When XCOM: Enemy Unknown was released in 2012, fans were ecstatic. 2K Games and Firaxis had rebooted the classic franchise and stuck to its roots with turn-based tactical combat along with a base building and management mechanic. Since then the rebooted franchise has seen an expansion, a Cold War spinoff shooter, a sequel with its own expansion, and a stand-alone spinoff taking place after the events of XCOM 2. Sadly, it has been two years since Chimera Squad's release, and while it was a great tactical game in its own right, it did not quite scratch the same itch that previous entries had.
Fans desperately want more XCOM content, and while the work of fan modders has brought great experiences like Long War, they're not the same thing as a new entry in the series. Unfortunately, with Firaxis busy working on Marvel's Midnight Sons, it could be a while before fans get a new title in the franchise. However, if 2K wanted to give fans another entry, there is one genre from which they could take inspiration. The XCOM series would make for a perfect cooperative first-person shooter.
While Left 4 Dead was not the first FPS to feature cooperative or multiplayer gameplay, it did codify a lot of the tropes of cooperative team shooters -- four players fighting their way through a horde of enemies to complete a mission objective or get to the end of a map. While every game does things a little differently, there is no doubt that the team shooter has become one of the most popular genres in the industry. With the success of games such as Vermintide II, Deep Rock Galactic, and Payday 2, and the anticipation for Warhammer 40k: Darktide, it is clear that this genre has plenty of room to expand.
A four-player cooperative shooter based on the XCOM franchise would be a fantastic way to explore the universe further while doing something new. There is plenty of source material that could be drawn on for a cooperative shooter. Each XCOM game has plenty of potential enemies to fight -- everything from basic Sectoids or Advent troopers to terrifying Sectopods and Gatekeepers. Meanwhile, The four different classes in both Enemy Unknown and XCOM 2 could serve as a basis for the classes in an XCOM cooperative shooter. The different levels of guns could be changed to either progression unlocks or be turned into side-grades each with its own advantages and disadvantages.
A progression system could also be implemented allowing player characters and classes to level up over time. This could give access to new abilities, just like ranking up soldiers in tactical games and could eventually also grant access to powerful psionic abilities.
Of course, rigid classes and characters are not the only way to make a cooperative shooter. For example, Payday 2 has a skill tree with no set classes. A similar system could allow for more customization of the player's soldier, at the expense of unique roles or abilities for each player. The resistance units from War of the Chosen could also have their own skill trees, allowing a player to mix and match abilities to make their perfect XCOM soldier. No matter how an XCOM cooperative shooter would implement its classes, the gameplay should focus on various missions similar to the ones in the tactical game.
Imagine playing through one of XCOM's iconic missions from an FPS perspective. There are so many possibilities as to what players could encounter -- anything from a standard supply raid or assaulting an alien UFO to something more extreme like an alien terror attack or the infamous fishing village mission from XCOM: Enemy Within.
Missions could be dynamic, with players not fully knowing everything they need to do at the start. Objectives could be added over time based on what the player finds. These objectives could also be given to the players as orders barked from XCOM HQ, similar to Mission Control from Deep Rock Galactic. The XCOM 2 Guerilla Ops missions would be a great place to take inspiration from for these additional objectives.
While XCOM has struggled in the past with shooters, it doesn't mean every attempt to make a shooter based on the franchise is doomed. Cooperative shooters have a long shelf life. Even the original Left 4 Dead games are still played today. With the right team and enough funding, 2K could make one of the best cooperative shooters out there and give fans of the XCOM franchise hours of enjoyment with a completely new experience.
It should be kept in mind that a cooperative shooter cannot take the place of a new turn-based tactical entry. A third XCOM game is still something that fans want, and something Firaxis is still planning on providing. Hopefully one day fans will be able to experience both a new turn-based tactical entry as well as an exciting cooperative shooter set in the XCOM world.