XCOM: Chimera Squad Catch-All

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Surprise! There's a new XCOM game coming April 24th! Pre-order is up now, and all of us in the XCOM 2 thread are pretty excited. Here's some quick clips that I grabbed from that thread to get everyone caught up!

Reveal Trailer:

Gameplay:

And a detailed dive:

Hooray for more XCOM!

I have a campaign going in XCOM: WOTC right now and I realized that I do really love the story of the rebooted XCOM. I liked the idea that XCOM 2 started with the humans losing the original invasion campaign and the world being occupied by the alien invaders. I liked the story of that resistance fighting back to overthrow the alien government. And I really like that this new game takes place 5 years after XCOM 2 when the world is now trying to come to terms with the idea of having these now freed aliens living among us.

War of the Chosen and the Alien Hunters add-ons added so much more to that story and universe, I wonder how much those add-ons will be included as back-story here, or if they'll brush those pieces of the story aside in favor of keeping with the original XCOM 2 release. Based on the gameplay reveal, they've clearly taken the bond mechanic of WOTC and the SPARK's of Shen's Last Gift and really iterated on that in Chimera squad.

Funny that I'm having weird reactions to potential alien teammates. I'm all, "Mutons, oh cool, love to have a beer with those dudes--I'LL BE DAMNED IF I ALLOW A RAT-EATING SNAKE MAN ON MY TEAM!" Didn't expect to encounter a metaphor for personal prejudice in my XCOM, but there it is. And I'm sure I'll end up having a heart-warming bonding moment with a Snake Man that makes me re-examine my prejudices and realize their struggles. Though it's gonna be awhile for that with Thin Men.

Also, we not talking about this being a remake of XCOM Apocalypse? Where's my flying bikes, Chimera Squad? We gonna do XCOM Interceptor next? Please?

I have really mixed feelings about the soldiers having pre-set character backgrounds and personalities. On the one hand, if you're going to do more of a Commandos style game with each character having a unique skillset, you almost have to go the preset route. On the other hand, XCOM characters have not exactly been well fleshed out, or anything more than vague concepts. In fact, a lot of XCOM's story-telling has been rudimentary at best. Some of this is due to the constraints of the game mechanics. You don't really want an elaborate plotline in XCOM; that's not what it's about. But even given that, I think it's been lacking. On the other other hand, XCOM world-building is really underrated, which suggests that there are people who could execute a decent video game story given a chance.

I just picked this up a minute ago, so I can be like everyone else in my Steam activity thread.

Ah that new thread smell.

kazooka wrote:

Funny that I'm having weird reactions to potential alien teammates. I'm all, "Mutons, oh cool, love to have a beer with those dudes--I'LL BE DAMNED IF I ALLOW A RAT-EATING SNAKE MAN ON MY TEAM!" Didn't expect to encounter a metaphor for personal prejudice in my XCOM, but there it is. And I'm sure I'll end up having a heart-warming bonding moment with a Snake Man that makes me re-examine my prejudices and realize their struggles. Though it's gonna be awhile for that with Thin Men.

I'm going to go uber-nerd here. You know that the Vipers (Snake-men) are in fact the same as the Thin Men, right? The Thin-Men were the original "infiltration" type units in the XCOM: Enemy Unknown story, and in XCOM 2, Tygan reveals that when the Elders no longer needed those type of units, they dropped the human DNA from their breeding so that they would revert to their true origins, the Vipers. Of course, the aliens realized they did still need human look-alikes, so they also bred and designed the Faceless to fill that role.

I'm actually really into the XCOM reboot backstory. There's a ton of world-building that is revealed in each of the major science breakthroughs, and in the interstitial conversations while on the Avenger in XCOM 2 and while in the base during XCOM. As I mentioned, I'm really looking forward to the next chapter in that world.

I always thought the thing that was lacking in the games was actually the character development of the soldiers, precisely because they were random squads. The advantage there is it allowed for greater immersion and you to build your own story and relationship with your squads. But the disadvantage was that it was all on the players' buy-in to make that happen. For example I'll never forget my first play-through of WOTC when I had a sharphooter and grenadier who were bonded. They went on many, many successful missions together until the sharpshooter was killed by the Chosen Hunter. The grenadier immediately went into a mad rage killing spree and absolutely decimated every alien he could see, culminating in the Hunter being put down in hail of automatic gunfire.

ThatGuy42 wrote:
kazooka wrote:

Funny that I'm having weird reactions to potential alien teammates. I'm all, "Mutons, oh cool, love to have a beer with those dudes--I'LL BE DAMNED IF I ALLOW A RAT-EATING SNAKE MAN ON MY TEAM!" Didn't expect to encounter a metaphor for personal prejudice in my XCOM, but there it is. And I'm sure I'll end up having a heart-warming bonding moment with a Snake Man that makes me re-examine my prejudices and realize their struggles. Though it's gonna be awhile for that with Thin Men.

I'm going to go uber-nerd here. You know that the Vipers (Snake-men) are in fact the same as the Thin Men, right? The Thin-Men were the original "infiltration" type units in the XCOM: Enemy Unknown story, and in XCOM 2, Tygan reveals that when the Elders no longer needed those type of units, they dropped the human DNA from their breeding so that they would revert to their true origins, the Vipers. Of course, the aliens realized they did still need human look-alikes, so they also bred and designed the Faceless to fill that role.

I had actually assumed that was the case. I'm not sure I caught the full on explanation in XCOM2 though.

I always thought the thing that was lacking in the games was actually the character development of the soldiers, precisely because they were random squads. The advantage there is it allowed for greater immersion and you to build your own story and relationship with your squads.

Yeah, but there were a few named characters, particularly with XCOM2 and with the additional factions, and none of them were ever anything better than serviceable. Bradford was fun, but more of an archetype than an actual character. Lily Shen was about as successful as XCOM managed, and she was...fine. Tygan was pretty good I guess. I dunno, thinking about it, Shen's gift was actually a pretty decent go at integrating characters into XCOM. If they can improve on that, then I think it will be pretty successful. But I didn't think any of the Warlords had much more than a hint of personality, and nobody in the faction system was at all memorable, save Michael Dorn playing Worf in yet another genre.

Stele wrote:

Ah that new thread smell.

Sorry that was me.

ThatGuy42 wrote:

I'm going to go uber-nerd here. You know that the Vipers (Snake-men) are in fact the same as the Thin Men, right? The Thin-Men were the original "infiltration" type units in the XCOM: Enemy Unknown story, and in XCOM 2, Tygan reveals that when the Elders no longer needed those type of units, they dropped the human DNA from their breeding so that they would revert to their true origins, the Vipers.

BTW, I am of the opinion that the Speaker from XCom 2 is a Thin Man. Is that confirmed anywhere?

This is 50% off right now on steam? $15 CAD. At that price, I picked it up. I adore the comic, cell-shaded style they're using.

I'm playing this for sure. I don't think I'll like the predetermined squad aspect of it, but I'll go in with an open mind.

I'm of the mindset that I want the actions to tell the story in an XCOM game. To me, it's about what happens in each mission and how the soldiers grow and get killed by that stupid Stun Lancer that in no way should have been able to run that far stupid jerk.

I think that there is a lot of story in the XCOM games, it's just not in the traditional sense.

Also, NO SNAKEMEN ALLOWED!

Kid Charlemagne wrote:
ThatGuy42 wrote:

I'm going to go uber-nerd here. You know that the Vipers (Snake-men) are in fact the same as the Thin Men, right? The Thin-Men were the original "infiltration" type units in the XCOM: Enemy Unknown story, and in XCOM 2, Tygan reveals that when the Elders no longer needed those type of units, they dropped the human DNA from their breeding so that they would revert to their true origins, the Vipers.

BTW, I am of the opinion that the Speaker from XCom 2 is a Thin Man. Is that confirmed anywhere?

I'd say that's refuted by:

Spoiler:

his assassination in the story of XCOM2. When he is killed, his blood spatter is red human blood, while all of the alien blood in the game (including the skirmishers) is purposely a green/yellow color.

But, I really like the story implications of him being a Thin Man! I think that would have been a great twist! It would have helped lend credence to the Skirmishers break from the Elders rule, and would be a great lead up to Chimera Squad where the aliens work with humans together. I have been saying how much I like the backstory and world building of XCOM, but the speaker is definitely a weak point there.

Half price? Cel shading look? Got a bit of that cyberpunk feel? Dang gotta check it out. I'm so starved and desperate for new experiences in the current lockdown I went and bought early access Industries of Titan on a new Epic account (my son stole my account and is perpetually found playing Fortnite).

Agent Profiles have been released

Spoiler:

That Verge eh?

More info on Chimera Squad

Of note, no plans to bring it to consoles. Sorry everyone.

Rock Paper Shotgun’s review of the game is up here

It’s what I’d call a ‘lukewarm’ review to be honest, but I’d also say I think the reviewer was expecting a different kind of game.

XCOM: Chimera Squad Review "Buy, Wait for Sale, Rent, Never Touch?"

Some fears have been confirmed regarding the pre-set squad characters, but the rest of that sounds like more XCOM which I am so ready for. The breaching mechanic sounds cool.

And Mod Support. Yessir.

Sorbicol wrote:

Rock Paper Shotgun’s review of the game is up here

It’s what I’d call a ‘lukewarm’ review to be honest, but I’d also say I think the reviewer was expecting a different kind of game.

I think I regard that as the standard rps "missing the point" review. When strategy games don't randomly generate your guys, but give you a fixed roster, it's not uncommon to have a failure state if any of them die (Commandos, for example).

I can see how the current design grew out of the desire to have a multi species roster, where you want them quite distinctive and avoid species == class. I guess you could have racial traits distinct from class traits, creating more variety.

DudleySmith wrote:
Sorbicol wrote:

Rock Paper Shotgun’s review of the game is up here

It’s what I’d call a ‘lukewarm’ review to be honest, but I’d also say I think the reviewer was expecting a different kind of game.

I think I regard that as the standard rps "missing the point" review. When strategy games don't randomly generate your guys, but give you a fixed roster, it's not uncommon to have a failure state if any of them die (Commandos, for example).

I can see how the current design grew out of the desire to have a multi species roster, where you want them quite distinctive and avoid species == class. I guess you could have racial traits distinct from class traits, creating more variety.

tbh, this has been RPS' MO for a little while now. I enjoy some of the stuff they do, but I don't find their reviews that helpful for the most part.

Meh. I'm good with $10 for a decent new XCOM game

Budo wrote:

Meh. I'm good with $10 for a decent new XCOM game

Exactly. For $10, its obviously not going to be perfect.

Any ideas on how long the campaign is? My apologies if I've missed this somewhere above.

I watched a developer stream today and they said it should take the average person about 20 hours.

skeletonframes wrote:

I watched a developer stream today and they said it should take the average person about 20 hours.

Excellent, so about 40 for me!

Thanks!

Available for download now. Does it run? I wasn't expecting this until like mid-day tomorrow.

kazooka wrote:

Available for download now. Does it run? I wasn't expecting this until like mid-day tomorrow.

My button said "Play Now". I clicked it. It's downloading. Slowly for some unknown reason.

We are go for new XCOM!

I just played the tutorial mission. Initial reactions after 20 minutes...

Combat is XCOM and fun. Breach is an interesting mechanic, not sure yet how it'll play out strategy-wise.

Voice-acting and script is a bit cringe-worthy, but whatever.

Comic art style for the backdrop to the combat encounters feels fine to me. I like the color palette and it feels fine enough. It gives the game a touch different feel than other XCOM games, but I'm okay with it.

So far so good!

Ha ha, Jane Kelly is an official named character now. I assume that's who that is: the Ranger from the XCOM2 tutorial mission.

I disagree about the dialogue. It ain't Shakespeare, but it's fine.

This is interesting. It's faster paced than traditional XCOM; also a fair bit harder I'd say. The conceit is XCOM as a supernatural SWAT team, paring down the combat to the points where you come through the door and blast the aliens, and skipping all the creeping carefully through the woods.

I'm playing one notch up on difficulty, so maybe I should have paced myself. I'm tempted to restart with a better understanding of some of the abilities and equipment. And maybe dropping the difficulty back down to normal until I have a better handle on it. The damage model is pretty rough so far. After a few initial missions, you almost entirely lose the ability to knock out enemies in one or even two shots, and have little ability to mitigate incoming damage.

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