It’s been five years since the humans defeated the aliens, and took back control of the earth. Now, both humans and left-behind aliens must build an alliance for the future. However, there are cataclysmic events trying to drag City 31 to ruins, and it’s the duty of the Chimera Squad to quell them. That sets the stage for the pulsating battles, nerve-racking scenes, and intensity that characterize this XCOM. The fights may be a bit contracted, but the new straightforwardness makes it more terrific.

While there’s a surface détente between aliens and humans, the underlying dissents never go away. So it’s not so much of a surprise when the city’s mayor is murdered, and the Chimera Squad has to find the terrorists. Although previous XCOMs gave us larger-scale demands, the synergy between the eleven agents and their ferocious individual combats give unrivaled intensity. There’s a strategic map where you pool together resources and deploy technological tools to stagger and ultimately defeat the city’s enemies. Here, you do not have the map of the world, so the battle doesn’t go outside the nine districts of City 31. The locality of the mission means more focus on gathering intel, locating the terrorists, and wiping them out completely.

You have to deal with the unscrupulous elements; else the city will have no single building standing. If you’re a fan of the usually long missions of XCOM, the short missions prevalent in this game might be disappointing. Momentous missions are a series of three room-clears that involves “breach points” you have to pass through. You’re breaking through a window, kicking a door down, or catching the “bad guys” unawares. Some agents have special abilities to get in through impossible breaches, like Torque that can do so via a vent. There’s a Breach Mode that sets in at the onset of an operation, allowing you to devise how your Agents get in.

In the Breach Mode, you set the breach points of your eleven agents, and their positions during the combat. The decisions you make here are very critical to the success of the mission. Each breach point has its own leaps and traps, and you have to assign positions to your squaddies based on their abilities. For my gameplay, I put the hybrid Cherub at the entrance to perform the role of a warden. He has a large shield that keeps the bullets away, and pistol handy for close-range shooting. I let the human agent, Godmother, ambush the enemies and take them out with her shotgun. To lead the pack in dismantling defenses, I put Claymore in front – he has a knack for breaching with explosives. I assign Terminal, the medic, to the least dangerous entrance. Once I’m done, I hit the “BREACH’ button, and the battle begins.

The Chimera Squad can be pathetically emotionless, with no striking storyline line that really resonates. However, the necessity of one’s mission to averting the apocalypse in every district of the city creates an enjoyable burden and thrill around the dame. There’s even more thrill in the building of your squad as the game progresses. You only get to begin with four, but there are seven more with specific abilities to bring to life. My agents all had different sets of abilities and assigned weaponry. Axiom, Claymore, and Godmother use the shotgun, while Blueblood and Cherub pump bullets into the enemy with a pistol. Patchwork and Verge are deadly with a rifle, while Terminal, Shelter, and Torque handle SMG. 

Dismantling the enemy is not so Herculean with the wide array of abilities that spread through the Squad. Zephyr might have no weapon, but her melee attacks are exceptionally brutal, and her ability to disappear into thin air is remarkable. If you want to cause collateral damage, call on Axiom who fuels his power with rage. Torque’s tongue grabs and drags enemy unit out of cover, and Blueblood’s precision targeting and shooting with his Lancer pistol finishes them off. Shelter uses his psionic power to disorientate the enemy, but Verge’s psion is more offensive at disabling enemies, with a telekinetic ability to make the paranormal more terrific. 

Understanding the special abilities of the team helps you make the right tactical approach when setting up breach positions. Cherub is the optimistic fellow of the squad, serving as a morale booster, and taking the step to actually protect other agents. With Cherub holding the front, Claymore forges to remove obstacles, especially with his top-of-the-world explosives. Then Godmother attacks the enemy stealthily, while brilliantly dodging income fires. You can rely on Patchwork for any tech job and combat with robotic enemies. 

In my playthrough, the agents’ abilities were enough for me to raze the enemy’s health to the ground, without even using a weapon. What’s important is setting your breach positions right, and looking for the right opportunity to deal a deadly blow to the enemy. Even with shots, one is enough to down the enemy – you’d hardly need to use up to three shots. Being ahead of your foes allows you to place your squad in a vantage position for combat. Every decision is important and can impact the game in a significant way. 

XCOM: Chimera Squad did allow me to get an android to replace a particular squad member who loses his life during a mission. However, you’d rarely need one when playing a low-difficulty level. In the more difficult levels where I really needed the androids, they just couldn’t survive the heat. In the end, I felt beefing up my squad was a better decision that spending on androids. 

With XCOM: Chimera Squad, you have to make quick and smart decisions to take the enemy down. You don’t have forever to lurk around, waiting for the right moment to launch an attack. No, the terrorists are right before you, and it’s now or never. Thankfully, the squad is more than capable to rid City 31 of the bad eggs.