Xenonauts 2

Lovely game. It's like the first X-COM's which I loved to play! The plot isn't completely finished yet, and maybe some stuff needs tweaking, but I only played the normal difficulty level so far. I will definitely replay this once it's completely done. I read a few comments on fora about differentiating the properties of the weapons in the research tiers and I think that's a valid point. And there are a couple more things I'm curious about how they will turn out in the final version. But so far it's been a blast playing.

Lots of improvements from XN1, I love it! I wish there was a bit more map variety tho, im starting to recognize the same maps every third mission or so. Otherwise, I can't wait for the air combat to be revamped as well!

Good game, but it's impossible to play - saving, loading, or ending a turn results in an error message or just crashes the game without any notification 50% of the time.

How could you even release such software? Did you test it yourselves? Please fix this as soon as possible. In my opinion, this is far more important than continuing work on the game's storyline.

Exactly what I wanted and expected. It's old school xcom with it's own twist. combat is good and also unforgiving. It took along time playing these types of games to learn power of 1 mistake and carry that forward. I used to play and save and reload till my squad was a power house. However to run a game in ironman mode and let you take them mistakes to the team well that's anther thing all together. I've lost good people in my games a few to my mistakes but others to good RnG. highly recommend to any turn based fan and a must for xcom fans.

Shows glipses of quality but needs a lot more work before enjoyable

Nice game, played the first one and started now the second. So far so good. Only minus of the game is the music which is awful. But you can have playing on the backround music from XCOM 1 and change it to geosphere music and combat music and it will work fine. Please do something about the music guys. Also WTF with the girl boss director XD ...

The Spiritual Successor to XCOM: UFO Defense
(Review of Milestone 4. WARNING: This game is not complete, but still awesome!)

If you like the original XCOM: UFO Defense, but thought it was a little too 'guide dang it', then this game is for you!

There are tons of quality of life improvements, like infinite flares for night missions, scientists that generate money for you when there is nothing to research, and predictive accuracy for when you want to know your chances for running to a new spot and taking a snap shot at an alien.

The game is basically 3 incredible layers.

First, the base-management potatoes, where you strategically allocate resources and make the nail-biting choice between improving your weapons, armor, technology, economy, or aircraft. You'll spend hours lamenting your choice of placing the training center next to the hanger when it CLEARLY SHOULD HAVE BEEN ADJACENT TO THE LIVING QUARTERS.

Second, the air-combat gravy. It's got missiles, autocannons, torpedoes? Yeah! SPACE TORPEDOES!

Finally, the prime rib, wagyu, tomahawk, bacon-wrapped filet mignon, whatever meat metaphor you prefer, turn-based and tactical shooter. Hooooo boyyyy! This game is so fun you won't even remember to save scum because you clicked the wrong button. Well, you might remember to save scum, because you meant to throw that grenade at the grouped up aliens, but it banked off of the door frame and now, guess who's getting chewed out when you get back to base because you have to explain to chain of command why your squad is missing three of your colonel level soldiers.

It was aliens. And grenades. And maybe Johnson was mind-controlled. I think it was Clauswitz who said things get foggy when you're spamming smoke grenades to stay alive and I can't be held accountable for every piece of ordinance I stuff into my over-filled backpack. Look, it doesn't matter anyways because we brought back SPACE METAL that you can USE to make your weapons and armor more SPACE METAL.

Or perhaps you should save that Alenium for air superiority? Strange crop circles have been appearing in the rural areas and the UFOs are getting faster...

The music? Ominous, foreboding. Like Beethoven put tin foil on all his windows so he could escape the cosmic rays that were melting his brain before composing a masterpiece.

The controls? Precise, responsive. Take as much or as little time as you want, the game is turn-based and patient or as fast as a kid with ADHD trying to scramble and hide all the marshmallows he took out of the Cap'N Crunch's Galactic Crunch cereal this morning so he could have a bowl of concentrated sugar.

The terrain? Destructible, betraying. Ask me what happens when three of your soldiers take cover behind a car and the aliens get brand new weapons.

The aliens? Dangerous, unforgiving. With more plasma and mind control than your weird uncle who knows all about chemtrails and adrenochrome.

So buy this game, the devs have been working hard on it, and when they're done, it may just be better than XCOM: UFO Defense, forgive my potential blasphemy, scions of Gallop.

May your soldiers never be over extended and forget to reload.
May there always be cover to crouch behind.
May your enemies wander aimlessly into your overwatch.

Great game already! Sadly after roughly 10-15 hours you reach the current extend of the plot (Update 4). Looking forward to more!

While this game is in early access and some images are placeholders. I WHOLEHEARTEDLY disapprove of the use of AI for placeholder images. How do you expect me to believe you're making something on the up and up and not cutting corners when you find the need to use shitty plagiarism machines for placeholder images and expect people to not notice or care. Just use a blank image, or a stick drawing you made with your own two hands. I fully do not believe every piece of art work was handcrafted now, and thats entirely the development team's fault for making use of AI for something as simple as a placeholder. This was written as of 5.5.0 Experimental build on 1/6/2025, and you can see the AI placeholder images in the new "Supporter" system they just added. Also lol. the gall to make it so Africa/middle east doesnt have a Special supporter that has extra benefits.

I loved the first game, and this is essentially an upgrade on that in every way.

At first, I wasnt sure I liked the changes from the first game. But after 3 hours, Its won me over.

Its about 10% going toward XCOM away from the UFO we all know and love, but its actually a 10% that I'm in favour of. Its doing its best to get rid of the tedious admin but leave in the admin that was quite enjoyable.

So yea, the combat feels fairly the same which was really important.

One thing I LOVE is some of the special missions have crazy goals in them now. This is absolutely brilliant fun. Favourite one so far is doing an ambush on their convoy! So much fun having a turn of just blasting them!

Anyway, 3 hours in and I'm hungry to play more. Says it all.
If you like UFO and the first one.. its a no brainer must buy

Fun game but it has unfair scaling of health and damage from enemies and I hate losing units right when I send them out of the drop ship just to get one tapped by a alien that was out of sight next to my ship. There is no ending currently, AI isn't very smart I mostly lost troops to reaction shots that seem unfair. Heavy weapons and snipers suck! Running shotguns and rifles seem to only route as the cost to fire them is to high and has them just sitting for most of the op just to miss a 80% shot and having to reload afterward is just a waste of a slot but having a colossus suit for heavy is a improvement its a shame you cant use and modules with them. I wouldn't buy this game in it's current state.

great change of pace if you feel that XCOM 2 is getting old

I would recommend, but I have a few issues with this game. I'm a 43 year old guy who played a lot of time-based games, such the old UFO games, Jagged Alliance, Phoenix Point, the new UFO games etc.

This game tries to stay true to the classic UFO game and it does so quite well, but having all these newer games does make this game feel it's lacking, especially in the combat phases. There's no prown for instance, just kneel down. Also it doesn't show how many TU's it costs to move, just to shoot. I also think you should be able to point at legs/torso/head. These are I think necesary improvements while still being true to the old games.

Then, it's also way too hard. I'm playing this on 'soldier' difficulty, which is one step more difficult than the easiest. The evolution of alien's is way too fast compared to what you can research. After just 3 months you'll find yourself underequiped against mighty enemy's, making it mandatory to keep saving/loading to save a few of your soldiers.

Research is way too slow to keep up with this technology. Then there's the matter of monthly income becoming lower and lower when you're really doing everything you can to expand your bases and get good coverage with your interceptors. After 3-4 months the UFO's become too strong to take them down. The panic level of continents is rising way too fast.

I find this strange. When they are clearly trying to stay true to the classic game, they force a ridicolous speed of evolution which is near impossible. To make matters worse, when you are already struggling to keep up, due to higher panic levels (which is almost impossible to decrease) they lower your income, making it even harder.

Right now i'm contemplating quiting. I now have to defend my base when most of my team is on a mission, using 3 underequiped soldiers and 2 defense platforms which break so damn fast.

This game is in need of heavy re-balancing. It feels like it hasn't really been thourougly tested by the devs.

The game is enough to give you that XCOM itch, but not enough to scratch it (i am going to play some XCOM now, i advise you to do the same).

Even for EA (this review was done at EA milestone 4) this is very rough, nothing like an XCOM clone where the UFOs stop spawning :(

I loved it. I've gone as far as milestone 5, and I'm very anxious for the next updates to come so I can finish the story.

The major downside is that it´s still in development - I still hasn't gotten why they are selling it on Steam like it's a finished game. However, until now I didn't have any major issues with bugs, crashes, glitches or anything: it is truly playable.

(I´m writing this review as I wait for the update containing milestone 5 is being downloaded :D)

As for the game itself, it's great: it is challenging (I mean that as a compliment), the story is good, you always need to think well before you make any major decisions and sometimes you will get f***** by the aliens.

If it´s on sale, go ahead and buy it, you won´t regret it.

Its so hard to find an XCOM game that is faithful to the original. This is the game you have been wanting for decades.

It's an XCOM clone and that's completely meant as a compliment. If you like those at all you will like this.

Its old school xcom but updated. The UI is better. Being able to rotate the camera is great. Fully destructible environment. I've got as far as the 'placeholder' which is pre milestone 5. if you have played a lot of these games put the difficulty up and give yourself a bit of a challenge.

I actually like the game, the only reason I don't recommend it is because X1 and other Xcom likes are superior to X2, and you can pickup X1 on sale regularly for like 7 bucks at %75 off. X2 is like 27-30 at %25 off and it's way too expensive. It probably won't be as good until a year after release when we finally get workshop.

it's fantastic. if youre into xcom type games, there's really no reason not to buy it.

Pretty good ...Hope to see where this goes. Looking forward to additional content and full release. As a long time xcom fan this is a nice substitute.

I'm surprised by all the positive reviews.

The game is basically the original XCOM 1/2 reskin. That's not a bad thing in itself, but it doubles down on the worst parts of XCOM meta. Somehow it manages to be more shallow, frustrating and save-scammy than the original series, while also being a direct clone.


Boring details:
+ The only thing I like about this game is that the art style is less cartoonish / more gritty than the recent XCOM remakes.
- The hit chance mechanic is an absolute, unmitigated cancer-AIDS-ebola that is precision handcrafted to maximize player's RRPM (rectal rumbles per minute). Somehow it feels even worse than the XCOM series, which has always been pretty cancerous in terms up straight up lying to you about calculated hit percentages.
If you want to see hit mechanic done right in an XCOM-style game, check out Phantom Doctrine.
- The tech tree lacks any kind of breadth. Every new tech is a straight upgrade from the previous one. There are no "branches" and no choices to make.
- Lack of enemy variety. Most alien types are entirely the same with different stats. I can only tell them apart by the amount of hp/armor.
- Total lack of tactical mechanics we've come to expect from more recent games. No psyonics, no stealth, no melee, no grappling hooks, no weapon mods... All you get is a gun, a more damage gun and an even more damage gun.
- Soldier class building is just applying a gear template. Your tactical team gets no perks/skills or meaningful specialization. Soldier training/promotion = +1 to all stats.
- Base management is tedious, and you have to know upfront what all the upgrades do, and how many of each module you'll need. Building it is so long and expensive, that correcting a build mistake may cost you the whole game. You have to plan it out on day 1, then just go through the motions.
- Story is incomplete at the time of this review, but it seems to lack any nuance or twist. Very barebones writing. Not that the story matter for XCOM genre, but still...

Special note on difficulty of the game

I was really hoping for an evolution from the first game to this one. At this point it's more just a small step and not even necessarily forward. Even on normal enemies just have absurd damage and accuracy compared to your own soldiers. Ultimately disappointing and frustrating instead of fun.

Old X2 Devs do a great product with their Indy vision of the Game . New 0.54 release is stable and plays better than before!

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☐ Beautiful
☐ Good
☑ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS

---{ Gameplay }---
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't

---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf

---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☑ Grandma

---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☑ Potato
☐ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer

---{ Game Size }---
☐ Floppy Disk
☑ Old Fashioned
☐ Workable
☐ Big
☐ Will eat 10% of your 1TB hard drive
☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it
☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data

---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☑ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls

---{ Grind }---
☐ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☑ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding

---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☑ Good
☐ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life

---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☐ Average
☑ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond

---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☐ Worth the price
☑ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money

---{ Bugs }---
☐ Never heard of
☑ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs

---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☑ 8
☐ 9
☐ 10

Great game, can't wait for full release.

How it feels to kill one of your units after they miss a 80% check with a shotgun at point blank

Great game. Xenonauts was good and this one has many little improvements that make it way better then old one. Some of the improvements: you can move camera around to get better view, you can check the line of fire from the place you are going to move to before moving there, much bigger variety of missions ( old game had mostly crash site sweep), grenade launcher instead of rocket allows to shoot over obstacles gives a lot of options, and many other. It's still early access but game is good to play, try it out.

Will update once released, but...

Very much unfinished, but I keep replaying the experimental and beta versions. The core gameplay is definitely working for me.

Great game even if it is not finished yet you can tell they put a lot of time and effort in. There are still bugs but that is normal to have a few in early devolpment

It's Early Access, yes, and I generally discourage you from buying them, but this game entered it when it was at least playable to completion. It's got some unpolished areas to it, yes, but it plays REALLY well and looks just amazing. It'll get better, with time. Promise.

It is an excellent game until you play Xenonauts 1, then you'll notice all the weaknesses. First, Xenonauts 1 has far more vehicles than 2, in 2 you only get 2 jet fighters, 2 transport vehicles and that's it. In 1 you get 5 combat aircraft and 3 dropships. The campaign is incomplete and in the constant state of updates that means what you've advanced in your campaign will be lost next update.

Yet the game is quite the fun time and it has better quality of life features that lack on its predecessor.

Great Game! Aliens need more varied death sounds though

First battle - one of my own guys killed a friendly with a reaction shot. They saw an enemy and shotgunned straight through the adjacent teammate. This definitely needs more time.

Not a continuation, but a reboot of the original game with much smoother game play, better graphics, just everything better overall, without loosing any of the original feel.
A modern successor to the classic x-com.

X-com:UFO Defence has been reborn as Xenonauts and I, for one, could not be happier. endgame needed.

Xenonauts 2 is THE true spiritual successor to Xcom: UFO Defense from the 90s.

It is a passion project by fans of the original game. It simplifies mechanics that were unnecessary from the original and expands mechanics that were lacking. It is more than just a 'clone' like Xenonauts 1.

I can't wait for the full release.

I bought this as an early game and have been watching its progress over the last couple of years. Much better than I expected. I haven't played it much yet but notably, you get a small remote tank very early in the game, which is good to break down walls and one-shot enemy. I wish the map rotation function would be a bit more gradual. Rather than just 90 degrees each time. Several times it was difficult to select a unit because I couldn't rotate the view to see it properly.

Needs some time to bake but it from what i saw in Xenonauts1 i am more than certain it will reach a quality that puts other games in the genre to shame.

So many QoL features are in by default which is rare in todays day and age where those are normally sold to you or modded in.

Keep an eye on her for she is just getting better and better.

Xenonauts 2 is the game you want to go play where the Alien threat actually feels like the buildup of an actual invasion. Where every loss may hurt, you have the worlds bravest and brightest to call on to fill the ranks in an endless meat grinder of a war. For anyone who was wanting to play another x-com, this game would be the darker more 'realistic' version of this scenario.

Background: I used to play X-division, and was skeptical about the xenonaut 2. Just brought the game in 11-2024 (not sure about the patch no.) and it was a way way better experience than i expected.

At start, i feared it was a mere copy of xeononaut 1 with better graphic, how wrong were i after a day of playing. No, it's an evolved version of the xeon-series.

1) first thing first, the current 3D setup makes the a) environment (great fun to blow up gas tank or reliably destroy cover) and b) firefight (the 3D checks make the rifle or sniper firefight way more reliable; u know what i mean when u had the chessy feeling in xeon-1) much more fun.

2) the introduction of clearer is fun (like the xcom enemy within) and have potentials (i.e. maybe introducing cyber-upgrade research since clearer soldier is heavily modified, who doesn't like a 40K commissoner yarrick with bionic eye and crushing claw in your xeon- team lol).

The game is still under development, and i am really looking forward to the complete product, plus who knows, perhaps a X-division 2 mod sometimes (a long time) in the future.

Disclaimer: I play on easy and does money cheat. Sorry to say i no longer have real time to grind through the economy lol.

If you've played "UFO: Enemy Unknown", as the first X-COM game was originally called in Europe in 1994, or any of the better X-COM games since then, you'll want to play Xenonauts 2! :-)
The team behind this worthy successor to the greatest turn-based tactics and strategy games keeps updating this currently already very solid title at a steady pace, delivering plenty of content while it's currently still in Early Access, receiving the care and polish it deserves. If early access isn't your thing, go play the also excellent Xenonauts 1, while waiting for this to be the gem it is meant to be!

As a veteran of the gendra , this game is very different from xenonauts 1:

-The leaning mechanics are gone, it was frustrating to learn but was too f*cking broken when mastered.

-The new engine on unity is way more better except for the ballistics side: I loved to use the "remove this direction"meme tactic by spraying alliens out of sight with machine gun fire and rockets. Sadly this is no longer possible to do that anymore wich is really sad (now the bullet disappear instead of being forced to hit something).

-I don't like the new aliens design with some that look like baby stroller walker (YEAH YOU CAN'T UNSEE IT NOW YOU ARE CURSED TOO ). I wished that the armor would look more detailed in tactical battle.

-It kinda try to copy too much the xcom franchise with these "story mission" wich is kind of meh... for me.
I really loved the side of xenonauts 1 where you were told: here you go commander, clap some aliens cheeks for us "Im sure youll be fine and good luck" approach while you where getting sh*t on by aliens.

-The aircraft loadout look nice but in gameplay this sh*t is annoying, just give the opportunity to the player to equip whatever he wants instead of: "OH NO you cant equip a machinegun AND a rocket at the same time" like bruh why are you like that?

-The air battle used to be "skilled based"in xenonauts 1 where you could even take out multiple late game aliens spaceships with only one default GIGA CHAD F16 (its was hard but possible). In xenonauts 2 its is no longer possiblle to pull that sh*t out, now we got the slow BETA Angel that cant even turn.

-Night time battles in xenonauts 1 was pure nightmare.
In xenonauts 2 not so much, just like daytime, by the way: NIGHT VISION WHEN PLS its F*CK*NG 2012 ingame.

-SHOTGUN WAS GOOOOD LIKE BOOMSTICK IN X1, IN X2 SHOOTGUN IS NOW A NERF GUN, GIVE BUFF TO SHOTGUN NOW !!!!!! AND GIVE BACK THE F*CK*NG RPG IM SICK OF NERF WICK ASS GRENADE LAUNCHER!!

-Commander difficulty just consist to load a f*ck ton of russian vodka fueled aliens that RUSH B (aka your helicopter).They no longer try to hide, or flank so they are "easier"to manage.

I GIVE THIS GAME A FLASHBANG OUT OF 10

New to this game and never played the Xcom I saw in other reviews. Started a new game with tutorial on the easiest setting since most reviews here say it's a difficult game and honestly I'm glad I did. I'm learning the game mechanics and how getting careless can wipe your whole team.

I'm really enjoying it so far.

--Please keep in mind that this is an updated early access review from 11/28/24 and will be updated when the game comes out. --

If you are disappointed with the direction that the "new" versions of Xcom went, Xenonauts 2 i is a good choice. Xenonauts 2 has a really good atmosphere that makes the game world feel real. The real feeling along with the music gives the game a sense of dread and importance. Graphics in Xenonauts 2 are a huge step up from the original Xenoauts. One of the nice things is graphics effects are not overly done which makes for a more startling feeling when weapons are fired or alien events occur. Things glow or move for a reason, not just to "look cool". In addition Xenonauts 2 provides you with more freedom to make more complex decisions and actions. It is very much like the old 90s Xcom games used to have before the new versions took over and made everything too simple. I am going to list some of the things that Xenonauts 2 allows you to do that the new xcom versions have removed or simplified to oblivion.

Want to do a mission with 1 guy, or fill your drop ship to its brim from 9 to 24 depending on drop ship? -The game says Sure. Do you want light tanks with that at early game? - Yes please. Want to run into the map and just grab equipment and leave when you decide without killing everything? -Sure. Want to just blow everything up? - Sure. Want to overload your guys so you have more equipment at start? -Game says Sure. Want to make some odd knife or grenade only class? -Sure. Want overwatch to make sense? -Yes please. Want cover to actually make sense? -Sure. Want brick walls to not just blow up randomly for no reason just because of a fire? -Yes please. Want to level every building to the ground? -Sure. Want to ignore missions? -Sure. Want to manage your base inventory? -Sure. Want multiple bases? -Sure. Do you want to worry about base attacks more? -Sure. Want to make your own soldier specialty types and decide that weapon they will use? The game says Sure. Want your troops to have actual stats? -Sure. Want to sneak your troops through the map and know how many movement points you have left? - Sure. Do you want to rotate your troops to the direction you want? -Sure. Want to decide how many grenades and other equipment your troops have? - Sure. Want to shoot down UFOs with 1 or 3 aircraft, or just let it wander the map? -Sure. Want to be able to use fallen units equipment on the battlefield? - Yes please. Want a story that is engaging?- Sure. Want to stockpile lots of stuff for no reason? - Sure.

I could go on, but a lot of the more complex options you might miss or want from the "New" Xcom games are here. It's also only going to get better with more because it's still under development. This is the way to go if you want a better tactical game.

Well..

Long battles on ground.
It's actually a good game.

It's disappointing that this game still doesn't have an actual ending yet, despite being out for a year and a half. I know it's still in "early access" or whatever, but come on with that. That being said, it is good to see they're still putting out updates and working on it.

I did like Xenonauts 1's way of dropping you into the game and immediately going "Okay, so you get the basic idea - aliens are attacking and it's up to you to defend Earth. There's notes you can read if you want. Everything's pretty intuitive and we're not going to treat you like an idiot. Here's some starting resources. Now go get 'em!", so I was a little skeptical of the sequel holding your hand for the first few missions and trying for a more story-driven game as opposed to just doing whatever the heck you want. I feel like if you wanted something more story-driven, that's what xcom was for. That being said, the story here isn't half-bad.

I do really like the better feel to resource management in this game as opposed to the original. It feels like there's constantly something game-changing to research and unlock, and there's a lot of cool new items and gear. Also, having idle engineers/scientists gain passive income to offset their costs so you don't feel like you have to use them 24/7 just to justify having them there is also a nice touch. Also, I LOVE that you can passively train soldiers so they can slowly gain skill when they aren't in a mission. It actually justifies having soldiers at more than one base - something I never found myself able to do in Xenonauts 1. Which is great because ships are more aggressive towards bases this time around.

Really looking forward to coming back to this in a few months/years and seeing this game at its full potential. I just really wish companies weren't so comfortable with releasing unfinished games. I would have been fine waiting a year or two to play this game in its full glory.

Extremely promising Xenonauts sequel (or polish,) it looks great and I like where it is going.

However; it still needs time to cook. Some bits and pieces are still wonky, and the whole timed missions thing needs a rethink.

This is gonna be good when it's ready.

I recommend this game. Similar to the old XCOM style. Robust enough to play even now. A couple of problems observed, like research-engineering sequence is broken sometimes (e.g. you have fusion weapon before gauss weapon so make no sense to develop that) or weird equipment operation of soldiers stationed on a base just to defence it (equipment gray out and number of weapon in the store does not reflect the correct number).
But all in all, good game and close to release -I hope :)

Im playing this on Steam Deck and it runs like a dream. The game is a great homage to the XCOM series. I think the research and analyse portions are very well written and have a much more serious tone than XCOM to be sure. The story line is perfect, and that Enemy of The State feel while dealing with The Cleaners is realistic and fits seamlessly into the game.
I prefer the Time Unit system over the simplified XCOM Action Points system. It allows for a much higher degree of strategic planning and a boon to the Fun Factor.
This game can be aggravating at times, the Ai pulls no punches and can ambush your troops in CQB easily, while other times the RNG will make you want to rage quit because your troopers will sometimes have "oops" moments. These oopsies can be as simple as missing a target 5' away, or as frustrating as your grenade launcher misfiring and blowing up in your grenadiers face and killing/wounding half your squad. This randomness is exactly the kind of shenanigans that makes this game so much fun.
A great example of this was when i was doing a recovery mission, a few npcs were fighting the aliens and one alien went to shoot the npc in question when its shot missed and the projectile traveled through the building, through a window, and hit something i couldnt yet see. turns out that alien rolled a critical fail in my opinion because i found the dead body of another alien who had been on the other side of that window.
Now the game does need a little more work on the friendly npc's, because if they are unarmed they just run around and murder poor defenseless windows. I watched as a few npcs broke every window in the operation area, all the while my Zomboid PTSD cringed every time they jumped through a window without removing the glass first...