‘XCOM 2’ Gets A New Official DLC From Long War Devs: Alien Pack

Fans of Firaxis’ XCOM: Enemy Unknown and its expansion, Enemy Within, will probably be familiar with the Long War mod. Considered by many to be the definitive version of the game, the incredibly complex fan-made mod was even speculated to have influenced the development of XCOM 2 by Rock, Paper, Shotgun. At the very least, it definitely convinced the developers of the game to add full modding support to the sequel.

So Long War players may be pleased to hear that they can now pick up the official XCOM 2: AlienPack DLC, a free mod created by the Long War team (now Long War Studios) commissioned by 2K Games and released under the official Firaxis label, as per Polygon.

AlienPack joins Long War Studios’ LaserPack, which added new weapons, and the PerkPack, which introduced new abilities for your soldiers, and several other smaller mods, all from the Long War devs.

The AlienPack DLC adds a whole slew of new enemies to XCOM 2; some entirely new, some variants on existing enemies. It also adds two Viper upgrades, an Archon upgrade, and the ADVENT MEC – even more importantly, it adds a configurable system to change colors and size of units, and a mix-and-match component system to create your own ADVENT soldiers.

As for the new aliens, here’s the full list, as per the official site:

• Drone (two variations) – an ADVENT scout and crowd control unit
• Naja (three variations) – a subspecies of the Viper that serves as an alien sniper unit
• Muton Elite – a version of the Muton much more powerful than its predecessors
• Sectoid Commander – an enhanced Sectoid with even greater psionic capabilities
• Sidewinder (three variations) – a subspecies of the Viper that serves as a fast and agile flanker
• Chryssalid Soldier – a larger and more intimidating variation of the Chryssalid
• Hive Queen – an even larger Chryssalid all other Chryssalids bow down to
• MEC Archer (two variations) – an ADVENT MEC equipped with long-range weaponry
• ADVENT Sentry (three variations) – an ADVENT soldier that has great Overwatch abilities
• ADVENT Rocketeer (three variations) – an ADVENT soldier with explosive ordinance
• ADVENT Grenadier (three variations) – an ADVENT soldier equipped with flashbangs, fire grenades or acid grenades
• ADVENT Gunner (three variations) – an ADVENT soldier with a cannon and the ability to suppress multiple XCOM soldiers at once
• Muton Centurion – a variation on the Muton, previously made available in the Muton Centurion mod

It’s worth noting that up until this point, while they’ve added a fairly significant amount of content to XCOM 2 – some of which was available on day one of release – Long War Studios have pretty much only released content mods; nothing to live up to their original Long War mod, which spent just short of two years in development after its initial release and included contributions from over 50 people, including, eventually, actual members of the Firaxis team. It was a major release that rivaled the original game in effort and development time, and it might seem as if Long War Studios hasn’t really lived up to that.

But, Long War players, hopeful for another major release from the studio, can take heart; they are still contracted to Firaxis for one more official mod, according to PC Games N, and it’s hard to imagine that their final official mod is going to be anything minor. While the mod is still formally unannounced and undetailed, with XCOM 2 just past six months after release and approaching release on consoles, we’re rapidly approaching the perfect point in its life cycle for another Long War-style conversion mod that will extend gameplay; or, another possibility, an entire expansion similar to XCOM‘s Enemy Within, which would hopefully involve the Long War team.

Meanwhile, go pick up Long War Studios’ latest mods and prepare to re-engage the enemy!

[Image via Long War Studios]