Of all the curveballs being thrown around in news recently, this isn’t one that I or maybe anyone else expected. Firaxis just went ahead and put up a page on Steam for a new XCOM title, officially dubbed XCOM: Chimera Squad. Here’s the kicker – it’s coming out next week, April 24.
The game is more of the XCOM you know and love, but with a few twists. Chimera Squad is set five years after the end of XCOM 2, in which aliens have taken over the Earth and you must raise a resistance movement against them to take back your home planet. Now, with the alien menace destroyed, the Earth is saved, but vastly different. Humans and aliens, formerly enemy combatants to one another, now live together in uneasy peace. Yes, even the Vipers from XCOM 2 have stuck around, and now assumedly run florist shops. But I digress. The world has changed vastly, and now you’re in charge of a police unit of humans, aliens, and hybrids called the Chimera Squad.
Suffice to say, instead of only controlling humans this time around, you’ll also be commanding aliens. The game’s departures from previous entries don’t stop there. Each encounter, in which your team is deployed to respond to violence in the city, now begins with breach mode. During this phase, players can deploy their units wherever they want and determine their turn order. After, your agents will burst onto the scene and get the drop on unsuspecting baddies. Even in this phase, the decisions players make will affect the ensuing fight. Some encounters come with multiple breach points, each with their own advantages and disadvantages.
Another change in Chimera Squad comes in the form of interlacing turns. In previous titles each side took their own turn, making for an experience much more like chess. However, turns in this title will be more like a Dungeons & Dragons game, alternating with each character.
The differences between Chimera Squad and previous XCOM titles go on. If you’re a fan of the previous games in this legendary strategy series, this title should be right up your alley. And now for the best part, you can pre-order the game right now for only $10. That’s until the game actually comes out when its price will go up to $20. You can pre-order XCOM: Chimera Squad on Steam here.
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