Trying every PS-Plus Extra game: XCOM 2

Now since I expect to catch some flak for this I want to point out right away that my entire opinion on this and any other game that I review during my speed trial of all the games in PS-Plus Extra is that I am basing my opinion ONLY on the first hour of gameplay. I do this with eyes that know nothing about the game before going in.

My opinion of these games is ONLY what I think of how the game does at convincing a new player that whatever the game happens to be is going to be fun and how well they convince a new gamer to continue going forward after they accomplish the beginning, normally very easy tasks as they slowly introduce you into the game.

That being said I found XCOM 2's first hour to be extremely dull and when my one hour was up I gladly turned it off.

One of the problems for me, and I realize that this is all my own personal opinion about all games, is that just like so many of their contemporaries, XCOM2 spends a lot of time at the start focusing on cinematics rather than letting you play the game. I'm not a fan of cinematics and especially the kind that cannot be skipped. I'm one of those people that doesn't really care what the story is and would much rather just be thrown into a game and be let allowed to play.

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XCOM2 and I presume the first one which I never played, is a turn-based tactics game set in a science fiction world where aliens have almost entirely taken over the world. You are part of a resistance force that is horribly outnumbered and must rely on guerilla tactics in order to achieve most objectives.

Tactics and stealth strategy are of paramount importance since if you just charge in and try to take on the enemy's force with your own head-to-head, you are going to lose. At least that is what I could gather in the first hour where I don't think I was actually controlling anything for 40 minutes of it.

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You are controlling a team of individuals that you must maneuver into position to take on what is normally an overwhelming enemy force. Position is extremely important and this is pointed out pretty well in the opening stages where there is a lot of hand-holding going on... as it should be because you would have no idea what to do otherwise.

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While most of the strategy elements of the game have you in a top-down view when you go to actually perform an attack action it will switch to a closer view of the character in question and at that point it takes on more of an RPG type element to it. I liked this but also found it to be a little too time-consuming. I am a fickle gamer, what can I say.

So instead of telling people to not play this game (which was my original opinion) I actually was intrigued and looked into some gameplay that other had put online and this game does in fact look like it would be very involved and interesting as the game carries on. I just didn't play it long enough to ever get to those aspects of the game and a lot of this has to do with the fact that more than 50% of the first hour of gameplay.

Therefore I am going to say that I think this game could very well be worth playing but I do not think they do a very good job of convincing you that this is going to be the case in the first hour. That being said, I believe that most of their players are probably people that already enjoyed the first game and this is why skipping the tutorial was an option. It is a good looking game for sure and it looks like it has potential for people that enjoy turn-based strategy. I know that I used to, but I am just so impatient now.

Recommended, but you gotta be patient since the 1st hour is a bit arduous

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Games I have already tried in my journey to play at least 1-hour of every PS-Plus Extra game

• Gravity Rush 2 (action adventure game with fast movement in every direction. It has RPG elements and a pretty decent story. Make it past the first hour and the game really opens up. Recommended)
• Oddworld: Soulstorm (2D+ platformer with great graphics, sound, and voice-acting. Unfortunately it is plagued with a lot of repetition. Recommended for a few hours)
• Bee Simulator (sort of like a flying FPS game but with no combat. It's graphically impressive and filled with tidbits of knowledge about bees... unfortunately it is repetitive as hell and gets boring fast. Not recommended)
• Prison Architect (a prison management simulator game similar to SimCity. It's a great game but just like most simulation games, it just isn't very playable using a controller. Not recommended on PS4)
• Hotline Miami 2 (a top-down shooter with gruesome violence and terrible AI. Would be great for speedrunners and hardcore gamers. Casuals like me are going to quickly tire with it)
• Battle Chasers: Nightwar (turn based RPG of medium-length that does a good job of teaching you how to play in the first hour. It's pretty old-school and I happen to like that... recommended)
• Chorus (3rd person open-world space fighting game. It's graphically impressive but combat is too repetitive to really hold your interest for the entire story. Still recommended though.)
• Portal Knights (a very well made survival action builder game similar to Minecraft. I really enjoyed this and look forward to playing it more. Recommended)
• Saints Row: The Third (clever and funny FPS game that intentionally puts you in impossible and absurd situations. It's innovative and humorous but ultimately quite dated and got repetitive and boring pretty quick. Not recommended)
• Balan Wonderworld (A rather beautiful 3D(ish) platformer that is extremely easy but still engaging enough to hold your attention for a few hours. Recommended for casual gamers)
• The Artful Escape (an adventure game of sorts with awesome visuals and music, but repetitive areas and controls combined with IMO far too much dialogue makes this game get boring, fast... Worth a look but not recommended to play)
• Until Dawn (interactive horror game that you don't really control a great deal of. It's reasonably entertaining, you can't lose, and the graphics and sound a pretty great. It's not really a game but I enjoyed it and played it to its finish. Recommended)
• 11-11: Memories Retold (a WW1 story that doesn't actually involve much input on the player's part. The game is very boring despite having a wonderful graphical style: Not recommended)
• Desperados 3 (a real time tactics / stealth game that I personally do not feel belongs on consoles at all. If you have never played these sorts of games on PC your opinion might be different. This one gets a "maybe.")
• Maneater (Action RPG where you play the role of a deadly shark. The idea is decent but ultimately the extremely repetitive gameplay makes this one easy to miss. Not recommended)
• TorqueL (physics puzzle platformer that is simplistic at first but quickly becomes maddeningly difficult. Gets boring pretty quickly on consoles and would be better suited as a time-waster on mobile devices. Not recommended on PS4)
• Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon: Turn-based cutesy RPG that is extremely story-driven just like anything Square is involved in. If you are huge fan of Final Fantasy you might like it, for me it was one hour then done forever.
• XCOM 2 : (Turn-based Sci-Fi game set in a dystopian future where you are part of the rebellion. Despite a very slow start IMO the game really gets involved later on... recommended)

All other games I have already reviewed (there are a lot of them)