Dev Take Tuesday - A Bit of Personality

I’m a huge fan of the rebooted XCOM games made by Firaxis. There’s only one series on Steam that I’ve logged more hours into: the Civilizations games (also made by Firaxis). XCOM 2 made a few key changes to the first game’s formula, but the emphasis on a squad of randomly generated soldiers remained largely the same. XCOM’s approach to teambuilding affords it certain benefits. While the characters you play provide little personality of their own, that also means they can act as a tabula rasa for you to inject your own stories into them as the game progresses. The expanded visual and audio customizations added in XCOM 2 build off of this “blank slate” idea.

The Chosen in XCOM 2: War of the Chosen (image from the game's Steam page)

I don’t think the first two XCOM games’ approach to characterization was wrong, but I do love one key change they made in XCOM 2’s huge DLC expansion: the Chosen. Now as you’re fighting the alien enemies, three powerful and unique alien hybrids will disrupt your carefully-laid plans. Each of the three Chosen—called the Assassin, the Hunter, and the Warlock—have highly specialized strengths and weaknesses as well as a unique personality. Those personalities shine in the tactical battles and a few cutscenes, and the Chosen also have voice lines while you plan and prepare in XCOM’s strategic layer. Perhaps taking a page out of Shadow of Mordor’s nemesis system, the Chosen’s constant needling and disruption helped me develop a pretty potent grudge against them. Especially the Assassin. Grr.

While I don’t think future XCOM titles will switch to only fleshed-out, pre-written story characters, I would be surprised if they didn’t at least include some fixed characters in their next game as well. By pumping in just a bit of personality, I found myself even more invested in the game. Much like Civilization 6’s “obnoxious Gandhis,” which I mentioned in another blog post, XCOM 2: War of the Chosen’s combination of game mechanics and dialogue breathes life into the enemy A.I. you compete against. Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s about time I take out another one of the Chosen. Warlock, I’m coming for you.