XCOM® 2

If you like turn based strategy and base building this is a great game

Especially with War of the Chosen added this is an AWESOME game that still keeps me entertained. Love the storyline especially.

Fantastic game! Bought for dirt cheap on a Steam sale, not expecting much, but wow. I was hooked the first run and couldn't leave the game alone for weeks. A must-buy on sale.

One of the most difficult and addicting games I've ever played. Absolutely amazing.

One of the great games out there. Especially with the War of the Chosen expansion. Only wish it could get a bit more challenging during the endgame.

XCOM 2 remains the best turn-based strategy game. Many aspects are handled just right—the background story, the unpredictability, the bonding with your characters, the development, and the complexity. Even little details, like the propaganda clips you hear upon returning from missions, add to the overall depth. And yes, it’s ruthless, unforgiving, and offers no handicaps.

Lots of cool character design options, can make some really funky fighters and give them a backstory.

Love the chosen fighters makes the missions more interesting, along with the weapons you get when defeating them. This also makes missions trickier.

Would highly recommend this game to anyone who has played any of the x-com series just a lot of fun with new features that also makes for a deeper immersion into the game and adds new levels of complicity.

Still a great tactical game with emergent storytelling through various events and tracking your soldiers with enough difficulty settings to challenge anyone (assuming you want a challenge). XCOM 3 when?

Very difficult, far more difficult than XCOM EU/EW

This is not a bad thing

The first few, 5-7(?) hours are incredibly annoying, more so if you are coming off an EU/EW campaign. If you can get past the hump just a bit, you begin to see your work pay off. I've got so much to learn, but it's still nice to see the fruits of my minimal labour so far.

One of the best Turn base Games lot of custumizations + mod community is awsome make game to different Level

One of the best turn based tacticals out there. Love the campaign progression as well, and the modding scene. The aesthetics, sound, flavor overall. Some minor glitches and issues, but nothing like modern games. Solid 9/10 highly recommended

This game has infinite content and replayability.... I wish I could be born again just to have more time to play it

Not as good as Xcom 2012. everything seems watered down or randomly extremely difficult.

excellent game! war of the chosen is alot more fun than the original version

Well, it would be unfair if I marked it as a no, but...95% chance of hitting the target and missing, I almost broke the keyboard and the mouse! Also, tech aliens infested missions killing my operatives...! I don't know, it all depends on your reactions...!

The game doesn't launch on linux without war of the chosen installed. War of the chosen runs well on linux from the port, but the base game requires proton, which runs slowly and frequently crashes and regularly corrupts save files.

War of the chosen is a downgrade because it adds unavoidable content that undermines the core of the game. There is a good game here but its impossible to play because the base game does not function.

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Amazing game, my favorite feature is how no matter the chance you will still miss the shot

Fun game, but can be extremely frustrating. I really have three major complaints:

- The game seems to have a lot of UI or action bugs. There were a lot of moments where the game would lock up for over 10 seconds in an action camera. Disabling the action camera didn't really resolve this and it was super annoying when it happened. I also had some times where it take my click on an action as selecting a unit instead, which would get annoying. The last similar bug were when I shot too quickly after another action, the action would be taken without any actual shot being fired.

- The percentages it shows has to be weighted in some weird way. There were plenty of times that a 90% chance shot would miss. I got annoyed one time and reloaded for a 70% shot repeatedly, it took well over 10 reloads to hit. I read somewhere that the chances are predetermined in the save file, which doesn't make any sense when the first action I took that succeeded previously, failed on a reload.

- There are too many small unskippable cut-scenes that the game shows. When a dropship comes in, you get a cutscene for the dropship and a cutscene for when they land. When you're playing with lost, every lost reveal has a cutscene. Some enemy reveals get a cutscene.

These issues caused some annoying moments playing this game. I think the worst example of this would be my first lost missions, which was a crate recovery. It might've been my third mission in xcom 2.

- Squad is low on health after encountering a group of lost and advent.
- Chosen beams in (assassin) and joins the fight. I save to have a reload point.
- My sharpshooter uses the free pistol action on the 2nd story and shoots the chosen with a 70% chance to hit, successfully hits the shot.
- Take several actions killing lost and backing up units. Trigger a bunch of cutscenes showing new units.
- Wrong squad member is put in overwatch when I try to put someone on the balcony in Overwatch. They're close to the asssassin.
- Reload to try and select the correct action this time. Encounter bug where the sharpshooter doesn't fire a shot after the pistol. Give up and just shoot the chosen, miss the 70% chance this time. Reload 10+ more times.
- After hitting the shot, complete all the previous actions and wait for every cutscene again.
- Repeat

little bit to much on the save skumming to beat everything 1st time around, but overall a decent game

First Paragraph is the must know: I bought this game after a number of friends recommended it to me and the online community was very passionate about it. I can't express to you just how difficult this game is, but most of the difficulty is done in the right sort of way.

You know that Captain you spent over a dozen missions with doing highly risky stuff? Well too bad, because a Viper got him! You remember that medic you had high hopes of being an important field medic for the big boy teams you make and her bio says she is such a sweet heart? The chosen captured her, good luck getting her back from that high risk max-security 'black site' that a 'ruler' is also guarding. You member' that grenadier heavy that looks sort of like Elvis and is your favorite custom character you ever made? Well he died like a punk on an early mission because you weren't paying attention.

I love this game, but I must be into pain.

PROS:
-custom characters, i spend unnatural amounts of time designing characters
-choices matter, every step counts
-variety of maps, and i mean a very big VARIETY of maps
-variety of gear and equipment
-the research element is probably the best handled in any game i have seen in awhile, it is organic to the story and it flows very well with the plot
-the expansion DLC is decent and adds some much needed flavor to the vanilla game (though to be honest, it should have been made an update to the original game and they should have adjusted the price tag)
-the Avenger is a really cool ship and love designing the parts im allowed to design
-each class is unique and meaningful, matching your play style (though some are a bit better than others, I am a sucker for the specialist class)
-a wide variety of enemies to learn and adapt your tactics too
-mechs are cool, hacking them and using them to destroy its allies is even cooler
-i cant even describe to you what it is like to successfully hack a 'gatekeeper' on the last level
-weapons and armor upgrades MATTER! DO IT SOON!

CONS:
-very difficult game, even on rookie (might need to tone it down for XCOM 3 and make the current rookie mode the regular mode next time)
-the VIPER, dear God, that thing needs to be balanced next time, that tongue is a problem (kinky, but a problem)
-Codexes will ruin your day when things are going so well, game will fool you though, the other enemies around them are far more troublesome (shoot the Codex last and make them watch)
-honestly the only real complainy is some of the Quality of Life (QoL) stuff:
(a) like the memorial wall you have to exit out of and go back into
(b) easy missions disappear after awhile, which sucks for your rookies
(c) can't choose the class of the character, this is perhaps one of the most griped about things by veterans
(d) vanilla game did not have enough custom costumes or hairstyles IMO, DLC is a must and mods add flavor
(e) 4 classes is decent and the DLC adds more, but it would have been nice to have a couple more options

-That about concludes my review, XCOM 2 is a game you HATE to LOVE, but do anyway-

Good management/tactics game. Good sequel to Enemy Unknown/Within. Slightly dated in 2025 (9 years old), but still one of the most comprehensive campaign-based squad tactics games (sans meaningful story).

This is a very fun and engaging game. I have put over 1000 hrs into it over the years. However, I can no longer recommend this game. Firaxis/2K's constant meddling that they refer to as updates have broken more mods and interrupted more gameplay runs than I can count. They are a modding unfriendly company!

10/10 rock solid game.

If you're considering buying it, I suppose all you would need to do is know whether or not you like isometric turn based games in general, and rest assured, it was done solidly in this game.

Pros:
(Mechanics)
- The gameplay is just very fun.
- Leveling up your squad is really fun.
- 4 different classes to choose from, with the addition of some other soldier types as the game progresses (some of these are part of dlc.)
- Personally, I find the game mechanics fine, and rarely found any balancing issues, as per the varied difficulty scales.

(Aesthetics)
- Alien variations are numerous, and slowly introduced into the game at a satisfying pace. Some of the aliens actually look pretty cool.
- Very good ability to customize your units, one of the best in the genre. You can really take a stab at filling your team with amusing characters from pop-culture, with the help of some of the custom voices and appearance options found on the steam workshop. Or you could fill your team with look-a-likes of your friends.
- Generally smooth visual aesthetic to the UI, characters and maps.
- The voice acting is actually good, and rarely, if ever, cringey.

(Other)
- The Steam workshop can really add to this game. Want a full squad of Republic Commandos? Got it. Want the TF2 units on your team? Got it. Loads more, from goofy jiggle physics, way more Star Wars stuff, hundreds of pop-culture characters and voices, etc.
The Steam workshop also lends to this game the possibility of new variations of the campaign, with one called Long War being the most memorable to me.
The stuff on the Steam workshop aren't necessary, and this game is a 10/10 without it, but it's important to know that the game can expand extensively in regards to customization if you want it to.

No cons are worth mentioning to me.

(Less relevant reflections - You can stop reading here unless you want to hear rambling.)
The game ages ridiculously well alongside newer turn based isometric games of this kind. Maybe it's just because the studio had the resources to nail the game.
I find it hard to believe that there aren't more games in this specific genre. I would have expected some world war/military variations of this kind of game to have been made sooner, but we've only gotten the likes of games such as Forgotten but Unbroken recently, and they don't really seem to compare to XCOM 2 in terms of the features and smoothness involved in XCOM 2.
I also wish there was somehow a multiplayer component involved in the main campaign. In general, I would just love to see more multiplayer isometric turn based PvE games.
(Rambling continues)
I have this fascination with seeing some kind of XCOM 2 style MMO. Particularly the cities that have The Lost enemies in them, make me envision getting swarmed by Lost, until on one turn, an unknown sniper - another player - from up in the buildings fires a shot... but did he fire at the lost... or you!?

In my opinion, this game exceeds even XCOM: Enemy Unknown in terms of quality. Before I go any further, if you are looking to buy this game, wait til its on sale, it drops by 90% or more during sales, making it the peak time to get it. The base game is already pretty good with all the DLCs, but the game can be modded, which is where the real fun begins. In essence, this game is essentially XCOM: Enemy Unknown without the air combat and with a far higher amount of mods to choose from.

Also yes there are time limits, but the second wave options can be used to tune the mission and geoscape timers to something far more manageable. Also, for the geoscape timer, you can turn that timer back and get more time through various actions, so don't feel as if you are constantly being rushed.

Turn based tactical combat at its best. Highly moddable as well. I tended to favour a quality of life one where timers only started to run down when detected.

Great fun, and the DLC's actually feel worth their price in value. We'll probably never see another game centred so much on consumer satisfaction, and if there ever is, it will be bought out by some other nefarious corporation and gutted.

An exciting turn based shooter. If you like turn based gun play this game is for you. Just be mindful that the mechanics of the game can be very unforgiving if you are unfamiliar with them; so do't be afraid to save scum on your first play through.

one of the greatest Tactics game of all time. Even more fun with mods!

Love the hardcore strategy ship and tech update trees and such. hours of replayablility

This game has a very enjoyable gameplay loop, but the main thing this game has is replayability, theres so much variety and 'game' and even more with dlc especially War of the chosen. Tired of basegame and the dlc ? Just look at the steam workshop and find alot of mods that completely rework and expand the game. If you were stuck on an island and you could choose one game to play, if you choose xcom2 you would die before you did everything you could and wanted to in this game.

That all said, this game is hard and if you're not good at strategy games u will probably receive a pretty significant ass beating. For me that is a positive. Game is 5 bucks on sale, you get one of the best hours of playtime to price ratio there is on steam. I recommend to play basegame first and then start adding dlc and or mods.

It's buggy as hell still in 2025 but it's a very solid and enjoyable turn based combat game.

Look, I'm going to be completely honest with you, this isn't normally my type of game.

I'm a massive fan of RPG's, but I normally lead more to the fantasy side of the genre. The permadeath feature that this game is known for at first turned me off due to my attachment to my characters, as well as just the super militaristic "dudebro" vibe the game gave off at first wasn't helping.

But at my husband's insistence, I finally checked it out. And honestly? Thank goodness.

This is a widely fun game. Perhaps one of the best of the genre. The combat is just that perfect mix of being frustrating but also incredibly fun. There were so many times were I would get through a combat mission that took forever, but once it was over, that sense of accomplishment would push me to just keep playing. There is so many different ways to strategize your way with a variety of different character classes, and even in similar maps the game can go widely different. Sometimes in ways that are the luck of the draw, but I found enjoyment in the challenge of trying to fix myself out of that hole. The permadeath feature, while at first I was worried it would be annoying, actually adds a fun stake to the game as well.

The beginning of the game is a tad overwhelming, with the constant missions, the enemies progress meter progressing, and just in general central yelling at you to get in gear to stop the aliens. I do wish this was slightly tuned down, but overall these early gameplay elements do a wonderful job at teaching you the ropes while still leaving you a lot to figure out in the game organically (RIP to me not realizing vipers could poison you until near the end because I normally prioritized taking them out)

The story isn't the most deep or anything, but I honestly was surprised with how much I still enjoyed it. The crew of the Avenger really pair with each other well, and you really feel the history they have with each other. I also really enjoyed being able to see my soldiers just hanging around the ship too, that was a really cute touch. The lore honestly had some really interesting moments to it that I won't spoil, but there was definitely a lot of care given to that part of the game with each of the research projects and autopsies. (The War of the Chosen DLC also has some great additions to this with the Chosen, honestly highly recommend playing with it)

And the character customization. Honestly one of my favorite parts. I loved making characters even with the somewhat limited tools without mods. Being able to see my people in battle was such a rewarding feature and I had a blast with it. Both with the VIPS and the regular soldiers. Highly recommended the Steam Workshop with this game. It's one of the best, and has so many gems. And it's still pretty active despite this game being older.

Overall, just a blast from beginning to end. If you like turn based combat at all, would highly recommend it. Even if the games you typically play are more on the "cozy" side like me- there is just so much care here to create an amazing experience. Not sure if we'll ever get XCOM 3, but with mods and the replayability of missions, I'm personally happy with just this for now.

That's X-COM baby!!

Game Good. Dev made game that is good and good game was made by good devs and it very good.

Devs be allow mod so game much extra good and much good extra is great dev.

Game recommend yes.

I mostly play it with halo and star wars mods, but even without mods its a solid game, as long as you don't have smooth brain.

Many people praise the game for its difficulty and tactical focus, which is why I decided to buy it. Unfortunately, the positive reviews ignore key nuances.
The difficulty of the game is achieved through unfair treatment of the player and giving unreasonable advantages to the enemies. A classic situation: when your hit probability is 70+%, you won't land a single shot out of five. Meanwhile, the enemy will kill your character with a single shot from the other side of the map, even though you're in cover.
The number of enemies is also several times higher, and their single damage often exceeds yours by 2-3 times, even from the first levels.
It strongly resembles the difficulty structure of Souls-like games — the difficulty is achieved by simply increasing enemy stats while simultaneously decreasing the player's stats.
Personally, I don't recommend the game, but I acknowledge that some players might view the aforementioned downsides as an additional challenge. In that case, the game might be enjoyable.

What can I say, it's XCOM.

But seriously, the game is great and there is still no other game out there that scratches the itch for this type of genre for me at least.

There are still some lingering technical issues here and there but the mod support and community is strong which help alleviate some of that pain.

Hope XCOM 3 comes (Hey I am allowed to dream yeah?)

Simply the best turn-based strategy game I'm ever played. Lots of meaningful choices. Many different ways to challenge yourself. High replayability. Lots of different possible strategies. Simply the best money I've ever spent.

Great turn-based game that keeps you engaged with tactical scenarios and vast operational choices on a macroscopic scale. I've loved the franchise since playing XCOM: UFO Defender as a kid many years ago, and this game continues to deliver!

this game is so much fun and has a lot of replay ability 11/10 would recamend

It's XCOM. It's not for everyone. I can't not recommend it even if I sort of hated it because I knew what I was getting into. Victory or defeat is often just a few dice rolls. Nothing like an ambush to miss 4-5 shots at 70%+ chance to hit only for the enemy to land a 5% crit.

It's just frustration, the video game. Everything you do tips the scales only slightly and your RNG inevitably drives the entire outcome.

this game is still one of the best tactical games. The alternate between base building and action is great. Can't recommend enough, play it with war of the chosen

Very fun, even without mods

Absolutely Addicting, even have a 99% chance of not breaking my keyboard. 10/10

I enjoyed this Game but the incessant misses should be reduced to a point of acceptability, especially at point blank distance...

It's a really good turn-based sci-fi strategy game. It has lots of unique mechanics and still holds up after several years.

a fun strategy game. mods make it infinitely repayable. With Long War of The Chosen mod/overhaul still getting frequent updates keeps the game fresh.

I put something on the lowest difficulty, I expect to be able to progress at all. Maybe I suck. I want to actually have *fun* playing video games. Sue me.

The tactical gameplay is awesome, and the challenges keep it interesting. XCOM 2 and WOTC feel like totally different games, which makes replaying them even more fun. It's one of my all-time favorites. I'd give it a solid 10 out of 10!

This game is very fun to play and depressing because my solider die in mission " no sacrifice no victory "