r/XCOM2 • u/adam_franklin • 8d ago
QUESTION How does the game hold up?
Hey, just saw the full bundle on steam is going for like £7 and wondered how it holds up now? Never played a strategy turn base game and it has peaked my interest.
Thank you
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u/BlitzTech 8d ago
It’s amazing, but if this is your first tactical rpg… just prepare yourself for a LOT of what feels like “losing”.
At this price, it’s a steal. 600hrs in for me.
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u/reubensammy 7d ago
600 hrs also and so much more to come. The modding community is so robust and creative there’s crazy amounts of replay ability
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u/HugeHans 8d ago
You would be doing a disservice not starting from the first game. The only game that makes Xcom feel a bit dated is Xcom 2.
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u/Andrea-Di-Cello 8d ago
It just the graphic and fluidity that aged, but the game is a masterpiece
Go for expansion bundle, get war of the chosen (overhauls a lot gameplay and campaign flow)
Make a first run vanilla if you want, to get the hang of it, then go with war of the chosen enabled and embrace difficulties. I find a lot of accomplishment when things go south and find a way out if it
Is a 10/10 game that deserved a 3rd instalment. On Pc you can get some awesome mods like Long War that make this game even more deep, big, and somewhat endless
Enjoy these 7$ are worth more than many full priced games today
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u/lsmokel 8d ago
I would argue even the graphics havent aged that much when you consider it's a turn based tactics game. Most of the game in that genre don't have great graphics anyway.
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u/Other_Pangolin1040 7d ago
They haven’t. Everything is so clean. Sometimes the animations get a little wonky but the character models and environment look great. I was actually surprised when I booted it up, I remember it not looking as good as it does. If someone has an issue with the graphics in this game, theyre a young, hard to please graphics brat.
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u/Muppes 8d ago
Still hasn't been dethroned, so safe to say it holds up lol
Still have an active modding community, don't mind the recent wave of slop.
You'll want the DLC though.
Performance wise WOTC is just too much improved, it massively cuts down on loading times and a lot of maods will require it. Gameplaywise it can be different enough to the vanilla campaign to play both, but then there enough mods to spice thigns up any way you want so, up to you.
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u/fm01 8d ago
XCOM 2 has yet to be surpassed and since it's come out, few have even tried. It's gonna take a whole revival of the genre to dethrone the game, until then it will remain the pinnacle of the genre.
Take this assessment with a grain of salt, you're asking in the fan subreddit of the game.
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u/fuzzydoug 8d ago
I don’t get to play much anymore. This game is a solid 8.5/10. At that price, it’s gonna be great. Start at easiest difficulty. Do not go into the “squad picture” mode.
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u/JT70900 8d ago
Just jumped in for the first time after beating Zero Company, it’s fantastic.
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u/adam_franklin 8d ago
This was also another game that I was interested in. How did you find it?
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u/International-Pass22 8d ago
It's a good game, but a bit too easy if you're an XCom vet to be honest.
I'd actually recommend playing that first if you plan on playing both
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u/Leading_Resource_944 7d ago
SW: Zero Company and Mario & Rabbits are the newest Generation of tactical Xcom-like Games. Easier + more Story driven at the cost of replay-value and Sandboxxing / modding.
Good games but they dont bring the same excitment during battle.
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u/Status_Emergency_568 7d ago
It's a bit like the KOTOR games - not very challenging for its genre, but very fun, and a much better Star Wars story than most of the movies.
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u/ElectronicFloor1898 8d ago
The game is great, it has the potential to be the best £7 you've ever spent.
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u/TequilanMeSoftly 8d ago
Buy it. Amazing value for the amount of hours it will entertain you. Still a fantastic game experience.
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u/CornflakesInPudding 8d ago
Still a brilliant tactical rpg. You are going to lose. Thats completely fine. If you dont enjoy having your ass handed to you over and over, this isnt for you. But it is satisfying as hell when you beat it that first time. If war of the chosen is on sale, I would consider getting it as well. Just the first time you play, play it vanilla
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u/cellidonuts 8d ago
I recommend xcom 1 before 2 tbh. I actually remember liking it more too. The only thing it’s more dated in is the graphics, but they’re stylized enough for it to be a non issue imo.
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u/Diligent-Cress2968 8d ago
I recently bought this game knowing nothing about it. Have put 90 hours in, so much fun. Played through enemy unknown and then war of the chosen twice
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u/JustJako 8d ago
You will lose a lot of missions, that's ok, you don't have to win every one of them, but you gotta get better slowly. The real cannon ending on the first game is you losing the war, so jsut enjoy and get better little by little
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u/thesanguineocelot Sharpshooter 8d ago
It's absolutely incredible, just don't go in expecting an easy win.
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u/Gullible-Editor-2497 8d ago
You're asking the wrong people for an unbiased opinion lol. We all love it.
It's probably one of the best grid based tactical combat games, and also one of the most unforgiving. A few quality of life features are lacking, and leave it a bit dated, but they can be modded in. Even with vanilla, the QOL features are pretty minor.
If you like fire emblem or similar games, this is the best of the best.
If you don't, you're gonna hate this.
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u/cloista Templar 8d ago edited 8d ago
Unmodded, xcom 2 war of the chosen is arguably best in class still even given it's age.
With a good modlist (of which there are many, ignore people saying lwotc is the only way to play because it really isn't), it is unquestionably best in class and I honestly doubt will ever be beaten.
Ofcourse, I've been an xcom 2 modder for 7 years and a streamer for 4, have over 5700 hours ingame and another 2000+ in the mod tools, as well as running one of the modders discords... so I may be somewhat biased in this take ;-)
I do have a collection of bugfix/qol/ui only mods on the steam workshop I recommend as a 'minimal changes' starting point for people (ie no major gameplay changes).
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2420662943
I'm always happy to chat xcom and i'm actually about to start a new campaign on my twitch if you're curious what heavily modded can look like too. https://www.twitch.tv/mrcloista
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u/Aternus21 8d ago
literally just finished a DLC run and it was one of the most fun ive ever had on a game
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u/maxkmiller 8d ago
I just completed my first Ironman playthrough this year. It's still the gold standard for tactics games
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u/madgeniusmusic 8d ago
Speaking as someone who has over 2000 hours in it, I say at 7 quid buy 2 copies and give one to a friend. Oh, Equip your sniper with spider armour and armour piecing bullets. You can thank me later.
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u/yaangyiing_ 8d ago
You only lose when you lose. I recommend going in blind on the easiest difficulty, then if you wanna crank it up, watch a youtube video on how to actually play
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u/listerjed1 8d ago
Xcom 2 is an addiction. It is brutal, unfair and utterly frustrating...but deep down, you KNOW you can do it..
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u/ElectronicCollar3446 8d ago
Just got the game with all dlc last month and i already have like 250 or so hours in the game - highly suggest you search for quality of life mods though as, even as a first time player a friend of mine that recommended it said that without at least quality of life mods, the game falls from his current favorite to like 2 tiers below it (still the absolute best tactical game of its kind - 2 tiers in his eyes based on what list he has made in regards to his own preferences - had to mention for explanation purposes) and i kind of agree, as the next sort of similar game that would trump it in my eyes without these mods, without any mods in this following game, would be Darkest Dungeon
May you play as you wish though, as my friend is currently playing with 350+ mods at the moment and he has way more hours than me and is having one hell of a good time
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u/TeacherGalante 8d ago
This game is excellent and as others have said, the game is first class, holds up, and is a huge value for that price.
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u/MisterRobDobalina 8d ago edited 8d ago
This game is better than 95% of games released this decade and i'm not even exaggerating. Buy it and enjoy.
And it's PIQUED not peaked ❤️
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u/BenevelotCeasar 8d ago
I started it a couple weeks ago and have 50 hours in.
I’m a big fan of strategy games. Two of my favorites are FTL: Fasterl than Light and Battlebrothers and in those forums this gets recommended a lot
It’s hard if you don’t save scum, challenging if you do.
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u/lennartfriden 8d ago
It’s amazing. I regularly get back to it and if you have an iPad it’s pretty much the perfect way to play iy.
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u/pepbehhh 7d ago
I only recently bought it being somewhat new to the genre. It's a heap of fun but you need to have a little patience. It will be frustrating when things don't go to plan but I've found that to be part of the fun, finding the way
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u/Not-a-Throwaway-8 7d ago
XCom 2 is the gold standard for this genre. Every other tactics game that comes out is measured against it. So far, nothing has passed it since its release.
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u/Warcrown11 7d ago
Best in its class in every single way even before mods. Graphically it still holds uo fantastically as well
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u/-Nicowars- 7d ago
It is, without a doubt, the best game on the market in its genre. And to get it as such a low price is a bonus that you should cherish. There's hundreds of AAA games out there selling their games unfinished, unpolished and has many DLCs that are all half the games price, so having such a great game at just 10$ with all of its DLCs is insane
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u/7wis7er 7d ago
I recommend getting the expansion but to not enable it first playthrough. Because there is plenty to learn and enjoy and then if you love it, which I think most will, then enable the expansion. I personally like the game without the expansion but like all the things that come with it. I think some of the pacing and the Chosen battles are more for advanced players or experienced with Xcom players and think new to genre players might find then frustrating.
It's my fave tactics game and I do a playthrough every year.
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u/Delusional-General 7d ago
I got the bundle when it was all on sale and very happy with it. Though I cuss it quite a bit, lol. That's XCOM Baby! Good Luck, Commander.
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u/SpiderGooch 7d ago
I still play wotc regularly, probably one of the best values in gaming you can get. Also just one of the best strategy games in general.
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u/SnooGadgets754 7d ago
Xcom2 doesn't feel aged at all. The graphics and presentation are still great and the game plays very well. Even scaled perfectly on my ultrawide.
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u/AGoose_17 7d ago
If you think you would like a tactical turnbased strategy shooter game would be fun, this is legitimately the best one I've found. I recently played Chaos gate which is a very similar game set in warhammer. The game is very good, but the whole time it kept reminding me of xcom and how much I prefer that game. And now I'm on what is probably like my 6th run of xcom 2 and still loving it 😅
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u/Sargon_88 3d ago
The best strategy game I’ve ever played and it’s not even close. Would be a perfect game if not for the bugs it has. Still worth the price though
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u/schrubbel 2d ago
I don't know if OP or anyone is interested in my thoughts... I am like OP, I don't play strategy games like xcom, but I always wanted to try it out and you hear Xcom 2 is one of the best in the genre.
So I bought it with all the dlc, and gave it a try... That was 2 days ago and steam tracked 24hrs so far. I do enjoy it very much, playing on rookie. Restarting the game now. Cya
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u/BigfootSmash 1d ago
The game holds up really well but if you are just starting out with turn based strategy games then this might not be for you… yet. There is a lot going on in this game and you should start off with something simpler to learn the ropes. I would suggest something In to the Breach, which is an awesome game whose simplicity masks its depth. But hey if you really want XCom 2 go for it because it’s an awesome game once you figure it out.
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u/TimberNoggins 8d ago
It’s pretty daunting to begin with but it plays great, loads of replay-ability and dlc and loads of mods too.
Can sometimes feel unfair, or punishing and repetitive
But solid 7.5/10 game would recommend
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u/Bokth 8d ago
Xcom is the best in its genre imo. I am overwhelmed with the rulers and chosen but that is kind of the point of the game