XCOM Enemy Unknown versus XCOM 2

 The favourite child

I've made no secret of my love for the Firaxis XCOM games that pit the tactical mind of the player against hoards of AI Alien invaders in an endlessly replayable campaign of one-up-manship. They are brilliant revivals of the XCOM brand, bringing with them a resurrection for that entire sub-genre of games that have spawned an entire cadre of similar style titles across some niche tactical corners of the industry. Though I yearn for the third entry, the first two are just so good on their own- bringing to their favour almost entirely distinct styles of game such that they can be experienced again and again in succession without the titles becoming stale- that I'm perfectly happy for the team to take their sweet time reimaging the idea in another manner that is just as good, and worth coming back to, as the first two entries. But we never can leave it just at that, now can we?

Afterall, who wants to just be cordial when you can be aggressive and pick sides in a conflict totally of your own fabrication? Why say both games are perfectly as fine as one another, and XCOM 1 still holds up fine against it's younger sibling, when you can instead pit both games in a death battle against one another, in an attempt to figure out who holds the superior position? Actually, I've pondered for a while which of the two games I like more, and outside of the obvious improvements in elements such as unit customisation and graphical yield, the margin is remarkably thin. It's often said that a sequel is about improvement, but I think one that can step to the side and achieve as high marks as the original and deserve every bit as much praise, if not more so for not retreading what has already been carved out. Which I guess means we're going to have to get objective about this.

Such as by analysing which of the two games handles their DLC better. In which I think XCOM 1 actually might do a superior job. Now I've forgoing the 'rerelease' expansions in this comparison and thinking more of the raw DLC snippets that were injected into both games, for which there is little competition in my mind. XCOM: Enemy Unknown included a few unique operatives that could be unlocked through special missions that were slotted into the rotation of randomly generated missions and one complete chain of quests. It was simple and neatly fitted within any campaign with tipping the boat. XCOM 2 were a lot more ambitious with their DLC, but a lot more sloppy with their implementation. The Alien Hunters DLC is notorious for introducing new Boss aliens that fundamentally broke the balance of the base game, turning the turn based tactical shooter into a randomly luck dice roll for getting lucky spawns. And selling cosmetic packs felt real weird for the PC audience, who had just been given access to easily accessible mods in the same game.

Shrinking into the base game itself can offer us a more concentrated comparison of the game flow, and the way that XCOM 1 has us affixed to the eb and flow of a 'disaster clock' whereas XCOM 2 is more freeform but shackled to an unescapable doomsday clock that limits the length of any campaign with an unescapable full stop. XCOM Enemy Unknown's clock is more of a workable and playable system of managing various countries 'panic' level, which can wind itself into the tactical planning of what mission to pick or when to execute certain 'clear the board' missions that relieve the whole world's tensions all at the same time. XCOM 2, on the otherhand, held it's campaign time limit like a sword over the player's head at all times, unflinching and unmanipulable. Yes, there were small actions to stall the march, but you can only every pause the needle, never halt it. Personally, I prefer the storytelling range of XCOM 1's system, over the static and oppressive inevitability of XCOM 2's.

Character class systems also received something of an overhaul in XCOM 2, both to match the thematic shift from 'protectors' to 'freedom fighters' and to provide greater opportunity for build variation even when playing two pawns of the same class. Now the XCOM line-up of classes does provide everything you need on a basic level when it comes to RPG progression and within the scope of the tactical gameplay that's actually more than enough to keep most players busy and satisfied when squad crafting. However, XCOM 2 does correctly identify that in games like these, the more unique our characters are the more of a soul they feel like they have. The subclasses of XCOM 2, alongside the levelling paths it borrows from one, lay out a better spread of possibility- there's little spin to really apply here, the sequel just does it better hands down.

As these games are built around the concept of replayability, these game's ability to conjure up unique feeling play arenas based on the assets provided to the computer is important to making each playthrough feel somewhat fresh. Which is probably where XCOM: Enemy Unknown really starts to show it's age in an unescapable. It isn't long into anyone's XCOM career when they start to recognise the exact layout of locations they've cleared that were allegedly in another country altogether, which in turn makes the memorisation of Alien placement fairly trivial once you know your areas well enough. The solution to this is conceptually simple, and it's exactly what XCOM 2 does. More variety, both in potential map layouts and the archetype of those maps; creating maps that feel distinct, even when you're treading the same basic sort of themed location you've done before.

There are also the full conversion DLCs. The big DLCs that take the base game and shuffle it around a bit with focuses on whole new factions, or gameplay systems, which typically create the 'final form' of these XCOM Games. XCOM 1's 'Enemy Within' gave us a new faction and questline, alongside a new class of Mech Units that totally changed up the power dynamic of the late game now that players had a foil to big Alien Mechs. But it also introduced a new resource in a haphazard implementation that threw off the carefully designed gait of the basic gameplay too. 'Meld' kind of sucks to collect in the early game for it's time limit, but at the same time the resource ends up being an essential collectible for enjoying all the really cool mech and psionic systems in the late game. XCOM 2's 'War of the Chosen', on the otherhand, is a total powerhouse. Throwing in several new classes, an entire new breed of unique boss that actually works within the established game, reworking some of the badly implemented DLCs that I mentioned earlier and providing a new playthrough full of enough content to feel like a follow up entry. 'WOTC' is a must play for any XCOM fan, 'Enemy Within' is more of a nice cherry atop of the XCOM 1 cake.

At the end of the day, the thing that makes the XCOM games special is that there is no one game that is all around better than the other, as I said they're such different beasts they can co-exist as partners within this expansive industry of ours completely happily. Personally, I'm drawn by my mood to one game or the other, because I favour them both equally, even as one handles certain aspects better than the other. In my mind, the ideal sequel is one that can live like this, in those instances where people throw up their hands wondering how a follow up could even be conceived. Hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, equals in quality and worthy as competitors. And then there's XCOM Chimera Squad. That game was alright as well, I guess...