A 95% shot that misses, and a whole squad wiped out because of it.

No tension here: the profile is solid top to bottom. On the gut choice, no criterion, XCOM 2 beats 88% of games. And the detail backs it up. Fun, the game you start for a quick session and put down at 3am, ahead of 87%. The feel with a controller in hand, ahead of 85%. Attachment, ahead of 80%. The soundtrack, ahead of 79%. Desert island places it very high too, but on only two duels, so treat that as early. Only art direction sits mid pack, slightly below the middle, as if the visuals were not what stuck. What grabs people is the system, not the textures.

Among turn based tactics games, XCOM 2 holds a rare spot: the rigor of the genre without the coldness, because you get attached to soldiers you named yourself and are about to lose stupidly.

So, who is it for? For you if you love thinking, planning, taking a disaster on the chin and starting right over. Much less so if you want a visual knockout or a game that forgives.