XCOM: Enemy Unknown trailer breaks out the biggest guns

Quick reminder: aliens are invading next week. It's been on the calendar for months, but it's easy to forget these things. Like the dates the clocks go back or the precise point at which that Netflix free trial ends, an alien invasion can slip the mind. Put the cat out, bar up the doors and windows, activate the nano-shield and prepare for XCOM: Enemy Unknown with the aid of the latest trailer.

I think this might be the first time they've shown some of the high-tech toys you'll get to research if you capture enough aliens. There's the jetpack suit, of course, which works very nicely with the plasma sniper rifle that you can see above (you get decent accuracy bonuses for firing from an elevated position).

The S.H.I.V. bot also gets a quick cameo. You can outfit these mobile weapon platforms with different cannons. They can't take cover like the other armoured meatbags at your disposal, but they can chew up enemies in seconds.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown is out in the US next Tuesday, and in Europe on Friday. Get a taste of a few early missions in the XCOM: Enemy Unknown demo .

Tom Senior

Part of the UK team, Tom was with PC Gamer at the very beginning of the website's launch—first as a news writer, and then as online editor until his departure in 2020. His specialties are strategy games, action RPGs, hack ‘n slash games, digital card games… basically anything that he can fit on a hard drive. His final boss form is Deckard Cain.