Reminder that this just came out. It looks rather fun and until 1st of May it's only 10 quid.
XCOM: Chimera squad
- Thread starter Chris Simon
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Reminder that this just came out. It looks rather fun and until 1st of May it's only 10 quid.
The game isnt bad for the price. The tone however is very confusing......
Turned the dark grim dystopian future of life occupied under alien rule to a Saturday morning cartoon special. Seems to glaze over the whole: turning millions of people into goo, the brutal police state, mass executions, zombies, genetic horrors, etc. Just now a arm nudge and a chuckle about those gosh darn advent overlords and we are all friends now. Old xcom vets that still hold a grudge against aliens are now in the "wrong think" category and one of the "evil" groups your fighting against.
It's very much a "current year", game complete with perfectly balanced multi racial multi species HR check list with snarky dialogue. Recruits are all unique non-customizable voiced characters. You can change the color of their uniform and thats about it.
Perma death has been removed but they still kept ironman mode for some reason. Base building gone. Level design is much more compact and room by room. Gone are the large open maps and cities. You now have a single room, you chose how you enter that room, once room is cleared rinse and repeat until mission is finished.
That all said if you are an xcom fan it is fun, same formula, sized down and more tools to play with. Feels like a missed opportunity to explore darker themes of dealing with a failed occupation and a stranded alien army on a foreign world. The mistrust or struggle of co-existing with something so completely different. Oh well, for the price it's worth a pick up, mod support included so there is that to look forward to.
Turned the dark grim dystopian future of life occupied under alien rule to a Saturday morning cartoon special. Seems to glaze over the whole: turning millions of people into goo, the brutal police state, mass executions, zombies, genetic horrors, etc. Just now a arm nudge and a chuckle about those gosh darn advent overlords and we are all friends now. Old xcom vets that still hold a grudge against aliens are now in the "wrong think" category and one of the "evil" groups your fighting against.
It's very much a "current year", game complete with perfectly balanced multi racial multi species HR check list with snarky dialogue. Recruits are all unique non-customizable voiced characters. You can change the color of their uniform and thats about it.
Perma death has been removed but they still kept ironman mode for some reason. Base building gone. Level design is much more compact and room by room. Gone are the large open maps and cities. You now have a single room, you chose how you enter that room, once room is cleared rinse and repeat until mission is finished.
That all said if you are an xcom fan it is fun, same formula, sized down and more tools to play with. Feels like a missed opportunity to explore darker themes of dealing with a failed occupation and a stranded alien army on a foreign world. The mistrust or struggle of co-existing with something so completely different. Oh well, for the price it's worth a pick up, mod support included so there is that to look forward to.
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It's not out on consoles (yet) but I've played the previous two titles quite a lot and they were fun.
I've seen a review stating that this one isn't as engaging as the previous two but I'll definitely keep an eye out.
I've seen a review stating that this one isn't as engaging as the previous two but I'll definitely keep an eye out.
That's a great summary.
Personally I quite like it. I appreciate the change of pace and tone of the game. The previous XCOM feels... thick and stressful, most of the time. Chimera feels more like a mix between the old XCOMs and the old Rainbow six. it's simpler, more action packed.
After playing Phantom Doctrine recently, I feel much closer to this style than the classic XCOM.
And I certainly don't miss the HQ upgrading mechanic. That one was always kind of frustrating and generally "one more thing to worry about if I want to succeed"
I also like that the characters actually have... well.. character. And relationships. They feel like people. That was one of the things that never really clicked with me in any new XCOM games. The characters were just action figures. Yes, they had a name and a voice and I could customize them but when I lost them, it just sucked because they were high level and I sunk time in them, not because I were emotionally invested and would feel the loss.
This is one of the things I really liked in Phantom Doctrine and I'm glad it feels like that here as well - I feel "something" towards the characters and I wouldn't be happy to lose them not because they are "valuable assets" but genuinely because I like them.
I'm sure Chimera won't be for the hardcore "micromanage everything" XCOM players, but honestly, it's an XCOM tailor-made for me and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it as a first XCOM-type game to somebody who never played one.
The game as it is: A police squad tactical management game, Is decent. Good even in a lot of aspects. Just wish it was not wearing the Xcom skin. It feels like disney got it's family friendly sanitizing mitts on it and star treked/star wars the hell out of it. I am not sure how the series can recover from it to be honest.
Sectoids litterally have the ability take over your mind and make you shoot your friends. They are apparently everyday joe retail citizes now.
Mutons were genetically tailored murderous shock troops. Now I see "civilian" mutons cowering in a corner during a hostage situatuon. You litterally have the natural power to punch through a wall and rip a door off its hinges, why are you sobbing in a corner? Apply the same for the vipers.
I don't get it, feels like they handed a great series off to a fresh graduate with their political science degree and call it a day.
I am truely torn the more I play it. I don't think I ever enjoyed and hated a game at the same time as much as this one.
Sectoids litterally have the ability take over your mind and make you shoot your friends. They are apparently everyday joe retail citizes now.
Mutons were genetically tailored murderous shock troops. Now I see "civilian" mutons cowering in a corner during a hostage situatuon. You litterally have the natural power to punch through a wall and rip a door off its hinges, why are you sobbing in a corner? Apply the same for the vipers.
I don't get it, feels like they handed a great series off to a fresh graduate with their political science degree and call it a day.
I am truely torn the more I play it. I don't think I ever enjoyed and hated a game at the same time as much as this one.
Heheh, I know what you mean. Though I'm definitely more loving it than hating it.
I like the whole idea of integration of aliens. Very District 9-esque.
It's true that the aliens acting like humans after all the hell they were giving us in previous games is... unsettling? I think the game kind of intends to cater to our mistrust and prejudice. I mean, if you saw a Viking warrior crocheting a pullover for his daughter after the war, he would seem equally out of place. The point is, I believe, that our abilities and a purpose the society has forced upon us doesn't mean that's who we are on the inside.
Maybe there are Vipers who love children and a Sectoid whose life-long dream was to by a psychotherapeut and they are happy to live their lives like that.
As for the game mechanic itself, it does present itself as very simple, but I like the smaller scale overall (taking care of a couple of districts and keeping them in check is easier than trying to save the world. Also more believable for a small squad of spec-ops). And I haven't encountered a situation where I would have to choose between two evils, so to speak - being forced to do "something" which will prevent me from doing other things and then it will be too late - a mechanic that I truly hated in the XCOMs. I know it was intentional to add to the atmosphere and the add weight to player decisions but it was quite frustrating.
I also like the smaller scale of the combat. Provided I was never good at XCOM. I've watched people scouting the whole areas, planning everything and executing it meticulously and I understand why it would be satisfying. For me it was always an unnecessary challenge and the reason I always played on the easiest difficulty.
Action in Chimera is, how to describe it, reactional?
Instead of planning your tactic and executing it it's the exact opposite - barge in and adapt to the situation that unfolds. I like it. I'm impatient and I don't like when my plans fail, so it's better to not plan at all.
The biggest reason I like it, though, is the RNG. Coming from Phantom Doctrine - a game that I love MAINLY because it makes do without stupid percentages - I am once again reminded of the stupidest thing in all XCOMs that always frustrated me to no end. Quicker combat mitigates this a little, while previously, when all your planning went to the dogs because your special agent can't hit a giant snake from ten yards, I usually simply shut the game down and tried again a couple days later.
In Chimera, the RNG is a bit more reasonable, at least. Your agents don't start with 30% acuracy for the first 10 hours of the game. But still, it can be facepalm-inducing experience, sometimes.
By and large though, after seven or eight hours, I don't regret buying it.
![[VR] optimal_909](https://forums-cdn.zaonce.net/data/avatars/m/109/109067.jpg?1553781733){kind=avatar}
Somewhat off topic: Having played XCOM Enemy Unknown/Within excessively, at first I failed to connect with XCOM2. Now that it's free I gave it another try at the second difficulty setting, and I might take it at €12 as the gameplay is still good - AI aside.
To be honest, in XCOM2 and this new iteration, I miss the old school XCOM feeling of contemporary setting. Xenonauts is there as an alternative, but that game is simply brutal. The first terror attack difficult was so intimidating that I quit that game entirely.
I've got the original XCOM, but it was rather Incubation that I liked back in the day.
To be honest, in XCOM2 and this new iteration, I miss the old school XCOM feeling of contemporary setting. Xenonauts is there as an alternative, but that game is simply brutal. The first terror attack difficult was so intimidating that I quit that game entirely.
I've got the original XCOM, but it was rather Incubation that I liked back in the day.
Heheh, I know what you mean. Though I'm definitely more loving it than hating it.
I like the whole idea of integration of aliens. Very District 9-esque.
It's true that the aliens acting like humans after all the hell they were giving us in previous games is... unsettling? I think the game kind of intends to cater to our mistrust and prejudice. I mean, if you saw a Viking warrior crocheting a pullover for his daughter after the war, he would seem equally out of place. The point is, I believe, that our abilities and a purpose the society has forced upon us doesn't mean that's who we are on the inside.
Maybe there are Vipers who love children and a Sectoid whose life-long dream was to by a psychotherapeut and they are happy to live their lives like that.
As for the game mechanic itself, it does present itself as very simple, but I like the smaller scale overall (taking care of a couple of districts and keeping them in check is easier than trying to save the world. Also more believable for a small squad of spec-ops). And I haven't encountered a situation where I would have to choose between two evils, so to speak - being forced to do "something" which will prevent me from doing other things and then it will be too late - a mechanic that I truly hated in the XCOMs. I know it was intentional to add to the atmosphere and the add weight to player decisions but it was quite frustrating.
I also like the smaller scale of the combat. Provided I was never good at XCOM. I've watched people scouting the whole areas, planning everything and executing it meticulously and I understand why it would be satisfying. For me it was always an unnecessary challenge and the reason I always played on the easiest difficulty.
Action in Chimera is, how to describe it, reactional?
Instead of planning your tactic and executing it it's the exact opposite - barge in and adapt to the situation that unfolds. I like it. I'm impatient and I don't like when my plans fail, so it's better to not plan at all.
The biggest reason I like it, though, is the RNG. Coming from Phantom Doctrine - a game that I love MAINLY because it makes do without stupid percentages - I am once again reminded of the stupidest thing in all XCOMs that always frustrated me to no end. Quicker combat mitigates this a little, while previously, when all your planning went to the dogs because your special agent can't hit a giant snake from ten yards, I usually simply shut the game down and tried again a couple days later.
In Chimera, the RNG is a bit more reasonable, at least. Your agents don't start with 30% acuracy for the first 10 hours of the game. But still, it can be facepalm-inducing experience, sometimes.
By and large though, after seven or eight hours, I don't regret buying it.
I would be more inclined to agree if the alien army was a conscripted army. Those who had lives prior to the war. What they are in the lore are all genetically tailored killing machines grown in vats and programmed from birth to fight.
Fair point.
Let's just assume this is a non-canon.
After all, it's more of a DLC (albeit standalone) or a spin-off, rather than a next major installment.
Fair point.
Let's just assume this is a non-canon.
After all, it's more of a DLC (albeit standalone) or a spin-off, rather than a next major installment.
I've reached the wall. The story... The writing...The characters...I cant... Cherub needs to die a slow and horrible death. I believe the line "im going to unzip them" as the atrack "cry" for the Ronin enemy did me in. Rest in peace future xcom 3, your parents were morons and were allowed to breed.
