This might come off as skitzo, considering I praised Xenonauts 2 in a recent update post about the game. After the patch fixed my issue (the wraith bug), I was allowed to continue playing the campaign. At first, everything was hunky dory, but after a while, I started to notice some concerns. Xenonauts 2 seems way too easy now, specifically when you hit the next stage of weaponry, both for ground and air combat. I know I’m a bit of a veteran of the game by now so that plays into it. However, the new weapon tiers, laser, and gauss trivialize the alien encounters. That alone wouldn’t be such a major problem if the aliens wear you down through attrition, yet, they don’t. The campaign has become way too passive, with very few UFOs and other missions between the research unlocking.
Not long after I researched lasers, I unlocked gauss, and from here on, I didn’t have to worry much, because the aliens put very little pressure on you. The panic events world over barely reached 20 for the most neglected countries. Otherwise, it was as low as 1 to 5, and that is low, seeing as stores running out of milk would be a level 5 crisis nationwide. I think maybe Chris has toned down the events a little much because in the last 4 hours of my playthrough, I experienced zero danger. It felt like I was the aggressor, wiping the floor with low-tech defenders.
Another problem that ties into this is that the campaign is extremely short currently. If the campaign is only supposed to be around 15-20 hours long, it falls way short of being an epic struggle against an overwhelming force trying to turn you into an afternoon snack. The reason I’m mentioning this is because I managed to trigger the final mission. It crashed when I tried to do it, but I got the achievement as proof.
Man, I really hope there is more planned here since the short campaign feels anti-climatic considering the theme. I don’t want to assume the worst but it’s going to be disappointing if this is it. The first Xenonauts were massive, and the tiers of equipment and weapons actually lasted for a while. Here you just zip through the tiers. Are we going to need a Long War mod for Xenonauts 2? Oh well, let’s see where it all ends up.
/Thomas