Xenonauts 2 vs XCOM? Too Hard? Too Easy? (Xenonauts 2 First Impressions)

Can a Firaxis XCOM player enjoy Xenonauts 2? Can YOU? Join me and find out as we discuss my first impressions and break down the gameplay of Xenonauts 2.
Buy Xenonauts 2 as a Steam key at Gamesplanet.com
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Xenonauts 2 is a strategy game that puts you in charge of a multinational military organization tasked with eliminating an extraterrestrial threat. Working from the shadows, you must seek out and engage the growing alien presence wherever it appears. Expand and manage a covert network of bases across the globe. Pursue research and development to bridge the technological gap with the alien invaders. Train, arm, and command your ground troops wherever the alien threat emerges.
The Enemy is Everywhere
It is 2009 - the Cold War continues, and the Berlin Wall still stands. In the shadows, a secret organization works beyond arbitrary political boundaries to gather information about a greater threat to humanity. Mysterious sightings of unidentified flying objects and unknown beings have grown more common, coinciding with escalating international tensions and panic. Those who report such sightings frequently disappear without a trace, and it is clear that the aliens grow bolder with each passing day. Time is of the essence.
A Mysterious Threat
Knowledge is power - unfortunately, little is known about the alien menace when you take charge. You will need to engage in combat operations around the globe to learn what you're up against. Eliminate extraterrestrial forces in deadly tactical battles to recover research samples, allowing your scientists to improve your equipment and slowly uncover the truth about the alien invasion.
A massive variety of enemy types will keep you on your toes as you fight against a multitude of species, each with their own strengths, weaknesses, and fighting styles. Securing alien bodies to perform autopsies on will give you insights into their potential weaknesses, allowing you to prepare accordingly.
Aliens aren't all you'll be fighting - human agents known as Cleaners work in tandem with the extraterrestrial threat, bringing with them added varieties of troops, combat locations, and mission objectives. The Cleaners work to further alien goals and objectives, operating directly under their influence - any strike against the Cleaners is an indirect strike against their alien overlords. You will have the opportunity to gather intel by infiltrating their bases, securing data, and seeing how far the conspiracy goes.
Every combat engagement is an opportunity to learn more about the enemy force and how it fights - if you're willing to take the risk. Will you look to quickly eliminate active threats using explosives, grenades, and missiles, or will you take a more tempered approach to secure bodies and alien technology that can be taken back to HQ for autopsies and reverse-engineering? Will you focus on the development of airpower to bring down UFOs and investigate their crash sites for additional intel? Your adversary has the advantage in both technology and equipment - any choice you make will involve tradeoffs.
In-depth Strategic Layer
The war against the alien force takes on a global scale - as they attack indiscriminately, your troops must be prepared to operate across the globe using multiple bases, taking time between operations to rest, recuperate, rearm, research, and eventually reengage the enemy. No two campaigns are the same as complex simulations ensure even the smallest variances in decisions will have far-reaching impacts across the entire game.
A small radar station in Alaska detects an anomaly over the Bering Strait. Air Bases in Kamchatka and Yukon scramble jets to investigate, chasing multiple bogeys each, bringing them down over the water. Thousands of miles away, a radar station in Italy works in tandem with response teams stationed at a base in Algeria and an air base in France to take down alien operations on the Iberian Peninsula. Meanwhile, a new base is being built in Southeast Asia where the invaders have slipped through the cracks multiple times, inciting panic. Build, design, and manage multiple bases, each with its own squadrons of fighter jets and transports, radar arrays, research teams, operatives, and more. Consider the limitations of fuel ranges when you place them and use a grid-based construction system to optimally lay each of your bases out. Specialize your bases for detection, rapid response teams, research, manufacturing, and defenses as you see fit.
0:00 Introduction
1:24 Base Management
5:41 Combat
11:23 Final Thoughts / Discount