For those XCOM: Enenmy Unknown fans amongst us (and there’s a few) the season of goodwill hasn’t left just yet. 2K and Firaxis have announced the release of new DLC for XCOM. Best of all? It’s FREE!

Second Wave brings a whole host of game modifiers into play, though they’re only available once you’ve completed the main campaign – which shouldn’t take you too long (for all its excellence it was a little short in terms of single-player, especially in comparison with the original Microprose UFO: Enemy Unknown). This is good news for those who haven’t picked it up for a while as it should allow at least one more fresh play through.

The add-on modifiers are listed below (from press release):

• Damage Roulette: Weapons have a wider range of damage.




• New Economy: Randomized council member funding.




• Not Created Equally: Rookies will have random starting stats.




• Hidden Potential: As a soldier is promoted, stats increase randomly.




• Red Fog: Combat wounds will degrade the soldier’s mission stats.




• Absolutely Critical: A flanking shot guarantees a critical hit.




• The Greater Good: Psionics can only be learned from interrogating a psionic alien.




• Marathon: The game takes considerably longer to complete.




• Results Driven: A country offers less funding as its panic level increases.




• High Stakes: Random rewards for stopping alien abductions.




• Diminishing Returns: Increased cost of satellite construction.




• More Than Human: The psionic gift is extremely rare.

If you want more missions and maps however you’ll have to pony up £5.49 for the Slingshot DLC. Here you get to fight in China after meeting an enigmatic Triad operative (is there any other kind?) and diverting a UFO’s course (presumably away from the somewhat limited map selection previously available).

XCOM: ENEMY UNKNOWN – SECOND WAVE is available now as a free download for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

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