XCOM: Enemy Within is now available for Windows in North America, expanding the throwback counter-UFO strategy of XCOM: Enemy Unknown with new content (available on consoles as the standalone XCOM: Enemy Within – Commander Edition). 2K Games confirms the add-on, which requires the original game, will be released internationally on Friday, and outlines what it offers:

In XCOM: Enemy Within, players can modify their soldiers genetically to enhance their operatives’ abilities or transform their soldiers into cybernetic warriors. These new abilities and units are imperative to combat two new aliens, the Mechtoid and the Seeker. In addition to new aliens, XCOM: Enemy Within adds a new threat known as EXALT, an underground human organization set on disrupting XCOM operations and taking control of Earth. XCOM: Enemy Within also includes an array of new maps, abilities, upgrades and weapons across both single player and multiplayer.

“XCOM: Enemy Within continues the tradition of robust expansion packs from Firaxis Games,” said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. “With an incredible amount of new content, XCOM: Enemy Within is the definitive way to play last year’s best strategy game.”

“The number one thing our fans asked for after we released XCOM: Enemy Unknown was more maps,” said Ananda Gupta, lead designer at Firaxis Games. “In XCOM: Enemy Within, we’re giving players nearly 50% more maps in addition to a massive amount of other new content, providing nearly limitless replayability for XCOM commanders to enjoy.”

Key features for XCOM: Enemy Within include:

• New Soldier Abilities: Research a new alien technology to advance the capabilities of operatives:
  • Gene Mods: Construct the Genetics Lab to physically enhance operatives’ abilities, including augmentations to the chest, brain, eyes, skin and legs;
  • MECs: Build the Cybernetics Lab to enable the construction of the new Mechanized Exoskeletal Cybersuit, or MEC. The new MEC Trooper class has specialized abilities and each suit can be upgraded with new weapons including the flamethrower, grenade launcher and more.
• New Weapons and Equipment: Give operatives an extra tactical edge with new projects from the engineering team in the Foundry;
• New Enemy Threats: Adopt new tactics to counter the threats from new enemies, including the Mechtoid, the Seeker and an organization known as EXALT, a group of humans sympathetic to the alien cause;
• New Strategic Resource: A valuable new alien resource, known as Meld, has been discovered. Secure it on the battlefield and use it carefully back at base to unlock new research and upgrades;
• New Tactical Challenges and Maps: Face new tactical challenges, on nearly 50% more maps;
• New Story Elements: Recover a mysterious new weapon in Operation Progeny, investigate a terrifying threat in an abandoned fishing village, and defend the XCOM headquarters from alien attack in a series of new plot-driven missions;
• New Multiplayer Maps, Units and Abilities: Create custom squads from a wider array of options and dominate opponents in intense, one-on-one, turn-based matches;
• New Second Wave Options: A number of new gameplay modifiers including the option to enable random soldier abilities means no XCOM squad need ever be the same again.