XCOM: Chimera Squad coming to PC next week, currently 50% off

---

2K and Firaxis Games have announced a new entry in the XCOM series, set to bring more turn-based strategy to PC later this month.

---

by Liam Andrews

​@pass_controller

---

XCOM: Chimera Squad is a standalone title described as “neither a sequel nor expansion.” It’s set five years after the events of XCOM 2 during a time when humans, aliens and hybrids have formed an alliance in order to live peacefully together on a post-invasion Earth. The game is set in City 31, where the titular Chimera Squad – a team of elite agents made up of the aforementioned lifeforms – fight to keep “underground threats” from spreading discord in the city.

Each of the eleven members of Chimera Squad will have their own distinct personality and tactical abilities, including “species specific” attacks, such as the Viper’s “tongue-pull.”

​Players are also able to have certain agents team up and unleash “cooperative actions” that can mean the difference between mission success and failure. Missions themselves are said to be structured “as a series of discrete, explosive encounters” to ensure the action is “intense and unpredictable.”

Here’s some of the other key features highlighted in the press release:

Breach Mode: Players will shape the battlefield to their advantage with a new combat phase that injects squads right into action. They will strategically assign agents to different entry points and coordinate their assault plans with a range of Breach-specific skills.

Interleaved Turns: An automatic initiative system will slot individual agents and enemies into an alternating turn order, creating new strategic possibilities based on what unit is queued to act next – and what unit is at the greatest risk when they do so.

Suspenseful Strategy Layer: Outside of combat, players will manage the operations of a high-tech HQ, where they must prioritize competing tasks, investigations and agent assignments in the face of a ticking clock: the constantly rising unrest in the city’s various districts, driving City 31 closer and closer to total anarchy.

“With XCOM: Chimera Squad, we felt there were exciting gameplay opportunities yet to be discovered within the XCOM universe,” said Lead Designer Mark Nauta.

“Gameplay like Breach Mode, interleaved turn order, and the introduction of agents as fully fleshed-out characters will revolutionize how the game plays while still retaining the combat experience that makes the XCOM series so loved by gaming communities around the world.”

XCOM: Chimera Squad will be released as a digital Steam exclusive on 24 April, with a limited introductory price of £8.50. The offer runs until 1 May, after which the price will revert to the RRP of £16.99.

What do you think of the surprise Chimera Squad announcement? Let us know below or over in the forums.

Comment on the forums