Xcom gets multiplayer

2K Games and Firaxis have revealed that Xcom: Enemy Unknown will come equipped with a one vs one multiplayer deathmatch mode, a first for the strategy series.

There'll be plenty of choices for gamers to make, including whether to play as humans and defend the planet, take on humanity as a squad of aliens, or fuse the two together to create a mixture of the two.

"Throughout the history of the XCOM series, players have acted as the world's last hope against the alien invasion," said Jake Solomon, lead designer of XCOM: Enemy Unknown. "With the multiplayer mode in XCOM: Enemy Unknown, gamers can finally find out what it's like to command alien units and unleash extraterrestrial destruction on Planet Earth or defend it with a squad of XCOM soldiers and alien allies."

The multiplayer will draw on the gameplay of the single player campaign, but it won't tie into the narrative, ensuring a standalone experience that will likely have fans of the franchise salivating at the mere thought of it.

Players will be able to outfit "soldiers with dozens of armor types, weapons, items and class-based abilities for thousands of possible loadout combinations." Squads "are built using a point cap that can be scaled for players to fight in small skirmishes all the way up to epic battles. Matches can be modified by point limit or time limit per turn."

Xcom: Enemy Unknown is set for release on October 12, and will launch on PC, Xbox 360 and on PS3. You can pre-order here.