New XCOM game looks like complete shit

The XCOM Games are known for their challenging tactics, squad management, and bullshit shooting percentages, so it’s surprising (or really, not at all surprising) that 2K is releasing a new mobile game that has absolutely none of these traits.

XCOM legends, developed by Iridium Starfish, was “soft launched” on Android phones in certain areas around the world, meaning the game just released quietly without much fanfare or big announcements, at least until it continues to be released.

This is not a turn-based tactical shooter. There are no maps to explore. There is no flanking, no basic management and everyone looks like they are new Overwatch

Character.

Instead, XCOM legends lets you rush from staged encounter to staged encounter automatically by using many skills with cooldowns and earning all kinds of different game currencies that can be spent on all kinds of gacha crap.

Which is of course the case, because almost every mobile game is now by and large the same, that’s how focused the studies on metrics and economics as well as on player engagement and endorphin hits are.

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There are Hints

of Firaxis’ recent games here, as well as some of the background graphics and unit design, but this game then pretends that these never canonically existed as its plot description is

Twenty years have passed since Earth surrendered to the alien invaders. By the time we realized the alien threat, the war was over and humanity was lost. To destroy the last of the resistance fighters, the aliens have unleashed an immeasurable, ancient evil.

We need your help once again, Commander, in assembling XCOM’s greatest warriors, both past and present, and taking back Earth. Are you ready?

What I don’t understand here is why bother with the XCOM License? This is not XCOM, and XCOM is not exactly a household name, and even if it is, the real name XCOM Games are already available on the phone. Both! And they’re pretty awesome!

Only these games are both stand-alone purchases, not specially designed money sinks designed to chase after people’s impulses and … ah, OK, I see.

Update 11:31 p.m .: This post and its heading have been edited to reflect that soft starts are common in the mobile space and do not reflect the quality of the game itself.