Save Scum feature added to Xcom

Firaxis are adding a new option to Xcom: Enemy Within that'll allow players to reload old saves as many times as they like in order to get the desired results on the battlefield.

In Enemy Unknown, the seed of its random number generator was locked down for every turn, so no matter how many times you replayed an individual event, the outcome was set in stone. In this new mode, each turn will now be randomised anew, so you can - if you want - retake that risky shot as many times as you like until you eventually hit your target. Is it in the spirit of the game? Probably not. But then some players will still like to have the option.

Xcom: Enemy Within's lead designer, Ananda Gupta, explained it to PCGamesN: "It's called Save Scum, in honour of what Jake Solomon [XCOM's lead designer] likes to call players who do this. It resets the random number seed whenever the game is loaded. For people who really want to keep shooting until that 80% shot hits."

In the same interview Gupta also explained the luck modifier that's been included to help Easy or Normal players avoid hitting a run of bad luck: "On Normal and Easy modes, there's a bad streak breaker," said Gupta, before later adding: "On Easy, if you miss three times in a row you're not going to miss your fourth shot. It can be a 1% chance to hit and you're not going to miss that shot."

Xcom: Enemy Within is an expansion for Xcom: Enemy Unknown. It'll be available to buy on November 15. For PC it'll be a digital download, whereas console owners will have to pick up a disc-based version at their local retailer.