I failed XCOM 2's tutorial mission. In a level meant to teach me the game's mechanics and intricacies, Firaxis' upcoming sequel killed off my four-person squad before I had time to start the actual campaign. During the 12 hours I recently played of a near-complete XCOM 2, the game was brutal, and rarely gave me space to breathe. However, Firaxis gave me just enough new tools to fight my through seemingly impossible odds.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown was one of 2012's most challenging games. Its turn-based squad tactics left little room for error, while high-level strategy elements demanded careful consideration from the commander's chair. XCOM 2 presents the same multilayered structure of Enemy Unknown, except with tougher obstacles, harder objectives, and a new storyline steeped in despair.
This narrative is XCOM 2's biggest change. In Enemy Unknown, we battled an alien invasion force as it arrived to conquer Earth. But in the sequel, the aliens have won, established a totalitarian government, and prospered on our planet for 20 years.
This dynamic permeated every mission during my time with the demo, tying the story and the gameplay into one cohesive knot. Even later in the campaign, when my troops donned alien armor and wielded high-powered weapons, I never felt safe. It wasn't victory I was pursuing, so much as a means to disrupt the alien force, and prolong my survival as a rebel threat.
Because of the way Firaxis flipped the script, XCOM 2 opens itself to more mission variety than Enemy Unknown. Some required the extraction of alien artifacts, the destruction of communications relays, or data hacks on enemy computers. I may have made progress, but only in small increments, as the alien overlords continued their reign.
The increased number of possibilities on the humans' side, however, helped me in my fight. The Specialist class has the ability to hack alien alien networks, augmenting the Resistance soldiers with increased critical hit chance, or increased armor for the mission. The Ranger, the more mobile class, has a blade for close-quarters combat and high-damage kills.
