Surf's Up, Aliens!

[Thorondor]

XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Ready to tackle some more invaders in XCOM: Enemy Unknown? Good, because Firaxis is not just content with riding the wave of success of what was, to many, the Strategy Game of the Year in 2012, and have plans to improve the experience in the present and for the future.

https://www.strategycore.co.uk/site/assets/files/5675/news-thumbnail_xcom_enemy_unknown_scnd_wave_bnr.jpg

 

For the present, Second Wave is officially here, and the third patch for the game.

 

 

PC Gamer has word from Lead Designer Jake Solomon:

 

 

 

We have some exciting stuff coming up. The Second Wave is kind of the first step in that. Because it's free and... It's not adding more elements to the system, but it is adding more ways for the player to interact with the game and get some more gameplay out of it. Hopefully people will get a lot of enjoyment out of that.

 

 

(...) there are four options that will just be automatically unlocked for everybody. But then there are 16 total options that are hidden behind beating the game.

 

 

Some of the options are taken directly from the original game. The damage that your weapons do, the range of it, is increased drastically. Really powerful plasma weapons may only do one hit point sometimes when you fire. It's rare, it's very rare, but it can happen. Weapons can also do up to twice the amount of damage they do in the current game. It sort of takes what XCOM is and makes it even more XCOM-ey, in the sense that you have these moments of elation where every weapon almost has a chance...Almost every weapon can deal serious damage.

 

 

 

Here's a list of some of the unlocks Second Wave brings:

 

 

 

• Damage Roulette: Weapons have a wider range of damage.

• New Economy: Randomized council member funding.

• Not Created Equally: Rookies will have random starting stats.

• Hidden Potential: As a soldier is promoted, stats increase randomly.

• Red Fog: Combat wounds will degrade the soldier’s mission stats.

• Absolutely Critical: A flanking shot guarantees a critical hit.

• The Greater Good: Psionics can only be learned from interrogating a psionic alien.

• Marathon: The game takes considerably longer to complete.

• Results Driven: A country offers less funding as its panic level increases.

• High Stakes: Random rewards for stopping alien abductions.

• Diminishing Returns: Increased cost of satellite construction.

• More Than Human: The psionic gift is extremely rare.

 

 

 

Looking forward:

 

 

 

It's been fun to watch people play the game, put so many hours into it, and say, "Okay, these are the things we value. We value this thing and this thing. We want more of this and more of that." For us, it's our job to say, "Absolutely." If people are going to pay their hard-earned money for our product, it's our job to listen to that and say, "We can give you more than that."

 

 

 

Obviously, not much is being said of what's to come, but we already know there's more DLC down the pipe.

 

 

Meanwhile, enjoy the patch and read the rest of what Mr.Jake Solomon had to share with PC Gamer on these two articles (one about Second Wave, and another being an interview regarding DLC and more).

 

 

The threat level has been raised. So, if you're ready to dive right back in - good luck, Commander!

[Sunflash]

YYYeeesssssss

[Space Voyager]

Sounds like a change for the better. I won't reinstall yet, though.

[NoXTheRoXStaR]

Me either Space, waiting for the Super Uber Strategy Game of...Last Year... Complete/Gold/Ultimate version!

[Pete]

I still need to do that last playthrough to get the achievement for the last continent so I might ramp the difficulty up to silly so it takes me longer

[Thorondor]

https://media.pcgamer.com/files/2014/01/zemalf-xcomending-610x379.jpg

 

::

 

A feat little known, beating XCOM in Impossible Ironman with no casualties, is the accomplishment of Zemalf, as reported by PC Gamer's Wes Fenlon.

[Space Voyager]

:bows very very deeply:

 

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/Smiley/notworthy.gif