XCOM: Chimera Squad - out on April 24

[Sly Boots]

I was disappointed with the breach system, I expected it to be more involved, similar to Phantom Doctrine. Overall from what I have watched of people playing this it is very similar to that game in other respects.

I haven't played PD so I can't speak to the system it uses, however there are a fair few elements to the breach system here, that you kind of pick up as you go. For instance, it was a while before I twigged that not only can you set which order the agents go through the different breach points, by doing so you also set the order in which they'll take their turn during the rest of the encounter. This was a game-changer! Then, they'll gradually pick up items and skills that allow them to do different things than just burst into the room and fire, for instance dropping a bomb that gives a 50-point buff to crit chance, or disables enemy weapons, or a flashbang, smoke bomb, heal, chance to panic units inside etc. There's actually quite a lot going on and a bit of strategy to the order of things.

For example, while your sectoid agent is relatively squishy, by sending him in first it allows him to use his levitate ability on an enemy inside rather than shooting, which lifts them out of cover, giving the agents who come in next a better chance to hit them, which if you've set another agent to deploy the crit-bomb can be an instant kill on a big hp enemy. And that's not even mentioning the different types of buff (or debuff) you get from the different entry points, which can make sense to use on a particular agent or at a particular point in the turn order.

[Sly Boots]

And finished!

Took 25 hours to complete, so a fair bit less than an XCOM2 campaign, but at the current price point that's still a good amount of value. It feels like about the right length as well, as by the end I'd maxed out my agents (you eventually get 8, so I think there was 2-3 I didn't get to use this playthrough) and equipment and padding it out by just making more of what is there would probably detract from the overall enjoyment through repetition.

I really liked it, and hopefully they can add elements like the breach mode to XCOM3, and though I'd prefer a return to the full turn-based mode for that full sequel, all in all I'd say I ended up appreciating all the differences rather than lamenting them, and it's nice to try something a bit different.

There's a weird difficulty curve, probably would look like a bell chart, starts off pretty easy then the first time you start seeing bulked-up enemies you find you're struggling in some encounters, and I had a few downed agents here and there. Then by the time your crew is leveled and kitted out with the best gear you become godly and I just blasted through the final few missions quite easily... in fact for the finale I was so confident going in I dropped my medic for the first time and went in with another offensive soldier instead, and didn't miss them at all. Mind you, I think that difficulty curve is true of the other XCOM games as well.

Although it's theoretically possible, I never came remotely close to losing the campaign by the city's anarchy level getting too high (Chimera Squad's version of XCOM2's doomsday clock), you're given reusable tools to manage it quite effectively, and by selective picking off missions you can control it quite easily - in fact my anarchy level only ever reached 1 a couple of times, before one of the tools reduced it back to 0.

So, perhaps not the most challenging strategy game out there, but nevertheless and fun one and I'm glad I picked it up.