The cosmetic mods are much better than this pile of garbage.

the DLC is not bad, but when you compare this to other games, you're getting very little for what you pay even more so in a world where CD Projekt RED has released a huge selection of free DLC with Witcher 3 that adds more to their game than this adds to your game.

there are some cool costume voices, but when you get the tier 3 armour there's almost no addition or difference.

Oh dear. Its like the Munsters had a head on crash with Clockwork Orange, Mad Max and early 90's WWE.
This DLC unfortunatly really takes away from the mood and is just out of place.


Kids / teenagers or big fans of Tank Girl, Mad Max, Comic book style will love it. I am not one of these.
Althogh Mad Max was really cool.... I DONT WANT IT IN XCOM.....
Although I was able to make a Steve Irwin soldier... that didnt suck.... overall though. Eww.

This DLC is purely for those who played XCOM and thought 'Maaaan, why do all my soldiers look like soldiers?! I want to command Madame Helga's Buttbabes of Pain!'.

For a purely cosmetic DLC, this actually has quite a lot of content in it, but unfortunately virtually all of it clashes with the aesthetic in game. Hot pants, top hats, sports bras, chrome skull masks (with and without mohawks), BDSM gear, samurai masks... yeah. It's silly. There's one or two items that don't look like something out of a Tim Burton film but that's it.

I only got this DLC as I had the Season Pass already from the Deluxe Edition. The screenshots speak for themselves really - don't bother.

Eventhough I probably hadn't purchased this if it had not been included in the season pass (cuz I wouldn't have noticed it was there), I must admit that it fits into my way of playing the game quite well. Especially during the earlier stages of a playthrough, I really like to have a medic in vodoo clothes, or a shotgun-wielding punk with a Pickelhaube. I surely don't use all of the options, but given the fact that I do have it, I wouldn't wanna miss it.
Probably around 6/10 for a fairly high price (5€ for 100 hats and stuff isn't that much compared to TF2, but still) and no real "gameplay value".

These cosmetic items are definitely high quality. The new pieces all look fantastic and the visual fidelity fits in with XCom 2's overall graphical appearance. So that is of course a very good thing. HOWEVER (and this is my problem) it does not fit the theme of the game. I understand a rebellious theme to a dlc to match the idea of fighting back the winning aliens, I get that. But this isn't rebellious to me. When I think of rebellious groups I think face masks (cloth, modern gas masks, hoodies, military-style goggles, etc), more casual or blendy-in sort of clothing, scrap armor styles and so on. This set doesn't give you that. It gives you the most outlandish underground cult-style armor and appearances. Do you like making your soldiers look like 16 year old spike-covered emo kids with an affinity for eye shadow? This is for you. Do you like naked people running in head-on with individual massive bullets strapped to their forearms regardless of their weapon type while their faces are painted like Wallace from Braveheart? This is 100% for you. Do you want your soldiers to look like folks that are trying to blend in and then strike when they can do the most damage and save humanity from aliens? This is NOT for you. Honestly, Capnbub's (forgive my spelling) content mod that adds a ton of new helmets and such is much more up my alley. It really fits the game's military theme with great new gear to choose from. So all in all, if you want more XCom-themed gear, just go get that free mod from the workshop. If you want some of the craziest, most eccentric gear to make your soldiers look like the back-end of an 80's punk album, this dlc is for you.

From the Reinforcement pack blurb:

"Bolster your ranks with three themed DLC packs available together for an amazing discounted value*. Each themed content pack will add unique new twists to the core game experience."

And from the first dlc:

"These options are purely cosmetic and do not alter the stats of a soldier."

so where is the "unique new twists to the core game experience." that each pack will bring?!


--- edit in response to comment from 2fishy and steam only allows 1000 character comments ---

You need to chill out or you will give yourself a heart attack.

My point still stands, though I could edit my original post to include the first two paragraphs of the reinforcement pack blurb:

"Bolster your ranks with three themed DLC packs available together for an amazing discounted value*. Each themed content pack will add unique new twists to the core game experience:

Anarchy’s Children: Rebellion-themed content with more dramatic soldier customizations."

These two paragraphs contradict each other, and they are right next to each other!

I do however understand the development life cycle of a product and can imagine that this pack was done this way to allow breathing space for the developers to work on the next two packs. This breathing space keeps product awareness high and stops the publisher breathing down developers necks. In turn this maximises the potential for returns in the summer, when the main DLC is released.

I have no problem with the developers, I am a big fan of the game. I do however think this was a bad choice for a season pass DLC. I’m not big into hats for Team Fortress or horse armour for Oblivion either, but please try not to tear me a new one for that, I am who I am.

I expect a rational person would be able to see that this is not a hollow accusation or lie about the developers and realise that a review is just that, a review, my opinion. Something that you can choose to read and are free to agree or disagree with to your hearts desire.

I am sorry if that, or anything I said, hurts your feelings. That was not my intent. But chill out the developers will be just fine with or with out my opinion in a crappy little steam review.

As for my emotional breakdowns, thank for your concern, but really I’m ok. At least that’s what my shrink keeps telling me.

Go from elite Xcom soldier to emo punk kid with 1 easy payment of $4.99!

I liked the customization options this pack gave me. There were a couple of great pieces, and the rest of it was good for themed gimmick soldiers.

With that said the negative feedback this DLC is getting is warranted - in a way, at least. Firaxis read the crowd poorly. They thought their fanbase wanted campy comic-book alien killers in silly outfits running around like back in 1993Com, and they were wrong. Most people seem to have wanted super-tactical milsim stuff and that's okay too. Just be aware that the stuff in here is very well made and pieces like the gasmask, welding masks, tarnished power armor and so on are super good even if you're going for a more serious look on your soldiers.

Firaxis gave us 100 pieces of customization in this pack for five bucks. That's not nothing, especially considering there are many companies taking five bucks for a single recolor. This pack isn't for everyone, but there was clearly a lot of love put into it and it isn't nearly as bad as people are trying to make it out to be.

Overall, I recommend you look at the screenshots and think about whether or not you're the type of person who goes for this stuff. Looks fun to you? Pick it up at the price of a fancy take-away coffee. Looks god-awful? Stay away from it. Simple as that.

Oh dear. I love XCOM 2, but this stuff is mostly superfluous trash. Why add so much ugly, weird, gimmicky and freakish gear while there's still so much regular wardrobe-variety missing from the game? How about a regular cowboy hat - that would be "exotic" enough for my taste.
I'd have preferred more faces, more armor-styles and more reasonable hats (although Capnbubs already covered a lot of ground in that area - thanks for that!).