Actually, XCOM: Enemy Within, Firaxis’ expansion pack to XCOM: Enemy Unknown, was already available since last Tuesday in the United States, but now it was officially released globally.
The expansion’s list of features include new maps, a new Mech trooper soldier class, new weapons (chiefly for the new soldier class but also new equipment), new enemies (the new Sectoid variant called the Mechtoid and the stealth-based unit called the Seeker), genetic improvements (which enhance several areas of the body), new second wave options, a new anti-XCOM human faction called the Exalt and an XCOM base invasion mission.
For more details check out our interview with Ananda Gupta, the lead designer of XCOM: Enemy Within.
So, are you ready to get back to command of Earth’s best known Extraterrestrial Combat Unit (aka X-COM) against the (not so anymore) unknown alien invasion? I surely know I am. It may take us a while but you’ll have your thorough review of this expansion pack. If you can’t wait for it, the game is now available on GamersGate and Steam for $29.99/€29.99/£19.99. But if you can wait, you’ll have our opinion and, who knows, a sale may be running by then :)
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Np comments because everyone are playing :))
Just chatted with a friend which liked XCom:EU and he says that you now have the option in “second wave” settings for a different toHit Calculation.
If I wasn’t that busy with other games, I might have taken another look at XCom now myself. Well…that way I can wait for the next sale. ;)
Be warned that the difficulty is much higher in the expansion. Classic in Enemy Without is more like Impossible in the vanilla game. On the other hand, the new mechs and gene mods are a lot of fun – and they can be unlocked surprisingly early.
I thought, that mechs and gene mods, would made game little easier… (Haven’t played expansion yet)
I have impression that there is a lot more variability in the development path now – you can go mech, you can go gene, classical weapon/armor path or their combinations..
I really enjoy XCOM:EU, but will wait for a decent sale before purchasing EW. I don’t want to spend more for the expansion than I paid for the base game!
I’ll do the same. I was pretty pissed to find the first sale merely two months after the release. Considering how little time I have to play games, I wouldn’t miss a thing if I waited those two months.
I went ahead and purchased the upgrade – can’t say it wasn’t without first checking out reviews and Videos online… No regrets so far – in fact I am having a blast !!- I am playing on Classic and while I have lost 1 or 2 soldiers each mission – I am trying not go go back to Saves.. but have not chosen Ironman just in case I loose that one precious soldier this first time around.
I’ve read from some testers that while the expansion loads the first half of the game with plenty of variety, the 2nd half of the game plays essentially the same.
That’s my biggest concern as the late game in the original was what made things a real slog for me. That and the scripted events.
Yeah. I loved the first half of EW but endgame was exactly like EU. I wish they changed the ending even a little bit, at least ;_;
I definitely feel the Exalt should be allowed to affect the game all the way up to the end game instead of being just a speed bump as you progress through mid to late game.
Maybe depending on your performance, the nature of Exalt changes. For example, if you are actively eliminating the Exalts, maybe later game they will pair up with the Aliens in combat mission. If you’ve been unsuccessful in halting them, the Exalts will instead be embolden enough to take on the Aliens making it a 3-way fight in combat missions.
Just seem like such a wasted opportunity. I mean, if you go to the effort of making a new faction, why waste it with a few convert ops, a scan gimmick and a take-down mission – so 2 dimensional.
I would say XCOM:EW is a complete game and XCOM:EU was payed “early access”. XCOM:EU was incomplete reproduction of UFO:EU, and XCOM:EW is shaping out to be a different game. With more random/procedural generation (map and env) and engine improvement(destructible env) it has potential to become on par with UFO:EU not as a copy but as a different game.
What the article does not mention – and I find one of the best features of the add-on – are native language voice-overs. In many games they happen to be often stiff and not feeling natural; EW is a fine example that it can be done well! I was truly stunned to hear Polish with perfect voice acting. Great work, thanks!
Native voiceovers, they were interesting at first, then my soldier heard something and started babbling about in french..
corporal (in french): “I hear a weird noise coming from the east, sir”.
me: “I hear a weird noise coming from your mouth soldier. We are an international team of soldiers, corporal. You should not expect the sarge here to understand your french yapping, when he is from Poland. He might have knocked up your mom, but that does not make him your daddy. Now go check out that noise and if I ever hear you speak french on a mission again, I will change the color of your shirt to red! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME, SOLDIER!?”
Its a friggin military organization composed of soldiers from a wide variety of countries. Having that option turned on just breaks the otherwise awesome immersion. At least for me. So I turned it off.
I guess if someone likes to play on the Tower of Babel, they might like it.