Xenonauts 2

Xenonauts 2 is a strategy game in which you lead a multinational military organization defending Earth from an extraterrestrial threat. In 2009, the Cold War continues and the Berlin Wall still stands. As reports of UFOs and unknown beings increase alongside international tensions, your covert organization gathers information and confronts the growing alien presence around the world.

Investigate the threat

You send troops into tactical battles to eliminate alien forces and recover bodies, samples and technology. Researching these materials helps your scientists develop equipment and uncover the invasion’s nature. Alien species have different strengths, weaknesses and fighting styles; autopsies can reveal vulnerabilities. You can also strike at the Cleaners, human agents working under alien influence, by infiltrating their bases, securing data and investigating the conspiracy.

Combat choices involve tradeoffs. Explosives, grenades and missiles can quickly eliminate active threats, while a more cautious approach can preserve alien bodies and equipment for research and reverse-engineering. You can also develop airpower to shoot down UFOs and investigate crash sites for intelligence. Terrain and the equipment you bring shape each ground engagement, while vehicles and mechanized combat platforms can break through cover and deliver powerful ordnance at the cost of potentially recoverable alien resources.

Manage a global network

You build, design and manage multiple bases, each with its own fighter squadrons, transports, radar arrays, research teams, operatives and other facilities. A grid-based construction system lets you lay out each base and specialize it for detection, rapid response, research, manufacturing or defense. Fuel ranges matter when choosing where to build. Between operations, troops and aircraft need time to rest, recuperate, rearm and prepare to engage again.

The alien attacks require responses across the globe. Bases can work together to detect UFOs, scramble aircraft and send response teams against alien operations. You also have to decide where to establish new facilities, including in regions where the invaders have repeatedly slipped through and caused panic. Complex simulations mean that decisions can have far-reaching effects, and campaigns differ from one another.

Research and prepare

A research tree with over 100 projects gives you access to aircraft, vehicles, weapons, armor and other battlefield equipment. Engineering teams can incorporate alien technology into equipment, build autonomous combat platforms and sentry guns, or produce more dropships and improved fighter armaments. These projects compete for limited time, money and resources, so you must choose what to develop and manufacture.

Training centers let soldiers improve their combat capabilities during downtime. Missions also build operatives’ abilities through the actions they take, and can earn them medals. Experience gained in combat is especially valuable, though even basic recruits are skilled soldiers ready to fight.

Fight in the air and on the ground

Air battles take place in real time, with you directing fighter pilots’ maneuvers and targets while monitoring fuel and nearby hangars. You can send a squadron against a powerful alien craft rather than fight it one-on-one. These engagements are closely tied to the strategic layer, making the location of your bases important.

Ground missions have varied types and objectives. Aliens maneuver across the map, seek out your operatives, attack from beyond visual range, use cover and take the high ground. Reconnaissance and ambushes can improve your chances, but battles demand careful management of positioning, ammunition, lines of sight and cover. Operatives can be wounded or killed; survivors gain experience and may become veterans, but losses are an expected part of the campaign.

A standalone campaign

Xenonauts 2 tells a story about defending Earth and humanity from an alien invasion. It stands alone, so you do not need to have played the original Xenonauts to follow the story or play.