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" XCOM: Enemy Within is the first expansion for last year&amp;#039;s BAFTA-award winning reboot XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Like developer Firaxis Games&amp;#039; Civilization expansions, Enemy Within is an add-on that smartly integrates new layers onto existing systems, introducing new units, weapons, enemies and strategies to consider. &amp;quot;[We had] the consequence of the game and the challenge, and then also the reciprocal relationship between the strategy layer and the combat layer,&amp;quot; senior producer Garth\u00A0DeAngelis explained to Digital Spy at gamescom. &amp;quot;We said, How can we deepen that? How can we make that better?&amp;quot; MELD is the answer; new additions are governed by this new alien resource, which opens up bonus tech trees for powerful new units, from genetic medications to walking mechs.  Walking mechs and genetic modifications MELD will appear on maps similar to Bomb Disposal objectives. The sooner you reach it, the more you can recover and take back to base and put it to use. Two units announced so far that will make use of MELD are Gene Mods, which can provide augmentations to a soldier&amp;#039;s chest, brain, eyes, skin and legs, and walking mechs, the MEC Troopers. Not only are they more powerful, but the way they traverse and interact with the map are different. An enhanced soldier can leap up tall structures without a ladder or grappling hook, so doesn&amp;#039;t expend a move per turn. Biometric Skin will also expose enemy units in the fog of war, allowing you to take more informed positions.  MEC Troopers are also not only walking tanks with masses of hit points, but can also blow apart cover to expose enemy positions. &amp;quot;The really cool thing about XCOM maps is they have some fundamentals about them,&amp;quot; said DeAngelis. &amp;quot;You have cover, you have height variations, and there&amp;#039;s destructible terrain. The design team said, let&amp;#039;s create new abilities that are already conclusive to this map set. &amp;quot;What can we do within the existing framework of levels that we didn&amp;#039;t allow the player to do in Enemy Unknown?&amp;quot;      The MEC Trooper also has a powerful melee attack, which means players must position them close enough to be used, but still out of sight that they won&amp;#039;t become attacked. &amp;quot;No one was able to do a melee attack. The Heavy, the Assault class, could not melee attack in Enemy Unknown,&amp;quot; DeAngelis said. &amp;quot;This unit can, and in fact, it&amp;#039;s pretty darn powerful, so you&amp;#039;ll want to take advantage of it. It&amp;#039;s stuff like that that we&amp;#039;re not just giving you this thing that looks cool, but it behaves completely different as well.&amp;quot; Powerful new units, but the same old challenging XCOM While these units are powerful, players cannot solely rely on them during the course of the game due to MELD being a scarce resource. &amp;quot;I think I had three mechs by the end of the game, and two of them died before the temple mission,&amp;quot; said DeAngelis. &amp;quot;I could have invested more resources there to get a little bit more, but it gives you an idea that they feel precious. You&amp;#039;re not going to have a huge squad full of mechs and as they die, you&amp;#039;ll be able to get new ones really quickly. It&amp;#039;s a big investment. There are also the existing complications of XCOM&amp;#039;s deep and multi-faceted strategy layer to consider.  &amp;quot;[The expansion is] all laid on top of the framework that was Enemy Unknown, so you still have to overcome the challenge that you had to in Enemy Unknown,&amp;quot; DeAngelis said. &amp;quot;You still have to research satellites, and uplinks and Carapace armour, and all that good stuff. How do you balance that with the new goodies that you have, is part of the challenge, because in typical XCOM fashion, you can&amp;#039;t do everything at once. &amp;quot;You have to make hard choices. That&amp;#039;s part of the fun of the experience.&amp;quot; What else is there to come in XCOM: Enemy Within? The enemy will also counter your expanded arsenal with new units of their own . Teased was the alien Mechtoid, a towering armoured unit that appeared to be the opposite of the MEC Trooper. Not only will there be new maps and battlegrounds, but the new units, enemies and weapons will be making their way into multiplayer as well, alongside a fan-requested feature to edit squads when offline. Second Wave modifiers - which were introduced to XCOM: Enemy Within post release - will also return, and bring new ways to play after you&amp;#039;ve finished the game.  &amp;quot;One of the coolest ones that I like is called Rookie Roulette,&amp;quot; said DeAngelis. &amp;quot;After you get promoted into a class, a Sniper, Asault or what have you, you get the baseline ability. &amp;quot;So he has the Rocket, right? That&amp;#039;s his first ability. He&amp;#039;s going to get that, but after that point, he could get random abilities for you to choose from. &amp;quot;He might get a Support medic option to choose from, or something from the Assault class that allows him to run and gun, which really mixes and matches the feel of these classes in a unique way.&amp;quot; The expansion will not only be available as downloadable content for XCOM: Enemy Unknown but also as a retail package, which bundles the original game and all subsequent add-ons. XCOM: Enemy Within will be available on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on November 15 in Europe and November 12 in North America. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/previews/news/a510568/xcom-enemy-within-preview-mechs-and-genetic-mods-in-new-expansion/>