A new iteration in the XCOM franchise is set to release on PC this Friday, April 24th. The stand-alone expansion follows on from the events of XCOM 2, taking place 5 years after that game’s conclusion. XCOM Chimera Squad sees players command the titular group, in a world where humans and aliens are now co-existing. Well, for the most part anyway.
Can’t we all just get along?
The game takes place within the confines of City 31, a sprawling metropolis dealing with a new era of human-alien co-existence. XCOM Chimera Squad features several major changes not seen in previous games. Firstly, naming soldiers after your least favourite people then using them as muton bait is gone. Chimera Squad are a set group of individuals, each with their own abilities and personalities. You will have eleven squad members in total, with a mixture of humans and aliens fighting the good fight. The next notable change is the new “Breach” mechanic, which is the first phase of every operation. During this phase, you will choose how and where you assault the target location, with certain soldiers offering specific methods of entry.
Additionally, commanders can now choose the turn order for their team, as part of the new interleaved turn system. Whereas in the other XCOM games, the player made all his teams moves, then the aliens’ theirs. XCOM Chimera Squad changes this to a system more akin to Divinity: Original Sin. That being; agents and enemies alternate turns in a single timeline. The final major change I’ll mention is the bleed out mechanic. If one of your agents gets shot up, they’ll go down with a bleed out timer. Any agent can then stabilize them, ready for extraction. If they bleed out before you reach them, however, it’s mission failure. So essentially you can’t lose a single soldier…
All the good news
So not only do we get a surprise new XCOM game (it was only announced last week), the price point isn’t bad either. At full price XCOM Chimera Squad is €19.99, but if you purchase before May 1st, you’ll get it half price. The game promises a twenty hour campaign, with plenty of replayability, and can be found on the games Steam page. Check out the video below for a full rundown on XCOM Chimera Squad.
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