XCOM: Enemy Within

1. Kai82

   Jan 10, 2021

   10

   A great expansion that makes the base game inferior and is for me the definitive edition of the game. I already rated X-Com Enemy UnknownA great expansion that makes the base game inferior and is for me the definitive edition of the game. I already rated X-Com Enemy Unknown which is included in the expansion. I will first give a summary and then explain what is new / added (Clarification: You can not chose between base game and expansion)
   
   X-Com Enemy Unknown:
   After aliens attack the Earth an alliance of nations founded the X-Com project who should battle the aliens while also investigating the threat. The overall story seems first just like a vehicle to carry the story but at the end you find out the truth behind the alien attack and why they did it in this way. The gameplay mechanics are well interwoven and you have to pay attention. You get founded monthly and must use this budget or sell resource you might need later on the black market. The catch is that only the countries were you have a surveillance satellite above will pay you and there is a system how satisfied the countries are. Any country that gets unsatisfied enough will leave the X-Com project and if to many leave it is game over. This can happen long into the game (Don't worry you have not to please all approx 200 nations around the world. Only 2 to 6 per continent if I remember correctly). Be warned you should speed this up as the aliens know this and will attack multiple countries at once (You can respond to 1 of 3 and must make hard decisions). If you have support of all countries on a continent you get a useful bonus and you get 1 for free at the start when you chose to build your headquarter on that continent. Further you research alien technology and biology to develop better weapons and human technology. This is also crucial for your success as the missions will get harder and harder without. Some new items are just to awesome to negate. Be warned you need scientists, engineers and power (plants) to do so. For this you build facilities in your headquarter at increasingly costs. There is some bonus for adjacent buildings of the same type or building a power plant on a special place. Beware there are also maintenance cost to factor in. I will end this here and continue with the turn based battles. If there is a mission you send out a squad of your soldiers. I will start with the important info that these can permanently die and are lost forever (There is a memorial wall in your base). These soldiers get experience by killing aliens and level up to new ranks (Maybe also a small bit for participation as I have seen level ups without but very rarely). On each rank expect 1 you can chose 1 of 2 new abilities for them. Some are really good and others are situational. I tested a lot and read about it as there were interesting approaches I did not see fitting. You have also a training school were you can unlock upgrades but need a soldier with the required rank. High on the priory list should be the squad size upgrades (You start with 4 and can upgrade to 6). In addition to dying your soldiers can also be injured and are unavailable until they recover. Have a few new recruits participating with veterans to have appropriate replacements in case of injuries. You have 4 classes of soldiers Assault, Heavy, Support and Sniper. Each class is useful and you should have multiple soldiers in each class available. Remark: Sadly it is random what class your rookie gets promoted into. This is one of my main complains. I saved the game near the end of a mission and reloaded until I was satisfied. This is not possible on Ironman mode which is a fitting transition. The game has a great variety of challenges. Normal mode is no breeze, Classic is really challenging and Impossible is named correctly. Ironman is an addition that you have just 1 save file and it will save after each decision / action (no second chances or retries).
   
   Addition from Enemy Within:
   Enemy Within adds Meld which is a substance that can be found in small amounts in battles in storage container that expire after a set number of turns. This changes your gameplay as you must approach faster to get it. Meld gives you access to gene mods and MEC troopers. Gene mods are additional abilities for your soldiers. You can choose 1 of 2 for brain, eyes, skin, chest and legs. These give a lot of advantages. MEC troopers are cybernetic enhanced soldiers. You get a new class of soldier with great durability but be careful your Meld reserves are not unlimited nor can you have gene mods on MEC troopers. Then there is a new human enemy in form of the Exalt organization. These want to use the alien invasion for their own benefits while not being allies of the aliens. You have to fight them too and they will try to sabotage X-Com. There are also new alien enemies, maps, options and missions. I enjoyed the covert operations, an intense recon in Canada and operation progeny. There is another mission that I cant spoil that returned from classic X-Com.
   
   Overall:
   Huge improvements make this an even better game and easy recommendation.… Expand

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2. ente2ente

   Jul 28, 2022

   9

   I am playing the game for 8 of weeks now allmost every evening for 2-4 hours, at least 80 hours, and still can't stop. It is great, moreI am playing the game for 8 of weeks now allmost every evening for 2-4 hours, at least 80 hours, and still can't stop. It is great, more addicting than XCOM: Enemy Unknown (from 2012). But, similar to Enemy Unknown 2012, I think that the replay value is pretty low. When the story is done I was so fed up with repetition which after some weeks of playing you see through all the variation they built in.
   So it is much more addicting than the one UFO Enemy Unknown (european name, XCOM Ufo Defense was the us name I think) from 1994, but the replay value of the 1994 version still is higher because of it's much higher complexity.… Expand

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4. Vanpire73

   Mar 6, 2014

   9

   As a turn-based strategy game fan, this was my favorite of all time. I am a little unsettled that I had to shell out $40 for an upgraded,As a turn-based strategy game fan, this was my favorite of all time. I am a little unsettled that I had to shell out $40 for an upgraded, better version of the same game I played last year, but I won't let pricing effect the rating I give. I will, however, take a point away for running into a near miss campaign-ending freeze point during the base invasion. Luckily it wasn't during an iron man run or I wouldn't have been able to devise a plan to work around it. Great game. Now release a patch for the bugs and release any further expansions at expansion prices.… Expand

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5. Folmer

   Feb 23, 2019

   8

   I'm not a fan of tactical strategy genre, and i really enjoyed this game. My favorite feature of this game is a worry about your characters,I'm not a fan of tactical strategy genre, and i really enjoyed this game. My favorite feature of this game is a worry about your characters, because the loss of your favorite hero is a big tragedy. This game gives strong emotions, and great experience.… Expand

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6. raccoondaddy

   May 13, 2017

   7

   Call me a purist on this, but X-Com: UFO Defense for the PC FAR SUPERIOR. That's right, a title that was made in 1994, is better. Okay,Call me a purist on this, but X-Com: UFO Defense for the PC FAR SUPERIOR. That's right, a title that was made in 1994, is better. Okay, before I continue, I get it, there is the seriously sweet graphics and there is flashier presentation on it. But there is something this game doesn't have. Squads are now reduced to 8-14 members. Where the original has the ability to larger teams and crews together.
   
   Also, there is no ability to search dead aliens and members for ammo and gear. (Yeah, that existed in 1994) Base management and finances have been oversimplified and it just seems as though the whole tension of tightly managing a loose X-Com project, while doing recon missions is gone.
   
   Granted, the visual improvements and cover system improvements are a big plus. The same weapons are researched and developed; as are almost all of the aliens from the original.
   
   Honestly, it was good, but I'll still find myself going back to my PC version of UFO Defense.… Expand

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7. djrussell

   Jun 15, 2014

   5

   XCOM Enemy Within is a great game but its more or less a carbon copy of XCOM Enemy Within. If you havent played Enemy Unknown then get EnemyXCOM Enemy Within is a great game but its more or less a carbon copy of XCOM Enemy Within. If you havent played Enemy Unknown then get Enemy Within as its got a few extra bits n pieces but otherwise if you already own Enemy Unknown dont bother, the 'changes' arent big enough to warrant a new purchase.… Expand

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8. quaz

   Jun 4, 2014

   0

   I've never shared my full story about how terrible the bugs are in this game, so here it goes.
   
   I played EU with little issues and enjoyedI've never shared my full story about how terrible the bugs are in this game, so here it goes.
   
   I played EU with little issues and enjoyed it, so figured I'd purchase the "stand alone expansion" and have more fun. I was disappointed when it became clear EW was not a new game but just the same game with a few tweaks, but that's on me for not doing my research.
   
   I played through the same old content to the point where I got to send a soldier on a covert mission. Fun! As I counted down the (game) days to new things besides meld, my base was attacked. Sweet! New! Exciting!
   
   Then the base attack mission wouldn't load. You can see a video of what happens here (not my video, just someone else with the exact same problem): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8hUXCeJMkw
   
   Spent a few hours trouble shooting, then finally found a PLAYER derived solution that involved uninstalling the game and NOT allowing the latest patch to load. After allowing the game to download over night, it worked! Yay new content!
   
   Played a half hour. Got towards the middle of the base defense mission, then the game just sat there making sounds. Infinite alien spawn loop bug. Progress lost. Gave up for the night. Overnight my playstation auto updated. Opened up my save for the game in the base defense mission. Because the auto update had downloaded the newest patch, it would not load again. Uninstalled game. Downloaded game for the third time. Re-installed game for the third time.
   
   Got to around the same place as before, saving frequently. This time the game crashed after an alien movement. Punched babies in frustration. Finished the one mission after two reinstalls and 2 complete crashes.… Expand

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