Twenty years after the end of the previous game, the commander takes the reigns again. Quick firefights and edge of the seat action. (Even within the first few hours.) This is my review of XCOM 2, on the day of launch. I'll likely edit this review as I encounter new things and form new opinions. For a list of current pros/cons scroll to the bottom.
I've gotten the feel for this next installment of the game, and I have to say it plays well. Stealth is now a thing, using grenades to do more than just killing enemies and the character customization... oh man. It's exceedingly in-depth for any sort of shooter. In the first hour, I infiltrated a base, discovered a bit of lore, felt badass, and got my ♥♥♥ kicked. The game is unforgiving of any mistakes. But not so where it'd lead you to believe that the AI has cheated. The flanking and stealth systems will be a constant feature that'll be utilized by all players if they want to survive the higher difficulties. Moving your troops to the right side of cover, knowing when to fall back, and how to advance efficiently and not be taken out by a single grenade.
The game has gorgeous graphics and is textured amazingly well. I can see the height of the grass compared to the curb it's right above, and I can see the stress on the faces of the soldiers. It's brought back the whole "command center" from the previous games, with a bit of a twist. New characters are introduced, and new bonds are made right off the bat. The voice acting is solid, and I haven't heard "Rodger dodger" once yet.
Now onto a bit of a negative aspect of the game. Though I can run the game on near max, and get 60fps the game has very poor optimization in the sense that I should be running it much stronger than it's letting me. I.e. can run the game awesome in combat, but I can lag in the command center. I feel it should've been the other way around if anything.
Modders rejoice! Remember how in the last one it was really awkward to mod? Had to basically move the folder out of the steam directory, change the read-only or what have you? Now it's all integrated with the workshop, and there are already some items released for it! (There were some before the game even launched actually.) There's also an ini file that you can easily change the entire game with. Basically, every setting that the game has, you can change there. Wanna have an unforgiving war where if you don't get the jump on enemies you lose? Sure! Wanna play with aliens that are as gentle as a kitten? Certainly.
PROS
- Highly moddable.
- Can jump into your save at any point without losing immersion.
- Gorgeous game.
- Even the first few hours of the game are on the edge of your seat.
- Character customizability.
- Lack of noticeable game breaking bugs. Even at launch.
CONS
- Poor optimization.
Minimum Requirements of XCOM 2:
OS: Windows® 7, 64-bit
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E4700 2.6 GHz or AMD Phenom 9950 Quad Core 2.6 GHz
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: 1GB ATI Radeon HD 5770, 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 or better
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 45 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX compatible sound card
Additional Notes: Initial installation requires one-time Internet connection for Steam authentication; software installations required (included with the game) include Steam Client, Microsoft Visual C++2012 and 2013 Runtime Libraries and Microsoft DirectX.
Recommeneded Requirements of XCOM 2:
OS: Windows® 7, 64-bit
Processor: 3GHz Quad Core
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: 2GB ATI Radeon HD 7970, 2GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 or better
Storage: 45 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX compatible sound card
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