Editing XCOM (section)

==XCOM: Enemy Unknown by Firaxis==
[[File:XCOMGameplay.jpg|200px|thumb|An in-game screenshot of the new game.]]
And Firaxis came to the rescue, promising to return to the roots of XCOM (note the lack of a hyphen this time around, although the logo ''does'' have a horizontal stripe taken out of the "COM"). Since Firaxis has a lot of ex-MicroProse people, a lot of them have had to do with the original as well, and the original musical score will make a return. Although it's changed a few things to avoid hurting the brains of [[/v/|delicate little console kiddies]] like removing time units, removing ballistic simulation, cutting down on your maximum amount of squad members (4 at the start and 6 maximum) and limiting us to one base (though each base location gives its own unique bonus), it still somehow manages to be a good game in its own right. If the original X-COM is like Mordheim, then XCOM is like Space Hulk: massively simplified and more heavily dependent on the luck of the die, but with less micromanagement and long-term planning required. Save-scumming is pretty much obligatory, the midgame difficulty ramp-up leaves you no time to train up a second team if your best get wiped out.

===XCOM: Enemy Within===
[[File:MectoidMEC.jpg|200px|thumb|Did we mention melee combat with exosuits?]]
''Enemy Within'' is an expansion pack (and unlike most "horse armor" tier DLCs with the name this one actually deserves it) that completely re-defines how the game progresses, compared to the original one. The game's story still progresses like the original game, but expands on it for a more entertaining experience.

It adds the "meld" resource to the game, a type of alien organic/synthetic-hybrid nanomachine that allows you to unlock two powerful technologies: MEC and genetic modification. MEC allows your troops to interface with a Mechanized Exoskeleton Cybersuit, [[Dreadnought|a heavy exoskeleton that brings the heaviest of weapons to the field]]. Genetic modification allows you to augment your troops using data gathered from dissected aliens, making them killier than ever before. In fact, you can create your own equivalent of an Imperial [[Space Marine]] with the list of available modifications you can do (Two of these specific upgrades are a second heart and the ability of self-regeneration).  The neural dampener mod absolutely neuters the aliens' endgame trickery by giving troopers +20 will, immunity to panic, and immunity to mind control.

It also adds new aliens to the xenos' side, like a cloaking squid robot that chokes your troops to death and their own brand of exosuit troops. It also introduces another enemy into the game: EXALT. EXALT are a bunch of power-mad blokes who sees the alien's invasion as a way to gain power by adapting their technology for themselves, inching them closer to world domination. They see you as an obstacle and are determined to undermine your efforts to defeat the aliens by disrupting your operations and sowing panic amongst XCOM-member nations, generally making your already hectic life even more hectic. You must now defeat this new threat through a combination of [[Ork|cunning brutality and brutal cunning.]] They have most of your technologies to go toe-to-toe with you (Except for their own exosuits) and they are well hidden, so bringing them down won't be an easy affair.

===XCOM 2===
[[File:People%27s_reaction_to_XCOM_2%27s_Vipers.png|200px|thumb|Turns out they ''are'' poison glands.  Hee.]]
A direct-ish sequel to EU/EW, XCOM 2 seems to decide that what's canon is not: not "you killed all the aliens, now here's more aliens", but "you know that Impossible Ironman game you played for a laugh and got utterly stomped? That's the canon ending". (The utterly stomping part takes place in the base defense mission from EW, and it is so bad that two of the most important things got taken: The Commander, and more importantly, central officer Bradford's sweater). The aliens won before humanity even got to laser weapons, taking over the world and unifying humanity (read: ruling over them in a pseudo-utopia "Brave New World"-style), and basically preparing to turn them into another of their slave races (not that most of humanity knows this).

XCOM refused to back down even after the Council of Nations ceased to exist and instead went underground, hijacking an alien supply ship to act as a mobile base for hit-and-run operations against the alien occupiers, in the hopes of toppling ADVENT (the puppet government the aliens set up) and exposing the true purpose of their supposedly ideal society to the world. So they free the captured Commander (Bradford's sweater didn't make it, press F to pay respects) and it's guerilla warfare time.

This is where the first core gameplay mechanic differs from the previous entries in the franchise. Where before now you had to push forth inch by inch before getting jumped by sectoids and surprise sectopods lurking around corners, most missions start with your strike team in concealment, letting ''you'' get the jump on the aliens. Once you execute this initial ambush, however, it reverts back to the standard formula for the rest of the mission.

New features include:

*The Assault class has been given a makeover to focus even more on [[Rip and Tear]], replacing the sidearm with a sword and changing title to the Ranger. 
*The Sniper has been renamed the Sharpshooter and given a pistol-focused skill-tree-route that turns the soldier into Clint Eastwood (literally, like you can have a stand-off by firing 3 pistol-shots in the same turn).
*The Support class has been renamed the Specialist and been given a drone to hack, heal, shield and/or zap shit remotely.
*The Heavy has been given a nice grenade launcher to act as your cover-stomper, and been renamed the Grenadier. 
*Psi-operatives are their own class now as well, and get hate-hair and [[Cadia|purple eyes]] because that makes sense and all psychically talented people look like neo-punks.
*Troops can be captured, and then rescued, which also reclaims any expensive gear they had on them (but it's never the captured troops you actually need back).
*New enemies (without spoilers), including "human" ADVENT security troops (who really love to say "bitch" and pointing towards your soldiers) with magnetic weapons who look like humans till you get their armor off, sectoid-human hybrids with teeth, thumbs, and belly buttons, and Snake-women called Vipers (which is what the Thin Men actually look like without their disguises).

Yes, there were snaketits on the thread that announced this to /tg/. No they are not actually tits. No /d/ did not care. Yes they have drawn porn of them. Yes, it will be added to the gallery. Yes, this is all blatant pandering on 2K's part.

XCOM 2 also reveals the reason why the aliens invaded in the first place, although it's arguably a retcon that contradicts the vague hints given in the previous game. Apparently, the Ethereals have some kind of fatal disease they can't cure, so they've been trekking around the galaxy gathering genes to build the ultimate bodies for themselves, while forming their victims into a genetically engineered super army. When the Ethereals found humanity, they found their genes to be so awesome and powerful that just adding some of them to a lowly sectoid turned it from a pathetic 3' tall creature with lame psionics to an 8' tall rape machine that could raise the dead and withstand salvos of bullets to the face. They then set up an alien government on Earth so they could sift through our genome for the best genetic material and grow new bodies for themselves that don't die called Avatars. And by don't die, we mean have copious amounts of health, teleport every time they're injured, regenerate like crazy, are guaranteed to successfully mind control anything, and are immune to any psionics that isn't just damage. And the boss fight involves killing three of these dick-butts and an endless wave of alien reinforcements. The lose condition for the game is when the aliens complete their "Avatar Project" to mass produce enough Avatar bodies for the Ethereal race. If they do you get treated to a scene of all resistance being crushed because the Avatars are dangerous enough in small numbers and an army of them would unstoppable. You can slow progress, but can only stop it by finishing the game.  

Also, Firaxis worked with the team responsible for the infamous Long War mod (see below) and adapted their "unique" design idioms to XCOM 2, aka nerfing the shit out of everything because suffering builds character or something. On the other hand, this means XCOM 2 has fantastic mod support, letting you pile as much random crap as you want until the hacked-up UE3 fork the game uses starts bursting at the seams. Between Nexus and the Steam workshop you have everything from backports of the weapons and MECs from Enemy Within to third factions like Mass Effect's Geth to cosmetic mods that let you LARP as everything from Halo to 40k. 

====XCOM 2: War of the Chosen====
This brand new expansion gives us three new allies to aid us. It's actually more than large enough to be a game into itself.

*Reapers: Stealthy hunters who wear [[Shadowrun|trench coats and gas masks, despise the aliens so much they reject the use of any of their technologies,]] eat Muton flesh like they are on a southern BBQ and are armed with nothing but a rifle and explosives. It's enough. Reapers are ''the'' defacto masters of infiltration and assassination and right out of the gate have a dramatically buffed state of concealment called "Shadow". When in their "Shadow" mode, Reapers are virtually undetectable and can only be revealed by the enemy if they literally run into them by sheer dumb luck. Yes, you can have your Reaper sit ass out completely out in the open in the middle of the street and the aliens will be none-the-wiser. Reapers can and will begin to reveal themselves on the offensive, however, as they have an exponentially increasing chance to reveal themselves after every shot they take. Upgraded reapers can mitigate this slightly by taking a perk that prevents the odds of being revealed from increasing if they kill the target they shot at. [[Dakka|They also have an ability that lets them shoot at an enemy until they run out of ammo.]] Long story short, these guys are only slightly less powerful than the Reapers from Mass Effect.

*Skirmishers: ADVENT defectors who are armed with a grappling hook that can pull them to a rooftop and pull themselves to the enemy or vice versa and at max level [[Awesome|can gain action points every. Time. The. Enemy. Moves.]] Except it only works three times a turn, and doesn't trigger on non-move actions. [[fail|The game doesn't tell you this.]] Their Bullpups have lower range and damage over the standard rifle, but make up for it by being able to shoot multiple times a turn and being wielding by dudes using grappling hooks to zip between buildings like Spiderman.

*Templars: [[Grey Knights|A resistance group made of only psionics]] that wield psi blades and machine pistols, but you'll probably never use those. They're fast, hard to kill, and hit like a brick. And like any good psi-based unit, they can fry their enemies with lighting from their hands. They're like the [[rip and tear]] half of the Ranger, but with psionic powers. They have access to some rather obscene powers (like being able to teleport your allies and enemies across the map or summon lightning storms to disintegrate several enemies at once), but this is tempered by them needing to build up Psionic Focus by killing enemies in melee in order to use them. They're also fantastically hammy and roll their Rs.

But these new allies come with a catch as you now have to fight the titular chosen who can adapt to your soldiers' abilities with their own strengths and weaknesses, and the Lost ([[tarpit|zombie swarms]]) that attack both you and ADVENT. Along with these new allies and enemies is trying to get the three resistance groups to work together, as well as a new fatigue and relationship system.

=== XCOM: Long War ===
The big daddy mod for XCOM: Enemy Unknown made by a small developer known as Pavonis Interactive that is single-handedly responsible for XCOM 2's thorough mod support, Long War is a ''very'' extensive rework of the entire game from the ground up to make it more similar to the original game. While the mod greatly expands the classes, perks, weapons and armor players can gear up their dudes with, it also greatly enhances the aliens' arsenal, which now adapts and evolves to combat the player the longer the game goes on. The number of changes made to the game is well into the hundreds and the difficulty is so stepped up that it makes the vanilla game a walk in the park comparatively. You can bring dozens of soldiers to each mission, and all of them will die because the aliens are even more numerous and overpowered than in the DOS game. Combine that with the amount of number bloat in ''everything'', especially cooldown and construction timers for almost everything you do, and hacking at the mod to make it less of a soul-crushing grind is practically mandatory. There's a Long War 2 mod for the sequel, which changes even more shit and comes with an even bigger hammer to pulverize your balls with.
==== Long War Rebalance ====
The largest Long War sub-mod, Long War Rebalance completely overhauls everything drastically for the 3rd time, from base management to even air combat. In terms of difficulty, LWR tries to maintain the sweet spot between bullshit (early-game Long War) to cake walk (late-game Long war) while reducing the tedium in base-game and LW. One of the most boring parts of LW (and vanilla impossible) was overwatch creeping, which was the solution to prevent a possibly game-ending pod activation. While XCOM 2 alleviates this with concealment, LWR removes the ability to overwatch hidden enemies (only OWing visible enemies), and activated pods activate nearby pods (An Outsider pod may alert every pod on the map!). Before you shit your pants, UCross (the main dev) made pod activation much less punishing by giving Your Dudes a free movement point if they have no action points, similar to how aliens can scramble if activated. This produces a much more fast-paced game, allowing you to dash to your content.

Despite how horrible it sounds to face two or three pods, they're never as large as LW, and classes have been reworked to shoot multiple times (Infantry can hit 4 times with correct build). Even then, most pods can't be instantly wiped like X2, thanks to innate DR in cover for both XCOM and xenos (~30% DR in half, ~60% DR in full), so the enemy will usually have a chance to hit, and they can hit hard. Every alien (and EXALT) unit is now a serious threats in the battlefield, with even the weakest units having serious potential. For example, Sectoids now have Psi Panic and a buffed Mindfray in the beginning, making them fantastic in annihilating rookie brains, and Drones have the ability to Holo Target and heal a Cyberdisc back to half health with Master Mechanic. In LWR, there are less aliens, but they can be serious threats in themselves.

=== XCOM: The Board Game ===
From [[Fantasy Flight Games]], there's a board game adaptation of XCOM (in fact, ''XCOM: Enemy Unknown'' was quite inspired by board games, with the two-actions-per-turn system instead of the old 'time units'). There's a companion app for smartphones, tablets, and computers which controls the aliens and informs players of events, a bit like a [[Game Master]], but without exposing the players to too much bookkeeping.  Amazing what games can do with computers these days -- just imagine if such a thing had been available for [[FATAL]]! On second thought, don't.

Players (1-4) take on different roles in the XCOM organization. The Commander keeps an eye on the budget and allocates interceptors. The Chief Scientist directs research efforts. The Central Officer works the app and solicits input from the others (if there are any) to make decisions (many of which are time-critical). The Squad Leader manages troops and base defense. Together, they need to allocate their resources, judge when to push risky but rewarding avenues (inviting retribution from the aliens if they fail), and defend humanity. Like the games, successes are rare -- a die only has a 1/3 chance of coming up with a success, and tasks may need multiple successes. There is also an "enemy die", a [[d8]] that is rolled against the number of times that task has been attempted. If it rolls equal to or under that number, something bad happens. So, do you pool resources for critical tasks (neglecting anything else, and hoping that your priorities are correct), in order to most likely be successful before the threat level climbs too high? Or do you stay flexible but push your luck? Your call, commander.

===XCOM: Chimera Squad===
A surprise entry into the XCOM series, being teased on April 14th and coming out 10 days later. It was supposed to another expansion for War of the Chosen. However, since XCOM 2 was already bloated, Chimera Squad was turned into its own game instead.

It has very little to do with XCOM proper, being an unholy chop suey of Apocalypse, Final Fantasy Tactics, Guardians of the Galaxy, Tumblrwatch and Alien Nation. The game takes place 5 years after the human victory achieved in XCOM 2, XCOM has become a police force working with the (now no longer enslaved by psionic douchebags) aliens to keep the peace in City <s>17</s> 31. You control Chimera Squad, a DEI-certified, Joss-Whedon-quipping band of misfits (excuse me while I vomit) trying to clean up the town's ADVENT remnants and assorted other crime.

The individual maps are considerably smaller, and mostly divided into "rooms", with each room usually containing a set number of enemies (there are exceptions; endless reinforcements can, and will, arrive on certain mission types). Each mission starts with you breaching the "room," taking a free move or attack action, and letting enemies hunker down (if you caught them by surprise) or take their overwatch fire (if they were expecting you), before the game goes to a turn-based mode with a timeline system similar to Final Fantasy Tactics, and once you've cleared out a room your agents heal a set amount of their HP based on difficulty before you breach the next room. All of your units have a "Subdue" attack which is like a built-in arc thrower, letting you get bonus resources for bringing in enemies alive. Also there are Viper bordellos and anime-style versions of the aliens on various billboards. I can feel [[Commissar Fuklaw]]'s hateful gaze from here. (Unsurprisingly fans have half-jokingly argued that Chimera Squad is what your agents see whenever they get mind controlled.) On the bright side you also get Floyd Tesseract, a surly Sectoid conspiracy theorist voiced by a rather competent J. K. Simmons impersonator.

===Marvel's Midnight Suns===

A weird kinda-sorta X-Com spinoff, Marvel's Midnight Suns is a curious attempt by Firaxis to make a X-Com type game set in the Marvel Universe. The results are frankly weird; to start with, the miss mechanics are [[Pun|missing]], replaced with a card draw mechanic that limits your possible actions this turn. There's also the fact that verticality has been completely removed. We mainly mention it here because the game is probably going to be considered a minor part of the X-Com legacy--for delaying X-Com 3, if nothing else. Also, it was apparently such a commercial failure that Jake Solomon (the director on XCOM reboot) is leaving the company alongside the president of Firaxis, Steve Martin.