The squad-based tactical X-COM series has come along way in twenty years or so, but it also remains remarkably comforting and familiar to its origins.
The visuals are of course dramatically improved – the original UFO: Enemy Unknown was ported from PC to the ageing Amiga platform in 1994, for crying out loud – but it’s the cinematic style and sense of cohesive connection that are born out of improved technology that really helps bring the series into the modern era, while still feeling like a comfy pair of slippers to series veterans.
XCOM 2 is the latest in the series, following on from the successful reboot (and hyphenectomy, changing from X-COM to XCOM) by Firaxis games in 2012. For a time the franchise looked dead in the water, following a couple of aborted releases by Hasbro, but when XCOM: Enemy Unknown hit the shelves the return to favour was impressive and most welcome.
Firaxis and publisher 2K Games have today released the official XCOM 2 launch trailer, and it looks to be another incredibly strong offering – keep up the good work. The bald fellow who says “XCOM lives” at 0:44 sounds suspiciously like the Honest Trailers voiceover guy, though…
Pick up the XCOM 2 Digital Deluxe Edition Steam key from Amazon.
