XCOM 2, the sequel to Firaxis and 2K Games Enemy Unknown, looks forward twenty years to a new alien threat.
Few games struck the perfect mix between challenging and engaging quite like XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Between its limited resources, hard-to-replace soldiers, and increasingly powerful alien forces, players were on the edge of their seats until finishing the final mothership assault. Now Firaxis and 2K Games will start the whole process again with XCOM 2, but there’s a twist – this time XCOM are the attackers overthrowing an alien regime.
XCOM 2 is set twenty years in the future, where Earth ultimately lost the war against the alien invaders. The XCOM organization is long forgotten, but hasn’t disappeared – it’s moved to mobile headquarters while waiting for the right moment to strike. Now XCOM is the invading force, using its limited resources to avoid detection, build up the resistance, and expose the true alien agenda to the world.
Making XCOM a resistance movement isn’t the only change for this sequel. XCOM 2 will introduce procedurally-generated levels that make every mission unique, even when objectives are identical. Firaxis is also rolling out five updated soldier classes, new soldier customization options, and “evolved tactical combat”. Of course the aliens themselves have upgrades of their own, adding all-new enemy types to the series. And if you’re a gamer who enjoys custom gaming experiences, XCOM 2 will scratch that itch with a deeper level of modding support.
“The feedback from the passionate XCOM community played an important role in the development of XCOM 2, driving us to push the visual, gameplay and replayability boundaries of what a strategy game can be,” XCOM 2 creative director Jake Solomon said. “We’re thrilled to implement long-time fan requested features such as procedural levels and modding support, as well as adding more of what makes XCOM great like new aliens, enemies and soldier classes.”
Best of all, XCOM 2 should launch for PC on Nov. 2015, with Mac and Linux ports to follow. Sounds like this holiday season is the perfect time to become a Commander once again.
