are no microtransactions or loot boxes affecting gameplay, the frequent release of overpriced DLCs and the perception of a lack of meaningful content have left players feeling exploited. Overall, the monetization approach has overshadowed the game's quality, leading to frustration among the community.

    • “Also, no loot boxes or microtransactions is a big bonus.”
    • “Some of the small, cosmetic DLCs are overpriced, but there aren't any randomized loot boxes or microtransactions that affect the gameplay.”
    • “You can play it the way you want to, rather than being forced through artificial bottlenecks like competitive play, leaderboards, monetization, etc.”
    • “These two faults alone were enough for many to leave this game behind forever, but the DLC cash grabs and difficulty balancing issues, as well as some lackluster boss fights, tipped the scales.”
    • “Their only reasoning behind implementing the 2K launcher was so that they could force advertisements for products you do not own down your throat before you can play the game you already paid for.”
    • “Taking an older loved game and trying to squeeze its user base by forcing in invasive pre-launch advertising is a new low for 2K and Firaxis.”

86%Critics’ scoreBased on 54 critic reviews

Buy XCOM 2

50h Median play time
230h Average play time
33h Main story
79h Completionist
15-239h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 838 analyzed playthroughs

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