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[NoXTheRoXStaR]

This is my official After Action Reports review of XCOM Apoc... Chimera Squad!

Part 0.) The Tutorial

Keep in mind this is a caveat, (just like the game) I will provide a few screen shots from my play through. Unlike previous AAR's this is focused exclusively on my experience with the game. The first part of this four part series is my overall thoughts and opinions.

Premise & Summary

This game takes place after the events of XCOM 2. Aliens, Humans, and Hybrids now live together in a post apocalyptic/futuristic hellscape.
XCOM was successful, ADVENT and their alien leaders were disposed of. The priority now is to rebuild the world as a better place, learn from the past and evolve. Yet, there are those that don't quite see it that way and have decided that their justifications and beliefs will overcome.

Opinion

Looking back at previous games from the X-COM universe this is a love letter to Apocalypse. Cityscapes, APC, multicultural aliens all living together? The only thing missing is my Flying 50's retro cars! (note - Whisper makes a reference at Verge for not showing up initially to the mission due to the fact he had to call a cab to a hostage situation)

Overall I enjoyed this game, the new techniques took some time to grasp, but the fun was making mistakes and improving on them. I only scum saved once the whole play through.


​Conclusion

This is the Pilot episode! I will have 4 post on this game with screen shots, A few tactics to consider and I have to take a piss now.

-n0x

[Space Voyager]

Oh, I'll be watching this one, too!

I'm still getting over Silencer's utter success so I'm guessing this will be additional salt on the wounds of my incompetence.

[Thorondor]

Death. Devastation. Anarchy.

Peacekeeper n0x has been summoned. This should prove entertaining...

[NoXTheRoXStaR]

I'll have parts I & II featured this weekend, or at least part 1 for sure. I want to spread this out for the month of April. My excuse for being late is that my oldest daughter is pregnant and will be a mother officially in May, which will make me a grandfather...before I'm 40. So, yeah fun fun. Anyway I look forward to give you my thoughts and more soon, just bear with me.

-n0x

[NoXTheRoXStaR]

Part 1.) Going Through Changes

   When doing some research into this game you will find that many key members of the development team that created XCOM and XCOM2 are missing in the credits.

  Some have joined a new company called Bit Reactor, others might have been reassigned or otherwise. I'm not here to speculate, yet it is certainly clear that the new and remaining members of Firaxis have developed an interesting XCOM experience.

   While many things have changed whether it be art style, music or even story development, this game remains at the core an XCOM game. Gone are the days of base building/defense, customizing soldiers, in depth research projects/engineering, or sending your interceptors out to engage with UFOS. You might ask yourself, so why the hell would I want to play this dumbed down version of XCOM much less purchase it?

  The answer is as stated above, it's the core of the game. This game focuses more on tactics than strategy, although you will learn later as you play there is a balance to both. You start out with 4 team members attempting to stop a assassination/kidnapping of the mayor of City 31. Breach Mode is the standard in which every mission starts. You'll start out determining which member goes through which entrance where depending on your selection can result on different outcomes.

  Unlike the two XCOM games prior where the player will move all of his or her pieces on the chessboard and the enemy does in kind. This is where we come to the first divergence of the series. In layman's term, it's more like chess where as you make a move and then you're opponent takes a turn. Keeping an eye on the top right of your screen will show you who goes next. Plan your strategy based on that.

  The best thing about this game is that you now have aliens/hybrids in your ranks which add an entire layer of fun. Do you want a borderline psychopathic Mutan full of rage? How about a Human hybrid who can use a kinetic energy shield on himself or one of your teammates becoming practically invincible? Ok, but what if you could have a SnakeMan Lady use her tongue to reach out and grab her foes where she can smother them? (Tip: save allies) and spit poison! Sounds like my ex gf. No, what if you had a Sectoid in your party that could mind control (if done right) the entire field and make them succumb to his/your/it's will?

  If you play this game yourself you'll have a better understanding of the dynamics, if you haven't played this game then you might find this all convoluted. To be honest it can be, but once repeated bear with me we'll all get through this. There will be peace on earth and everyone will be happy until the third game in which we're doomed.

Stay tuned for part 2, I hope all of you are doing alright, but more so importantly will still be alive later this week when I drop a Deuce.

-n0x

:: Edit ::

Here's a screen shot of a debriefing where I had my ass handed to me. I was holding my breath on my last turn, which all paned out and I was rewarded the achievement of Army of One (Basically you won a battle with only one member standing)

[Thorondor]

The stage is set. The assets identified. The enemy unknown.

Roll the die.

[Space Voyager]

NoXTheRoXStaR, on 10 April 2022 - 12:48 AM, said:

Do you want a borderline psychopathic Muton full of rage? How about a Human hybrid who can use a kinetic energy shield on himself or one of your teammates becoming practically invincible? Ok, but what if you could have a SnakeMan Lady use her tongue to reach out and grab her foes where she can smother them? (Tip: save allies) and spit poison! Sounds like my ex gf. No, what if you had a Sectoid in your party that could mind control (if done right) the entire field and make them succumb to his/your/it's will?

Sounds like A BLAST!

NoXTheRoXStaR, on 10 April 2022 - 12:48 AM, said:

Here's a screen shot of a debriefing where I had my ass handed to me. I was holding my breath on my last turn, which all paned out and I was rewarded the achievement of Army of One (Basically you won a battle with only one member standing)

This bring back memories of my XCOM plays... Go NoX, give'em hell!

[NoXTheRoXStaR]

Part Deuce.) Individuality of many

   Your group is now determined by selection. Over some time you'll put together a dominate squad, pairing up humans with aliens and all those in between.
Chimera Squad isn't completely linear. You can choose to investigate 3 different terrorist organizations, each faction has their own agenda and use aliens from XCOM 2 in their respected stables.

   Every member of your team has skills beneficial to them exclusively. The game can be simple or complicated, you lost. Either play the segment again, or the entire mission.

   It's a learning curve, Mistakes will be made but they can still be circumvented. Each member of your Squad is unique, building up their skills will exhibit a different reason to play this game at least 3 times. Thankfully you can skip the banter.

   Duty calls, notice my "medic" is a homicidal killing machine as opposed to the actual homicidal killing machine.




Is this a Muton? No, Kermit the Frog is clearly on steroids.

-n0x

[Thorondor]

Ah, The Beauty and The Beast. Or maybe you have to kiss the Muton to get the beauty?

Team chemistry is what it's all about. I'm paying attention.

[NoXTheRoXStaR]

Indeed, paring members based off their skills will essentially help the team dynamic.

I can't and won't include this in my presentation. I didn't record it in any shape or form, the only thing is be honest and tell you what happened.

Spoiler Alert

All the encounters up to this point had 1-3 breaches. The final mission has 4. I don't save and play ahead (Scum) to see what the results will be.

2 of my best soldiers are side lined with "scars" which ruin any strategy I have going forward so I have to focus on what I can muster.

I was playing this with fresh perceptive. Just like my quote says in my bio. "If you win it's just a game, but if you lose it's a complete waste of time".

This mission starts at ground level and proceeds upwards. At the Penthouse level, Verge (Sectoid) was killed half way through, followed by Axiom (Muton) who was gripped by a snake bitch who only fucking hurt him by 2 health per turn, yet I made him so he regenerated 4 health per turn. So the game decides to just kill him after 14 turns. Keep in mind the snake bitch is taking 2 and he's getting back 4 each time. Nope he's dead. Why? Bugs and they are aplenty.

I'll tell you the rest later, this pisses me off so much....

-n0x

[Thorondor]

So, you thought it would be a breeze but it proved too tight a squeeze.

Sounds familiar. Soldier on.

[NoXTheRoXStaR]

I survive onto the 4th and final breach. I have only the medic "Terminal" (Healing Drone) and my robot/mech replacement "Dragon" left. The Enemy has 6 (Praetorian Mutons) plus some other baddies, which are basically Mutons that carry a shield and a gun.

"Dragon" eventually was terminated after around the 3rd round. Oddly enough despite never investing any upgrades for the robot/mech, it managed to kill 4 enemies before meeting it's demise.

The only member left is the medic who is surrounded by 4 Praetorians and the "boss". The way I developed "Terminal" was to make her a tag team partner with the (now deceased) Verge but to enhance her healing skills. The Praetorians are good at melee combat but suck at shooting. My medic can heal herself every round, she also has a one use medic kit and the armor regen mod that heals I believe 2 HP's per turn.

Long story short; she survived, killed the 4 remaining Praetorians and the "Boss". You had there to see it to believe it, and that moment of victory left my jaw dropped and will eventually as you shall see factor into my final score.

-n0x

[Thorondor]

The Doc's in the house as they say. We'll drink to your health.

From the fountain of the Mutons' own blood good cheer sprouts. Who could have foretold it...

This is a victory against all odds worth savouring alright, n0x.

[NoXTheRoXStaR]

Strategic Stratagems

There's a lot of suggestions, ideas, etc. However after my 5th and final play through here are some of the best strategies I can come up with.

1.) As soon as you unlock the "Scavenger Market" purchase the Motile Inducer immediately when it becomes available.
(It gives a squad member the chance to use their full actions as if it was their turn.)

Hint: I hold back on using the Team Up ability and the Motile Inducer until the last phase of a mission. They can only be used once per mission and it usually is the last breach that is the hardest to overcome. (keyword usually)

2.) Each faction you face will present you with unique enemies. During the breach it's important to attempt to kill these enemies first.
Kill these bastards as soon as you can!

Acolytes
Sorcerers
Codex
Archons
Purifier
Necromancers
Ronin

3.) Although there are three resources to collect (Intel, Money and Elerium) I find that Intel is the most important overall. It has a lot to do with the cityscape and the "Scavenger market". It will help to reduce crime and purchase unique items.

4.) I've played with each of the 11 squad mates you can have per assembly. Everyone of them have benefits that are great yet, some are better than others.

I present forth the best team I could muster.

Terminal - Heals the team, can access/hack card reading doors, has the Cooperation ability and is kind of a bitch, reminds me of my cousin.
Claymore - An explosive expert, Blows shit up, can be immune to everything but women wearing next to nothing using mind control.

Verge - Mind control, Enjoys dad jokes, can and will dominate the entire chess board if used correctly, The next Democrat nominee.

Torque - Pulls you in with her long tongue and can strangle you to death (like my ex-gf) She kills silently, while everyone else kills.

- - - -

For those about to rock.

Patchwork - Live Wire/High Voltage
Axiom -  Hard as a Rock

-n0x

[Thorondor]

Getting one's priorities straight is half the battle won.

And you do it while having fun? Thanks for the hard-earned intel, n0x.

[NoXTheRoXStaR]

What I want to know is where is Silencer? I want his critique about how he would do things better than us.

-n0x

[Space Voyager]

NoXTheRoXStaR, on 01 May 2022 - 06:06 AM, said:

What I want to know is where is Silencer? I want his critique about how he would do things better than us.

-n0x

Yeah, that guy is an XCOM godlike creature! No matter what I did, I ended up losing the squad at least at the key battles, like snake king and such... Silencer? He silenced them all for good!

[NoXTheRoXStaR]

Part Trés.) Big City Lights/Headaches

   No more Geoscapes, City 31 is like the U.S.A. in 2020; BLM & Antifa riots that destroyed homes, businesses, government buildings costing tax payers millions upon millions of dollars of damage. Not to mention people being injured and killed. I don't really care what your political beliefs are, but it's clear that the producers of this game used those riots as a template for the cityscape.

   Now if you're playing this game on anything but the Impossible difficulty setting then the cityscape is a breeze or a slight challenge. However, if you're playing on Impossible, the headaches will follow. When you play on the hardest version of this game you have to juggle between resources. As mentioned previously, Intel is the most important resource.

  Compared to say Story mode as opposed to Impossible difficulty you won't reap the same benefits. Before you could balance between armor and weapon upgrades, now you have to play it smart. I focus on the armor upgrades/medikits as my main priority, once you've gotten further into the game and unlock your squad mates skills the more you can concoct a meal worthy of an ass kicking and go from there.

  XCOM Chimera Squad does allow you to funk around with settings. You can set it so that after each breach your squad can half heal, not heal or full heal. You can also expand the cities anarchy rate by a few points to extend the headaches you will certainly endure.

  Stick around this thread. I'll be releasing Strategic Stratagems Part 2, Bugs & Glitches, A myriad of screen shots and of course my final assessment of the game in general. I know before I said I'd stretch this out in the month of April, I think I'm going to do more for May. Don't forget May is Mother's Day, do something nice for her.

Until we meet again!

-n0x

[Thorondor]

Being vain and really bringing on the pain can turn you into a sidewalk stain. Roger that.

Now we're set straight, nOx, show us how to further elude a failure state.

[NoXTheRoXStaR]

There's something that bothered me about this game and it isn't bugs or glitches or anything of the sort.

If you've played this game you might not have considered this, and if you have not, then who cares.

The "Faceless". In XCOM2, I always thought they were moronic as an alien to begin win. "Hi I'm a 4 foot 9 inch woman, but secretly I'm a 6 foot seven alien, surprise!".

I'm shocked that when then revealed themselves we didn't hear them say, "It's Ma'am!" Hiding in humans clothing was always the thing that made you on edge.

The "Faceless in Chimaera Squad are naked and are just annoying.

The elephant in the room is the weapons. Every XCOM game until now had weapons that you would either evolve, like lasers or reverse engineer weapons like plasma or even sonic based weapons. This game relies on a idiotic "improving" on weapons that have already proven to kill the enemy.

The timeline in this game is fucking stupid. You literally have all the weapons cache at your disposal. I'm going to calm down now because if I don't I'll have a brain aneurism.

-n0x