Four years after the release of XCOM 2, the series finally got a successor. Or rather, a standalone title that does a few things differently from what is common in the series. XCOM: Chimera Squad will be next week will appear on April 24th, initially only on the PC.
But don't worry if you think about possible spinoffs like The Bureau: XCOM: Chimera Squad also stays Round strategy game. Anything else would be surprising, after all, the series can hardly be separated from the genre. Anyone who says turn strategy often thinks of XCOM first.
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The savior of the round strategy
What is Chimera Squad all about?
Even though Chimera Squad is not an XCOM 3, it continues the history of XCOM 2. After successfully launching an uprising against the alien oppressors and driving their leaders away from our planet, Chimera Squad faces new problems.
Something unthinkable actually happened: Five years after the victory over ADVENT, their leaders have disappeared, but many of the aliens have remained on Earth. However, they were not erased to the last contortionist. Instead, the species converge.
In the futuristic city »City 31« people and aliens live side by side and work together on living together. So that we can continue to fight round battles, of course, it is not just sunshine. Not everyone is happy with this fraternization. Different groups cause unrest in the underground and thus threaten the success of City 31.
XCOM: Chimera Squad – view screenshots
Three important differences
The starting position of Chimera Squad itself is a little bit special. After all, this time we don't have to fend off an outside attack, nor are we the rebels ourselves. But that's not the biggest difference to XCOM 2. Chimera Squad also wants to try a little new things when it comes to gameplay and does three things fundamentally different:
1. Aliens and humans
In the history of XCOM 2 we lead the human resistance and fight our fights mostly with humans or combat robots. In Chimera Squad we will also be able to use aliens from the former opposite side.
So if the vipers in XCOM 2 annoyed you with their annoying tongues, you can simply use this nasty tactic yourself in Chimera Squad. The eponymous Chimera Squad is an association of aliens and humans who want to guarantee the success and survival of City 31 for various reasons.
2. Unique units
An important aspect of XCOM 2 were the different agents, which you were free to design and upgrade according to your taste. But they didn't have real personalities. Every squad member in Chimera Squad is now unique.
You can choose from a total of 11 different agents, each with their own background, and each of them has special skills. There can also be synergies between the agents, which enables class-based combos in battle.
3. Action-oriented gameplay
And again: don't worry. XCOM remains a turn strategy game! With Chimera Squad, the developers want to take a slightly more action-packed path. The missions consist of a series of quite explosive encounters, which should make the battles more intense and unpredictable.
There is also a new Breach mode. In it, squads are positioned in different places and it is up to us to coordinate the attack by skillful and the right skills.
Announcement to Microsoft?
This somewhat surprising return of the genre primus could create some problems. For problems with Microsoft. XCOM: Chimera Squad drives the publisher somewhat into the parade with its release. The game will be released on April 24th, just four days before Microsoft releases its own turn strategy title with Gears Tactics.
In addition, Chimera Squad will be available for a fairly long time after its release. As of the release day, the game on Steam costs just 10 euros and is part of a large XCOM sales on Valves platform. Only from May 1st the game will be sold at the normal price of around 20 euros.
Chimera Squad, with its unique agents and somewhat more action-oriented approach, also occupies exactly the niche that Gears Tactics should occupy in this genre. So it will be exciting to see which of the two games appeals to more fans. We were not yet able to play Chimera Squad, but in Gears Tactics we already took a detailed look and were very pleasantly surprised by the game.
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