The main culprit of probability problems with XCOM 2 is the problem of the percentage of success, but the game is full of ways that defy our sense of probabilities. Each part of the game is unpredictable, which is intrinsic to the gameplay that Firaxis Games and Feral Interactive have designed. The ruthless and stimulating nature of XCOM 2 is motivated by the unpredictable nature and the impact of this gameplay conception is felt from the battlefield to the à la carte. The probability of touching is one thing, but what is the probability that the card is the same from one game to another? What is the probability of being safe? Are the extraterrestrials of XCOM 2 as consistent on the battlefield as they are throughout the plot? These are some of the questions that the game and the developers behind him ask us through the gameplay.

While XCOM’s menu will meet to create a futuristic version of our current planet, there are not two identical cards. This makes the game less predictable the more you play it and increases the replayability of the game increased tenfold. Pieces of the card are generated part by part for each backup file, creating a card that is not recognizable like the others you meet, despite a point of interest that you may know. This procedural generation of the card is similar to the functioning of the dungeons of the Diablo series, each of the parts of the puzzle fitting to create the same global intrigue of XCOM 2. Each card will involve radio communication with other countries, the mobile base Operations known as Avenger crosses the land landscape on each map and dark events often occur at the same intervals from one map to another, but each part of XCOM 2 promises an unpredictable experience that calls into question our perception and the sense of probabilities.

The extraterrestrials of XCOM 2 have a neural bond known as the psionic network and it connects them all through brain waves. Players could consider this as a ghost in the machine, the system that connects the enemy between them in the plot and in the gameplay. There are times when you have to divide units to face several things at the same time and during these moments, enemies seem more connected than ever. The Psionic network allows them to always be a coherent unit, whether you play offensively or defensively. Alien’s ability to remain a coherent unit maintains the difficulty that has been so familiar to the XCOM series over the years. Could the psionic network be what allows enemies to dodge our 99% chance of touching them or is it simply a unique modification of the code? Could they be one and the same person? To what extent will humanity be connected once Elon Musk has perfected Neuralink? Time will tell us.

Some extraterrestrials in XCOM 2 can control the dead or sow fear in the hearts of your soldiers. Essentially, as enemies decrease your workforce, them increase. During the game, I had several meetings where the enemies manipulated the mind in my allies in various ways, but what has bitten the most is that they have taken control of my units or even civilians ia. The more the extraterrestrials control humans on the battlefield, the more easily humanity is controlled in the plot. There is just a certain hardness in the gameplay when you are less one and they are more 1. When enemies control XCOM soldiers, they are unpredictable and this can work for your advantage, but the probability is that your units run in fear and control. The only way to break the control that a foreigner has on one of your allies is to command another soldier to destroy the foreigner who manipulates their mind.

In the same way as enemies dodging 99% of the attacks at random, it seems that even when you feel completely safe behind the coverage, you are sensitive to extraterrestrial attacks. Whether it is a viper wrapping his body around one of your allies or a laser shot from an Advent soldier, you are in danger at any time. Sometimes it seems that there is no way to wipe you because you relax behind a wall, but this feeling of ease is always short -lived. There are different types of coverage in XCOM 2, each offering a different level of protection. You can choose to hide behind a concrete barricade, a edge, a brand, an expedition fund, a train and much more, but each of them breaks down into two types of coverage: partial coverage and full cover. Even when you are fully covered, you are unfortunately not completely safe, due to the destructibility of certain types of coverage. Your allies can also have a visible arm in the viewfinder of an enemy extraterrestrial and even when you are covered, they can simply hit you at the elbow and, in some cases, this is enough to finish your soldier. This makes the best way to manage any level of transition from one cover to another, but even if you feel 99% in safety, it is not enough. The allies can hide behind a blanket that will provide bonuses to your soldier, even when they are flanked, but it is impossible to be completely invulnerable and this constantly calls into question the perception of probability.

The XCOM series is known to show players a percentage of success in which many do not believe. Even with a chance to touch 99%, sometimes your soldiers just can’t be silent. Many people consider that these figures are not consistent with the results and I certainly encountered moments when a shot seemed assured but something allowed enemies to avoid projectiles. The coders discussed this flaw in the machine on both sides of the problem, the main designer Jake Solomon weighing on the unpredictability of XCOM 2. “If we had to use a word to describe our tactics, that would be the idea of unpredictability, ” he said. “I think what is precious as a player is that when you enter a game, the challenges you face are unpredictable.” It can remind fans that even if you think you have taken over, something can go wrong, but it seems too frequent to be rejected. Jake Solomon said in an interview with Gamasutra: “If you see 85% chance of hitting, you don’t see that as a 15% chance of missing. If you think about it this way, it is not an inconceivable chance that you will miss it. Instead, you see a chance of 85 percent, and you think: “It’s almost a hundred; It shouldn’t be missing. “In any case in which XCOM 2 deforms your sense of probabilities, it is the best known.

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