XCOM 2: War of the Chosen | |
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Cover art featuring the Chosen (from left to right, Hunter, Assassin and Warlock) | |
Developer(s) | Firaxis Games |
Publisher(s) | 2K Games |
Series | XCOM |
Engine | Unreal Engine 3.5 |
Platform(s) | |
Release | August 29, 2017 |
Genre(s) | Turn-based tactics |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
- XCOM® 2: War of the Chosen, is the expansion to the 2016 award-winning strategy game of the year. XCOM® 2: War of the Chosen adds extensive new content in the fight against ADVENT when additional resistance factions form in order to eliminate the alien threat on Earth.
- War of the Chosen is a massive expansion, but it’s not quite a whole new game. Rather, it goes over XCOM 2 with a fine-toothed comb, hunting for mite-sized specks of story to blow up so big that.
XCOM 2: War of the Chosen is an expansion pack for the 2016 turn-based tactics video game XCOM 2, released for Windows on August 29, 2017. Versions for macOS and Linux were released on August 31, 2017, [1] and a Nintendo Switch port was released on May 29, 2020.
With the recent War of the Chosen DLC expansion for XCOM 2, several new structures are available for construction on the Avenger. This has been leaving many players wondering about the best build order for the Avenger and its structures. As you may have heard, XCOM 2: War of the Chosen is about to get even more epic with the upcoming Tactical Legacy Pack. Tactical Legacy Pack is an add-on to War of the Chosen. This means ownership of both the base game XCOM 2, and the XCOM 2: War of the Chosen expansion is required to play.
Gameplay[edit]
XCOM 2 is a turn-based tactics video game. A defense team known as XCOM must repel and resist an alien invasion. The War of the Chosen expansion makes changes to XCOM 2's campaign structure and adds new enemies, story elements, new hero characters, modifiers, and more behaviors for characters.
The expansion introduces a new set of enemy aliens called the Chosen, three elite alien-human hybrid warriors tasked by the Elders to defeat XCOM and recapture the Commander; The Assassin, who relies on stealth and melee attacks; the Hunter, that uses a long range rifle that fires bullets that track their targets; and the Warlock, who uses psionic powers and can take control of several of the player's units at once. As the game progresses, the Chosen gain new exclusive abilities over time, and eventually become able to launch a direct attack on the Avenger. The Chosen continue to appear occasionally during missions even after being defeated, and can only be killed for good once their base is destroyed as well.
The game also introduces three rebel factions that antagonize each other, but grant special hero classes once their allegiance is earned; the Reapers, specialized in sniping and stealth, the Templars, who employ unique psionic abilities, and the Skirmishers, former ADVENT soldiers with exclusive equipment and tactics. Each faction also provides covert ops missions in which soldiers can be deployed to obtain extra resources, delay the Avatar project, or gather info about the Chosen's strongholds, as well as other benefits. Other new features include a revamped strategic layer and the 'Bond' system, in which pairs of soldiers develop special abilities that are accessible when both are deployed during a mission, however, when a bonded soldier is killed, their partner may temporarily enter a 'berserk mode', ignoring any player orders and attacking targets at random, or they may panic, becoming uncontrollable and fleeing from battle. For research, breakthroughs and inspirations are made to increase the speed that researchers work at, sometimes instantly being able to complete a project.
The expansion also adds a neutrally-aligned zombie-like enemy type called the Lost, former humans created during the invasion that will attack both ADVENT and XCOM in battle, along with new ADVENT units with exclusive abilities.[2]
Other new features include a daily challenge mode, as well as the ability to create posters featuring your custom characters that will appear inside the game world.
Release[edit]
War of the Chosen was announced at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2017. It was released on August 29, 2017.[3]
Tactical Legacy Pack[edit]
An add on for the game called 'Tactical Legacy Pack' was released in October 9, 2018. It features a series of missions set between the events of XCOM: Enemy Unknown and XCOM 2, new items, new maps and the option to play the game using either the original XCOM: Enemy Unknown's soundtrack or an all-new soundtrack based on X-COM: UFO Defense, the first game of the original X-COM series.
Reception[edit]
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XCOM 2: War of the Chosen received 'generally favorable' reviews from professional critics according to review aggregator website Metacritic.[5]
IGN's reviews editor Dan Stapleton praised the amount of variety War of the Chosen added to the mission objectives and campaign of XCOM 2. Although he found there to be some balance issues, he thought that both the Hero classes and the Chosen were great additions.[7]Game Informer reviewer Ben Reeves was impressed by the amount of content included in the expansion, noting that it could almost have been a standalone game.[6]
Accolades[edit]
Eurogamer ranked the game 46th on their list of the 'Top 50 Games of 2017',[8] while Polygon ranked it 17th on their list of the 50 best games of 2017.[9] Readers and staff of Game Informer voted it for 'Best Strategy Game'.[10][11] It also won the award for 'Best Expansion' in PC Gamer's 2017 Game of the Year Awards;[12] and was nominated for 'Best Strategy Game' at The Game Awards 2017,[13] and for 'Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year' at the 21st Annual D.I.C.E. Awards.[14] It won the award for 'Game, Strategy' at the 17th Annual National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards, whereas its other nomination was for 'Game Engineering'.[15][16]
References[edit]
- ^'The fight for Earth rekindled — XCOM® 2: War of the Chosen released on macOS and Linux'. Feral Interactive. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
- ^Kelly, Andy (July 12, 2017). '12 new features in XCOM 2 expansion War of the Chosen'. PC Gamer. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
- ^Newhouse, Alex (June 12, 2017). 'E3 2017: XCOM 2 Expansion Announced, Adds Shadow Of Mordor-Esque Nemesis System'. GameSpot. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
- ^'XCOM 2: War of the Chosen for PS4 Reviews'. Metacritic. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
- ^ ab'XCOM 2: War of the Chosen for PC Reviews'. Metacritic. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
- ^ abReeves, Ben (August 24, 2017). 'XCOM 2: War of the Chosen'. Game Informer. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
- ^ abStapleton, Dan (August 24, 2017). 'XCOM 2: War of the Chosen Review'. IGN. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
- ^Eurogamer staff (December 26, 2017). 'Eurogamer's Top 50 Games of 2017: 50-41'. Eurogamer. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
- ^Polygon staff (December 18, 2017). 'The 50 best games of 2017'. Polygon. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
- ^Game Informer staff (January 4, 2018). 'Game Informer's Best Of 2017 Awards (Page 4)'. Game Informer. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
- ^Cork, Jeff (January 4, 2018). 'Reader's Choice Best Of 2017 Awards (Page 4)'. Game Informer. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
- ^PC Gamer staff (December 15, 2017). 'Best Expansion 2017: XCOM 2: War of the Chosen'. PC Gamer. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
- ^Makuch, Eddie (December 8, 2017). 'The Game Awards 2017 Winners Headlined By Zelda: Breath Of The Wild's Game Of The Year'. GameSpot. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
- ^Makuch, Eddie (January 14, 2018). 'Game Of The Year Nominees Announced For DICE Awards'. GameSpot. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
- ^'Nominee List for 2017'. National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers. February 9, 2018. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
- ^'Horizon wins 7; Mario GOTY'. National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers. March 13, 2018. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
External links[edit]
XCOM 2: War of the Chosen is a turn-based tactical shooter game. It pits you and your resistance fighters in XCOM against alien invaders who have conquered the world and their forces, Advent and The Chosen. Your goal? Free the world from enslavement! The game begins with an optional tutorial that teaches you the basic game play and gets you involved in the XCOM story line.
XCOM 2 War Of The Chosen is definitely worth getting. It has almost non-stop, intense action during combat, and as characters and soldiers progress during the game you develop an attachment to them. There is actually a sense of loss when one of your favorites dies. This is a very immersive game with a lot of replayability.
Xcom 2 WOTC’s main attractions, at least for me, are the myriad of cut scenes it has during game play and the way it gets you involved with the game personalities in the game. The suspense that builds during the turn-based combat is an unexpected plus, sometimes I can hardly wait for the turn to progress so I can see what happens, especially if one of my favorite soldiers has his or her life on the line!
Bradford is my favorite character in the XCom series. From providing steady guidance to his troops to complaining about those d**n Advent burgers, he’s a top of the line commander. XCOM would be lost without him.
The user interface for moving and giving orders to troops is absurdly simple. To move, click on the soldier, select the tile you want to move to, then right click.
Firing with this user interface is pretty simple too. Just select your target using the head icons at the bottom of the targeting screen and fire.
The UI for the Avenger is where you do the stuff you need to do to recruit, train, heal, outfit, and then send your units on missions. This user interface is just point and click also. All-in-all, a simple and easy user interface, no keyboard shortcuts to memorize (I stink at memorizing), although they are there if you want them.
The artwork and soundtrack are both superb, Bradford is rendered in intricate detail and appears almost lifelike on the screen. Voice and tone match the character perfectly.
Yes, this game is fun! I’ve never played a game any better at getting you attached to your soldiers than XCOM 2. Part of it is the customization you’re allowed to do, and part of it is the “bonding” you go through when trying to help them survive a mission. When one of them is lost there is a sense of real loss on my part as well.
Soldiers can be customized right down to the type of tattoo they have on their right arm to the eye color to the type of face they have and more. If only I could change him into a leftie like me…
Between missions you’ll be spending a lot of time on the Avenger. The research lab is where you upgrade weapons and soldiers so you can take the fight to Advent. Dr Richard Tygan is the chief science officer and leads the research for XCOM.
Tygan will prioritize research projects for you although the final decision of what to research is up to you. You can also review past projects here as well.
You also have the Armory and this is where you’ll promote soldiers, customize them, and change their loadout. As soldiers move up in rank they can unlock abilities unique to their class. Ranks range from Squadie to Colonel.
The Bridge is where you’ll go to scan for intel and supplies, and to make contact with resistance cells. Making contact with resistance cells costs intel, so if you don’t have enough you won’t be able to undertake the mission. Contacting them is worthwhile though since it provides more income. Progress on the Avatar project is also monitored here. If the tick marks fill up you only have 30 days to take action to reduce it, like destroying an alien facility, to set it back.
Engineering is led by Lily Chen, she’s the one who got the Avenger up and running again. She will build the stuff you need to stay up to par with Advent’s weapon advances.
Sometimes missions don’t go as well as you’d like, and that’s where recruitment and the infirmary come in handy. By building an infirmary you will cut a soldier’s healing time by 50%.
There are three Chosen to fight, the Assassin, Warlock, and Hunter. Kon-Mon Neylor, Shadowmaiden, is the assassin of the trio and typically she is the first one encountered. Like a true Shadowmaiden she likes to strike from out of nowhere, quickly and unexpectedly. She prefers personal combat over a support role and will not hesitate to take your best soldiers on in one-on-one fight to the death.
The Assassin excels at hand-to-hand combat and one of her best abilities is “Parting Silk,” which stuns soldiers so they can be easily captured. When she uses this ability she never misses her target. She also has the ability to conceal herself, one of the best ways to break that concealment is to toss grenades in her direction.
The Hunter, on the other hand, does not like close quarters combat and prefers sniping from a long range, although he is not entirely helpless at close range thanks to his Darkclaw pistol. The Hunter has the Tracking Shot ability which allows him to mark a soldier as a target if on one is within range, and unless a soldier is obscured, he can see any soldier on the battlefield no matter how far away with his Farsight ability.
When dealing with the Hunter the best tactic is to try to engage him at close range with several soldiers. He has the ability to daze soldiers and either capture them or extract information from them, so having someone around to help out a fallen comrade is a very good idea.
The Warlock is the psionic specialist of the three Chosen. Some of his more interesting abilities are the ability to summon Spectral Zombies and Armies. If zombies are summoned by the Warlock and if they are not killed as soon as they appear, they can become deadly explosives, ready to explode close to a soldier when they finally are killed. If Spectral Armies appear they will be made up of Stun Lancers and will do the fighting for the Warlock while he goes into stasis, which makes him impervious to any damage until the Spectral Army is destroyed.
Each Chosen will harass you as you scan for intel and supplies, and will drop in on a mission from time-to-time and try to capture or kill your soldiers. Very formidable enemies but not invulnerable.
You’ll also have additional help from the resistance factions of the Templars, Reapers, and Skirmishers. Each class of soldier has unique abilities to help offset the skills of the Chosen, leading to their eventual defeat (hopefully).
The Skirmishers are former Advent soldiers with the psionic chip that links them to the Advent psionic network removed. They now want to be completely free of the alien’s influence and are lead by Betos. There weapons of choice are the KAL-7 Bullpup and Ripjack. The KAL-7 Bullpup is a rifle that gives the Skirmisher the ability to fire his weapon twice in one round instead of once. The Ripjack is a backup weapon designed to be used as part of close-quarters combat.
The Skirmisher can focus on one of three potential ability paths, Hussar, Judge, and Tactician. The Hussar path provides more free actions for the Skirmishers, the Judge path will make them more efficient at hand-to-hand combat, and the Tactician path develops combat bonuses that can be used during their turn.
Xcom 2 War Of The Chosen Wiki
The Reapers specialize in stealth and deception to overcome their enemies. They are especially effective in nighttime combat thanks to their night vision masks. Their preferred weapons are Claymore mines and Vektor Rifles. Thanks to their shadow mode they also gain a 50% increase in movement when using it. If they attack in shadow mode they are not automatically revealed but still risk it, with the chances increasing each time they take a shot.
They have three ability paths to select from, Stealth, Saboteur, and Marksman. Improving stealth abilities will make the reaper a better scout, the saboteur path will make the Claymore mine more powerful and useful, and the Marksman path will make a Reaper more deadly with a rifle attack.
The Templars are the third specialized resistance faction introduced into the game to help combat the Chosen. Similar to the Warlock in the Chosen, they specialize in psionic attacks. They are excellent fighters, dedicated to the eradication of the Chosen and the aliens occupying Earth.
The Templars have three ability paths to choose from as well, Psi Blade, Sage, and Dynamo. Psi Blade will make a Templar stronger in melee combat. Sage will enable them to support the rest of the squad more efficiently and Dynamo will enable them to attack enemies better through the use of Focus.
Replay value is great for this game, although the linearity of the missions is a little limiting sometimes. There is a lot of variety in the way you can tackle missions and customize soldiers, which does make each game different. XCOM2 WOTC also has a Challenge Mode and Legacy Hub. The Legacy Hub is a series of missions that tells the story of what happened during the twenty years XCOM was overrun and the present, a very nice game addition. All these added together give the game good replayability.
This game has a lot of suspense, excitement and great mission variety. I’m also a big fan of cut scenes, they make the game come alive for me. This game is full of them, so if that isn’t your thing you might want to give this game a second thought. Otherwise, I would highly recommend this game, the amount of suspense that it creates and enjoyment that it provides is more than enough of a reason to make it worth the price tag, and remember, you can always catch it on sale since it’s a three-year old game.
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