Can You Beat XCOM : ENEMY WITHIN With Only S.H.I.V.s?

Ohhhhh, THAT's what I've been doing wrong! I've been relying on humans to fight my battles...what was I thinking?
Let's see what happens when we let machines do all the fighting for us.
Can you beat XCOM: Enemy Within with only S.H.I.V.s? I guess we're going to find out.
|| MUSIC ||
Super Mario World Game Over Song Remix | BKNAPP
Chiptune Poison Swamp | Necto Ulin
Introduction | The Terminator (Sega Megadrive)
Area 1 | Blaster Master (NES)
Wisdom of Rage | Furi
Rise of the Machines | Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio
Stage 1 | Rocket Knight Adventures (Sega Genesis)
Southern Shelf Combat | Borderlands 2
Katana Zero | Katana Zero
Breath of a Serpent | Katana Zero
Rip and Tear | Doom 2016
Airship | Visager
Turbo Charge | Button Masher
|| Lemon's Socials ||
Twitter | / thebacklogs
Discord | / discord
2nd Channel | / thebacklogsshortcutunl...
|| Support the Channel ||
Patreon | / thebacklogs
KZbin Members | Click "JOIN" below the video!
|| Business Inquiries ||
Email | [e-mail]
#thebacklogs #xcom #challengerun #xcomew #xcomenemywithin

[@Mitcheck315]

-get hired to fight back against the alien menace -xcom base gets attacked -most of the squad dies -commander fires you immediately afterwards while mumbling about robot superiority

[@wrath4452]

I swear I remember seeing something like that on a poster in Portal 2.

[@koltonnarayan8935]

I'm surprised he didn't say "a toaster could fry these aliens better then you"

[@aidanwright3037]

Praise the Omnissiah

[@Laneous14]

@@aidanwright3037 You and your dumb dead cyber dragon in the middle of Mars will never defeat the awesome melee power of the Tau Empire!

[@justarandomtechpriest1578]

@@Laneous14 haha haha Not even going to be difficult to defeat you PRAISE THE OMNISSIAH

[@theloremandraws3753]

Imagine being an alien trained to handle human combatants, only to be faced by (what is essentially) an rc with a gun.

[@feartheghus]

and then losing to it...

[@notthed6534]

@@feartheghus Imagine having to explain to your superiors, that you lost an entire ship crew to a group of military grade children's toys

[@zeroakira584]

The elders be like: We give you everythings and you can't even handle a toaster with wheels? Grunts: But it is a toaster with gun! Meanwhile at X-com Commander: Praise the Omnissah! Valen: Um... What is he doing with that toaster? Central: Just the usal praying and oiling the thing. Say keeping him sane. Luckily Shen found a way to convince him that not all the Mecs appreciate getting molested by having oil rubbing on their face and chests or else the base gonna has one hell of an uproar. Valen: ○-○

[@beastwarsFTW]

"Were loosing." "How!? Our psychic powers can destroy their minds!" "They aren't using organics with minds." "What!"

[@jetlagged3645]

This is the logical evolution of the Claymore Roomba.

[@blacknyellow962]

Imagine just chilling in the completely empty barracks by yourself at 5:05 and you get called to receive a medal for accomplishing absolutely nothing.

[@TheTimmyboii1337]

"Here is an award for existing, good work"

[@igunn8632]

@@TheTimmyboii1337"You are being awarded the participation medal, as you are the only man left in this building after the recent downsizing

[@LynxStarAuto]

It doesn't get more millennial than that 😂

[@S0renz]

"Award for most push-ups done by any operative." "Award for most sit-ups done by any operative." "Award for most breaths taken by any operative." "Award for most cups of coffee consumed in one sitting."

[@J--12]

Pretty much how it is in real life.

[@greenhowie]

I'm gonna say it. SHIVs should be able to combine and transform into a Megazord.

[@kaylebknapp3826]

The shives have now become shanks

[@Alice-he2zh]

@@kaylebknapp3826 Get enough shanks and you might get the legendary knife

[@blossomingcrow]

Now I want to learn XCOM modding for this goddamnit.

[@IamDootsdoot]

@@kaylebknapp3826 Paint them red and call them an Emperor of the Sea and call it done. also cut off an arm.

[@cheesysealAnon]

They would then become a MEC "trooper"

[@zangatsubankai]

For anyone curious as to why the Ethereal's Psi Bomb did so much damage, it's because it's based on the target's Will. Since SHIV's have functionally 0 Will, they take MASSIVE damage.

[@bonogiamboni4830]

On one hand that is pretty dumb, mindless units shouldn't get damaged by psi stuff. On the other i can see how it makes sense for balance.

[@zangatsubankai]

@@davdkiesewalter7338 Yeah, they can totally wreck a squad if you're packed a bit too tightly.

[@reversedperspective2584]

@@bonogiamboni4830 From a funky perspective I can see it as sentient willpower pushing against another beings psychic will to alter reality into a dangerous collapsing gravity well and just going "Nope I'm stronger than your emotional hissy fit" While robots just go "Gravity in the area increasing, structural integrity failing, destruction guarantied" without having any mental alteration abilities because no brain

[@korhol2065]

It’d probably would make more sense if their psionics are based off of like things like telepathy like the move psychic in Pokémon vs mental abilities

[@randomintrovertedspider7510]

@@bonogiamboni4830 Psionics, despite the name isn't "Mental" only. While what it is, is up for debate, psionics has effects on the physical world as well - Teleportation, activating grenades, blocking damage from explosions, sustaining bodies that aren't using organs or muscles, etc. A lot of it seems to imply psionics is a form of energy that for some reason let's the user enforce their will upon reality - and due to this, robots having no will, therefore get wrecked.

[@ineedanewname.8169]

I can imagine the whole XCOM base staff watching on a monitor as a the first SHIV ever made for combat is deployed. It drives up and absolutely riddles an alien with bullets, then gets blown up on the next turn but the head engineer is just standing in the crowd with a joystick in hand like "Don't worry, we've got a million of these" and 4 more SHIVs drive up.

[@randomdude8202]

Yeah, I saw the video in which they cheer in Ukrainian when they hit something.

[@potato_gamer7725]

trust me im an engineer!

[@nacl4988]

Cut the head off a SHIV, And 2 more will replace it

[@isaacmayer-splain8974]

@@potato_gamer7725 I think I'll put this thing right here!

[@kedarunzi9139]

@@randomdude8202 what?

[@KeybladeWielderXV]

"We are in the tens of thousands. How many are you?" "FOUR!" "You would destroy the Elders with four Shivs?" "We would destroy the Elders with ONE Shiv!"

[@elPominator]

THIS IS NOT WAR! THIS IS PEST CONTROL!

[@Questioningbasics]

"You Elders are superior in ONE respect." "And what is that?" "You are better at dying."

[@1gient]

And that shiv's name is "Conscientious Objector, half naked with a jagged piece of metal as a weapon and half crazed from living with robots in a hole in the ground".

[@devildevious2646]

Loving doctor reference

[@tanall5959]

"WE WOULD DESTROY THE ELDERS WITH ONE SHIV!" "I'LL DO IT!" "I WAS BEING FIGURATIVE."

[@jonathanfaber3291]

Yknow, in lore this is so fucking funny to me: the ethereal invaded earth to force an psycho-evolutionary arms race, and then lemon rolls in and hecking refuses to until he has to, because robots

[@TheUfaraV2]

"Machines go brrrrr" the run basically.

[@oninja1919]

Just like real life, drones are OP.

[@matheusGMN]

what really? where did you read that?

[@rokkraljkolesa9317]

@@matheusGMN dunno if it was ever stated, but it can at least be assumed that with how they attack earth with slowly increasing force in EU/EW almost like they're drip-feeding you tech, and in 2 how they use humans to make the Avatars, they want humans capable of psionics they could blitzkrieg the earth like the Combine in half-life, but instead they start attacking you with troops that are barely even comparable to your own only because their weapons fire plasma and have psychic powers

[@jonathanfaber3291]

@@matheusGMN basically what Rok said, not to mention the Uber ethereal’s temple ship dialogue clearly points out their ascension of prior species- each of the alien races played and lost their own game of Xcom, and specifically protests the Chosen One’s destruction of the temple ship- the Ethereals wanted to utilize the extreme power of humanity’s potential to their own ends “at last, you succeeded where we had failed”- they either wanted a human race to evolve to fight them (and ideally lose), or to to lose to them, and then transcend via the avatar project. Also don’t you think it’s a little _too_ convenient that meld gets dropped in abduction and terror missions? And why start with sectoids and scout UFOs and not battleships to force surrender? They essentially played an evolution game, then realised too late they’d lost control of the reins before getting exploded

[@TheValiantBob]

"We need weapon fragments which...you don't get if you blow everything up." Dr Vahlen must be feeling very smug with herself over that one.

[@ironboy3245]

Vahlen: Fuck you commander, I told you so

[@phillipk4196]

the one time she actualy has a point. and its a very unlikely 1 class only run

[@Prodigial]

Just..something to consider...

[@DobbsyLondon]

Things aren't fragments unless they're blown up. They're things. This one is strange.

[@Gustav_Kuriga]

Weapons don't turn into fragments unless they're blown up, as Dobbsy London said. Dr Vahlen must be very stupid.

[@jackknoxartz5853]

I love the fact that the achivement you get after building a SHIV is called "You have 5 seconds to comply" so freaking accurate lmao

[@TheMeanAdmin]

It's also a classic reference ¬_¬

[@nightwolf3285]

@@TheMeanAdmin ED-249 would be proud, considering these shivs don't have any trouble with manholes or stairs lol

[@TheMeanAdmin]

@@nightwolf3285 ED-209 is dumb as a bag of hammers, so it prolly wouldn't, but it definitely should.

[@seantaggart7382]

Nah it should be *YOU WILL DIE IN 5*

[@jackkaiser1471]

​@@TheMeanAdmin😊

[@fluffalpenguin]

This feels like the canon prelude to XCOM 2. Perfect commander with an amazing strategy that would definitely have won but was defeated by being taken by surprise in the base defense mission. XCOM 2 commander just really misses SHIVs.

[@mat8791]

This is why SPARKS have legs.

[@Concerned_Custodian]

Sparks my beloved

[@robonator2945]

the fact that XCOM 2 somehow feels more like a sequel to The Bereau: XCOM Declassified than XCOM Enemy Within/Unknown is so fucking wild to me. I mean you got the psionic Mosaic network, you got an ethereal being used as a psionic CPU to supercharge that network, you have an ethereal taking control of a psionic avatar to chew ass and kick bubblegum, etc. meanwhile in EU/EW you have... some? psionics. I mean, they're there, but you don't get any psionic networks, you don't really see any real Ethereals, (sorry but having a physical body kind of disqualifies you, the entire story of EW/EU is just that the wannabe "Ethereals" are sore losers) and there is no psionic-possesion/merging or anything. Somehow EW/EU feel like the odd ones out between the third person squad cover shooter and XCOM 2, the sequel to EW/EU. I mean christ the entire Avatar project is flat out never explained in XCOM 2 or EW/EU, but makes perfect sense after playing The Bereau.

[@treblesureset2149]

I always loved the Alloy Shivs. The aliens would end up using them as cover and just... they literally just shoved their faces into the barrel of a heavy laser cannon... Beautiful.

[@youkofoxy]

Now I Know.

[@gerrysill7683]

Idiots lol

[@dumb214]

to be fair they weren't told that the humans have control of those mini-tanks scattered around

[@johnmoore8161]

Honestly it's the best way to cheese the ai on higher difficulties specially if you wanna go for captures. Plus if you get the positioning right you can cause a berserker to get stuck making them easy to capture with a normal shot and a sentinel protocol. It is hilarious the hijinks you can do with these things.

[@1x1boop28]

Maybe they thought the shivs were their own tech.

[@resurgam_b7]

Wow, I did not realize that SHIVs were so OP, I tried them once, saw the 50% chance to hit an enemy in no cover and never gave them a second glance after that. I'll have to give them a second chance on my next playthrough.

[@ltntwafflz9043]

I mean, to be fair, rookies be like that too. But yeah, I had the same experience. I tried one out in the mid game with all of its main upgrades unlocked and some of its foundry stuff researched too. I thought they were kinda overpowered but I wanted to focus on my max lvl troops who recently figured out how to think REALLY hard.

[@ethansitton565]

Honestly, early on they function as more tactical cover, giving your units half cover anywhere and being able to provide additional fire support as needed. But once you get hovers they stop acting as cover and become a menace due to always having height advantages and good weaponry at that point. Honestly a good choice if you have a tough mission and don't have all your aces back to prevent bringing a panicky rookie.

[@TankHunter678]

SHIVs are disposable monsters you can just charge into the enemy to tear them apart. My endgame setups kinda always wind up being hover shiv legions as due to their ability to fly they always have cover bonuses and hover shivs by default function as if they have half cover anyways even when not flying. Most enemies simply cannot hit them except on higher difficulties.

[@unifiedhorizons2663]

i used it in 2en game and brutes one shot my robot

[@connorshaw7649]

Don't overlook the alloy SHIVs either! They're not just defensive options - mobile, armed half cover with suppression abilities can set up some super nasty and really safe flanks with human squadmates that would otherwise be suicide. Sure losing flight sucks, but it's another unique unit to spice up your strategies, and there's nothing stopping you from taking 1 of each and 4 humans.

[@SapphicJadestone]

SHIVs feel like a progression of "oh look at the little rover with a gun" to Dalek Army as the game goes on

[@chrispeters2645]

But apparently S.H.I.V.'s, like Daleks, can't use stairs.

[@depressedgwyndolin]

EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE

[@canadiancanucklehead8310]

“EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!!”

[@johnmoore8161]

EXTERMINATE!!!

[@jacthing1]

​@@chrispeters2645until like daleks they learn to fly

[@LiesToSaveASmile]

fun thing about the hover shiv. You can hover it like 100 squares above the map where it cant be hit but it has like a 100% hit chance on everything :P

[@crowsenpai5625]

“Commence Orbital Bombardment.”

[@why_you_peaking]

“MAC rounds firing”

[@basabromander2778]

From the word shiv, I like to imagine xcom soldiers beating an entire invasion by stabbing the aliens with improvised jabbing weapons like a special forces prison riot.

[@Predator20357]

Xcom 2 Rangers be like:

[@greyborn2213]

XCOM 2 with only SPARKS could be cool to see too! Also would love to see some Remnant: From the Ashes challenges!

[@aetherspiralknight]

Ooooooo Remnant

[@thraexgladiator]

The Drifter’s Broadcast did a SPARK only play through, his videos are a bit long for my taste but it’s cool

[@robertagren9360]

Spark gives a power spike and is a glass cannon tour. If you are defeated once, it's most likely over.

[@astartesfanboy5294]

@@robertagren9360 sparks are trash compared to SHIVs

[@gamingnscience]

@@astartesfanboy5294 I don‘t know… 6 rockets (and later shredstorm cannons) plus 6 overdrives, which basically equates to a 7th soldier every single turns, sounds pretty OP to me:

[@tazamane9705]

I have to say; I never really used SHIVs in my regular campaigns much, at most to replace a wounded veteran. Even in Long War and Long War Rebalance I look at them and go "You soak up enemy fire, nothing more" and then end up killing the most with them. SHIVs are awesome. So glad there's a mod for XCOM 2 to bring them back lmao.

[@thediethrower1803]

It is by far the best mod

[@benjaminlee985]

SHIVs have zero will, which means they take massive damage from any psionic attacks. Which makes it hilarious that you were still able to just burst into the room and gun down all the ethereals before they could kill more than a few of them. Hover shiv OP indeed.

[@rabbit-exe3606]

"I got the urge to play this game again... bad" can be interpreted in two different ways. I'm choosing to believe that lemon insulted a wizard and now has a supernatural curse that compels him to play games terribly.

[@phillipk4196]

ooooohhh. how terrible can you play X-Com and still win?

[@magolor3219]

…why do I get the sneaking suspicion this is a reference to the Regular Show episode where Rigby does just that and if he doesn’t apologize he’ll be a house forever?

[@RatelRegalement]

So the important question! During final mission, the chosen one stays behind and in a cutscene directs the other squad members to get out of there. What happens when the entire rest of squad is S.H.I.V.s ? :o Are they clustered in the doorway beeping with worry? Do a couple humans appear from nowhere?

[@TheBacklogs]

He closes the door forcefully. On no one. Basically the same as the other cutscenes i showed haha

[@johnmoore8161]

I'm just gonna say they were recalled and flew back. Leaving our sad canadian alone again with him looking at the doorway wishing their was an actual person he could say goodbye to.

[@jinn8465]

​​@@johnmoore8161 He just sadly calls out to no-one. He's lonely, yet he knows his mission.

[@agauss2714]

Serious props for the writing that you do on these videos. The stream-of-consciousness narrative style is fantastic for these challenges, where you go in hoping for a surprise. Your quips keep the low points exciting, and pretty much everything else is just as on-point. This feels like something somebody with 1m+ subs would be making, and I'm sure you'll hit that benchmark sooner or later.

[@OutrightRegent4]

It's also a good way to differentiate from other challenge channels. With his narrative he could rip off completely from like...mitten squad or Dante ravioli and it would still be a unique video

[@bugdracula1662]

@@brandon0981 then watch someone else?

[@Jaeger_Bishop]

-Aliens "Uhhh, ya know that planet that was suppose to be easy to invade and take over? Well turns out they have self-repairing, flying, murderbots of death" -The Elders "Well...didn't see THAT one coming"

[@StarshadowMelody]

"They apparently developed the things as we were invading, reverse engineering our own tech to bolster the little devils, even."

[@clairelili873]

@@StarshadowMelody "this was on the plan, but that sure throws a wrench into the plan because we kinda need them being psychic else we DIE"

[@andreasottohansen7338]

16:43 I have the head canon for this run that because the SHIVs can go upstairs after this, base defense missions no longer appear, not because the aliens don't try again, but their attempts are so futile, they aren't worth bothering the commander with, due to SHIV might.

[@ARWINGx1]

18:48 I just remembered that on my first playthrough, I killed the 2 Sectopods by... well, whittering them both down. And when the first Sectopod was destroyed, it's "death-splosion" finished off the already weakened Sectopod #2

[@phillipk4196]

congrats, and i am jealous since i never managed that!

[@ARWINGx1]

@@phillipk4196 Well, it's not like I did a little damage, while the explosion from the first Sectopod was strong enough to do most of the work. Both were at low health by then. Again, when the 2nd sectopod got caught in the blast, it suffered (pretty much) just enough damage to get finished off.

[@1gient]

Oddly enough this is the most realistic play style. The second psychic powers get broken out and it becomes well known that they can just twist human minds then there would be an attempt at mass abandonment of organics in favor of guns-on-the-runs and steels-on-wheels using a mix of what robotics exist now (like the Atlas prototype and Spot) and what can be made from the scrap.

[@joster09]

the portal turret voice line killed me, it's so fitting for this run

[@nolanasd6092]

Hell yeah, so glad to see xcom return. Keep up the great work Lemon, you're awesome.

[@SquatchViking]

Loved this! such good content. If I had to recommend anything, it'd be beating EW with only MECs (which would probably be even more busted than SHIVs, but just as fun) or beating EW with only pistols! ;)

[@HouseofBricksStudios]

level one mecs for added difficulty :)

[@thraexgladiator]

The Drifter’s Broadcast did Sparks only on Xcom2, which I believe you’re referring to instead of Mecs since they’re used by the aliens

[@keeganlafferty1395]

@@thraexgladiator this is Enemy Within, not Xcom 2, we actually have mecs in this game

[@wingracer1614]

Can you get enough meld to do only mechs? I've done 2 and I imagine 3 is doable but more than that?

[@SquatchViking]

@@wingracer1614 I don't rightly remember; it's been forever since I've played EW personally, but hey, maybe that'd be part of the challenge! lol

[@tombstone522]

Nice video! S.H.I.V.s are neat little units in Enemy Within, as you demonstrated in the vid. I really like them personally, but there's two main issues with the little machines in normal play: 1.) MECs and gene-modded soldiers are just way more powerful and can do so many more broken things; and 2.) S.H.I.V.s lose a lot of utility on Impossible difficulty, where you face threats like Thin Men with 6 HP and 90 Aim. A S.H.I.V. just doesn't have the skills or bulk to handle the early threats of Impossible, which is why you need your soldiers. I always tend to make at least one or two hover S.H.I.V.s when I play though, for one key reason you showcased in this video: panic/mind control immunity. A Sectoid Commander can be pretty scary to a crew of soldiers, but to a S.H.I.V.? Hover S.H.I.V.s also make great scouts if you're lacking Meld for Mimetic Skin upgrades. Looking forward to the next video!

[@irou95]

Mimetic skin+snipers is so broken I almost prefer playing vanilla xcom over it.

[@FrostFoxMinzer3216]

I absolutely loved seeing this lol! Good to see the sectopods being blasted back where they belong. I hate fighting those things.. did you know that if you take long enough.. they can and Will spawn on even the scout crafts

[@butterflyenjoyer230]

Aka inferior shivs?

[@jamesandrews3700]

I just snipe them I've killed them with 1 shot late game

[@Abysalss]

I hope we keep seeing more xcom challenge runs, I’d adore a xcom 2 solo run

[@lego3629]

"Can you beat xcom: enemy within with only MECs?" The power you feel with a full squad of MECs is incredible Or, alternatively, "Can you beat xcom: enemy within with only special abilities?" You are only allowed to use actions with a yellow outline to damage enemies

[@lagg1e]

MECs sadly aren't asstrong as shivs. They're great once deployed, but you can field 6 shivs for the price of a sandwich. 6 MEC soldiers is the most expensive and thus resource starved way to play.

[@lego3629]

@@lagg1e so more of a challenge Though I do see your point there, playing while constantly worrying about if you have enough materials isn't very fun to most people. Stress isn't great, but the challenge will be there. Don't get me wrong that's a good argument, especially the whole "resource starved" part, that would definitely be a deterrent

[@robertagren9360]

@@lego3629 A science only and no satellites is a challenge.

[@Laneous14]

How can you afford 6 of them? I could never afford more than 2

[@lego3629]

@@robertagren9360 @laneous14 I was able to get all my satellites up and have five mecs, while having all researches done It's more of a patience thing if anything

[@reeceshugrue6167]

One thing I really miss from XCOM 1 are all the little cutscenes and animations for your soldiers. While there are ALOT of cutscenes in XCOM 2, they're mostly all story related unfortunately.

[@SinNomin]

Yeah totally. Not the plot, Mechs and gene augments, good characters, fair ballance; NO global timer, nerfed classes, nerfed armors, stupid looking soldiers, stupid looking alliens etc. Yes, the cutscenes are the only thing missing

[@BirchMonkey857]

This is more or less a historical reenactment of the Necron/C'tan vs. Old One war.

[@grandmagunsales2125]

I think this is cannonically what happened, we were bulldozing them with robots so much that we forgot to get people to defend the base so they just dropped an EMP on us, waltzed in like they owned us now and stole our designs for use in XCOM 2

[@ulforcemegamon3094]

I know about what you refer and all but i will say that irl vehicles are pretty resistant to EMP and that is why EMP is not used that much when dealing with UGVs

[@NebulonBMedicalFrig]

As a note on the base defense mission issue, damaged SHIVs can appear when it starts, so there's an oversight either way. As to why the devs disabled them for the mission, the door animation issue is likely, given that cutscenes seem to replace SHIVs with invisible humans, a move that'd allow using for the same animations on every soldier, and the mission is...not the most well-polished. This may also be why SPARKs replaced SHIVs in XCOM2: Same model bones as regular soldiers so animations would work.

[@Hill177]

SHIVs are how I carried myself through the mid game in the first game of Enemy Within that I actually won. Simply being able to run them straight into enemy formations and get hits on hard to reach enemies behind cover made them godsends.

[@RoyalFusilier]

Your channel reminds me in the best way imaginable of GiantGrantGames, and you have the same potent combination of fun challenges, strong gameplay, and most importantly, the narrative ability to weave the two together. These videos are absolutely a treat, and I really enjoy this kind of sub-genre.

[@Eliza-hb1nc]

yeah!

[@AaronCorr]

Oh hell yeah, I'm on an XCOM binge right now and whaddaya know? More XCOM on my time line

[@HellishSpoon]

The machine spirit is strong in this one

[@ironwolf5802]

I was wondering what they were. At first thought shank so sneaky side stabs but tiny tanks makes more sense and probably a lot easier.

[@ForemanPlaysStuff]

Couldn't have imagined how well the SHIVs would perform, I always thought they were kinda garbage. It just goes to show that there's always more to learn and it's easy to miss a trick or two, well done!

[@shakhtardfc1]

You earned yourself a new sub, and now I'm planning to replay these games.

[@rage3100]

Hover shivs are absolutely bonkers, super good at flanking and supression spam from above looks cool

[@lewandowski1313]

This was absolutely brilliant!!! You are brilliant!!! Following your content now!

[@MazeMaker4Life]

Thankyou so much for all the awesome content, I can only imagine how much hair you've pulled out doing all these challenges for KZbin. I'm sure that the amount of challenge run requests you receive are overwhelming too. I love watching all the stuff it's fun seeing all the different builds, it's educational and entertaining haha. Thanks heaps :D

[@glitchwolf1384]

You had an average number of chuckles out of me... Until "Rip and tear until it is done, eh?" which... just... *broke* me for like five minutes. You get a gold star, lemon.

[@Raveler1]

Love the throwback to Blaster Master music - one of my favorite NES games, and you're basically a kid piloting a SHIV. Perfect choice!

[@nicholaswhaling7233]

They even get the hover upgrades.

[@jimbo7478]

Love this challenge series, and the editing is great! Seriously underrated channel.

[@BirchMonkey857]

9:10 So my first playthrough, my Volunteer had a ponytail. ...it turns out that the physics of ponytails kind of break down in cutscenes. So with this serious climax where a human who has become more than any human ever has sacrifices herself to save the Earth, rejecting an offer from god-like beings that more or less groom species to hopefully become one with them, came a fluctuating light show of hot pink in the background. So much for taking those scenes seriously.

[@Will-mk5pj]

Hell yeah! I’ve been waiting for this challenge run!

[@igncom1]

I just love the concept of fighting off an alien "invasion" with state of the art drones.

[@frankenwaifu8092]

Even funnier is that they are barely state of the art right off the bat. They are no more advanced than a regular bomb disposal robot. Only difference is that they are faster and have a gun strapped to them.

[@senseweaver01]

You absolute mad man... I love it!

[@adamsteele23]

I remember reading a fanfic after Xcom2 came out and the story was known that had the commander deploy a trio of untested and half built SHIVs that delayed the aliens long enough for much of Xcom to escape once the aliens busted in.

[@margulpkin1487]

Ive always hated playing the xcom games, but im suprised that its so much fun to watch you go through it. Great video.

[@alexrhinehart9604]

I accdentaly discovered the superiority of the SHIVS near the end of a cheat playthough, and i thought about going though again legitatmately with only SHIVS, so im really glad you made this video!

[@francomaemori7123]

I fucking love the concept and the idea of XCOM but I can't for the life of me get into the gameplay, but your videos are still funny as hell so it works for me. Great job lemon.

[@ZalagoX]

I just recently found your channel, and I’m glad I did! Can’t wait to see what you do with XCOM 2!

[@BlairScouten]

Very much loving the subtle Blaster Master game score in the background! 🤘🏼

[@jenckobyte9434]

Lets goooooo. I will enjoy this video. Holly molly, SHIVS destroyed this run.

[@Dragynn5]

I did it. I finally watched all of Lemon's challenge videos from the beginning until I caught up to this, the first video of his that I ever watched, and the video that got me to subscribe to the channel. It's been a wild ride, Mr. Lemon, and I look forward to finishing my backlog (hah!) of your videos, as well as continuing to enjoy your content for as long as you're willing to make it.

[@mesaprime4368]

"What did you do? ANSWER ME!" Will always send me in a laughing fit

[@Icetea-2000]

My favorite game together with the second one. Glad to still see content about it!

[@screm1471]

What about Xcom but you can only use one class per mission? Probably not to hard but it’d be interesting to see a team of all snipers or all heavies

[@glenmcgillivray4707]

Already in progress on another channel. He started with Sparks, tried all of the 3 hero classes and last I saw was working on grinding through the normal troop types. So far, his major takeaway? Melee is bad, because you end up fighting all the pods at once and lack damage to clean up!

[@screm1471]

@@glenmcgillivray4707 oh I meant in XCOM 1 lol

[@Goffdude24]

Snipers are OP in XCOM 1, especially in the late game, so it probably wouldn't be too bad.

[@glenmcgillivray4707]

@@Goffdude24 assault turned out to be a challenge in the late game. Something about missing 90% to hit chances repeatedly in the same turn leaving far too many targets alive.

[@honourabledoctoredwinmoria3126]

@@glenmcgillivray4707 All assault is the only one I'd expect to be hard. All heavy or all sniper is just win more mode, and all mech seems doable too.

[@coal1t1on]

YESS THE RETURN OF XCOM

[@Itsdeejayjay]

Your content needs more views! Love your humor over the play

[@kuchenjaeger2164]

Watching your videos during my lunchbreak is the only thing that keeps me sane at work rn.

[@hubhikarilives]

Bless you for sticking to other games while Elden Ring exists. We're all finding times to play it!

[@unrulyracer]

I have never heard a beetle borgs reference before, that put a smile on my face. If you do, I wonder how you’d fair in an Xcom2 sparks only game. Thanks you!

[@Zorgdub]

YEEEESSSSS! I'm so happy that you did another XCOM challenge.

[@beacatron3559]

Great video as usual. Narration is always top notch.

[@MasterTankChief]

14:40 there's a whole cutscene that shows them blowing shit up around the base, the SHIVs were probably a part of that

[@NebulonBMedicalFrig]

A nice thought, but in actuality, the base defense mission spawns only SHIVs that are repairing, so it's definitely unintentional.

[@jejdada5912]

Amazing video! I played Xcom 2 and it's really good, I don't know if you referring the Canadian superhero as meatbag is a reference to Hk 47 from star wars kotor, but it's nonetheless funny!

[@HouseofBricksStudios]

glad to see a suggestion got in :) I enjoy this (the voices are hilarious and the best line is "...destroy their hopes and dreams...")

[@WeeWooJoker]

Found your channel through that first xcom challenge and have been watching you ever since. Love the content man!

[@Jozero05thesilent]

Well... as someone who played the old DOS Xcom... i can confirm that this was my go to strategy back then... cause fuckin hell Laser tanks and Plasmatanks were so very good and cheap compared to soldiers

[@KopperNeoman]

There's a Brutal AI mod that makes you really appreciate rocket tanks.

[@ajl729gaming2]

“If you’ve played XCOM before, you know this level just from the level layout.” There’s a unique debriefing text for when you complete the mission, but the entire squad gets killed in action. I got it the first time I played that level. Fucking zombie spider whale.

[@sugoi9680]

BRO that mission was intense, I just played it. I was so lucky I brought all my good troops that I managed to retreat and kill the ones that were chasing. If I brought rookies I probably would have been screwed. I got off by the skin of my teeth with 1 turn left. What does the text say?

[@ajl729gaming2]

@@sugoi9680 yeah, my first play through I lost my veteran team. I may have savescummed and still ended up with dead guys. It’s tough if you don’t know what you’re doing. And I forget the exact text and couldn’t find it on the wiki. I’ll try to see if I can find it somewhere. From my memory it was something like “our team had to give their lives, but the chryssalids won’t be causing any more destruction.”

[@sugoi9680]

@@ajl729gaming2 Lol that makes me feel good. It was my first try of this mission and I was playing on Iron Man so no going back anyway. The moment I saw the whale I had a feeling I needed to Evac. I managed to keep the waves off me while retreating but my one guy was keeping cover on the ridge. He got surrounded by 3 Chrysalids, so I thought rip he's dead. But then one of the chrysalids goes after someone else. So with 1 turn left I manage to dash him between two chrysalids onto one tile of the extraction chopper and everyone else came in from the stairs.

[@ajl729gaming2]

@@sugoi9680 nice! That chryssalid must have had ADHD or something and his buddies are like “not again Pete. Cmon man” I’ve never been able to do Ironman mode. Too stressful for me. Although, I’d imagine it’s the opposite for some other people, since you don’t need to save scum to fix mistakes

[@sugoi9680]

@@ajl729gaming2 Definitely is much more stressful lol but in a good way because if I had the ability to savescum then there would be no impact at all. I remember after some initial success on Enemy Unknown I got overconfident and attacked the Alien Base only to get wiped out.

[@touch_of_cobalt]

Starting playing XCOM again last week before the 10 year anniversary. This was very well done and laugh out loud funny! Superior work! And I for one welcome our new robot overlords.

[@jasonsweitzer7227]

That was a hoot to watch. Thanks for a such an unexpected success with the, as it turns out, not so humble S.H.I.V. Well done, sir!

[@Nervoushandjob]

Yeess xcom

[@thunderstrand]

I would love to use SHIVS like this, unfortunately, my game is broken so sometimes it causes them to spawn in without any weapons, making it basically just mobile cover for my soldiers.

[@TheKNEE13]

not the worst thing in the world to have

[@TheKNEE13]

not the worst thing in the world to have

[@MrBratello07]

I am here rewatching it a fourth time. This is just too beautiful :3

[@talonalexander2849]

Lemon, this video is gold, my friend. Love to laugh while you kick ass😂

[@unnoticed4571]

I'm writing this before I finish the vid I'm willing to bet that the S.H.I.V.s will win, but it certainly won't be easy EDIT: nvm, S.H.I.V.s are wack

[@BinaryArmorOnline]

I just beat XCom for the first time if seven years and am on my first playthrough of the second game right now, so KZbin recommended me your channel, and can I say, I am so glad it did. This was a lot of fun to watch.

[@gdutfulkbhh7537]

That was fun. Thank you for sharing it!

[@holyslaya1645]

I'm really excited to see more Xcom in this fashion and especially Xcom 2

[@Todd5747]

you have given me hope that i could play xcom finally and enjoy it, and possibly even beat it. i just need the shivs. all the shivs.

[@jacobambos3885]

This is the most fun XCom video I've ever watched.

[@biserrizov6863]

I've never seen the hover SHIV, never even researched anything SHIV related, this looks awesome!

[@gh0stgamez424]

First actual video of urs I’ve watched!! I’m sticking around this hood stuff

[@DEDManGaming]

Loooooove the XCOM videos!!! Can't wait to see what else you'll get up to and I hope you're enjoying Elden Ring!

[@cinox4719]

would love to see this content on xcom2!! keep up the good work man ;)

[@damiendrapeau6232]

Your voices is perfect for this sort of thing keep up the great work

[@iansysoev9462]

Oh yes, the XSHIV: Enemy of flesh, my favourite game)))) Nice work, enjoyed the video very much!

[@todd3143]

you are absolutely right on the money with “that” mission. the last time i played xcom ew was 5 years ago, and as soo as i saw that layout i immediately recalled the 4 soldiers i lost just to scrape through that horrid mission

[@donjean6590]

Really enjoyed this one.Yeah Shiv's and the predecessor have alwys been my sleeper MVP's. So many rookies owe there lives to not having to be first theough a door. Also great writing keep it up.

[@philiphendersonjr1760]

Freakin hilarious, great video!!!

[@brockstephens7961]

Awesome, love the X-COM content mate