14 DAY TRIAL // XCOM 2 is a video game that seeks to show gamers how hard it would be for a human organization to battle a powerful and entrenched alien domination regime, and the development team at Firaxis is changing up some of the core elements of the series.
There are five new classes that gamers will be able to choose from when assembling their team, with one of them still kept a mystery for the time being.
The four that have been publicly revealed include: Specialist, the heir of Support, who has a drone that can hack tech and attack enemies; Grenadier, the replacement for the Heavy, who delivers firepower to cover his allies; Ranger, the improved version of the Assault, who can now use a katana blade to take out enemies; and Sharpshooter, the replacement for the Sniper, who can use a pistol as his primary weapon.
Firaxis is also working to make sure that within each class there are more choices for customization, both in terms of equipment and cosmetic elements.
Jake Solomon, who is leading the development of XCOM 2, is quoted by IGN saying that "They can have big beards, they can have really awesome haircuts, they can have some cool stuff that gives them a lot of characters and fits this idea of they’re this sort of hardened group, they’re not fresh-out-of-the-barracks Johnny Soldier; this is really more of a Sons of Anarchy-type of squad."
XCOM 2 introduces more tactical variety
Firaxis is also tweaking the nature of the missions included in the new turn-based strategy title, which start with the player in hiding, able to choose when and how to first strike at the alien force.
Jake Solomon says that there are more objectives than in Enemy Unknown and that often stealth and quick movement are more important than firepower.
The maps in XCOM 2 are procedurally generated in order to deliver more variety, but the team wants to make sure that all the levels have a clear identity, built around the new futuristic cities that house most of the population.
Firaxis is also trying to change the reactions of the player by introducing new types of aliens, which require entirely new tactics to defeat.
XCOM 2 will be out in November of this year and can only be played on the PC.