XCOM: Enemy Unknown mod enables "Second Wave" advanced campaign options

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When helplessly watching your squad of veterans get disemboweled for the umpteenth time feels like a dull affair in XCOM: Enemy Unknown , it's time for a psi-blast of extra variety with Second Wave . First scoped by hawk-eyed gamers on the Nexus modding network forums , Second Wave was a planned feature by Firaxis to furnish extra gameplay options and tweaks for commanders starting a new single-player campaign after completing it once. And most of it is recoverable.

Here's the full list of options Second Wave provides:

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

  • New Economy: The funding offered by individual council members is randomized

  • Not Created Equally: Rookies will have random starting stats

  • Hidden Potential: As a soldier is promoted, his or her stats increase randomly

  • (Bugged) Red Fog: Any wounds taken in combat will degrade a soldier's stats for that mission

  • Absolutely Critical: A flanking shot guarantees a critical hit

  • The Greater Good: The secret of psionics can only be learned from interrogating a psionic alien

  • (Bugged) Marathon: The game takes considerably longer to complete

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

  • High Stakes: The rewards granted for stopping alien abductions are randomized

  • Diminishing Returns: The cost of satellites increases per construction

  • The Blitz: Aliens target a larger set of cities during abduction attacks

  • More Than Human: The psionic gift is extremely rare

XCOM Enemy Unknown Second Wave

Omri Petitte
Omri Petitte

Omri Petitte is a former PC Gamer associate editor and long-time freelance writer covering news and reviews. If you spot his name, it probably means you're reading about some kind of first-person shooter. Why yes, he would like to talk to you about Battlefield. Do you have a few days?