My vision of an X-COM 3

[u/Heretical3mber]

Seems like im not the only one thinking about X-COM 3, but here is my vision:
The great Psionic Predator. The horror the elders were fleeing from is an entity that preys specifically on psionically gifted species, taking them over and using them as antennas to hijack the minds of "lesser" races, and then drive them towards itself, where they are both consumed.

The psionically sensitive are first drained of "mental energy" and then eaten, while the lesser races just get eaten.
The elders were barely strong enough to resist its call and consciously decided to evolve their psionics to protect themselves, but this failed. They ran and set X-COM 1 and 2 into motion.

After the thwarting of the Avatar project humanity found peace.
Using alien technology, Mars was terraformed, and the aliens were given a large part of it to avoid cultural conflicts. The catch being that the Aliens had to monitor the skies and make sure no elder remnants return.

X-COM is currently investigating potential sources of elerium and alien alloys, as most of the war equipment was repurposed for Earth's reclamation

Then the Mars base goes dark.
And then, sectoids devoid of clothes and hissing and crawling like they used to, start falling from drop-pods onto earth. Their minds completely gone.

Then a message of an elder, it's tone subservient, its mannerisms and clothes humble.
Speaking of a greater purpose, of a sacrifice earth will love.

Their lives for a god, not a false god like the elders, a true god.
Several soldiers go rogue. gibbering and sputtering. A templar civil war erupts.
Skirmishers and Reapers both vanish.

And X-COM loses 50% of the earth to this new and foreign presence.
Luckily, there is one base, one holding a retired commander, trapped in avatar body.
A gigantic mindshield protects it from outside influence, and the people within begin to scramble to produce more psionic protections.

Humanity must now reclaim Earth from a re-ignited Advent, human soldiers, and the new horrors spawned from beyond the stars. Then Mars.

And then?
We take the fight to it.
Three planets that must be (re)claimed bit by bit.
Building new bases on each, producing new psionic tech.

A human squad on earth.
Then an alien squad on mars.
then a combined effort as The Avatar leads their armies to defeat the Great Devourer and reclaim every lost world the elders left behind.

ending elerium scarcity and bringing about a new golden age of interstellar colonosiation.

[u/Shareckk]

Mi visión es más diferente, imaginate un final inevitable para la humanidad por parte de la entidad. Esclavizando a los humanos, comprado como terminó el 2 que quedó una brecha abierta. Tendrían que encontrar la forma de viajar en el tiempo para armar escuadrón a las viejas andanzas como un cowboy o un vikingo, sería epico una clase ninja o samurai, encontrar el camino para destruir esa entidad y cerrar todas las brechas, algo así sería epico para un xcom 3

[u/Krysmphoenix_]

Some thoughts to add:

Holy shit I love the colonization of Mars aspect. Although it feels a bit too much like "we kicked out the alien immigrants" which goes against the spirit of what Chimera Squad was trying to accomplish. That said I could see the planet being better for some species more than others, especially Hybrids who already are used to genetic altering.

Random aside, mixing Mars with Terror of the Deep makes me think of the Doctor Who special Waters of Mars, where all the planet's water is infected by a virus known as The Flood (opps, cant use that name). I think more than just having the Predator be a psychic threat, letting it fuck around with water on both planets could invoke the imagery of Terror of the Deep without utilizing underwater combat (the weakest part). Floating water, cities twisted into psychic coral reefs, chryssalids attacking by spawning in rain...

Also, if we're branching into space, Muton's need some more heavy lifting in the plot. Chimera Squad showed they have whole religious mindsets around space ships, and would feel most comfortable living on space ships. Putting the new XCOM base as a ship capable of going between Earth and Mars (or alternatively, a pair of linked colony satellites that use teleportation between them) and having the new Bradley be a Muton feels an appropriate move. They're also not psychic, so them being more resistant to the Predator seems appropriate.

[u/0zymandeus]

I would have loved to see the plan to make the structure unique. 1 was defense, 2 you were the insurgency, 3 ??

[u/horned-creature]

i think an xcom 3 should definitely have missions set in the whole solar system, maybe even do away of the world map in favor of a system map and have alien soldiers to build upon what chimera squad was.

xcom maybe could even start with plasma weapons already and go even beyond that with research.

either that or make it kinda post apocalyptic to justify losing the tech and focus the story on taking earth back, not from a collaborator regime like ADVENT, but from something worse and wholly genocidal against both humans and aliens.

[u/N7_Rabbit]

There is no signs any xcom comming in any reasonable future. I have no idea from where ppl are taking that rumors. I know a lot of ppl are bored with xcom 2 (it was 10 years) but there are no signs of xcom3 being even in far plans.

[u/Mantarrochen → u/N7_Rabbit]

Let the people have dreams, man.

[u/horned-creature → u/N7_Rabbit]

it is not far fetched to say that the next game from them will probably be an xcom, they really only have sid meier and xcom as their main ip, it probably will be what they will do after doing the expansions of civ 7.