Putting the 'role' back in role-playing games since 2002.
Donate to Codex
Good Old Games
  • Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.

    "This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.

X-COM XCOM 2 + War of the Chosen Expansion Thread

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
97,228
Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/01/19/xcom-2-the-long-war-2-mod-review/

XCOM 2’s Long War excels through new tactical depths
Adam Smith on January 19th, 2017 at 3:00 pm.

xlwheader.jpg


From the very first mission of The Long War 2, the stakes are different. Your enlarged squad isn’t doing anything as brash as blowing up an Advent statue; instead, they’ve managed to track down an under-strength patrol and are determined to take it down. Two things are immediately clear: the insurgency aren’t as bold as at the beginning of vanilla XCOM 2, but, as individuals and as squads, they’re far more cunning.

Mission one: eight soldiers, all with protective vests, frags and flashbangs. Tougher recruits for a tougher war. The fight for Earth isn’t just longer, it’s broader and more involved at every level.

As I played The Long War 2, one question never left my mind: no matter how much longer and harder this might be, is it also more interesting and enjoyable? Bigger isn’t necessarily better. I’m currently playing Darkest Dungeon again, a game that is receiving a shorter mode in a coming update, and even though it’s comfortably one of my favourite games of recent times, I’ll be glad of a condensed mode. After a while, every dungeon starts to look a lot like the last one.

xlw3.jpg


Stretch an XCOM 2 campaign out for an extra thirty, forty or fifty hours (I haven’t completed a Long War 2 campaign yet but I imagine length will vary quite a lot depending on chance and your own efficiency) and all of those extractions, retaliations and data hacks might become extremely repetitive. The pacing of the vanilla game is very deliberate, dropping new enemies and technologies in your path at a steady rate and ensuring that though you have a level of control over events, there’s always a guiding hand to lead you from one narrative beat to the next.

The Long War 2 doesn’t discard or sidestep those narrative beats, apart from the first (the Commander figure that you play no longer has that grand introduction), but it fills the spaces in between the major steps forward with much more of the tactical pleasures and emergent narratives that are the series’ key strength. Every time I’ve sent a squad into combat, I’ve been tense and excited all over again, which is incredible considering the tens of hours I’ve already poured into XCOM 2. For reasons that I’ll go into shortly, the tactical side of the game is not just the best it’s ever been, it’s so much improved that I’ll find it hard to back to vanilla. The improvements to the strategic side, which is where I thought The Long War 2 might make the most dramatic changes, don’t all feel as meaningful.


xlw6.jpg


That’s partly simply because more time is spent in combat than on the Geoscape or in the Avenger base. It might have a strategic five o’clock shadow, but XCOM 2 is a game primarily about tactical combat. That hasn’t changed here, and I didn’t expect a mod to rewrite the game’s structure entirely, but what has been added does enhance the sense of fighting a war rather than progressing through a series of missions.

Most meaningful among the changes is the ability to field several squads simultaneously. It’s a change that makes itself known throughout the entire game. Primarily, it’s a way to deal with several threats or opportunities at the same time, tearing up the binary approach that XCOM 2 originally took. If Advent are attacking civilians in West Africa and New Australia, you can send one squad to each location rather than choosing who should live and who should die.

Complications arise in that you don’t get a fleet of Skyrangers to zip your people around the map and you’ll need to take the Avenger to each location, dropping off the squad and then moving on to your next stop. That makes the actual base feel much more like a mobile thing that exists on a map rather than a cursor that you move to a place simply to activate the mission in that place.

xlw8.jpg


When you drop a squad at a mission location, in most cases they no longer jump straight into combat. There’s an infiltration period, which is a smart thematic fit and one of The Long War’s biggest game-changing additions. The infiltration period is the time it takes for your soldiers to locate their target, while remaining hidden among the general population or out in the sticks. They’re doing all the cool secret agent stuff and preparing for the final objective and the escape that follows.

All of those timed missions feel much more fitting now that they’re explicitly the final moments of a week-long effort, involving subterfuge, espionage and commando take-downs. That you don’t get to see any of the former is understandable, and I would have liked some flavour text or occasional choices to make along the way, but when you have two squads out in the world, infiltrating Advent cities, there’s a splendid sense of urgency.

Infiltration isn’t just window-dressing though. Missions have an expiry date and when you arrive at the location, every change you make to your squad, from adding new members to changing their equipment, affects the time you’ll need to complete infiltration. If you can hit 100% before the expiry date, which forces you to either launch the mission or abort, then you’ll face weaker Advent forces. Anything less than 100% and they’ll be reinforced. You can spend Intel to boost the rate of infiltration but it mostly depends on the makeup of your squad.

xlw1.jpg


Remember how the first mission gives you eight soldiers? You can send ten on the next if you reckon that’s the best way to get the job done. My favourite thing about The Long War 2 is that it makes me think about squad-building far more seriously than XCOM ever has before. Do I want to risk sending a rookie, in the hopes she’ll get those first kills and start her climb through the ranks? Should I risk all of my best soldiers on a single target or split them between all of my active squads? Would it be smart to send a Shinobi-only squad, just three, to attempt the kind of fast, sneaky surgical strike that a larger mob couldn’t manage?

Every soldier you add to a squad increases infiltration time, though some have abilities that lessen the impact. Giving them certain equipment also modifies the timing – suppressors are an early assist – so you’ll need to balance taking the best possible squad and ensuring you face the weakest enemy forces.

The multi-squad management and infiltration are the most significant changes to the Geoscape, or at least the most visible ones. You can also give basic instructions to civilians in the areas you’ve contacted and have some control over, using a simple menu that allocates them to gather intel, supplies or new recruits. It’s a little like a simplified version of the system in Jagged Alliance 2, right down to those folks appearing in missions that take place in the area. While the personnel management does allow for some level of control it really comes down to boosting the flow of resources when needed. There’s usually a correct way to adjust the settings, depending on your expenditure or discoveries that month, so it felt like one more plate to spin rather than the meaningful choices everywhere else in the mod.

xlw2.jpg


And, thankfully, meaningful choices are Long War’s bread and butter. All of those decisions made during the infiltration phase pay off when you take control. All soldiers now have three slots for utility items but leaving one or all empty makes them more mobile. Immediately there is more to consider when building a squad and between turns in every mission. Flashbangs, frags and specialist equipment come into play far more often, not just through optional equipment but in the expanded skillset of every class (as well as the addition of a new class, Technical, which is halfway toward being a MEC trooper, with flames and rockets built into a single back-up weapon).

Each of the nine classes has a secondary weapon that is available at all times. If you’re wondering how we got to nine classes, there’s the brand new Technical class plus the three introduced in a previous mod from the Long War team. All of their mods are included in The Long War 2. The back-up weapons range from sawed-off shotguns for Rangers, which are devastating at close quarters but only have one shot per barrel, and a stun abililty for Assault troops. They all provide more options, informing how you engage with the enemy, how you improvise when things go wrong (more than ever, things will go wrong) and how you snatch victory from the jaws, claws and splash damage of defeat.

xlw4.jpg


All of that along with new mission types and maps that, unless I’ve just been lucky with layouts, immediately feel larger and more varied completely refresh the tactical game. The opening mission ended with a shootout that levelled an entire church on my first attempt, and a sneaky, slick and effective suburban assault on the next. We didn’t take a scratch. My first attempt to break a group of civilians out of Advent cells in a city centre left me with a post-mission debrief that spoke of victory – every civilian saved! – and disaster – three soldiers left behind and captured. New Advent retaliation missions sometimes require evacuation rather than the simpler rescue missions seen previously, and there are chains of missions that have a lasting impact on the world map. Those, I will not spoil.

Everything is tied together by a more active Advent AI. On the Geoscape, Advent forces move to reinforce vulnerable areas in response to your actions, which adds another wrinkle to strategic decision-making. Sometimes attacking a weak spot isn’t worthwhile, particularly later in the game, because it might lead to heightened security in that region. On the flipside, Advent can be distracted, moving their pieces around the board to counter your actions and leaving themselves vulnerable where a blow against the Avatar Project can be effective in the long-term.

xlw5.jpg


Stopping that project is still the goal and even in this extended campaign, the clock is ticking. The existence of new short-term targets keeps things interesting even when you don’t have end-game solutions in sight, and keeping XCOM running efficiently takes more time and energy than previously. The Long War matches its length with density, of choice and of action, and the increased difficulty challenges your skill and knowledge rather than your endurance.

17xcom2longwar.jpg


The mod makes XCOM 2 feel new again. Tougher and smarter on every front. Even if the civilian management isn’t as interesting as I’d hoped, the greater tactical and strategic depth makes itself known immediately, and everything has been implemented intelligently within XCOM 2’s narrative and framework. New missions and tactical abilities fit with the resistance setting, and the ability to send in the kind of superheroic warriors that are typical of Firaxis’ take on the series while also occasionally relying on a mass of rookies makes every mission feel that little bit more unique.

A more reactive war on the Geoscape is a delight, but the soldiers are the heart of XCOM and they’re better and more varied than ever. From the very first mission, you’ll have rookies more capable than any you’ve seen before, and greater threats to counter them. By the mid-game you might have two Rangers with skillsets so different that they might as well be custom classes. In this Long War, the people are your most precious resource. Oh, and the robots too. If a new class and skills weren’t enough to make your squad stand out from the crowd, you can permanently steal Advent MECs now.
 
Joined
Mar 3, 2010
Messages
8,816
Location
Italy
i gave up and went to humblebundle to get the monthly, after all all these promises can be worth less than 10 euros so i went to buy the monthly and humblebundle doesn't accept my credit card anymore and doesn't give me an explanation why.

am i going to be banned if i beg for a copy? :V
 

MediantSamuel

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jan 14, 2016
Messages
628
Location
Institute of Tchort
Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire
Looks like it's out: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=844674609

Long War 2
By Pavonis Interactive (formerly Long War Studios)
http://www.pavonisinteractive.com

Long War 2 is a significant overhaul of XCOM 2 aimed at giving players the feel of running a worldwide guerrilla war against ADVENT and offering them a greater variety of strategic and tactical experiences.

Many of the mod's new mechanics are described ingame in the XCOM archives. Players are strongly encouraged to read those entries immediately after finishing Gatecrasher.

Features include:
1) A much longer campaign, running for 100 to 120 missions on average
2) Infiltration mechanics that require you to send out multiple squads at once
3) Manage resistance Havens and have resistance members scrounge for supplies, gather intelligence or recruit more people to your cause
4) Nine soldier classes: Sharpshooter, Shinobi, Ranger, Assault, Gunner, Grenadier, Specialist, Technical and Psionic (plus Sparks for DLC owners), each with unique secondary weapons
5) Two new weapon tiers, lasers and coilguns
6) Dozens of new enemies and smarter battlefield AI
7) ADVENT strategic AI that tries to counter your moves

Welp, I know what I'm doing tonight.
 

Grunker

RPG Codex Ghost
Patron
Joined
Oct 19, 2009
Messages
27,385
Location
Copenhagen
You misunderstood. Means I can't opt for shorter campaigns (I think normal game has enough missions as it is).
 

Jaedar

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Aug 5, 2009
Messages
9,837
Project: Eternity Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Pathfinder: Kingmaker
You misunderstood. Means I can't opt for shorter campaigns (I think normal game has enough missions as it is).
Given the increased tactical options, if played at vanilla speed, you'd probably retool everything, every fight. Would not be very enjoyable.

Seems long war 2 doesn't really incorporate the dlc's much. I totally would buy them if they were fixed to be less shit, but eh.

So, what other mods should be used with lw2?
 

Zeriel

Arcane
Joined
Jun 17, 2012
Messages
13,378
Most gameplay mods don't work. Most QoL mods do, and all cosmetic mods also. So use whatever animation speedup mods you like and whatever waifu simulator mods you like.
 

Mazisky

Magister
Joined
Mar 8, 2015
Messages
2,082
Location
Rome, IT
You should wait LW2 to be patched to be sure before starting a campaing, just like on every game release. I suggest to wait a month
 

oldmanpaco

Master of Siestas
Joined
Nov 8, 2008
Messages
13,609
Location
Winter

Mazisky

Magister
Joined
Mar 8, 2015
Messages
2,082
Location
Rome, IT
I've just played the first mission on Veteran and my 8 squad team got wiped hard. :-\ (i finished vanilla on commander and found it quite easy)

They added some stuff to maps, there are a lot of cover spots and more cover to cover firefights, grenades are useless they don't destroy cover anymore, i tried some flanking but triggered many other pods wtf :D
 

oldmanpaco

Master of Siestas
Joined
Nov 8, 2008
Messages
13,609
Location
Winter
So I just bought this on humble and am currently downloading (30 fucking gigs - Jesus games are big now). Do I need to play the base game at all to learn new mechanics or can I jump right into LW? Played about 100 hrs of original LW so I'm not completely unaware of the difficulty.
 

Jaedar

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Aug 5, 2009
Messages
9,837
Project: Eternity Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Pathfinder: Kingmaker
I must be playing the game wrong, because I can't win any missions. The infiltration times are always on the order of 10 days, and time to expiration is 2 days...

Obviously I could bring 2 people and be infiltrated, but that's not a squad that can win missions anyway.
 

Alienman

Retro-Fascist
Patron
Joined
Sep 10, 2014
Messages
17,041
Location
Mars
Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Codex Year of the Donut Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Infiltration mechanics sounds a bit like a pain. Why ever bring a big squad or heavy weapons when you will be penalized for it that heavily?
 

sser

Arcane
Developer
Joined
Mar 10, 2011
Messages
1,866,661
Went into a mission with some rookies.

"Light-to-moderate" enemy presence apparently equals 25 enemies clustered into an area the size of a shoebox.

The degeneracy of the "pod" gameplay continues.
 

sser

Arcane
Developer
Joined
Mar 10, 2011
Messages
1,866,661
I called evac which took longer to appear than it did for the actual mission timer to end (because that makes sense I guess).

And then, while retreating, enemies randomly spawned quite literally right on top of me, magically appearing out of the sky to slap me in the face with that lovely Fake Difficulty Bullshit backhand.

Oh, and I forgot to mention. I spent 50 Intel to boost the infiltration by like 20% (I thought it'd do 50%, but apparently it's 50% of your finished infiltration rating). The mission objective was to retrieve an item that would give 26 Intel. So I literally put myself into a -24 Intel hole for nothing. I exited and restarted the campaign.
 

As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.
Back
Top Bottom