A few days ago, Firaxis came out and announced XCOM 2, much to the delight of the millions of fans who had jumped on board with the series with the excellent Enemy Unknown, and its equally excellent expansion, Enemy Within. However, there was one surprising element in all of that- the game was announced to just be a PC exclusive, which came as a bit of a shock to everyone, considering that Enemy Unknown and Enemy Within had both been made available on consoles (and tablets too!).

Now, speaking to IGN, Firaxis’ Creative Director Jake Solomon explained why the game had to be a PC exclusive.

“When we looked at what we wanted to do with the sequel, we had all these very, very ambitious goals,” said Solomon. “To do that, we had to use all of our studio expertise … and our expertise here is PC. That’s our home, and that’s where we’re really comfortable.

“Internally, with a relatively small team for the size of the game that we are, to be able to say we can focus on our platform that the studio has a pedigree for, and that X-COM: UFO Defense has a pedigree for, as PC-only… it just made a lot of sense, and that’s how we wanted to dedicate our time.”

“When we have our meetings, when we talk about stuff, we only talk about PC,” said Solomon. “We talk about ‘What is the experience like on PC? What does the mouse feel like in this experience?’” The most obvious change resulting from those conversations is how the team is optimizing the interface to be mouse-and-keyboard friendly, moving UI elements and grouping them logically so that buttons we’re likely to press one after the other aren’t placed on opposite sides of the screen. “It will certainly be recognizable, but there isn’t one UI widget that’s the same.”

So, does all of this mean that the future of the series on consoles is finished? Not so fast, Solomon says. “We’re certainly not opposed to that, but I can assure that’s something we’re not even discussing yet,” he said, noting that the Xbox One and PS4 can technically run the game just fine, but that developing a game as ambitious and feature rich as XCOM 2 on three platforms simultaneously will be impossible for a team the size of Firaxis.

Honestly, I would rather take an excellent game on one platform than a diluted one on three. It’s good to know that a studio made a decision based on artistic and creative vision rather than the economics of it all, for once.

"Considering the deep research and weapon tiers already available, the addition of Meld upgrades brings an excellent new twist to the proceedings. Thankfully, Firaxis re-balanced the other skills equipment to account for these changes."

In Enemy Unknown, the campaign focused on the Aliens’ introduction and subsequent invasion. In Enemy Within, the war for humanity is still underway and it’s become more about making use of enemy resources to amp your troops up. Ethical and moral struggles arise, but hey, whatever kills the little buggers. Classified as Meld, these resources help add new abilities are unique yet integral to your normal skill tree.

You can equip soldiers with the ability to auto-detect foes, skin that makes invisible to enemy forces, regenerative health and much more. Meld will also grant soldiers the ability to perform super human feats such as leaping to rooftops and even upgrading to the new MEC class. Considering the deep research and weapon tiers already available, the addition of Meld upgrades brings an excellent new twist to the proceedings. Thankfully, Firaxis re-balanced the other skills equipment to account for these changes.

On the other hand, Meld isn’t a risk-free reward. You’ll need to gather it from canisters with self-destruct mechanisms in missions and that means forsaking cover and good logic just for the chance to upgrade. This encourages a more forward-thinking approach but you’ll need to significantly balance real-time tactics with long-term strategy. After all, how useful will Meld be if you permanently lose half your squad?

"This choice of balancing between brute force and careful strategy is tantamount to success, so you’ll need to work hard if you want a well-rounded squad."

But another wrench has been thrown into the works with the addition of the MEC class. A heavy unit with some serious fire power that’s armour plated like a tank, you can sacrifice a few of your squad mates in the early going to upgrade a few to MECs. They can’t take cover though and aren’t as nimble at avoiding attacks like regular soldiers. This choice of balancing between brute force and careful strategy is tantamount to success, so you’ll need to work hard if you want a well-rounded squad.

The Aliens – despite the presence of new units – aren’t the only threats you’ll have to worry about in Enemy Within. The Exalt is a human organization which packs much of the same equipment as XCOM and employs squad tactics to take you down. You’ll be facing the Exalt over some fairly interesting missions, including a Horde-like survival mission against waves of troops.

It’s a neat little twist and should challenge players, who are typically used to combating aliens, to test their skills on a squad of equals. The Aliens are still a significant threat, thanks to the addition of Seekers and Mechtoids, the former being a stealthy species that can pick off individual members of your squad undetected and the latter relying on heavy weaponry and shields to combat your firepower.

"If you had even the slightest bit of interest in the original game and want a familiar yet wholly involving and unique new take on the campaign that you loved before, Enemy Within comes highly recommended."

Many of the old issues with XCOM still remain, though they’re significantly improved this time around. Bugs have been eliminated for the most part, though you’ll encounter situations wherein you have a clear shot at enemies but they’re displayed as being in cover. You’re also a little restricted in terms of the different functions squad members can perform, since you need to rank them up to unlock their specialties.

It’s a somewhat trial-and-error method wherein you need to choose a squad member and just hope that he has a unique set of skills for later. Meld tends to remedy some of these shortcomings and give a finer degree of control but it’s more of an additional skill rather than a primary toolset in situations.

Otherwise, XCOM: Enemy Within is as addictive and involving as its predecessor. Once you begin a new game, you’ll encounter different takes on familiar layouts along, 47 new maps, new story missions and objectives. It’s still a battle to balance your fighting power with overall facility resources, one that tends to be daunting in the beginning, but which plateaus near the end-game.

Firaxis made the package even sweeter with Operation Progeny, which allows you to gain four psionic squad members but only if you successful defend your base against an enemy attack. If you had even the slightest bit of interest in the original game and want a familiar yet wholly involving and unique new take on the campaign that you loved before, Enemy Within comes highly recommended.

This game was reviewed on Xbox 360.

The expansion to 2K Games and Fireaxis’ XCOM: Enemy Unknown, XCOM: Within, is hitting Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 (as a standalone game), alongside PC later this year, and to ratchet up the hype, 2K Games has released a new story trailer for the title.

The title includes a slew of updates to the core Enemy Unknown experience, and adds a whole lot of variety and depth to the game (although still nowhere near the same level as the original XCOM games, way back in the day); the console versions will include all the original content as well as the new, expansion specific content.

XCOM: Enemy Within launches later this year, on November 13 in North America and November 15 for the rest of the world. So right next to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 launches! Great planning there, guys.

Anyway, we’ll have more for you on the title as it develops. Hold on tight.

Speaking to Joystiq at PAX Prime, senior producer Garth DeAngelis stated that, “For the expansion on the PC, it was fairly straightforward. But when it came to the consoles, it was too big. If we wanted to deliver the same content to the console players, we had to do it this way as a standalone expansion on a disc. We couldn’t simply just patch it in.”

He also stated that things such as new units, gameplay features and such were intricately connected to the initial experience. “These things are tied deeply into Enemy Unknown so we wanted to release [the Commander’s Edition] as sort of the ultimate edition, with all the previous DLC on this one disc. It was either deliver it this way or not deliver it at all.”

Would you be willing to replay Enemy Unknown with the changes of Enemy Within implemented? Let us know below.

Speaking to Polygon, lead designer Ananda Gupta talked about a new mechanic for the game and how it would be a logical progression from the original game’s set up. “How could we take that [incorporating enemy tech into one’s arsenal] even further? And the answer was [that] we want to let players incorporate the alien technology into the very bodies of their soldiers. You know: enemy within.”

This means that soldiers can now “meld” with aliens to combine human and alien DNA together for different advantages. This is a separate resource though and can only be collected in battle. There will also be a new Mechanized Exoskeletal Cybersuit MEC suit that the new class, the Mech Trooper can equip that can use heavy weapons.

Firaxis will also introduce other improvements in the inventory management, squad management while offline in multiplayer and feature brand new content with new maps. XCOM: Enemy Within releases on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 on November 12th.

Update: Screens and Trailer added.