https://stayclose.social/JamikaSharkey/ Latest updates from Jamika Sharkey https://stayclose.social/blog/4598/xcom-2-review-the-stress-of-strategy-now-on-consoles/ Aliens spend all of XCOM 2 trying to take down your resistance operation while exploiting the planet they've taken over. It is your job to take your overlords out and reclaim the planet as your own ag


This is additive with their base hit chance, meaning that if you had an 85% hit chance, Holo Targeting would guarantee a hit. In a game like XCOM where RNG can determine engagements, turning it in your favor is imperative to survival. Skills like these make the Grenadier a solid option in any sq

Yeah. At the beginning of development, after we finished Enemy Unknown, the four of us, the Lead Producer, Creative Director, Lead Programmer and myself, we wrote where we wanted to go with XCOM 2 and we had a little time to figure everything out. The very first thing was procedural levels; that was the very first thing we wanted to put in the game. We started ironing out all the little pieces we wanted to do – wanted to make it modable. Those were two of the biggest things we have to go towards, and after making Enemy Unknown, we knew how to do that.


The game's cover art is a reference to a classic religious artwork with the depiction of a sacred heart in the middle of the chest; the heart has been replaced by a grenade in Borderlands 3 's cover, possibly a reference to the "Holy Hand Grenade" from Monty Python and the Holy Gr


There was a time when the revival of the science fiction franchise XCOM by Firaxis SLG mobile SLG Games was seen as simply a small-scale, back-up title to the main event. But long before the squad-based shooter disappointed many, the traditional, turn-based strategy XCOM: Enemy Unknown had been launched to near universal acclaim, not only doing the brand justice, but reinvigorating the genre as a whole. The expansion Enemy Within doubled down on the fiction and gameplay - but it was **XCOM 2 ** that had the anticipation in its fa


The most important aspect of surviving Ironman is undoubtedly pod management. Ideally, players should aim to pull one pod at a time. One of the best ways to lose a squad is to have the last member advance, reveal a pod, and have the enemies take a full round of actions before players can react. To avoid being at the mercy of enemies in XCOM 2, it is important to use blue movement when advancing, and dash only when it is certain that no pods will be inconveniently revea


The truth is, XCOM still exists, though it's become a shadow of its former self after world leaders and bases either surrendered or were destroyed. Reduced to a covert guerilla military operating in cells around the globe, this new "Resistance" has more than the standard aliens of the original game to contend with. Those monsters are back and scarier than ever, along with entirely new creatures - but it's the humans who serve the aliens - known as the ADVENT - that pose the most insidious threat. The odds seem insurmountable, and fight failing until resistance intelligence locates, then extracts their secret weapon: the Command


These robotic horrors can mean death to entire squad if the player is not careful. Cyberdiscs have very strong armor and a lot of hit points; this is made worse for the player by the presence of drones that can repair Cyberdiscs. Their main cannon will usually kill a soldier without heavy armor. Cyberdiscs can also lob grenades across the battlefield; which means seeking cover isn’t as effective against them. Lastly, don’t get too close or a Cyberdisc will use their "Death Blossom" attack that does severe damage in a 360°


An Ōkami cover art featuring on this list is fairly ironic, as the franchise is known for having one of the biggest box art botches of all time. When the Nintendo Wii version of the game was released, eagle-eyed fans noticed that a barely visible IGN logo was included due to the artwork being taken from the si


It's the kind of tense, story-driven stakes that have kept couch-based players on the edge of their seats, and thankfully, the controls have been adapted to a gamepad with as streamlined and intutitive a control scheme as could be hoped for. The controls will be second nature by the second mission or so, maintaining the tactical-over-twitch sensations. The only real cost of conversion to consoles is nagging framerate drops and flickering during cutscenes, specifically. They're noticable, and a shame; but if the game adapts the feel of playing the game, it's a worthy trade-off (especially with the troubled history of trying to make complex strategy games "work" away from a mouse and keyboa


PC players have been enjoying the game since February, but the developers have finally released a console version to Xbox One and PS4. It's a longer delay than many gamers are used, so does the ported version seem worth the wait? And after Enemy Unknown 's own release on consoles, have the interfaces and controls been improved (along with the performance) on the Xbox One and PS4's hardware? The answer is 'yes' across the board - minus a few technical iss
]]> https://stayclose.social/blog/4598/xcom-2-review-the-stress-of-strategy-now-on-consoles/ Mon, 15 Dec 2025 03:31:59 +0000 Jamika Sharkey https://stayclose.social/JamikaSharkey/ https://stayclose.social/JamikaSharkey/ Mon, 15 Dec 2025 03:31:52 +0000 Jamika Sharkey