Welcome to the skilled channel and today we're looking at XCOM 2.
The first Xcom was an excellent tactical turn based strategy game that has you blowing away
aliens.
XCOM 2 has all of this and more.
They're looking to create a high replayable experience.
So let's take a look at 10 cool features in XCOM 2.
Story Xcom: Enemy Unknown took place at the very
start of the alien invasion in the year 2015 where you assumed the role of the Extraterrestial
Combat Unit otherwise known as Xcom.
In Xcom 2, your team lost the war.
Taking place twenty years later, the world leaders have surrendered to alien forces.
Aliens rule the earth building cities with superior technology while hiding their true
agenda of eliminating anyone who opposes them.
The original XCOM group is done.
The remaining survivors form a guerilla group to take on the aliens.
The aliens mark them as targets claiming they are a danger to society.
Although this is a turn based strategy game, it features rendered cutscenes which move
right into game animations.
It's a very seamless presentation that gets you up close and personal.
Upgrades Xcom is all about cultivating a team of soldiers
that you can't afford to lose.
As you take out aliens in the field, they'll drop loot which you'll take back to the base
and use for upgrades.
Garth DeAngelis, the lead producer on XCOM seems to be very enthusiastic about the potential.
"You�ll be able to take them back to base and do some very, very cool stuff--such as
customising your weapons, and customising the inherent attributes of your soldiers."
Customization Individual characters will also feature strong
customization.
Gender and nationality can be customized.
And each individual part of a soldier's armor can also be customized.
They've really thought of everything here.
You can really make each soldier look the way you want them to and not just like another
grunt.
It's important to have memorable soldiers because like I said, you can't afford to lose
them.
As the soldiers become more experienced, they'll also get unique options that are specific
to that unit.
Many soldiers will have unique looks to them since soldiers are coming from all over the
place.
It's both civilians and ex-military.
Classes There are
five different soldier classes: Ranger, Specialist, Grenadier, Sharpshooter.
The fifth class hasn't been revealed as of this video.
Ranger class can engage in melee combat using blade weapon.
They also have special abilities such as the reaper ability which gives every melee kill
an additional attack.
Specialist can use a "Gremlin" robotic drone.
Abilities include AoE stun and allied soldier buffs.
They can also upgrade their hacking skill faster than others.
The Grenadier gets the heavy weapons such as grenade launchers and machine guns.
Sharpshooter can use sniper rifles and pistols as primary weapons.
Each class is useful in it's own way and mastering them is crucial to survival.
Replayability- In order to create long replayability, the
devs have pushed to make more elements procedurally generated.
There will be procedural map generation and producedral objectives.
This increases the challenge by not making enemy placements so predicatble and it makes
every experience unique.
Firaxis wants this game to be as replayable as Civilization V. Civ V is a game that isn't
talked about as much as others, but it's still wildly popular with thousands of people playing
everyday even years after the initial release.
Firaxis wants their turn based strategy game to reach the same level of quality and replay
ability.
The lead producer spoke specifically about replay value.
DeAngelis: "In EU, you had kill missions, and scripted
VIP rescue missions.
"Now, we're sort of combining the two, within a very procedural system.
Not just procedural maps, but now there are gameplay mechanics layered on top, where you
don't know exactly what you're doing when you go in.
It could be recovering intel, hacking a workstation, destroying a building and they're not scripted
like they were in EU.
They work based on a number of parts in the procedural system.
So it's super replayable."
New Look Xcom 2 looks similar to it's predecessor,
but many elements have been refreshed due to the game's new setting.
Environments are more varied and feature alien cities across the globe.
The cities look clean and well built, but they are hiding alien secrets underneath.
Enemies also have more memorable looks.
There's also new alien types who each have their own unique designs.
Many of the typical alien soldiers you've seen in the trailers are Advent Troopers which
are actually human soldiers that act as security on behalf the aliens.
There's Vipers who were inspired by the Snakemen in the 1994 release of Enemy Unknown.
Andromedons are organic synthetic hybrid enemies that are filled with acid liquid which splatters
every where when they are killed.
And there's plenty more aliens that you'll encounter in XCOM2.
Mobile Base & World map Xcom no longer has an underground base.
Instead you control the Avenger which is an alien space craft that has been converted
into a mobile headquarters.
You'll travel all around the world map.
There isn't enough time to target every enemy, so you'll have to make crucial choices for
which missions to deploy for.
Mod Support (Built In Tools) Xcom 2 is built for the PC from the ground
up.
Firaxis is looking for longevity and they are looking to accomplish this with steam
workshop support and the unreal editor.
Firaxis has seen the limited attempts from the community to mod XCOM: Enemy Unknown and
that's why they are integrating built in support this time around.
The lead producer has spoken specifically about mod support.
"We're going to have Steam Workshop support, and the Unreal editor so you can do total
content conversions.
And we're going to release the gameplay source, so you can do partial edits to existing abilities
and stats."
Combat Xcom 2 is all about mobility.
Combat is more of a run and gun style gameplay to complete objectives rather than hunting
down every last alien.
This is also due to increased destructibility.
Some elements of cover are only temporary so that could keep you on the move but also
open up new tactical opportunities.
The previous game had destructibility, but not to this extent.
This is a very big change in mechanics, but it's something that the developers are looking
forward to.
The lead producer spoke about this specifically:
�You have cover.
What's the most terrifying thing that can happen to you?
Cover is suddenly ripped out from you.
There are still toughness levels on cover, so depending on the type of ammo you have,
the type of weapon tiers, cover will either stick around or go away.
In the demo, the Advent were using magnetic weaponry, so that takes out baseline cover
much quicker.
But the other cool thing about destructibility is, if you're in a building, and you have
a unit on the second floor, or the roof, if someone shoots at you, that floor could go
out from under you at any time and you can fall through"
Every mission also starts in concealment so you are on a more even playing ground with
your enemies.
Survival If an ally goes down, but is still alive,
you'll have to carry them back to the ship.
If they are already dead, carrying them won't do anything other than save their gear.
But if you don't take wounded soldiers back to base, you'll lose them forever.
As designer Jake Solomon explained, "Even if you carry them, dead's dead.
Carrying is a way to save certain soldiers, ones who are unconscious or bleeding out.
If you don't carry them out to the evac point, they are considered dead.
There are some cases where you have to evac soldiers in the middle of a mission, like
poisoned squadmates.
But the only practical reason to carry a dead guy home is if they have nice gear."
Every death scene plays a dramatic cutscene that really adds weight to the loss.
Because your soldiers aren't indispensable.
You need to conserve as many of them as possible.
Another quote from Solomon explains the survival aspects, "XCOM has to be turn-based because
of the stakes involved.
If the player can make such mistakes that their soldiers can die, then the player has
to be in complete control of making those decisions.
Otherwise it feels completely unfair.
Even if it was the best AI in the world, the player would feel cheated if a soldier died
through no fault of his own.
We need to create conditions where the player wholeheartedly accepts his mistakes.
But we try to add everything we can to put the player close to the action, to make the
gameplay fluid and continuous.�
Outro Based on what I've heard Firaxis has listened
to feedback from the community and looked for very specific and strong improvements
to make on the sequel.
It's also great to hear that they're in the mentality of of developing a very complete
game on the PC platform.
Are you interested in XCOM 2?
Let us know in the comments.
And subscribe to the skilled channel for more cool previews.