XCOM’s greatest trick is how it manages to make menus and numbers feel like life and death. The explosive gun battles of Cyberpunk 2077? The blow-out heists in GTA 5? No. The tensest experience in PC gaming is when your XCOM 2 Ranger has a 61% chance to hit an attacking Muton, which in turn is about to inflict six points of damage on your Sharpshooter. Blending the statistical tension of Firaxis’ finest with the scrounging, crafting, and apocalyptic aesthetic of survival games, if you’re hungry for XCOM 3, Chains of Freedom is likely your next best option.
In a fictional Eastern European state, largely destroyed by a strange, alienesque contagion, you control a small squad of elite soldiers dispatched to assassinate a despotic scientist. The government is close to collapse. Monsters are everywhere. During combat, Chains of Freedom plays like XCOM or Mutant Year Zero. You get a quasi-isometric view of the arena, and take turns moving your troopers and executing attacks and defensive maneuvers.
But Chains of Freedom is only one half strategy game. Between fights, rather than via menus and command radials, you control the squad directly, and you’re free to pick through the environments searching for supplies that you can use for upgrades. In these moments, Chains of Freedom becomes more of a survival game.
A lot of love has been given to the story, which is told through hand-drawn, comic-book style panels, and the difficulty curve is steep – as soon as the tutorial ends, expect high-pressure battles with dozens of enemies. The debut game from developer Nordcurrent, Chains of Freedom is available now for $24.99 / £20.99. There’s also a free demo, if you want to try it before you buy. You can find it all here.
Alternatively, peruse the best RTS games on PC, or maybe think a little bigger with the best 4X games.
You can follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides. We’ve also got a vibrant community Discord server, where you can chat about this story with members of the team and fellow readers.
