XCOM 2 has proven to be one of the most popular turn-based games of recent years, so it's almost no surprise that Firaxis Games wasted little time introducing a massive new expansion for the title at the E3 2017 PC Games Showcase. Jake Solomon took to the stage today to reveal XCOM 2: War of the Chosen, a massive expansion to the game which introduces recruitable resistance factions, many new enemies and soldier classes, unique alien leaders, and even zombie hordes simply called "The Lost."

As the below trailer demonstrates, War of the Chosen will introduce three main enemy figureheads across the traditional storyline. The Chosen were designed to be the ultimate leaders, and each has a distinct personality and fighting style: The Assassin utilizes a sword and is honor-bound to serve her creators, the Hunter is a long-rage attacker, and the Warlock will evidently use psionics against XCOM forces. These leaders will learn and grow as the game progresses, which will lead to multiple showdowns against the new leaders.

Of course, these three aren't the only threats introduced in what is poised to be the XCOM franchise's biggest expansion yet. Gamers can take a look for themselves in the video below:

To help aid the fight against such staunch opposition, there are three new resistance groups being added to the game. These groups are at war with each other, but the XCOM Commander will have a chance to bring them all under the same flag to help purge Earth of its Advent captors. Like the Chosen, each group will have their own strengths and weaknesses. The Reapers are stealthy marksmen, the Templar are powered by mysterious psionics, and the Skirmishers are actually defectors from the Advent army – the first time the series has truly explored whether the alien and human hybrid forces occupying Earth are all inherently evil.

As if that wasn't enough of a change to the XCOM formula, the War of the Chosen expansion will also introduce zombie hordes called The Lost into the fray. Since the game takes place twenty years after the events from XCOM: Enemy Unknown, many cities have fallen off the radar as traditional human society collapsed. As it turns out, the inhabitants of these cities aren't just dead: they're a vile swarm of mindless zombies who will be attracted to any combat noises they happen to hear. They never stop spawning once triggered, and the only silver lining here is that they hate all other creatures equally, so they will be attacking the Advent forces as well.

Suffice to say, XCOM: War Of The Chosen will introduce plenty of massive changes into the game, including several new character classes, enemy types, environments, and storylines. The DLC is due to drop this August 29, leaving a very small amount of time between the content's announcement and its official release. More news is likely to pour forth in the coming months, and we will keep you posted as Firaxis Games prepares us for the War Of The Chosen.

No news yet on how this will impact the highly popular and officially sponsored Long War 2 modification.

XCOM 2: War Of The Chosen will release on August 29, 2017 for PC. It's not currently known if it will be available on console for the same date.

Source: YouTube