XCOM 2's Turn Countdown. A Story.

The dreaded turn timer counts down to failure.

One of the things I have noticed about XCOM 2 is that there is a lot of hate for the number of missions that have the dreaded countdown timer.  That little number ticking down to eventual mission failure is always reminding you that you have to push forward or risk losing everything.  The missions I struggled with the most were the ones that required my squad to rescue or capture VIP's.  In one of the more difficult timed missions the VIP was located in a building directly across from the evac zone.  I had to navigate my squad across a the entire map and managed to get to the general area with just three turns left.  And you just know that the toughest aliens are guarding the area near the VIP....  My group popped into the building to discover a heavy MEC, a shieldbearer, and a heavy stun lancer guarding the jail cell.  Could I risk tossing a grenade into the wall at the back of the cell thus allowing the VIP to escape through the back?  Probably not without reducing the VIP to little VIP chunks.  I decided for a more direct route and positioned my squad around the entrance to the cell.  The shieldbearer immediately shielded the entire group of aliens and the heavy MEC popped overwatch.  Then I had to really prioritize--stun lancers have to be taken out quickly or else they will melee the crap out of anyone remotely close...if I take out the shieldbearer then the shields will be gone but the stun lancer will still be up and free to smack people....the MEC will most likely use it's explosive attack to remove cover and it's too tough to take out quickly.  Ugh.  Then there was the issue of now only having 2 turns left.  Oh, and by the way, enemy reinforcements are incoming.

The limited number of turns forced me to settle on a suicidal choice--one of my squad was going to have to run forward (damn the torpedoes style) and hack open the jail cell thus allowing the VIP to (hopefully) run far enough away to reach cover close to the evac zone.  I would have my hacking specialist disable the heavy MEC and then my squad would really only need to focus on taking out the stun lancer.  It's go time!

I decided that my heavy weapons expert was going to have to be the guy who takes one for the team.  I ran him forward and into position to hack the cell door.  He hacked it and now the VIP was free to scamper off behind full cover right outside the evac zone. I didn't realize that in doing this he was now flanking the enemy position.  My hacking expert was next up and managed to disable the heavy MEC for two turns.  The rest of my squad focused fire on the stun lancer and managed to take it out before it had time to lance anyone.

Now I had to face the painful reality of watching my partially covered heavy get killed.  Luckily the remaining shieldbearer did not enjoy the fact that his position was now flanked and had fled to cover in the next room.  And the heavy MEC was still stunned!  One turn left and things were looking up.  But I forgot about the enemy reinforcements that were now landing slightly to the left of my position.  A stun lancer, another shieldbearer, and an elite soldier landed and took cover...but not before popping overwatch.  So now my choices were even more complicated...I couldn't risk my VIP getting capped by one of the overwatch idiots...I could move my one ranger who wasn't targetable by overwatch shots due to a talent...but the rest of my squad would have to face the veritable overwatch death squad lurking in the shadows.

The time had come to face the final consequences--my heavy could realistically face an overwatch shot and still survive.  I clicked the boxes and waited to see the outcome of his dash to freedom.  The overwatch triggered...and he was hit.  But not dead!  And he barely managed to make it into the evac zone!  Win!  Now it was a simple matter of moving the rest of my squad into the evac zone.

This was the one time that I got really lucky.  I've read a lot of complaints about the number of missions that feature the turn countdown timer and many who want it removed.  The countdown timer forces players, like me, to take risks that they otherwise wouldn't.  You have to keep pushing ahead while keeping your goal and the evac zone in mind.  You don't have time to find the perfect position or to creep cautiously toward your goal.  Without the timer those missions would be much easier but also much more boring.  Whether you love it or hate it, the countdown timer really changes the game.  I, for one, am glad that the timer is included on many missions.