14 DAY TRIAL // The team at Firaxis working on the upcoming Enemy Within expansion for XCOM: Enemy Unknown says that the introduction of the new MELD resources is designed to reconfigure the core elements of the single-player campaign in interesting ways.
Ananda Gupta, the lead designer working on the new content, tells The Escapist that “Meld will be in the game from the first map, if you recover Meld on your first mission, it'll be one of the very first research projects you have access to.”
Gamers will be able to choose whether to focus on unlocking the secrets of MELD rather than researching other important early game techs like Alien Materials, which opens up body armor, or Weapon Fragments, which can lead to laser weaponry.
The aliens in Enemy Within are using the resource to create some of their strongest creatures, including the Muton, and players will be able to use research and autopsies to gain access to some of the most powerful abilities they have been already facing.
Gupta adds, “Dr. Vahlen's team discovers that MELD can be used to insert sequences of alien DNA into humans, giving them some of the abilities of that alien. For example, the muscle fiber density of the Thin Man can be copied to give soldiers the ability to leap huge heights. Dissecting a Chryssalid allows you to learn the secrets of bioelectric skin.”
The resource can be used to modify agents on a genetic level and make them more capable on the battlefield.
Gamers can also use the new techs they discover to develop mech suits for their team, which represent long-term investments that cost a lot but offer more protection and more firepower.
XCOM: Enemy Within will be launched on the PC, the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 from Sony on November 12 of this year.