Second DLC for XCOM 2 Imminent, Includes New Content and Bug Fixes

If you’ve worked your way through the missions in Firaxis’ epic strategy title, XCOM 2, then you’ll no doubt be wanting some more content to keep yourself entertained with. Well the developer have your back here, with a new DLC pack coming on the 12th May. Alien Hunters is the first add-on to the game and features a whole new narrative-driven mission, alongside new armour types, new weapons and three new “Ruler” aliens to face off against.

It’s available as part of the “Reinforcement Pack” season pass and also as a standalone download for £7.99/$9.99. According to 2K’s press release the DLC “will also include a compatibility patch for XCOM 2” This patch will include authentication for Alien Hunters, as well as general bug fixes, balancing in the single player, performance optimisations and a rebalanced multiplayer experience for the base game. The wording used suggests that the patch is part of the DLC, effectively putting bug fixes behind a paywall. If this is true and not just an unfortunate choice of wording, it could be a rather controversial move. Whilst we didn’t find that many issues when we played the game for review, we’re aware that a lot of players did have issues, so will those players be happy to pay the cost of DLC to receive bug fixes? We have reached out to the publisher for comment on this.

The new Ruler aliens are based on the regular aliens, but tougher and behave differently. After you complete the new narrative mission, they will appear at random in your campaigns to give an additional challenge in taking them out before they escape for good. The three new suits of armour that can be unlocked are based on the corpse of these Ruler aliens, meaning that you get bonuses unique to that Ruler and also strike fear into the hearts of the subordinate aliens. You won’t be without help in this new fight, however, as Alien Hunters also includes four new one-of-a-kind weapons: the Bolt Caster, a high damage single-shot weapon; the Hunter’s Axe, a powerful new blade weapon that can be thrown at enemies or used to dispatch foes at close range; the ShadowKeeper pistol, which has the Shadowfall ability that is guaranteed to hit and will place its user in concealment if the enemy is killed; and the Frost Bomb grenade, which is able to temporarily freeze targets.