Review of XCOM: Enemy Within

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This game was fantastic! I was a huge fan of the first game, and admittedly I was skeptical if this game would be worth the money. XCOM enemy within, adds to what was great in last year's title, and improves it by adding new strategic elements (mechs and mutants). The mech and mutant additions, are modifiers to your existent squad. The mutants and mechs add significant strategic ability to your squad, but they must be weighed against the expense in developing these classes and the downside of mechs of not being able to use cover. I was concerned that this would make your squad too strong compared to the enemy, however this game adds excellent new enemy units to help balance both sides to the encounter.

These strategic elements, make the old levels play like new while also adding a new level of strategy to consider when assembling your squad. In addition, XCOM adds new game modes that help to prevent the mini-missions from becoming too repetitive. This includes game types: (1) escorting a civilian, (2) king of the hill and (3) capture the flag. In addition to these new game types, XCOM adds a new enemy, EXALT further adding to the new layers to this game.

One of my few criticisms of the first game was that every single level played the same, and after significant play became repetitive. XCOM Enemy Within fixes this flaw, and I stress that I cannot recommend this game higher. I encourage anyone on the fence to buy this title and enjoy hours of entertainment!

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XCOM: Enemy Within has finally arrived.

The "Commander Edition" (as it's called on Consoles) includes:

the full game XCOM: Enemy Unknown (previously released on Xbox360/PC/PS3)

all previously released DLC & updates (i.e. Operation Slingshot; Elite Soldier Pack)

the new Enemy Within over-haul (See Below)

And a few unmentioned changes to the game:

Enemy AI has been greatly improved and enemies are deadlier than ever

New appearance and language options for soldiers (Russians speaking Russian!)

Can award medals to soldiers that give unique bonus attributes (e.g. Never Panic, etc)

Select "Second Wave" game-play options unlocked from the start! (very fun)

The Enemey Within part is key as much of the game has been tweaked, vamped up, and generally been improved upon. Enemy Within is absolutely PACKED with new features and more than more than make up for the purchase price (imo). So far I have had only minor issues with game play; I have encountered one glitch that forced me to fail (or reload) on one of the early EXALT missions, an NPC became stuck on a mission and I could not progress. Be very careful on Ironman mode until this is patched. Otherwise, game-play had been phenomenal just what I've been waiting for!

Notes (correct me if I am wrong):

*Does not share save files with XCOM: Enemy Unknown

*Does not share Achievements with XCOM: Enemy Unknown

*Everything is on one disk and there are no codes or vouchers for dwnld

*May cause a sever lack of sleep

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New Additions (taken from above):

* New Weapons and Equipment: Give your operatives an extra tactical edge with new projects from your engineering team and the Foundry

* New Enemy Threats: Adopt new tactics to counter the threats from two new alien types and a deadly new organization known as EXALT.

* New Strategic Resource: A valuable new alien resource, known as Meld, has been discovered. Secure it on the battlefield and use it carefully back at base to unlock new research and upgrades.

* New Tactical Challenges and Maps: Cloak-and-dagger and intelligence operations provide new tactical challenges on over 40 new battlefields.

* New Multiplayer maps, units, and abilities: Create your custom squad from a wider array of options and dominate your opponent in intense, one-on-one, turn-based matches.

* New Soldier Abilities: Research a new alien technology to advance the capabilities of your operatives:Gene Mods: Construct the Genetics Lab to physically enhance your operatives? abilities including augmentations to the chest, brain, eyes, skin, and legs. MECs: Build the Cybernetics Lab to enable the construction of the new Mechanized Exoskeletal Cybersuit, or MEC. The new MEC Trooper class has specialized abilities and each suit can be upgraded with new weapons including the flamethrower and grenade launcher.

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I'm a HUGE fan of the original 1994 XCOM UFO Defense. There is still no turn-based strategy game that can touch it (save-for the graphics of course). Yes, even though it's from 1994. I highly recommended that you go play it (on steam, etc.), before or after playing this game. These games look ~20 years better but have only 1/2 of the scope, customization, replayability as the 1994 XCOM UFO Defense game.

If you were excited about (and purchased) XCOM Enemy Unknown, and loved it, then this is still worth getting to see all the new content and maps. If you look at it as purchasing a bunch of DLC at once, then it takes the sting away from needing to buy the game again. (hoping for more DLC but not holding my breath)

If you thought XCOM:EU was frustrating and complex, avoid this game. It's more complex.

But, hopefully, you somehow missed XCOM:EU, are unaware/don't care that the developers fell a little short of the original 1994 game, and really want to find a challenging turn-based-strategy game with a revolutionary console UI, excellent graphics, jump-out-of-your-seat fun moments and hours-upon-hours of replay potential. Then you can just buy this game, by itself, and be happy as a clam.

Honest reviews on XCOM: Enemy Within

I Loved the original xcom and this expansion pack made the game even more enjoyable. I high recommend this to anyone who likes strategy games.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for XCOM: Enemy Within

I'd love to give this a good review, but I can't for two reasons:

1) It's a bit unfair to release no content for an existing game as a new game instead of a DLC. I do like the new content, but it doesn't really change anything fundamental.

2) There's something buggy (perhaps it's just my disk). I've had 2 Ironman gamefiles that refuse to load due to file corruption. So frustrating and without the fun of trying to save a game for the jaws of defeat after a squad-wipe.