Old-school XCOM-like Xenonauts 2 doesn’t pull any punches

Despite XCOM being a borderline household name at this point (Mario and Warhammer 40,000 certainly took note), few games have recreated the series’ origins as openly as 2014’s. Xenonauts. Like a love letter to 1994 X-COM: UFO Defenseit added even more complexity to the already punishing turn-based formula, interweaving branching technology upgrades with thrilling tactical skirmishes. Xenonauts 2 continues that tradition by doubling down on the depth, nuance, and difficulty of both Xenonauts and the game that inspired it.

The premise of Xenonauts 2 sells itself: It’s 2009, but the Cold War has never ended and society is beginning to fray. The ever-increasing UFO activity, which has unfolded alongside global geopolitical tensions, has reached a boiling point. You control a multinational special forces team dedicated to protecting the Earth and eradicating the invaders. The technology at your disposal seems somewhat dated (including M16s and M9 Berettas), as if the world couldn’t make measurable progress without peace. That changes quickly once you start assimilating and adopting alien wares. Narratively, the tone is charming, as it fluctuates between silly notes and others that are decidedly grim.

If you’ve never played Xenonauts – or any XCOM game for that matter — you don’t have to run in panic. One of the great strengths of this sequel is how well it communicates the inner workings of its overlapping systems. Where the first Xenonauts was a rough experience with little to no hand-holding, this new incarnation includes an in-depth tutorial, as well as a wonderful tooltip mechanism that allows you to quickly identify keywords and processes in the UI. There’s quite a bit to internalize here, and you’ll need to reference the text over several campaigns, mainly due to its brutal difficulty.

In Xenonauts 2, there’s a constant, powerful tension maintained by the dual layers of local, team-based combat and the overarching global map strategy. You play half the game in your base warroom, where you keep an eye on the geoscape, a world map that marks alien activity and displays the range of your HQ’s sensors. As UFOs fly through your controlled airspace, you have the option of scrambling fighter jets in an attempt to shoot them down. Success is not guaranteed and there are often more targets than you have new units to attack.

This macro-level combat system is automated. The outcome of battles is random and takes into account the technology, skill and amount of your air reaction when determining the outcome. There’s an option for a more detailed approach that lets you observe the automated combat in real time from a two-dimensional overhead display, but as developer Goldhawk Interactive points out, it’s not yet fully functional in the early access version, so it’s hard to get the depth of the characteristic to be determined at this time. Currently it’s just an elongated automation where you can see the abstraction encounter play out. Still, this lack of finishing isn’t too worrying, as the game doesn’t dwell on these dogfights for long. Most of the game is instead focused on the more intimate tactical ground combat.

Every system in the game is wrapped around the team-based conflicts. The time you spend on base managing your roster of soldiers, upgrading their equipment and deciding which research projects to undertake all feed into this boots-on-the-ground phase of turn-based combat. It’s satisfying to plan for upcoming tactical challenges while back on base, only to be faced with scenarios that are both disorienting and exciting once you drop into the tactical layer.

There’s the expected focus on line of sight, cover, and percentile chances of hitting your alien targets, of course. But there are also plenty of additional features that encourage you to be flexible in your approach. For example, terrain is completely destructible. You can blow down walls and create new paths on the map. The action point system is extremely detailed, allowing you to fire each weapon in different ways to optimize efficiency versus quality of fire. It can be nerve-wracking determining whether to rely on low-percentage snap shots to preserve action points, versus more carefully aimed fire, or even let go and go full auto to hit multiple targets. You also have to consider the morale and panic of your troops, along with the occasional neutral civilians you need to protect or defend. And these are the wrinkles that can arise simple missions.

The different mission types add even more texture to the battle. The default scenario is the aforementioned hunt and subsequent recovery of the UFO that brought down your fighter squadron. This allows for a touch of creativity on your part as a commander, as victory can be achieved by taking out all enemies on the map or locating and holding the alien ship for a number of turns in a row. Other mission options appear as time passes during the campaign, some of which continue the ‘main storyline’. These include investigating and raiding “Cleaner” outposts – the hideouts of a clandestine human faction working against your cause. Sometimes you need to steal data from servers or eliminate VIP targets. It’s all varied and compelling, and, combined with the versatility of different maps, campaigns are constantly changing to their (hopefully favorable) conclusions.

Variety and unpredictability are the defining differences between Xenonauts 2 and the original game. There are many more types of aliens, additional equipment, loads of new research options and new types of scenarios. Crucially, the sequel’s skirmishes also take place in a fully 3D environment. You can rotate the camera, which is more than a simple novelty, as it allows you to see new lines of sight or get a bead on a target you couldn’t quite make out before.

But that’s the point: these improvements are welcome, but as the hours whoosh through, they end up feeling flat. For better and worse, the overall loop of Xenonauts 2 is remarkably similar to that of the 2014 title. Goldhawk nudged Xenonauts 2‘s graphics in a modern direction, with vibrant character models and sharp special effects. The various systems and subsystems retain their complexity and grit. The storyline is a broad repetition. Those are satisfied with their hours spent in the original title and looking for something completely different, like the jump between them XCOM: Unknown Enemy And XCOM 2or XCOM 2: War of the Chosen after that I won’t find any here.

It is also necessary to reiterate that this is a very early access title. In addition to the detailed aerial combat layer being unfinished, whole pages of text are missing in certain parts of the story, instead there is a prominent “[placeholder]label. This isn’t overly frustrating though, as the reason to dive into this title is the delightful turn-based combat, which feels fully equipped and powerful. But Xenonauts 2in its current form, has struggled to smooth out the rough edges during the campaign.

Xenonauts 2 is not a revolutionary release. It’s a conservative modernization of an old-fashioned tactical predecessor. It sits comfortably in that weird little niche of a love letter sequel to a ’90s classic. The improved variety and demanding screenplays may not push the envelope much beyond where it was in 2014, but it was already in a great place to start with.

Xenonauts 2 will be released on July 18 on Windows PC. The game was reviewed using a pre-release download code from Hooded Horse. Vox Media has partnerships. These do not affect editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased through affiliate links. You can find additional information on Polygon’s Ethics Policy here.