XCOM 2’s Long War Mod: Better, Stronger, Longer

Posted on 20 Jan 2017 by
Sawyer Scherbenske

The word “Mod” is shorthand for some minor “modification,” but it really doesn’t do justice to XCOM 2’s Long War 2 mod. Stormtrooper helmets and new haircuts are good and dandy, but Long War 2 is more like a community-made DLC package for die-hard fans.

Long War 2 adds new weapons, classes, skills, and missions, and changes the game from a military survival game into more of a territory control saga. Using more soldiers in more places in more ways, you can now take control of points on the map, and react to alien invasions to protect your investments around the world. It’s like Risk, but it’s actually fun to play and can take weeks to finish. Infiltrating alien bases during full stealth missions can diminish the enemy count for your main forces down the road, and the increased unit count for both you and the aliens makes it feel more like a war and less like a rag-tag militia going on small raids.

The new classes like the melee and stealth-focused Shinobis and the Technical class that sports a Boba Fett-esque wrist-flamethrower and rocket launcher add yet another fresh layer onto the aging game. Along with the SMG weapons and new enemy types, they’re constant reminders of that what you’re playing isn’t XCOM 2, it’s a community’s hand-programmed improvement for an already great game. Where would us PC gamers be without modders?

Without giving any more gameplay spoilers, if you’ve finished XCOM 2 and are looking for a new tactical challenge to take on, Long War 2 is a must have. It’s available right now, and adds a new level of complexity to play on for the experienced commanders out there.


Official Press Release

2K and Firaxis Games today announced that Long War 2, the mod for XCOM 2 on PC from Pavonis Interactive, is now available from Steam Workshop.

Pavonis Interactive, the creators of the Long War mod for XCOM: Enemy Unknown and XCOM: Enemy Within have been hard at work on its successor for XCOM 2.

The Long War 2 mod presents a series of changes to the game’s campaign including the introduction of new tactical mission scenarios like Jailbreak, the Technical class for your XCOM soldiers, and more varied counter-operations from ADVENT forces.

For more information, please see 2K’s official XCOM blog with a Q&A from Pavonis Interactive.

A new series of videos going in depth into the features of Long War 2 is also available.

Comments (2)


Posts: 53
Stephen Haselden
Posted 20 Jan 2017, 20:40
ohhh yes! been waiting for this, time to finally go back and kick some alien asses OFF our planet :D

Just need to play some more Endless Space 2, SiS, and MoO and Stellaris, and Offworld deserve some more of my time... and then DoWIII is coming out soon. Anyone got a time mahcine I can borrow?

Posts: 133
Simon Sirmenis
Posted 23 Jan 2017, 13:39
Yeah, we need an ability to freeze time for few years to go through our backlogs.