Nearly 10 years out from its original release, Firaxis’XCOM 2remains the gold standard of the turn-based tactics genre, and for good reason. Building off of the work done to revitalize the classicXCOMfranchise with 2013’sEnemy Within,XCOM 2is a quantum leap forward in terms of tactical options, map variety, campaign length, and difficulty. Its two expansions,War of the ChosenandChimera Squad, are no less impressive, either, but even the most recent of those is approaching its 5th anniversary. With series producer Jake Solomon now out of the picture and moving on to his own studio, the future of theXCOMfranchise could look to another alien species, the Xenomorph, for a potential direction to take.
Last year’sAliens: Dark Descentwas a surprising entry into the growing number of games using theAlienlicense, taking a different approach from both the spectacularsurvival horror ofAlien: Isolationand the squad-based shooting ofAliens: Fireteam Eliteto deliver a unique hybrid of turn-based tactics and real-time strategy that did a great job capturing the atmosphere and tension of James Cameron’s 1986 sequelAliens. That hybrid of RTS and turn-based gameplay proved to be one ofAliens: Dark Descent’s greatest strengths, and it could potentially serve as a framework for a newXCOMgame that moves the needle forward for the franchise.
Aliens: Dark Descent’s Gameplay Could Be a Natural Fit for the XCOM Franchise
Those who have playedAliens: Dark Descentcan attest to the game’s successful blending of two different types of strategic gameplay, combining the real-time movement and auto-attacking of an RTS with the metered approach and careful planning of a turn-based tactical RPG. Players guide their 4-marine squads through dangerous scenarios in which they must fight against theXenomorphspecies in the form of Facehuggers, Big Chaps, and other, strange mutations exclusive to the game’s story surrounding an evolution-obsessed cult. In between those stages, it falls on the player to manage both a growing base and their squad, reducing effects like Stress and Trauma to keep the colonial marines in fighting shape.
That structure of stage-based engagements against enemies with base and squad management in between is already the same general framework by which the modernFiraxisXCOMgamesoperate, but the flow of combat is whereAliens: Dark DescentandXCOMdiverge. Many modern turn-based tactics games are moving away from the grid-based movement that permeates the genre, and the next entry in the franchise could go a step further to push the envelope by incorporating some real-time elements. The nextXCOMhas a great example to look to withAliens: Dark Descentthanks to it having one foot firmly planted in both the real-time and tactical approaches.
Tindalos Interactive Could Join Forces With Firaxis to Help Shepherd the XCOM Franchise
One of the larger questions surrounding the fate of theXCOMfranchise and a potentialXCOM 3is who will spearhead the design and direction of the game now that series producerJake Solomonis no longer part of Firaxis. TheXCOMlicense continues to be lucrative for Firaxis several years after each game’s initial release, with bothEnemy WithinandXCOM 2having a long tail in terms of their sales. As such, it’s almost a certainty that Firaxis will hang on to the IP. But with no clear leader to steer the ship, perhaps the developer should partner with Tindalos Interactive in some capacity.
Even if Tindalos isn’t part of the design and development of the next mainlineXCOMgame, its experience in the RTS genre could be invaluable toward a new RTS-focusedXCOMgamemore similar to the original entries in the franchise. Turn-based tactics games in both the indie and AAA spaces have continued to push the genre forward in novel and inventive ways, so the nextXCOMwould do well to not rest on its laurels as simply “moreXCOM 2,” as tempting as that might be.
XCOM
You are in control of X-COM: an organization formed by the world’s governments to fight the ever-increasing alien menace.Shooting down UFOs is just the beginning: you must then lead a squad of heavily-armed soldiers across different terrains as they investigate the UFO crash site. Tackle the aliens with automatic rifles, rocket launchers, and even tanks in the struggle to retrieve useful technology, weapons or life forms.Successful ground assault missions will allow X-COM scientists to analyze alien items. Each new breakthrough brings you a little closer to understanding the technology and culture of the alien races. Once you have sufficient research data on the UFO’s superior weapons and crafts, you’ll be able to manufacture weapons of equal capability.You must make every crucial decision as you combat the powerful alien forces. But you’ll also need to watch the world political situation: governments may be forced into secret pacts with the aliens and then begin to reduce X-COM funding.
