The Pan European Game Information ratings site, or PEGI to it’s mates, has listed XCOM: Chimera Squad for PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, with a release date of yesterday, 26th March. Obviously that did not happen but it does seem the game is coming to consoles at some point soon.
The game is a spin-off to the main series and 2K have stated that it’s neither a sequel nor an expansion to XCOM 2. The story sees humans, hybrids and aliens forced to work together, with City 31 a model for civilisation going forward. That peace is under threat from a mysterious group, and you take command of Chimera Squad, a team of agents of all backgrounds trying to fight them back.
In a big change for the series you’ll have 11 characters each with their own personalities and tactical abilities, including some species-specific attacks. There’s also specific combat combos possible when pairing up certain agents, though you’ll now have to contend with interleaved turns where you and the enemy move characters based off initiative instead of moving all your units together.
You’ll be wading into missions from the city map, each of which is a series of encounters. These start with a new Breach Mode, where you choose entry points into a situation and choose turn order to try and get the drop on enemies. There’s a real SWAT or police raid vibe to this.
Mark Nauta, Lead Designer at Firaxis Games said, “With XCOM: Chimera Squad, we felt there were exciting gameplay opportunities yet to be discovered within the XCOM universe. 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.”
We reviewed the PC version in May 2020 when it scored 8/10. “XCOM: Chimera Squad is a great game, all told. It’s a cheap, fairly lengthy campaign that manages to be both familiar for fans of the series and offer something new and fresh to the XCOM universe,” said Nick.
Source: PEGI
