The Muton bulks up for XCOM 2

XCOM 2 Muton

The intergalactic musclehead known as the Muton will be back for XCOM 2, but he's not quite the same as he was in XCOM: Enemy Unknown. The hulking slab of goonishness has been upgraded with a dose of human genes, adding "the cunning intellect of the human mind" to his devastatingly powerful physique. This, obviously, is not good for us.

XCOM 2 Mutons appear to maintain most, if not all, of the same abilities they had in the preceding game. They can take advantage of the Suppression ability, significantly lowering the aim of their target while allowing a free reaction shot if the target moves, and can toss grenades, which are bad news for tight groups of soldiers.

But their up-close nastiness is enhanced by bayonet-equipped weapons and the Counterattack ability that gives them a chance to ignore all damage caused by a melee attack, and launch an immediate melee attack of their own in response.

The new Mutons look a bit different as well: Meatier, believe it or not, with a whole lot more neck and less dependence on the bulky exo-suit they wore in Enemy Unknown. They actually look rather Krogan-like now, which I would take as another sign that you should govern yourselves accordingly if you run into one of these guys in a dark alley.

XCOM 2 will be out in November.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.