XCOM: Enemy Within

EurogamerStace Harman

Enemy Within is an improvement on an already excellent game. For every decision that must be made there are several factors to consider, rarely enough money to pay for everything, and uncomfortable consequences to be faced for failure. All of this is exacerbated still further when playing on Classic difficulty or with Ironman mode enabled, where you're constantly worrying about what to do next or second guessing the action that you've just taken. Much like the genetic modifications that it champions, XCOM: Enemy Within is an experience that gets under your skin.

Game InformerBen Reeves

9.25/10

Last year’s reboot of the XCOM series was a masterwork. Its deep strategy and intense firefights required careful scheming, but putting a bullet through the last invader’s overgrown skull was one of my favorite moments of 2012. The game was so finely balanced that I thought adding to it would disrupt its strategic flow, but Firaxis has released an expansion that slides between Enemy Unknown’s cracks, filling in some gaps I didn’t even realize existed, further diversifying the tactics without disrupting XCOM’s delicate balance.

Digital TrendsAnthony John Agnello

“While it reuses the story and scenarios of Enemy Unknown, XCOM: Enemy Within's changes and additions to the rules of the game bring it close to full sequel status.”

IGNDan Stapleton

9/10

Enemy Within is an amazing expansion to a brilliant tactical game. It’s front-loaded with enticing new options that dramatically increase the replay value of the first half of the campaign, though the latter half is a bit neglected. More than ever, XCOM is a spectacular tactical game full of stories and characters you create for yourself, and is best enjoyed in Iron Man mode on Classic difficulty to enhance the emotional highs and lows of victory and permanent defeat.

Game RantJohn Jacques

9/10

At its core, Enemy Within is a fantastic reminder of what an expansion pack is supposed to be. Calling something like this just a downloadable content package would seem like an injustice, as Enemy Within changes the core fundamentals of an already entertaining game and literally improves on all aspects of the experience. For a game which already hinges its entertainment on balancing the gameplay, Firaxis has done a great job in making numerous changes but keeping that edge-of-the-seat philosophy the same. The gameplay is fresh, the content is numerous and the new challenges should entice both...

GamingBoltRavi Sinha

8.5/10

XCOM: Enemy Within is one of the better expansions to arrive in a long time and is an example of how to successfully revamp an entire game for the better.

PolygonRuss Pitts

Unscored

Enemy Within forced me outside of my comfort zone, but provided enough reward for doing so that it became a continuing source of enjoyment. On the whole, Enemy Within plays like someone, somewhere kept a list of every minor thing they imagined, while playing Enemy Unknown, would make that game better — and then made those changes.

Xbox AchievementsLee Bradley

Unscored

There’s something deeply fucked up about the mechs in XCOM: Enemy Within. To create these clunking beasts, you first need to pick a soldier and amputate all of their limbs. It’s not a gory process, in fact you don’t see it at all other than in diagram form, but it’s chilling, a queasy button press turning your soldier into a quadriplegic whose torso is then clamped into a human-sized metal exoskeleton.