It must be countered by launching special intelligence-gathering missions that ultimately narrow down the location of the shadowy organization’s headquarters. EXALT will sabotage the player’s progress by stealing resources. The new levels solve this problem and greatly enhance the game as a result.Įven more variety is introduced to the original campaign with the presence of EXALT, a human enemy force that attempts to undermine the XCOM team’s fight against the alien invasion. Later in the game, when it becomes necessary to investigate a larger number of downed UFOs and cities in crisis without much base management to serve as a palate cleanser, the reappearance of an overly familiar map dulled XCOM‘s often wonderful sense of tension considerably. XCOM: Enemy Unknown, as enjoyable as its combat remained throughout the length of a campaign, suffered from frequently repeated environments. The new tactical considerations are accompanied by the welcome addition of a large number of new maps, too. These new powers - a deployable circle of healing mist, shots that can destroy environmental cover, and the endlessly entertaining ability to punch an enemy with a piston-like robot arm - make Enemy Within‘s fights novel, even to an Enemy Unknown veteran. The resulting MEC troop has the drawback of being unable to take cover during combat, but benefits by gaining a suite of useful abilities. Once one of the player’s team has volunteered to have their weak, fleshy bodies replaced with strong, gleaming metal they can be outfitted with upgradeable exoskeletons. While monkeying around with a soldier’s genetic structure can make for tactically impressive results, MEC suits offer the most profound change to XCOM‘s gameplay. Meld, an alien substance found in glowing containers during combat missions, lets players change their soldiers into either robotically enhanced or genetically augmented warriors. The expansion to Enemy Unknown - XCOM: Enemy Within - builds on the foundation established by Firaxis’ previous work, introducing a plethora of new features and sacrificing only the smallest amount of accessibility in the process.Įnemy Within‘s most notable change to the base game’s formula is the introduction of the Meld resource.

Firaxis Games pulled off a remarkable feat in creating a title that was filled to the brim with interesting, interlocking gameplay mechanics while also easy for novice players to understand.

Last year’s XCOM: Enemy Unknown was a fantastic reimagining of a beloved strategy series.

Xcom enemy within mec