The XCOM 2 mods you can play from day one
We talk with Firaxis and Long War Studios.
Long War Studios has already produced three mods for XCOM 2, all of which are playable from launch.
The team behind XCOM: Enemy Unknown's popular Long War overhaul recently announced its partnership with developer Firaxis Games, although they've actually been working together since around September of last year.
These mods aren't anywhere close to the scale of the original Long War project, but it's easy to see they come from the same team. One introduces submachine guns - a firm staple in the Long War armory.
"They don't don't do as much damage and they don't have as much ammunition as an assault rifle," explained Long War lead designer, John Lumpkin, "but a soldier that carries them is faster and also harder to detect."
As with almost every new toy offered by the original Long War mod, there's always a trade-off to consider. I like that an awful lot. Aside from the SMGs, the other two mods introduce a brand new set of leadership perks that can be unlocked for certain XCOM soldiers (although only one 'leader' can be used per squad), and my personal favourite, a new enemy type called the Muton Centurion.
The idea behind each of these mods is players can pick and choose which ones to enable, and create a campaign that suits them best. It reminds me somewhat of the Second Wave options we saw added to the previous game.
But yes, there won't be a full Long War mod just yet. When pressed on whether this may happen later down the line, Lumpkin told me:
"We'll see. We are certainly open and exploring the possibility of turning more content."
Hmm. I guess answers like that are to be expected once you start working with major video game publishers.
Anyway, if you're after more detail, you might be interested in the video I've embedded below. We grabbed John Lumpkin from Long War Studios and Jake Solomon of Firaxis Games for a bit of a chat about all of this. If you're a fan of XCOM or Long War (I happen to be both), I think it's well worth a watch.
