Goldhawk Interactive have been beavering away quietly on their sequel since 2015. This week they took the bold move of releasing a free Alpha Demo of Xenonauts 2 on GoG Galaxy (note: you need Galaxy installed, this will not download from the GoG website). The demo will remain free until Xenonauts 2 reaches the “Early Access” stage of development, then it will be deleted.

So what is new with Xenonauts 2? Goldhawk are describing Xenonauts 2 as a reboot of Xenonauts, not a direct sequel, and not a spiritual successor of X-COM either. They’re also promising: deeper plots, and better story-line, improved strategy, improved 3D graphics and best of all … destructible terrain!

If you’re wondering why you should bother with this indie clone, when there’s already two great successor’s to X-COM available (XCOM:Enemy Unknown and XCOM 2), the answer is complex, but let’s just say: Xenonauts is a different experience, grittier, closer to the original, and with a lot more tension.

If you’ve enjoyed any of the games in the X-COM franchise (old or new) then I highly recommend giving Xenonauts a try and the demo too.