Although Enemy Unknown was a bewitching introduction to XCOM and the tactical strategy games for me, its affection has worn off before I could finish it earlier. It wasn't until I gave its sequel a try on the free weekend and, boy, didn't I realize sooner how much its overall improvements would set its genre on the map again. And it was strong enough for me to go back to play through the aforementioned XCOM games in chronological order.

The story picks up 2 decades after the events of Enemy Unknown, when the alien invaders have occupied the planet Earth and integrated the human society with it. With the mankind put on a firm leash, a guerrilla resistance movement has been formed to rise against the bullying authority, endeavoring to restore the former liberty once again. We get to see Central Officer Bradford back in action (even literally at some point, especially with the Tactical Legacy DLC), along with a new cast that are memorable at best.

Like in every XCOM game, you start out small and have to perform missions vital to your progress before you get more management under control. XCOM 2's new approach is your main base being a large airship, which means you can position yourself in all world's locations and decide where to move next. To add incentive to your productivity, the story mode sets a progress bar for the Avatar project, devised by the alien authority for its complete victory. It gives off an alarming presence but the game also gave me space enough to focus on my asset improvement and other missions, before I set out to stall and hold back the project through available means.

The combat has the same foundation as Enemy Unknown, albeit much more improved and intuitive. The level environment is livelier, the characters have plenty more tools and options (spending only half a character's turn on reloading has been one of the most embraced improvements, in my opinion). There are also new mission types that add to the freshness of XCOM, such as securing or eliminating targets. In base rescue missions, the War of the Chosen DLC also features guerrilla NPC that have some fighting chance against the alien attackers.

The customization of your squad members has been further extended, allowing for more liberty in looks (except face features that come in presets). I've had my fun designing mine after my favorite or original characters and the reward was even more top-shelf with Steam Workshop featuring looks and voice-lines. Now, my squads include Team Fortress 2 characters (courtesy to Walker, Texas Ranger) both kicking ass and getting theirs handed to the aliens at times.

As much as I thought XCOM 2 would be great enough to keep me in favor for tactical strategy games, the aforementioned DLC "War of the Chosen" takes the contents and experience to even higher levels, expanding the cast, story and assets even further. I suggest you buy it along with XCOM 2 and see why WOTC is a proper example of a DLC well made. And if you have been on the fence with XCOM and the genre it represents in this millenia, I could recommend going for XCOM: Enemy Unknown before immersing yourself with the more perfected form of XCOM 2, or you can start with the latter.