14 DAY TRIAL // The development team at Firaxis, publisher 2K Games, and the Long War Studios are announcing that they are planning to offer three free mods for the upcoming XCOM 2 on launch day, designed to introduce some extra variety for those who are planning to spend a lot of time with the coming strategy experience.
The first one of the bunch is the SMG-series Weapon Mod, which introduces three new guns to the video game, offering new conventional, magnetic and beam options for players who are willing to let some damage and accuracy go to gain mobility, stealth, and close range power.
The Muton Centurion Mod is also coming to XCOM 2 and introduces a new alien unit, stronger than the base version of the same creature, easily identified by the special face mask and the red armor and with the ability to give bonuses to allies.
Finally, an XCOM Leader Mod is introduced, giving a new upgrade path to all soldiers that gamers control, with a pool of ten new abilities to choose from for five slots and the restriction that only one such operative can be featured during one engagement.
Firaxis and Long War Studios are clearly designing the three launch modifications to be a showcase for the extensive Steam Workshop capabilities that are offered for XCOM 2 and the way users will be able to tweak the game to suit their own needs.
Each gamer will be able to choose which of the three revealed mods can enhance his experience, and all will work with other content created by the developers or the community.
A Long War is not confirmed for XCOM 2
The developers of the three new mods have created their reputations by creating a Long War experience for the first installment in the rebooted series, which increases the difficulty and expands the main mechanics.
They have not yet committed to creating a similar modification for the coming sequel, although their work with Firaxis might be a sign that they have the access required to create something truly spectacular.
XCOM 2 will ask gamers to lead a guerrilla incarnation of the original organization that's trying to oppose the aliens that, in this version of the lore, have managed to conquer Earth and to convince most of the population to serve them.
The game will feature procedurally generated maps that are designed to introduce more variety to the tactical engagement and to make sure that the difficulty level is higher than in the original.
A new set of classes are featured, and for the first time gamers will be able to get into close quarters combat with some of the enemies and that stealth will be more important than before.
XCOM 2 will be launched on February 5 only on the PC, and gamers can place a pre-order to secure access to extra content and a Reinforcement Pack is already offered, which covers access to three downloadable content packs, called Anarchy's Children, Alien Hunters and Shen's Last Gift, which will add weapons, enemies and missions.
