XCOM 2: War of the Chosen

Mulder and Scully were right - aliens do exist and they are pretty bastards. Unfortunately, we realized it too late, so the invasion of Earth, featured in the 2012 XCOM relaunch, ended in our failure. Humanity laid down their arms, and the elders, as aliens called themselves, created the appearance of peaceful coexistence. The military organization ADVENT keeps order, and the propaganda pouring out of the speakers and screens tries to keep people convinced that everything is going in the right direction. 20 years after the conquest, the underground resistance movement in the form of the XCOM organization is reawakening to the fighting and . The recapture of the commander from the invasion period is the beginning of events that will lead - if players demonstrate strategic and tactical skills - to discover alien secrets and end their domination over humans.

This is the short story in XCOM 2 and - what can I say - not much has changed. The War of the Chosen expansion pack introduces a lot of new features, but the plot has remained almost untouched. That's good, because it was a strong point of the game, and at the same time it left no room for additional threads or stories. The expansion focuses on what is the essence of every turn-based tactical strategy, i.e. the gameplay mechanics. So we weave into the story the elements added by the creators in subsequent additions (although it does not have them), but above all, it tries to make the gameplay even more fun - and it actually works. XCOM 2 with the War of the Chosen expansion is one of the better tactical strategies. It is a pity that the whole thing is so expensive.

Designer's dilemma

A year ago, when reviewing XCOM 2 , we wrote that the new game just continues the formula of the previous installment - in a safe way. In fact, a lot of changes were made back then, but none was revolutionary. This is the age-old problem of productions based on mechanisms loved by fans. Modifications that are too serious may scare the fans of the series, while too small ones simply bore them. This has been experienced by a company such as Blizzard, which for years has had no idea what to do with its Diablo III , and instead of trying to figure it out , it will simply wait, probably working on the concept of the new version - but quietly. It is different with the XCOM- related series of Fire Emblem , the subsequent parts of which do not differ much from each other - its creators have chosen a strategy to regularly create new titles similar to each other.

Firaxis Games decided to go indirectly: although it introduced a lot of changes in its expansion - the creators even boasted that they put as much effort into the work as it would have been necessary to create XCOM 3 - but it did not offer players a completely new game. Instead, we received a huge addition (it has been calculated that there are over 110 smaller and larger novelties) ... for the price of the new title. For the biggest fans of the series who XCOM-I already bored, they are a delight and a chance to return to this great game.

Three enemies ...

The most serious change, indicated in the title of the expansion itself, is the three new enemies. This time it's not about an additional type of enemies that we will meet in the next missions (although they are also included in the expansion), but about three specific characters. The chosen ones, brought to life by strangers, are perfect warriors, masters of their trade, worthy opponents of our best soldiers. They appear from time to time during the campaign, making it difficult to complete a given mission. Interestingly, the defeated come back - almost magically - and stronger than before.

The fact that the chosen ones have strong personalities (oh, we listen to their statements during a mission or on a strategic map) and the killed return even more powerful, should remind you of the nemesis system in Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor . The creators themselves admitted being inspired by this solution. And it must be said that they were fine with it. Our three opponents have their own unique combat strategies - the hunter uses the line and targets our soldiers with the sniper rifle, and the sorcerer, who is a master of psionics, summons suicidal zombies who blow up next to the target. The challenges faced by the chosen ones become more difficult right away. Additionally, in order to defeat one of them, we must first - during missions as part of secret operations - track down his stronghold, i.e. the place where he revives. Only there can we end the life of this powerful half-alien.

A blind fate

War of the Chosen is a big expansion, but the foundations of the game haven't changed. I think this is the right decision as XCOM 2 is a very good game, but a few of the weaker parts also remain intact. I have the biggest reservations about the huge role of happiness. One wrong decision can still lead to the death of our characters , and we are still not always to blame for the fact that the mission, so far flowing smoothly, turns into a grim slaughter. Randomness and a small amount of life of soldiers (even when they are at the highest level, a strong opponent can kill them with one "critic") can simply annoy - this is one of the main accusations against XCOM 2 , which most often appears in the opinions of players.

The expansion not only fixes little in this matter - although strengthening the soldiers increases their survivability on the battlefield - but even makes our situation even worse. The most difficult was the lost, a new type of opponent. They are mindless humans, the subject of alien experiments - in short: zombies. They always attack in groups, and can be summoned by, for example, an explosion. It is true that killing one of them brings a free turn (so with a bit of luck you can kill a few with one soldier, which is incredibly satisfying), but combined with the randomness and high degree of difficulty of the game, it creates an explosive mixture.

Imagine you run into a strong group of aliens, and one of them - a flame thrower cleaner - sets fire to nearby cars which explode one by one, attracting the lost. It is not entirely your fault that you end up in the very center of hell, from which it is difficult to come out unscathed without ... loading the record of the previous turn and trying to solve the situation so as not to lead to a zombie apocalypse again. I know that there are people who appreciate the high level of XCOM . However, I am one of those players who would not decide to play Ironman mode on the highest difficulty level.