I really enjoyed this game until I hit a progression breaking bug that I couldn't resolve. I reached out to the developers on multiple platforms and never received even a courtesy response. Therefore I cannot in good conscience recommend it despite its strengths.

elevator bug frustrates the hell out of me. Game been out almost 3 years and a simple fix issue that brakes the game still around.

I put about 70 hours into a single nightmare difficulty save file with plus 5 damage to boot. This is to say it was an exhilarating experience but also at certain points pretty frustrating. Though if you are looking for a gripping and butthole clenching experience that isnt too desimilar from a tactical horror survival game then definetly check it out. If you are thinking about picking it up here are some tips for navigating the game.

There comes a point of no return halfway through the game where a countdown begins. It gives you 40 days before catastrophe occurs. If you dont finish the final mission by then, then it will hard lock your game and force a save restart. You will want to develop a b team just in case your main squad develops traumas or needs a week in the medbay. Just be careful not to overuse the intensive training in the barracks as it exhausts marines you pull from it. As the clock counts down you should pull everyone. If you do find yourself running out of time, there is a random day passing event that will give you two extra days to finish if you need it but after that I dont think it triggers again.

You find out about half way through that the onslaughts are no joke. Especially later, you want to minimize prolonged contact with the xenos as much as possible. So really it comes down to exploiting the AI as much as you can (flamethrower is incredible for this). Especially when they really begin to swarm the levels later on. Training a recon unit and picking up the sniper rifle with the silencer is a necessity. You can plant a bunch of motion trackers in a room mined with explosives or by the APC but after a hunt is triggered if you detonate the sensor too early they will ignore it.

You dont want to go up against any of them in close range or there is a good chance your point marine will take a wound or take another if you are particularly brazen. My main diamond dog gunner lost a hand to a praetorian after a risky mine deployment (one gunner should use mines.) So always be aware that walking by a nest opening can spawn a xeno instantly. Its best to run through those areas and not deploy motion trackers there.

Medics and Techers are useless dont bother with them. Your main focus should be command point action economy. Most of the game I was taking 2 Sergeants, 1 Recon, 1 Gunner.

Its not until about half way through the game that you unlock another slot. At that point you'll likely want to take another gunner.

Any Marine that can take the Team Player upgrade should take it and then be prioritized for exp gain. It gives you 1 CP capacity for every 2 marines on your squad with it. You should have 4 of them by mid game.

After that you want perk that gives critical. Its critical hit chance doubles each rank and makes it the best perk for sheer combat effectiveness.

If you care for spoilers here's where you should stop reading

Part 2 of the final mission sucks on every conceivable level and it feels like the game is missing half a climax because it forces characters you have never played before onto your team for the final stretch. Which of course meant they had to neuter the difficulty. Your characters take no damage despite the fact that you lose two of them nearly instantly once the chase begins. One of them is even wearing a red shirt and its comical how silly the ending chase is.

Not to mention the narrative isnt particularly compelling throughout most of the game. Especially once lieutenant grizzled turns into incoherent Liam Neeson then it really takes a nose dive.