Verdict
XCOM: Chimera Squad does sufficient to maintain followers of franchise entertained whereas they anticipate XCOM 3, however niggling bugs and unforgiving time administration components will delay newbies to the style.

Pros
Engaging solid of characters
Stylish sci-fi crime story
Breach mechanics add stress to traditional XCOM method
Enough technique to preserve followers entertained

Cons
Repetitive missions
Some buggy mechanics

Key Specifications
Review Price: £16.99
Platforms: PC
Genre: Strategy
Developer: Firaxis Games
Release Date: Out now

The previous few weeks have been nice for technique followers, with massive names like Gears Tactics and now XCOM: Chimera Squad providing vastly totally different takes on the method. 
For these out of the know, XCOM: Chimera Squad is the most recent turn-based technique expertise from Firaxis Games. It’s being pitched as a sequel to XCOM 2: War of the Chosen, and at first look appears comparatively comparable, providing turn-based, tactical gameplay blended with base constructing technique components.
But, regardless of its namesake, Chimera Squad takes just a few important detours away from the franchise’s conventional method that makes it really feel just like the hybrid of Rainbow Six Siege and XCOM 2: War of the Chosen.
The narrative picks up instantly after the occasions of War of the Chosen. But not like different entries into the collection, you don’t management XCOM itself. Instead, you’re taking command of Chimera Squad – a brand new unit constructed up of specialists from XCOM, outdated resistance cells and the now unbrainwashed Advent troopers and invading aliens from the earlier video games.
In layman’s phrases, this implies reasonably than commanding a world resistance drive, in Chimera Squad you management a specialist SWAT staff that’s tasked to guard the brand new peace between people, aliens and hybrids within the fictional City 31.
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The adjustments don’t cease there. Jumping into the opening tutorial you’ll instantly see that, although it comes from the identical lineage, Chimera Squad is a really totally different beast in comparison with XCOM. For starters, missions at the moment are a lot, a lot shorter and divided into self-contained sections, every of which is split by a brand new “breach” mechanic.
Breaches are a brand new approach on your brokers to begin encounters with enemy items. It enables you to place squad members subsequent to particular entry factors, every of which comes with a set of benefits or disadvantages. For instance, going right into a warehouse by the aspect window could provide you with a greater vantage level, but when it’s being closely watched there’s a much bigger danger the enemy will see you and return fireplace if you enter it than for those who undergo the again door.
You can assign squad members to a number of breach factors. Later within the sport, it’s also possible to spend money on customized instruments, like breach fees, key playing cards and specialist armour that allow you to reap the benefits of in any other case inaccessible entry factors. These embody issues like air flow shafts or locked doorways.
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Once arrange, you then begin the encounter and see your brokers rush the realm in sluggish movement. As an added perk, every agent will get a free motion when stepping into. At the beginning, that is restricted to taking a potshot at an enemy or going to cowl. But afterward, as your brokers degree up, you get an opportunity to make use of extra particular expertise through the breach. These embody issues like utilizing a shielded character to arrange a wall, defending the brokers behind him or utilizing a psychic alien’s telekinesis to tug a hunkered down enemy out of canopy.
The breach component is likely one of the extra constructive tweaks to the XCOM method, because it provides an additional layer of stress and technique to every section of a mission, forcing you to enter every encounter with restricted intel.
This is basically right down to one of many sport’s different massive adjustments: you management hero characters. Unlike previous XCOM video games, each agent you command has a reputation, again story and particular customized class, full with distinctive expertise and tools. Godmother, for instance, is a badass shotgun-wielding shock trooper, with aggressive assault targeted expertise. Verge in the meantime is a psychic alien with disruptive mind-bending expertise that may stun, and even management, enemy troopers.
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Putting a hero within the unsuitable place in a breach chain can have disastrous penalties that change the whole stream of an encounter. I discovered this early on after I despatched my hero medic in on the entrance, solely to have her get torn aside by enemy fireplace through the breach, forcing me to restart the encounter. Learning from my mistake, I swapped her for Cherub, an power shield-wielding ex-Advent hybrid, and was in a position to storm the entry level with zero preliminary injury.
However, from there, the adjustments get slightly extra marmite and can both delight or annoy present XCOM followers. Encounters are a lot shorter than conventional XCOM ranges. No matter how far you go within the story, missions take at most 15-20 minutes and see you progress from one small sandbox map to a different small sandbox map.
Mission aims, which embody clear the realm, hostage rescue and snatch and seize aims add some selection, however there’s no getting across the truth, after some time, they begin to get slightly samey.
A deal with heroes additionally makes the sport pretty forgiving in comparison with common XCOM. Chimera Squad’s narrative means any squad member’s dying will finish the sport, forcing you to restart the mission. There’s no choice to proceed with a diminished squad.
The solely draw back is that in the event that they’re downed, they’ll depart the mission with a scar. This is a destructive impact that can decrease their stats till you deal with them at Chimera Squad’s house base. The truth treating them takes them out of motion for a number of missions does provide some incentive to hate taking injury, but it surely nonetheless feels oddly simple by XCOM’s usually brutal requirements.
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My solely severe grievance about missions is that Chimera Squad’s hit likelihood percentages are nonetheless janky at greatest. All too usually you’ll have an enemy in plain sight with a 90 % hit likelihood, that’s by some means received the luck of the Irish and can dodge all 4 of your squad’s assaults, solely to then down your hunkered down tank in a single hit with a bizarrely luck vital hit. This can result in some very irritating experiences the place it seems like bugs, not the enemy troopers, are beating you.
Unlike XCOM, Chimera Squad’s investigation takes place throughout City 31’s 9 districts, not the whole world. There’s additionally no exploration. The solely acquainted function is that, like common XCOM, your job is to ensure panic doesn’t attain a sure degree in every zone. If the anarchy bar on the town map maxes out, it’s sport over on your marketing campaign.
You decrease anarchy and panic within the metropolis by finishing missions, or sending secondary “tactical squads” to them. Tactical squads work sort of like XCOM 2 satellites. They are auto-panic controlling items that may be assigned to particular areas and used to decrease that area’s anarchy degree and accrue assets every in-game week.
The principal crux of the marketing campaign sees you’re employed to take out three harmful teams believed to be answerable for assaults on the town. This is finished by gathering intel throughout varied missions to uncover their chief/plans and cease them.
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Unlike conventional XCOM, you possibly can’t construct or tweak the bottom’s services. But there’s sufficient depth and freedom to offer issues a considerably extra strategic really feel than most tactical shooters.
In the bottom, you get a primary retailer, coaching facility, barracks (altering room), workshop and spec ops centre. The barracks, retailer and workshop’s functions are self-descriptive. They’re the place you possibly can try your squad members’ standing, promote them to unlock new expertise and edit their load-outs pre-mission. The retailer enables you to purchase objects, whereas the workshop acts as your R&D centre, letting you mount analysis initiatives to unlock higher tools and objects on your troops.
Spec Ops are mini-missions you possibly can ship unassigned staff members on. They take set quantities of time and reward you with elerium, intel, and {dollars}, the currencies used to purchase or improve Chimera Squad.
The coaching facility and spec ops are slightly totally different. The coaching room serves two functions. The first lets “train” one in every of your squad members. This makes them unavailable for missions for a set period of time however sees them return with improved base stats. The second enables you to heal their scars.
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The mechanic’s fascinating as, like all XCOM video games, time is a key factor you don’t have. So leaving one in every of your favorite heroes out of motion for a number of days working a spec op or coaching is a giant ask. This is very true because the locked-down talent bushes imply that sure members of Chimera Squad work approach higher collectively than others, so dropping one in every of your favorite characters will make sure missions approach tougher.
You can’t simply recruit extra troopers. If you’re taking too many squad members out of motion and might’t get 4 onto your APC automobile, then you definitely gained’t be capable of mount missions. Poor planning can depart you on this scenario for days at a time, inflicting a spike within the metropolis’s anarchy degree.
The truth new squad members are solely recruitable at particular factors within the story and drive you to irreversibly choose between three totally different characters is one other trigger for stress. Pick one with unsuitable expertise on your playstyle, and also you’re going to battle.
This mechanic is likely one of the solely issues so as to add replay worth to the sport, as you gained’t be capable of strive each hero in a single playthrough. Though given missions’ repetitive nature, I can’t see many individuals bothering to undergo the whole marketing campaign greater than a couple of times.
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Outside of this, the sport’s mission choosing dynamic manages to retain the identical weighty resolution making component of the principle XCOM collection.
Because you’re racing towards the clock, choosing which missions to take feels important: Quelling a panic zone on the expense of chasing down a lead on a faction chief could have quick time period profit, however depart you open to a “dark encounter” down the road. These are the modifiers that seem for those who depart investigations untouched for too lengthy that make sure story missions approach tougher.
Should you purchase XCOM: Chimera Squad?
XCOM followers will discover so much to love about Chimera Squad. The stripped-down story-driven gameplay manages to retain sufficient strategic focus to stay enjoyable. The story can be partaking sufficient to maintain you entertained for no less than one playthrough.
Ongoing points with its hit proportion counter and unforgiving time administration mechanics could make it a bit too intimidating for folks unfamiliar with the style. Newbies will probably be higher off trying out Gears Tactics, which is a a lot friendlier entry level.

Deputy Editor

After graduating from King’s College London, Alastair began his profession protecting authorities expertise coverage and cyber safety at The International Business Times. He later joined Incisive Media as…

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