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1 month ago
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There’s XCOM, and then there’s X-COM. The former refers to the modern strategy games from Civilization developer Firaxis, which are easily some of the best in the genre you can play today. The latter, meanwhile, is the original series as started by MicroProse, and they’re a subset of games entirely worth your time, despite their age. If you’d rather not take a trip back to the videogames of the ‘90s, however, Xenonauts 2 is the perfect modern X-COM substitute. You’re tasked with taking on aliens amid a neverending Cold War, and need to close the technological gap between you and your foe as fast as possible, and you can get it cheap on Steam for a limited time.
The year is 2009. The Cold War still rages on, the Berlin Wall stands, and to top it all off aliens have just decided to start invading Earth. The threat of a nuclear apocalypse is suddenly the least of your concerns in Xenonauts 2, so it’s time to head up a shadowy organization, bring the nations of the world together, and fight back.
Just like XCOM, Xenonauts 2 is a strategy game of two fronts. On the one hand, you need to engage in direct combat with the aliens in isometric, turn-based battles, choosing to go guns blazing or take a more reserved approach. On the other, you need to manage a global network of bases, look after your troops, research new technologies, and infuse your weapons with new alien tech.
The balance between macro decisions, like what tech you’ll research and who you’ll give that shiny new gun to, is perfectly juxtaposed with the micro-decisions of combat. Suddenly every move has so much more weight because you’ve invested so much of your time and resources to get there.
If you’ve played X-COM or XCOM, you know what to expect with Xenonauts 2. If not, you’d better get used to seeing soldiers die on the battlefield thanks to your mistakes, because it’s going to happen. A lot.
Xenonauts 2 has already had multiple updates this year as well, adding a plethora of new content to play around with. One Xenonauts 2 update introduced new alien opponents, vehicles, and AI improvements, while the other added a new alien UFO, robotic soldiers, Xenonaut armor, and a slew of balance changes.
Goldhawk Interactive’s Steam Early Access journey with Xenonauts 2 has been an impressive one, and the strategy sim isn’t even fully out yet. If you’ve been looking for an XCOM rival after yet another failed War of the Chosen Ironman run, Xenonauts 2 is for you.
Xenonauts 2 is 30% off until Thursday July 25, so expect to pay just $27.99 / £24.49 until then on Steam. You can pick up the game right here.
The Xenonauts 2 offer is part of Steam’s Tacticon 2024 event, which is filled with strategy sales, demos, and plenty more for all of us genre fans.
There are even more turn-based strategy games and grand strategy games to keep you engaged as well, whether you enjoy slow-paced tense action or large-scale decision-making.
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