My latest strategy gaming addiction is XCOM: Chimera Squad. A surprise announcement then released not long after costing only $10 at launch. I am a huge XCOM: Enemy Unknown and XCOM 2 fan and I have clocked up more hours than I’d like to admit on both games though I didn’t play the expansions for XCOM 2.
Swat Team of the Future
XCOM: Chimera Squad is a turn-based action-strategy game that isn’t a sequel to XCOM 2 but continues the story somewhat. Instead of nameless recruits flocking to into your team to help fight the alien invasion (and then resisting occupation); you play as named agents. Chimera Squad is made up of 11 agents (though you can only recruit 8 in a play-through). The “breach” mechanic is what the entire game is built around as your swat team goes around kicking off doors, flying through windows and blowing up things while eliminating threats. I just finished my first play-through and apart from some annoying bugs and performance issues I actually enjoyed the experience a lot. I am about to start my second play-through and hope to fiddle with a new set of agents as we help protect our city from shady organizations hoping to derail humans and aliens living together and cooperating.
Godmother is Bae
XCOM: Chimera Squad is a good game but is obviously a budget title with reused assets. Some agents are more interesting than others and the voice-acting is hit and miss over the 20-30 hour campaign. Let’s see how I do in my second go at the story on a harder difficulty. Below are short profiles of the playable 11 agents in the game. My favourites by far so far are Godmother, Blueblood and Terminal.
Chimera Squad
- Axiom – born and trained on an invasion transport ship, Axiom landed on Earth in 2015 and was among the first wave of alien invaders.
- Shelter – was separated from his family during the invasion, then processed into a resettlement camp.
- Zephyr – officially “created” in 2021 per ADVENT records, Zephyr served as a loyal, mind-controlled ADVENT soldier until she was mentally liberated.
- Patchwork – lost her entire family during the invasion and suffered three traumatic amputations.
- Blueblood – spent his formative years in City 31, during the occupation, with his father, a third-generation police officer.
- Torque – hatched at a New Arctic facility in 2020, Torque spent the alien occupation as a tracker hunting down resistance groups.
- Cherub – was among a batch of clones that had received ADVENT training but not yet undergone ADVENT indoctrination by the end of the war.
- Terminal – lost her family in the invasion and was ultimately adopted by a doctor who’d lost her only daughter.
- Claymore – was a young boy when the invasion occurred. His childhood became a journey between refugee camps and city outskirts as his family sought safety.
- Verge – was part of an ADVENT experiment to subvert Earth governments by mind-controlling human subjects.
- Godmother – a seasoned veteran with no time for nonsense, she demands nothing less than perfection from her squadmates.
Fan of strategy games or XCOM? Let me know in a comment below or tweet me @Jamaipanese. XCOM: Chimera Squad is available on PC.
