MELD, gene mods, MECs are superb additions to the game

Dec 18, 2013 17:16 GMT  ·  By

When Enemy Within, the expansion for XCOM: Enemy Unknown, was first announced, a lot of players were a little surprised that such a complete and successful remake would get new content so fast.

The word expansion is rarely used nowadays, in a gaming world dominated by downloadable content packs, but the team at Firaxis has managed to deliver an impressive mix of entirely new ideas and tweaks to the core experience.

The biggest change is the MELD system, which deploys two canisters of a necessary new resource on each tactical map and actively encourages gamers to change their play style and become more adventurous in their movement.

This means more chaotic fights and a lot more unpredictability and makes the new toys, genetically enhanced soldiers and cybernetic MECs, necessary for a squad that aims to escape unscathed from battles with a more varied and aggressive alien faction.

Enemy Within also adds the EXALT, creating situations where humans must fight humans in pretty tense scenarios.

The entire feel of XCOM is changed and the developers have gone beyond their duty and have created two other impressive missions that will surprise fans of the franchise in two very different ways, one focused on a whale and another on a purely defensive battle.

I spent more than 100 hours with Enemy Unknown, playing two campaigns on Normal and on Classic, and so far I have put in about the same time into Enemy Within.

The expansion manages to make the strategy experience even more interesting and significantly enhances its replayability for fans who are looking for more challenges.

For those players who like another type of strategy experience, the various expansions for Crusader Kings II, including the most recent Sons of Abraham, also offer great quality and enhance the gameplay of the Paradox Interactive game in new and interesting ways.