XCOM: Enemy Within Game Review (PC)

The XCOM franchise was rebooted to brilliant success in 2012; it not only updated the classic formula for a modern audience but also made plenty of steps forward to stand on its own. Flash forward one year and the game’s sole expansion pack, Enemy Within does a fine job of building on a successful reboot.

XCOM: Enemy Within utilises the same structure and story as Enemy Unknown and remains predominantly the same in terms of structure; it’s all about the management of your base and its resources as well as directing your troops on the ground. It differs from the original in the way it introduces two major components; the Meld substance and Exalt, a pro-alien human splinter group. Meld is contained in canisters on certain missions and you’ll need it to build both genetic implants and MEC suits for your soldiers; it adds a new risk/reward element to the tactical combat, do you charge in to collect the precious substance or do you hang back at the risk of losing it? While it is possible to play through the game without making use of the new upgrades, you may find yourself at a considerable disadvantage when the more aggressive enemies arrive in the later stages of the game. The Exalt faction adds both new enemies and new missions to the mix; often you’ll be scanning the globe and a covert operation mission will pop up. You’ll send one soldier to disrupt Exalt forces in the area who will eventually have to be extracted in a mission that involves either hacking relays or protecting key targets. With Exalt troops sporting their own augmentations and abilities, you’ll have to employ different tactics than you would for the aliens. The final feature of the expansion is a few select missions that you won’t find in the base game including an inevitable assault on Exalt’s base of operations, a very challenging base invasion scenario (finally!) and a battle across a crumbling dam. These are good additions but they don’t really shake up the formula too much, keeping the game relatively familiar to both XCOM veterans and newcomers to the series.

Of course the new meld mechanic wouldn’t be a worthy addition if it didn’t add to the gameplay and it undoubtedly does; the genetic implants can grant your soldiers all kinds of benefits depending on the body part you choose to enhance. Enhanced legs can allow soldiers to quickly access elevated positions for a better shot, the heart can be upgraded to extend the time before a soldier bleeds out and the skin can be built to sense enemy presence or even blend in with full cover. On the other side of the coin, the MEC suits come in different flavours depending on the class they had before; some are focused on combat, launching grenades and proximity mines while others are support based with healing gas and a stun charge. As the MEC troopers are upgraded, they gain more health and tactics to use. You’ll be using meld sparingly for both types of soldier throughout the game and it’s a blast to see your specialised squad demolish the moral of your enemies. The only real issue the new mechanics bring is that the game can become ever so slightly unbalanced; once you have a fully upgraded and promoted squad with both implants and MEC suits installed, it becomes slightly less stressful to deal with the aliens because you have a greater level of firepower at your disposal. New enemies, such as the cloaked Seeker which can choke your soldiers early on become easy pickings as a result. If there had been enemies who were actively focused on countering your upgraded units then that would have added more tension to the proceedings. While the game does continue the trend of throwing more difficult foes at you, if you’re fairly familiar with the game’s mechanics you won’t lose soldiers nearly as much as you would in Enemy Unknown. This is less true of the new Mechtoid unit, a formidable mechanised opponent that can inflict heavy damage on your squad. The expansion’s slight unbalance doesn’t diminish XCOM’s intense tactical gameplay one bit; you’ll still find yourself outnumbered and sometimes outgunned by the aliens, particularly in the early stages and careful base management is essential if you want to avoid countries withdrawing their support from the council. There’s still no other strategy game quite like it on the market and it continues to do what it does with flying colours.

Enemy Within shares the same presentational style as its base counterpart; once again running on the Unreal Engine, the game’s cell-shaded art style and tense soundtrack are a strong backdrop to the proceedings, and the expansion’s distinctive use of orange brilliantly compliments the new meld mechanic. While the game’s art style is still a pleasure to the eyes, Enemy Within’s technical presentation has unfortunately taken a hit, at least for me personally. There’s a fair bit of inconsistency with dialogue taking a few seconds to catch up with the action whenever a mission begins as well as a few annoying game crashes that can send you back a fair bit if you don’t save often. This may be less true depending on the power of the rig used, but ultimately the expansion feels slightly less polished than the original game. The game also comes with the same issues that plagued the original such as awkward facial animations and a few glitches when it comes to moving soldiers in combat. The crashes aren’t frequent enough to spoil the gameplay but it’s a little disappointing that the expansion doesn’t run nearly as well as Enemy Unknown.

Aside from some technical issues and a tinge of unbalance in the gameplay, XCOM: Enemy Within is a very engaging and deep expansion to what was already a brilliant strategy game. The new MEC troopers and genetic implants are great fun to experiment with while also adding a greater level of versatility to the game’s tactical scenarios. If you enjoyed the 2012 XCOM reboot, there’s little reason not to pick up Enemy Within (Though I do recommend that you get it at a discounted price!).

Rating: 8.5/10