XCOM 2/War
of theChosen
Thegamecleverlyusesscarcityofopportunity
toforceyouintodifficultdilemmas.Atanyone
timeyoumighthaveonlysixpossiblescan
sites,whilecombatencountersarelargely
metedoutbythegame,butwhatyouchoose
todowiththisnarrowrangeofoptionsmatters
enormously.Youneedtorecruitnewrookies;
youneedanengineertobuilda commsfacility
thatwillletyoucontactmoreterritories;you
needalienalloystoupgradeyourweapons.
Youcan’thaveallofthese.Youcanprobably
onlyhaveone.In 1989SidMeierdescribed
gamesas“aseriesofinterestingdecisions.”
XCOM2 is thepurestexpressionofthatethos
thatFiraxishasyetproduced.TheWarofthe
Chosenexpansionbringsevenmorewelcomeif
franticchanges,liketheendlesslychattytitular
enemies,memorablenemeseswhopopupat
differentintervalsduringthecampaignwith
randomstrengthsandweaknesses.Thereare
alsonewAdventtrooperstocontendwith,tons
morecosmeticoptions,zombie-likeenemies
whopopulatelosthumancities,theabilityto
createpropagandapostersandlotsmore.War
oftheChosendoesmakeeachcampaigna little
bloated,butthechangesaresomeaningfuland
extensivethatXCOM 2 players need to check it
out regardless.TOP TIER
Total War:
Warhammer 2
ThefirstTotalWar:Warhammer
showedthatGamesWorkshop’sfantasy
universewasa perfectmatchfor
CreativeAssembly’smassivebattles
andimpressivelydetailedunits.The
secondgamemakesa wholehostof
improvements,in interface,tweaksto
heroes,roguearmiesthatmixfactions
togetherandmore.Thegame’sfour
factions,Skaven,HighElves,DarkElves
andLizardmenareallmeaningfully
differentfromoneanother,delvingdeeper
intotheoddcornersofoldWarhammer
fantasylore.If you’relookingfora starting
pointwithCA’sWarhammergames,thisis
nowthegametoget– andif youalready
owntheexcellentoriginal,too,themortal
empirescampaignwillunite both games
into one giant map.
Homeworld:
Deserts of
Kharak
Homeworld:DesertsofKharaksounded
almostsacrilegiousatfirst.Overa decade
sincethelastHomeworldgame,it was
goingtotakea gamerememberedforits
spaceshipsand3Dmovementandturn
it intoa ground-basedRTSwithtanks?
Andit wasa prequel?Yetin spiteofall
thewaysthiscouldhavegonehorribly
wrong,DesertsofKharaksucceedson
almosteverycount.It’snotonlya terrific
RTSthatsetsitselfapartfromtherestof
thegenre’srecentgames,butit’salsoan
excellentHomeworldgamethatreinvents
the series while also recapturing its magic.Civilization 6
TheCivgameofchoicerightnowforus,
andit’spackedwithenoughfeaturesthat
it feelslikeit’salreadybeenthrougha few
expansions.ItsDistrictssystemletsyou
buildsprawlingcities,andchallengeyou
tothinkseveralturnsaheadmorethan
ever.Thegameis gorgeouslypresented–
whilethemorecartoon-ystyletakessome
timetogetusedto,it’slovelytolookatin
itsownright.We’rereallycurioustosee
howtheinevitableexpansionswillbuildon
what’salreadyhere,buttakenasit is, this
is the best Civ to play right now.