More official mods for XCOM 2 are inbound, with the first of five new additions from Long War Studios available today.
Long War Studios, founded by the creators of the seminal Long War mod for XCOM: Enemy Unknown, first partnered with Firaxis to develop three official mods that launched alongside the game earlier this year. they were the SMG weapon class, the Muton Centurion unit, and special Leader abilities for soldiers.
The first of five new mods, “Toolbox,” adds a variety of mechanical tweaks for players to further customize their experience. According to the announcement, this includes:
Following the Toolbox, available today, four more mods will be released over the coming months (no specific time frame has been provided yet). Released simultaneously, the second and third mods will add the “Perk Pack,” which will serve as a soldier class construction kit, and the “Laser Pack,” which will add a new tech tier for all weapons. The “Alien Pack” will follow at a later date, adding 10 new alien foes to the mix. No information has yet been provided about the fifth and final mod.
In addition to the official mods from Long War Studios, and the vibrant community of fans creating content for the game, Firaxis is also supplementing XCOM 2 with DLC. The first of three announced expansions, Anarchy’s Children, added a host of extreme cosmetic customization options for soldiers. It can be purchased a la carte for $5, or as part of the Reinforcement Pack season pass for $20, which also includes two more expansions coming later this year: Alien Hunters and Shen’s Last Gift, which will make more substantial, mechanical additions to the game.
XCOM 2, following up on Firaxis’ fantastic 2012 reboot of the classic ’90s strategy series about defending the Earth from alien invasion, launched earlier this year and is available for PC.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.