XCOM 2: War of the Chosen is a game celebrated for its depth and complexity, blending tactical strategy with rich narrative elements. The expansion introduces a host of advanced options that enhance gameplay and customization, providing players with the tools to tailor their experience in ways that align with their playstyle. This review delves into these advanced options, exploring how they impact the game, their strategic implications, and how they contribute to a more nuanced and personalized XCOM experience.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction to Advanced Options
The advanced options in XCOM 2: War of the Chosen are designed to offer players greater control over their gameplay experience. These options range from intricate settings that affect mission difficulty to deeper customization of gameplay mechanics. They allow players to adjust various aspects of the game to suit their preferences, making each playthrough unique and tailored.
2. Difficulty Settings
Difficulty settings are among the most impactful advanced options, significantly influencing the game’s challenge and player experience.
2.1. Standard Difficulty Levels
XCOM 2: War of the Chosen offers multiple difficulty levels, each affecting various game mechanics:
- Beginner: This level is designed for players new to the series or those seeking a less challenging experience. It reduces enemy health, increases the effectiveness of player abilities, and provides more resources.
- Veteran: Aimed at players with some experience, this difficulty provides a balanced challenge. It slightly increases enemy health and reduces the effectiveness of player abilities compared to Beginner mode.
- Commander: This difficulty is designed for seasoned players seeking a significant challenge. It further increases enemy health, reduces player resource availability, and introduces more aggressive AI behavior.
- Legendary: The most challenging difficulty, Legendary mode pushes players to their limits. It greatly increases enemy health, enhances AI tactics, and provides fewer resources, making every decision and tactical move critical.
2.2. Advanced Difficulty Options
Beyond standard difficulty levels, players can further tailor their experience with advanced options:
- Enemy Activity: Adjusting this setting affects how frequently enemies will patrol or appear on missions. Higher settings increase enemy patrols and encounter frequency, adding more complexity to each mission.
- Alien Hunters: This option influences the appearance and frequency of the Chosen, the powerful adversaries introduced in the expansion. Adjusting this setting changes how often players will encounter these formidable foes and their impact on missions.
- Resource Management: Players can modify the availability and allocation of resources such as supplies and equipment. This affects how resources are distributed and can influence the strategic decisions players need to make.
3. Customization of Soldiers
Customization options in XCOM 2: War of the Chosen allow players to tailor their soldiers’ appearances, abilities, and equipment to suit their strategies and preferences.
3.1. Soldier Appearance and Uniforms
The game offers extensive customization for soldier appearance:
- Visual Customization: Players can adjust the appearance of their soldiers, including their face, hairstyle, and armor. This allows for personalizing each soldier to reflect the player’s preferences or create a distinct look for each squad.
- Uniforms: Different uniforms and armor sets can be equipped, providing both aesthetic variety and functional benefits. Customizing uniforms allows players to reflect the progress and achievements of their soldiers.
3.2. Ability Customization
Soldiers in XCOM 2: War of the Chosen can be customized in terms of their abilities and skills:
- Skill Trees: Each class has a skill tree with various abilities that can be unlocked and upgraded. Players can choose different paths within the skill tree to enhance specific aspects of their soldiers’ performance.
- Specialization: Players can focus on particular roles for their soldiers, such as specializing in long-range combat or melee attacks. This allows for creating specialized squads that are optimized for different mission types and strategies.
3.3. Equipment and Loadouts
Customizing soldier equipment and loadouts is crucial for optimizing squad performance:
- Weapons: Soldiers can be equipped with a variety of weapons, each with unique stats and abilities. Players can select weapons based on the mission requirements and the enemies they expect to face.
- Armor and Upgrades: Different armor sets and upgrades provide various benefits, such as increased defense or additional abilities. Customizing armor helps players tailor their soldiers to withstand specific threats or enhance their combat effectiveness.
- Items and Consumables: Players can equip soldiers with items and consumables that provide temporary boosts or additional capabilities. This includes grenades, medkits, and other utility items that can turn the tide of battle.
4. Advanced Tactical Options
XCOM 2: War of the Chosen offers a range of advanced tactical options that impact how players approach missions and manage their squads.
4.1. Combat Tactics
Advanced combat tactics allow players to refine their approach to battles:
- Cover Mechanics: Players can adjust how cover works in the game, influencing the effectiveness of different types of cover and how it protects soldiers from enemy attacks.
- Flanking and Positioning: Advanced tactics for flanking and positioning can be employed to exploit enemy weaknesses and gain a strategic advantage. Players can use terrain and positioning to their benefit, creating opportunities for ambushes and surprise attacks.
- Environmental Interactions: The game allows players to interact with the environment in various ways, such as using destructible cover or triggering environmental hazards. Advanced tactics involve using these interactions to gain an advantage or disrupt enemy plans.
4.2. Squad Management
Effective squad management is crucial for success in XCOM 2: War of the Chosen:
- Squad Composition: Players can customize the composition of their squads, selecting which soldiers and classes to include based on the mission objectives and enemy types.
- Role Assignment: Assigning specific roles to squad members, such as damage dealers or support units, helps ensure that the squad is well-rounded and capable of handling various challenges.
- Training and Promotions: Soldiers can be trained and promoted to unlock new abilities and improve their performance. Advanced options for training and promotions allow players to develop their soldiers into highly effective combatants.
5. Strategic Management
Beyond combat and customization, XCOM 2: War of the Chosen includes advanced strategic management options that affect the broader game experience.
5.1. Base Management
Players can manage their base and resources to support their operations:
- Base Upgrades: Advanced options allow players to upgrade and expand their base facilities, such as improving research labs or upgrading engineering stations. These upgrades provide various benefits, including faster research and increased resource production.
- Resource Allocation: Managing resources such as supplies, alloys, and alien alloys is critical for maintaining and upgrading the base. Players must make strategic decisions about how to allocate these resources to support their squad and advance their objectives.
- Intel and Operations: Gathering intelligence and conducting operations, such as gathering intel or sabotaging enemy facilities, impacts the broader strategic landscape. Advanced options for these operations can influence the game’s progression and difficulty.
5.2. Strategic Objectives
The game includes various strategic objectives that players must pursue:
- Story Missions: Completing story missions advances the narrative and unlocks new content. Advanced options for these missions include adjusting their difficulty and objectives to match the player’s preferences.
- Resistance Operations: Players can engage in resistance operations to support the fight against the alien invaders. These operations can include recruiting new soldiers, gathering resources, or sabotaging enemy operations.
- Global Strategy: Managing global strategy involves balancing different objectives, such as maintaining relationships with resistance factions or addressing global threats. Advanced options for global strategy impact how players approach the broader conflict.
6. Modding and Custom Content
XCOM 2: War of the Chosen supports modding and custom content, allowing players to further customize their experience:
6.1. Community Mods
The game’s modding community has created a wide range of mods that enhance and expand the gameplay experience:
- Content Mods: Mods that add new content, such as additional classes, weapons, or missions, provide players with fresh experiences and new challenges.
- Gameplay Tweaks: Mods that tweak gameplay mechanics, such as adjusting difficulty settings or modifying game balance, allow players to tailor the game to their preferences.
- Visual and Audio Mods: Mods that enhance the visual and audio elements of the game, such as improved textures or new sound effects, contribute to a more immersive experience.
6.2. Creating Custom Content
Players can also create their own custom content:
- Custom Missions: Designing and implementing custom missions allows players to create unique scenarios and challenges for themselves and others.
- Character and Equipment Customization: Creating custom characters, equipment, and abilities provides additional ways to personalize the game and experiment with new strategies.
- Modding Tools: The game’s modding tools provide resources and support for creating and implementing custom content, allowing players to contribute to the game’s community and share their creations.
7. Conclusion
The advanced options in XCOM 2: War of the Chosen enrich the game’s depth and replayability, allowing players to tailor their experience to their preferences and playstyle. From difficulty settings and tactical adjustments to strategic management and modding, these options provide a comprehensive framework for customizing and enhancing gameplay.
By exploring and utilizing these advanced options, players can create a unique and engaging XCOM experience that reflects their strategic preferences and challenges them in new ways. Whether adjusting difficulty, customizing soldiers, or experimenting with mods, the advanced options in XCOM 2: War of the Chosen offer a wealth of opportunities for players to deepen their engagement with the game and enjoy a more personalized tactical experience.
Overall, these options contribute to a more dynamic and flexible game environment, rewarding strategic thinking and creativity. The ability to tailor the game’s mechanics, difficulty, and content ensures that every playthrough can be a fresh and rewarding experience, making XCOM 2: War of the Chosen a standout title in the tactical strategy genre.