14 DAY TRIAL // XCOM: Enemy Within does not seem all that different at first as players are once again thrown into that starting mission where four weak operatives, with basic armor and assaults rifles, need to deal with four of the grey aliens assaulting Earth.
The first hint that this expansion changes the turn-based strategy in some fundamental ways comes during the Options screen for a new campaign, where a few changes suggest how important MELD will be in the coming hours.
The new resource makes a full appearance in the first abduction mission when the player is instructed to collect the two containers on the map as quickly as possible, in addition to killing all enemies.
The fact that most missions offer the ability to get MELD might make some players believe that it is plentiful, but I urge everyone to focus, especially on the earlier easier battles, on getting as many of the containers as possible.
The two new structures benefitting from it, the Genetics Lab and the Mech Bay, appear after just a few days played in XCOM: Enemy Within, filled with interesting gameplay options.
But it makes sense to ignore them for a while and focus on the classic campaign progression that aims for a solid five-man team equipped with laser rifles and with carapace armor.
Once that exists, it makes sense to choose one team member and turn him into a mech soldier, which involves chopping up his limbs in order to replace them with cybernetic implants.
The strategies its presence in a squad opens up are interesting and potentially very powerful, but I needed about three missions before I learned exactly how to use him and which character class best complement the abilities it can bring to the fight.
Enemy Within might seem familiar at first, but the game is changed in fundamental ways that will make XCOM fans happy.