XCOM: Enemy Unknown gets free Second Wave DLC today

If you feel like killing some aliens today and jump into XCOM: Enemy Unknown, you will be greeted with a brief download bearing a free gift. Publisher 2K Games has released the second DLC pack for the game entitled Second Wave.

The DLC adds 16 new options to add a little spice to an already entertaining game. But the kicker is that the DLC options--available through the Second Wave tab in the difficulty screen--don't show up until you have beaten the game once, and beating the game on greater difficulty opens more options. The new options include:

• Damage Roulette: Weapons have a wider range of damage.

• New Economy: Randomized council member funding.

• Not Created Equally: Rookies will have random starting stats.

• Hidden Potential: As a soldier is promoted, stats increase randomly.

• Red Fog: Combat wounds will degrade the soldier’s mission stats.

• Absolutely Critical: A flanking shot guarantees a critical hit.

• The Greater Good: Psionics can only be learned from interrogating a psionic alien.

• Marathon: The game takes considerably longer to complete.

• Results Driven: A country offers less funding as its panic level increases.

• High Stakes: Random rewards for stopping alien abductions.

• Diminishing Returns: Increased cost of satellite construction.

• More Than Human: The psionic gift is extremely rare.

• War Weariness: Funding goes down over time.

• E-115: Elerium degrades over time.

• Total Loss: Lose all soldier gear upon death.

• Alternate Sources: The power source cost to build facilities increases dramatically.

The first four are available right away, but the other 12 only unlock once you beat the game's various difficulty levels. The last four are unlocked by beating the game on Impossible.

This is the second DLC released for the game. Slingshot was released early in December. All are available for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.