Firaxis just announced an expansion pack to Enemy Unknown to be released on November 12 later this year featuring a new class, new maps and more ways to spend money. Looking forward to going back in! http://au.ign.com/articles/2013/08/21/xcom-enemy-within-announced-tons-of-details

Here are some of the highlights:

• $30 PC Expansion, $40 Standalone game for 360 and PS3
• Will need to start a new game to access the expansion content
• Access to localised voice files means soldiers actually speak the language that matches their nationality. For example, French soldiers actually speak French, etc.
• UFO crash sites are no longer exclusive to rural environments, they may occur in urban and city maps
• Mech Trooper class unlike other classes any soldier can become one but lose access to genetic enhancements and all their previous class abilities
• New resource called Meld, randomly scattered throughout maps. There is a self-destruct timer on them to force players to collect them quickly, putting the soldiers' lives even more at risk
• Some class abilities rebalancing. For example, "Up Close and Personal will now give your Assault class a completely free shot when within four tiles of an enemy"
• More Second Wave options coming including randomising upgrade trees for soldiers. For example, "A Heavy with Lightning Reflexes and Battle Scanner"

Fantastic news, can't wait!

HELL YEAS

Hey, baby, you have any alien in you?

uh... no...

Would you like some?

...

XCOM: Enemy Within!

Seems good, but I don't know if I really need to play more tactical XCOM at the moment (I really would like a Terror From the Deep remake though).

fuck all other games this year. cant wait for this goddamm expansion. so excited, enemy unknown is an all time favorite

So bummed. Just the same game with new stuff, I already have played through the game several times. No new story stuff, no new campaign, no purchase for me.

This actually sounds a little underwhelming for an expansion pack. Some of them feel like things that should've been in the game in the first place like localized languages for squadmates of different nationalities and shutting up Dr. Shen and Vahlen after subsequent playthroughs and UFOs crashing on farms and urban areas instead of boring forests all the time. 40 maps and new classes and abilities is nothing to scoff at, but still some additional story content would have been nice.

Was pretty excited as I expected a new campaign with a new story, no real incitement for replay to my mind.

The linear campaign with no branching is what trips the replayability for me. Sometimes I just wish it was more randomized events and that the game had more possible branches with more endings and such. The gameplay though is top notch, from base building to the combat.

On the one hand; it's about time! On the other hand; I'd rather have them work on a proper sequel with more destructible environments and targeted environmental destruction, and combat that actually works with proper hitboxes instead of dicerolls exclusively - all those silly and impossible *shoot through solid cover* shots have got to go.

I already own the game on PS3 and this makes it sound like I will have to buy a new retail copy that also includes the original game. That seems silly to me. That said, I really want more XCOM.

Meanwhile, at 2K Marin, developers lament that once again Firaxis is stealing their thunder.

I played through the game twice already... I really can't see myself playing XCOM again with changes as minor as these. A completely new 3-6h campaing would be awesome.

I still have to play Unknown. I should probably get on that...

Have they patched a majority of the issues people were having?

Now, imagine if it was all underwater. Hmmm? Hmmmmmmmmm?

I am mildly excited about this. They should really add more than a few minor tweaks though. Give me more weapon and equipment options for soldiers, throw in a couple of new enemies and add a mid-way stepping stone between Normal and Classic difficulty.

Where do I pay?

@blargonaut: It's a stand alone game on consoles - 40 bucks. But it's a big expansion on PC - 30 bucks. Seems like a bit of a raw deal for console owners.

@truthtellah: AHHHHHHHHHH

I was excited till I saw no mention of new story content. That's a major bummer.

I hadn't thought about it until I read all of this but it's pretty much EXACTLY what I think the base game needs. Robot suits? Hell yeah.

Damn, I still need to finish Unknown.

@artelinarose: I remember someone on another site saying that X-COM was exactly what the Pacific Rim licensed game should have been. Hilarious in hindsight.

As long as they add more hats, I'M IN!

Does this count as a expansion or another achievement list?

Looking forward to EW! I Oddly, my favourite addition is the localized dialog for soldiers. I do wonder if they'll add to or expand the campaign modifiers that were patched in after XCOM:EU's release.

Hopefully this expansion will give me the tactical edge I need to beat Classic Iron Man.

Think of it more like Civilization. It's all about the gameplay. There's a good interview at RockPaperShotgun with EW senior games designer Anand Gupta where they talk about some of the design decisions for the expansion. I'd link to the interview, but I unfortunately I don't see any option to do that in this forum.

So no English/Scottish/Irish/Canadian/Australian/New Zealand/South African accents? Damn. I'd like to still know what people are saying but with some more variety.

@mustachio: I don't know, they haven't specified. Maybe they might record some new voices but I doubt it, too much work/expensive for a small feature like this.

I am absolutely stoked for this!

I'm hoping this will be the first of perhaps a few expansions to XCOM. Kind of what Firaxis is doing with Civ 5.

You mean this one?

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/08/27/the-mod-squad-xcom-enemy-within-interview/

I've got no problem with them adding new units and such, all that sounds cool.

But that level of content to me says "DLC" not "expansion". A true expansion the way I define it would be like Starcraft: Heart of the Swarm which has a new campaign and story. That's what I want from an X-Com expansion, not just new voiceovers a few new units and some new resource management tools. This sounds like overpriced DLC to me, 30 bucks is a lot for DLC.

$30 for an extra class and a couple gameplay tweaks? Seems like DLC / a patch and not a $40 (on console) stand-alone game...

It sounds pretty cool, but maybe kinda overpriced? I want an excuse to play through Xcom again, but I'm not spending $40 to do it. I feel like they should let me get this for $20 as DLC.

I wonder if this will make its way to iPad now that I have one that will actually run it.

@slag: That is indeed the interview I was referring to.

I have no problem with the price, Firaxis packs a lot into their expansions from my experience. Their DLC, on the other hand... I think it's almost always a horrible price.

It's impossible to please us all, I suppose.

I'd be fine with it, if 2k didn't misleadingly label/price the content for something it's not. There's no new environments, there's no new campaign thus it's not an expansion pack as most consumers would define it.

my problem with this is not about pleasing people, it's about being honest with your customers about what you're selling.

but whatever it's not a big deal.

Did you know that nobody knew what was going to exactly happen in that scene and that is why they have authentic WHAT THE FUCK faces? True story.

@slag: To be clear: there are dozens of new maps in EW. There are new cinematics. There are new gameplay mechanics and enemies. Is is an expansion of Enemy Unknown's content. For console owners, it is essentially a sequel. It is priced at $30 on PC, as Firaxis expansion packs are, and $40 on consoles, as many stand-alone expansion packs are (such as Star Craft 2's "expansion packs"). In the traditional sense, it is an expansion pack.

If it were released as DLC, it would be split into a hundred pieces and would cost ten times more in total.

The mentality you have is probably the reason why very few companies release expansion packs nowadays, and opt for bad-value DLC instead.

Oh man, this is everything I could ever want. I've really been jonesing for more Xcom content. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I really like the idea of a full on expansion.

Yeah this expansion was way overpriced. Like somebody else said it's the exact same story line and cut scenes with a few extra add-on's; the mechs, the biologically enhanced soldiers (this changes their armor and exposes the soldiers arms and looks really stupid) and like two new enemy. All of this for only $30-$40 WOW HOW EXCITING! After having beat this game already a couple of times even with this new expansion i find myself getting bored before it ends and don't even have much of a desire to finish it... In conclusion it should have been $15 like the Blood Dragon add-on for far cry 3 which was actually pretty sweet and they gave you a whole new island to explore. My only dislike about blood dragon was that it was too short BECAUSE IT WAS AWESOME! I would have gladly paid $20 or even $30 for blood dragon if they just added even 25% more to it. Anyway i just brought it up because i think that Blood Dragon gave you at least AT LEAST twice as much bang for your buck compared to Enemy within. If Enemy Within was $15 like Blood Dragon i'd still being saying twice as much bang for your buck. So you tell me guys if you've played Blood Dragon and Enemy Within which one do you think was the better deal?

@adfggffffffddffd: Perfectly priced for me since I never bought Enemy Unknown.