I’ve already played it, and have mixed feelings. It’s only £8.50/$10 if you buy it before May 1st, though, and that’s worth a mixed feeling or two. We’re ten years on from the events of XCOM 2. The mind-controlling Ethereal despots have been beaten back, leaving behind a fractured society full of aliens, humans, and hybrids. You’re there to foil the plans of city-level thugs, through a familiar combo of squad-based missions and board-gamey chin-stroking. You research new guns and gadgets while unlocking abilities for your increasingly-fancy soldiers. You know, like XCOM.
The changes to turn-taking are a big deal, though, as I highlighted in my XCOM: Chimera Squad review:
That dynamic shifts considerably when you play on higher difficulties, but it’s still streamlined - and often not in a good way. I miss the convoluted, rampaging turns of XCOM 2. That said, there are ways to mess with the initiative order, and by the end of the game you get to pull off some satisfying squad combos. I am fond of my snake lady’s tongue, which I can use to tug and lick my squadmates into immediately gaining another action.
“At times, I felt unpleasantly railroaded. There’s less room for creative plays, and I was often left with little doubt about what was best to do.”
I’m so averse to talking about value propositions nowadays that I didn’t mention the low price in my review, but that was probably a mistake. Sometimes a price is low enough to make some flaws worth overlooking, and for the next seven days I’d say that’s the case here.
You can currently grab Chimera Squad from Steam for £8.50/$10/€10. The 50% discount ends on May 1st.
If you’re after policing advice, here’s Guidesman Dave with his XCOM Chimera Squad guide.
