XCOM: Enemy Within is here! Let me attempt to describe how giddy I am. You know how excited 12-16 year old boys are when Call of Duty is released? Yep, that excited. I’ve been looking forward to XCOM: Enemy Within all year and with great pleasure I am happy to report it delivers, and then some!
I must be clear here; this is not a brand new game but rather an expansion to Enemy Unknown. And yes, unfortunately, you have to buy it separately rather than downloading it as DLC for Enemy Unknown. Quite why Firaxis chose this route rather than the traditional expansion release I am not entirely sure. It is also disappointing that it’s RRP comes in above the £20 mark. Part of me feels a little ripped off but the rest of me is simply screaming “YES!!! MORE XCOM!!!”
If you thought last year’s XCOM was good then prepare to have your socks blown off. Despite it’s release method, XCOM: Enemy Within is an expansion pack that you dream of. The core of the original story is still there, the outcome will be the same as the previous incarnation, screen tearing FMV and all. However, it is now a plump, well fed turkey of a game. There’s more of everything. New levels, new baddies, new goodies, new mission types and new customisable options for your characters. That last point is what makes it all worthwhile. Enemy Within doesn’t refer to a spy within the camp but to the quote that opens the game:
“Those that play with the Devil’s toys will be brought by degrees to wield his sword.”
Do you risk losing yourself and becoming like the enemy just to defeat them? Well, thanks to Gene Modification and a new Cybernetics lab, every soldier in the barracks can be altered significantly. Some of the skills that can be unlocked and added to a soldier are as astounding as they are ingenious. I found XCOM: Enemy Unknown to be the gaming equivalent of a moreish snack, no matter how much I played it I wanted more. All these new additions to the game are going to seriously damage my social life. I don’t know how much longer I can continue writing this review; the pause screen is already trying to seduce my attention.
It’s not all positive. Some of the minor issues from Enemy Unknown still remain. There’s still in game stuttering when the screen has a high number of characters on it, the FMVs still suffer from screen tearing. It’s disappointing that Firaxis were not able to eradicate these problems. XCOM isn’t a particularly complicated game when you compare it to Battlefield and Call of Duty, and they don’t have these issues.
All that being said, the gameplay is still as addictive and brilliant as ever. Almost every facet of the game has been enhanced and improved. It’s like I’ve upgraded from a Ford Focus to a Ferrari and I can never go back. RIP XCOM: Enemy Unknown, XCOM: Enemy Within is here.
Originally published November 15, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
