XCOM: Warspace Mod

In this article I will be discussing a specific mod for XCOM which for me has greatly improved a lot of the features and made the game a lot more fun and engaging not to mention challenging. For those intrested in installing and running the mode I will include links at the bottom of this article. Please note I cannot provide technical support for this mod I am merely discussing my experiences with it.

One of the first changes you will notice at the start of the game is modifications to health and damage. The sectoids now start with 4 health rather than 3 but your weapons have been improved to reflect this.  Your grenades will do 4 damage so can still be used to 1 shot sectoids, and your rifles have had their damage upgraded respectively. Although I can't say specifically how (the mod creator is vague on the details) the AI really doesn't make 'stupid' moves. An example of this would be floaters using their 'jump' ability and leaving themselves in open ground, with this mod they always seem to jump behind hard cover. With the AI overhaul there also comes another new feature for the'zombies' in the game, if you don't put a zombie down fast enough they in turn will die and spawn another Chrysalid for you to deal with.

Another nice feature is the skills tree's have been re-designed for all classes, for example the sniper now starts with squad site rather than head shot. The heavy has now gained the assaults ability 'flush' which forces an opponent to move from cover. This feels like a very good fit for your heavies and I have been a lot more keen to take them based on this ability. Another change is your troops are slightly less prone to dying, how ever the down side is you can end up with a solider being injured for 30+ days. This may seem harsh but it forces you to change up your line up regularly and your managing your soldiers becomes a real issue rather than having your super line up trash everything.

Another big change is shooting down UFO's is a lot more of a challenge even the basic scout UFO's require at least 2 Interceptors to take down. You will need to spend funds dismissing your shops and hiring new ones if their damage is to high so you're always ready for an attack. Upgrading your ships becomes a high priority as does using the 'buffs' such as dodge and aim on your ships, something i never found a need for in the un-modded version.

The changes I have outlined above can't quite do justice to how much of an improvement this mod has brought to the game. If you have completed classic ironman and feel that the random number generator on impossible is just to dull, I highly advise you look into this mod.

Official Warspace mod page:http://xcom.nexusmods.com/mods/18

Official Warspace discussion thread:http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/808571-warspace-extension-discussion/page-17