I've never played the XCOM games. Are they still worth it in 2023?

[Cybernetic General]

I love RTS games and I've heard a lot of good stuff about XCOM. What's the difference between XCOM: Enemy Unknown, XCOM: Enemy Within, and XCOM 2? Do you recommend one in particular? Are there any game-breaking elements or bugs I should know about?

Thanks.

[Raider Deci]

First off, good games never gets bad and always retain their worth. Dated mechanics perhaps but always worth playing, if not they werent that good in the first place. Just my opinion.

I recommend beginning with Xcom Enemy within. It is unknown+ some. Xcom2 has more things going on in the campaign, more kinds of missions, more customisation etc but it is built upon the mechanics from Xcom enemy unknown/within so you might as well start there.

No gamebreaking stuff that im aware of

[Swanky]

They're still some of the best (and most difficult) turnbased strategy games out there so they're well worth it if you're a fan of the genre.

XCOM Enemy Unknown is the original remake that started the reimagined franchise. Enemy Within is its addon that adds more enemies, mechanics and a new faction to fight in a new side story. It's fully integrated into the campaign so I'd recommend playing this one over Enemy Unknown.
Gamewise you're the commander of a task force dedicated to stopping an alien invasion.

XCOM 2 on the other hand feels more like a resistance movement trying to go up against alien oppressors. You don't need any knowledge of XCOM 1 before playing but it makes a couple of changes to the original formular, in many ways forcing you to act and push ahead.
War of the Chosen is again a full fledged expansion, introducing new factions, bosses, hero classes and mechanics to the game, and it's a fully integrated addon again.
Reinforcement pack bundles a number of smaller DLC - Anarchy's Children, a mediocre cosmetic DLC, Shen's Last Gift & Alien Hunters, both of which add one new mission (if you so choose at the campaign start), new toys to play with and some new bosses.
Lastly, the Tactical Legacy Pack adds some more mini campaigns, a few unlockable cosmetics and soundtracks to choose from during gameplay.

Both games have mod support although I'd say it's much better in XCOM 2.

So yeah, aside from some personal nitpicks well worth playing them. And they might just be on sale right now.

[Cybernetic General]

Originally posted by Swanky:

They're still some of the best (and most difficult) turnbased strategy games out there so they're well worth it if you're a fan of the genre.

XCOM Enemy Unknown is the original remake that started the reimagined franchise. Enemy Within is its addon that adds more enemies, mechanics and a new faction to fight in a new side story. It's fully integrated into the campaign so I'd recommend playing this one over Enemy Unknown.
Gamewise you're the commander of a task force dedicated to stopping an alien invasion.

XCOM 2 on the other hand feels more like a resistance movement trying to go up against alien oppressors. You don't need any knowledge of XCOM 1 before playing but it makes a couple of changes to the original formular, in many ways forcing you to act and push ahead.
War of the Chosen is again a full fledged expansion, introducing new factions, bosses, hero classes and mechanics to the game, and it's a fully integrated addon again.
Reinforcement pack bundles a number of smaller DLC - Anarchy's Children, a mediocre cosmetic DLC, Shen's Last Gift & Alien Hunters, both of which add one new mission (if you so choose at the campaign start), new toys to play with and some new bosses.
Lastly, the Tactical Legacy Pack adds some more mini campaigns, a few unlockable cosmetics and soundtracks to choose from during gameplay.

Both games have mod support although I'd say it's much better in XCOM 2.

So yeah, aside from some personal nitpicks well worth playing them. And they might just be on sale right now.

Thanks for your informative response. :) It seems like you have significant playtime invested in XCOM. Are there any game-breaking elements or unfixed bugs I should be wary of as a new player? Which mods do you suggest I eventually try? Thanks.

[Swanky]

Originally posted by Cybernetic General:

Originally posted by Swanky:

They're still some of the best (and most difficult) turnbased strategy games out there so they're well worth it if you're a fan of the genre.

XCOM Enemy Unknown is the original remake that started the reimagined franchise. Enemy Within is its addon that adds more enemies, mechanics and a new faction to fight in a new side story. It's fully integrated into the campaign so I'd recommend playing this one over Enemy Unknown.
Gamewise you're the commander of a task force dedicated to stopping an alien invasion.

XCOM 2 on the other hand feels more like a resistance movement trying to go up against alien oppressors. You don't need any knowledge of XCOM 1 before playing but it makes a couple of changes to the original formular, in many ways forcing you to act and push ahead.
War of the Chosen is again a full fledged expansion, introducing new factions, bosses, hero classes and mechanics to the game, and it's a fully integrated addon again.
Reinforcement pack bundles a number of smaller DLC - Anarchy's Children, a mediocre cosmetic DLC, Shen's Last Gift & Alien Hunters, both of which add one new mission (if you so choose at the campaign start), new toys to play with and some new bosses.
Lastly, the Tactical Legacy Pack adds some more mini campaigns, a few unlockable cosmetics and soundtracks to choose from during gameplay.

Both games have mod support although I'd say it's much better in XCOM 2.

So yeah, aside from some personal nitpicks well worth playing them. And they might just be on sale right now.

Thanks for your informative response. :) It seems like you have significant playtime invested in XCOM. Are there any game-breaking elements or unfixed bugs I should be wary of as a new player? Which mods do you suggest I eventually try? Thanks.

None. Both games are perfectly playable & enjoyable right out of the box. There are mods that fix a number of things, faulty implementations and such but it's likely nothing you will notice in your first playthrough. Most things these days mods do is new tech - ranging from interesting additions or reworks to full fledged overhauls of the game itself.

The one thing to note is that Firaxis has made historically questionable tech implementations. As such, it's recommended to turn of Ambient Occlusion, Vsync and Aliasing ingame and use other methods such as through your graphics driver panels (or third party software like nivdia inspector). It's not enough to break the game but it's noticeable compared to properly optimized games.

One word of warning - they shut down Multiplayer for XCOM 2 not too long ago so don't buy if you only want to play the MP mode.

[Cybernetic General]

Originally posted by Swanky:

Originally posted by Cybernetic General:

Thanks for your informative response. :) It seems like you have significant playtime invested in XCOM. Are there any game-breaking elements or unfixed bugs I should be wary of as a new player? Which mods do you suggest I eventually try? Thanks.

None. Both games are perfectly playable & enjoyable right out of the box. There are mods that fix a number of things, faulty implementations and such but it's likely nothing you will notice in your first playthrough. Most things these days mods do is new tech - ranging from interesting additions or reworks to full fledged overhauls of the game itself.

The one thing to note is that Firaxis has made historically questionable tech implementations. As such, it's recommended to turn of Ambient Occlusion, Vsync and Aliasing ingame and use other methods such as through your graphics driver panels (or third party software like nivdia inspector). It's not enough to break the game but it's noticeable compared to properly optimized games.

One word of warning - they shut down Multiplayer for XCOM 2 not too long ago so don't buy if you only want to play the MP mode.

Thanks a lot. Have a nice day. :)

[sooshon]

Xcom2 is a fantastic and polished game, definitely up there as one of the best turn-based strategy games of all time. I strongly second the recommendation to play without mods on first playthrough; I think Xcom2 with War of the Chosen expansion is the definitive version of the game, but it does add more mechanics to learn to the point of being a bit overwhelming and it's definitely worth playing without it as well; so depends on if you don't mind a bit more complexity in your games; some of the DLCs add interesting things, but aren't necessarily essential; some of the cosmetic ones actually feel a bit tacky and remove from the immersion of the game for me because of aesthetics that don't really fit in so I don't recommend against those until at least after a first playthrough. Same with Alien Hunters, it adds needlessly overpowered weapons that don't fit in aesthetically for me, would not recommend until a second playthrough. The one DLC I rate highest as fitting in and adding something interesting to the story is Shen's Gift.

I played the first Xcom: Enemy Unknown after I played Xcom2 for some reason and I still found it enjoyable for one playthrough, but not as strategically deep, while Xcom2 I can keep coming back to and do a new playthrough once in a while and still really enjoy it.

[HazardHawk]

One BIG word of caution. No matter your level of game skill, THIS XCOM 2 WotC comes with a heavy learning curve. You REALLY do not want to use mods or cheat until you work your way through that playing a game to the end.

The BIGGEST complaint is the firing system. It doesnt appear to make sense, but is actually balanced in with the needed tactics to extend what could be a single or two turn incursion into 4-5 turns.

No matter if you use mods or not, download the AML (Alternative mod launcher) from github version 1.5 is the latest, and use it to launch even NOT using mods.

Expect to fail and crash and burn! Go load a save to redo the mission and try again. You will not even notice as you learn to win consistently and the game gets too easy. THEN we add mods to throw ourselves for a loop. When you get to that point, Commander level is the balanced to play difficulty. Have fun!

[Firestorm🗿]

Originally posted by HazardHawk:

Expect to fail and crash and burn! Go load a save to redo the mission and try again. You will not even notice as you learn to win consistently and the game gets too easy. THEN we add mods to throw ourselves for a loop. When you get to that point, Commander level is the balanced to play difficulty. Have fun!

Bruh, I played EW on Normal difficulty and decided to start my non-wotc playthrough on Veteran (Which is described by the game as that game's counterpart to Normal) and found it much more challenging. if I had decided to play on Commander, believing that it was a "balanced" way to play, I would have uninstalled this sodding game!

[CaptainSpacetime]

Just got the game and doing a first non-WOTC with no mods or anything. Great so far. Especially for like 8 bucks lol.

[Mandellorian]

Originally posted by Swanky:

They're still some of the best (and most difficult) turnbased strategy games out there so they're well worth it if you're a fan of the genre.

XCOM Enemy Unknown is the original remake that started the reimagined franchise. Enemy Within is its addon that adds more enemies, mechanics and a new faction to fight in a new side story. It's fully integrated into the campaign so I'd recommend playing this one over Enemy Unknown.
Gamewise you're the commander of a task force dedicated to stopping an alien invasion.

XCOM 2 on the other hand feels more like a resistance movement trying to go up against alien oppressors. You don't need any knowledge of XCOM 1 before playing but it makes a couple of changes to the original formular, in many ways forcing you to act and push ahead.
War of the Chosen is again a full fledged expansion, introducing new factions, bosses, hero classes and mechanics to the game, and it's a fully integrated addon again.
Reinforcement pack bundles a number of smaller DLC - Anarchy's Children, a mediocre cosmetic DLC, Shen's Last Gift & Alien Hunters, both of which add one new mission (if you so choose at the campaign start), new toys to play with and some new bosses.
Lastly, the Tactical Legacy Pack adds some more mini campaigns, a few unlockable cosmetics and soundtracks to choose from during gameplay.

Both games have mod support although I'd say it's much better in XCOM 2.

So yeah, aside from some personal nitpicks well worth playing them. And they might just be on sale right now.

Unfortunately the difficulty doesn`t come from competent AI or game design but from terrible RNG..a shotgun literally touching the target is often a 50/50 proposition and the game having time gates that you have no choice but to run across the map to get to. Forget tactical movement, setting up kill zones ambushes...you zerg rush or you fail...its bad game design.

[mazrados]

I have similar interest in games as you do: strategy and tactical. And I love both XCOM games with all DLCs but only with Long War mod.

I got bored with XCOM 1 base game really fast but played with Long War perhaps more than decade or so. And didn't even bother to play XCOM 2 without this mod.

In XCOM 2 are actually 2 Long War mods: Long War for game without DLC and Long War of the Chosen for the game with War of the Chosen.

[//MX`]

Get XCOM 2: War of the Chosen. And play that ♥♥♥♥.

[Snake 966]

Originally posted by Cybernetic General:

I love RTS games and I've heard a lot of good stuff about XCOM. What's the difference between XCOM: Enemy Unknown, XCOM: Enemy Within, and XCOM 2? Do you recommend one in particular? Are there any game-breaking elements or bugs I should know about?

Thanks.

XCOM EU/EW and XCOM2 (Vanilla and WOTC) are definitely worth playing. Then...you have the mods like Long War, LW2, and LWOTC for when those get boring. That ought to keep you busy till 2025...Maybe then we will have XCOM 3.

[MrT]

If you enjoy enemy unknown and want more.
Xcom 2 basically brings it and the mod support makes it better.
Multiplayer takes some setting up but there are options...