It always bothered me in the first XCOM, that we had to amputate pretty much anything from a mechtrooper, in order, to get them. It was almost as bad, as not having them in the sequel...until now! The mission, where you acquire this new class is in itself worth the price of the DLC, but the reward is even more cool. These cute bots, that look like the robots from short circuit finally had grown legs are an absolute menace on the battlefield, and can really help you out in those missions, where you are truly, and utterly...have a bad day. Just a warning, they might seem expendable, but they really aren't. Losing one of these guys feels just as bad as losing a long time squad member :'(

I really loved XOCOM 2 and I enjoyed the fact that you still had the feel of the first one in controls and game play.

Xcom 2 felt like it was missing something whenever i played it. It was really the absence of MECS from xcom1 that made xcom 2 feel a little bit hollow. Shen's Last Gift gives us MECs yet again but not the same mecs from before. At most, I would say it's a SHIV with two legs. The new MECS are fun to a degree. First, they have a severe lack of animations. Their punching attack is simply just a punch. In xcom1, enemies would also engage in melee combat and fight back with the mecs. In xcom2, they simply take the punch and die. Furthermore, the new MECS don't actually carry heavy armaments like rockets in their bodies. Instead, the MECS use drones to fire rockets and more. This makes no sense and it feels as if the developers wanted to save money by not investing in new animations. I also didn't like the fact that you can create MECs out of nothing now. I enjoyed using wounded soldiers to create MECs because it created a deeper background and story to your units. In xcom2, I have no such connection to my MEC units. Overall, the addition of MEC units has hardly filled the gap left behind by the MEC units in xcom1 but it's something at least.

Shen's Last Gift is the last of the announced developer DLC packs for XCOM 2, due to the name most people thought this would add playable mechs, and they were correct. Much like Alien Hunters you are given a narrative driven quest, this time with Lily Shen joining you on the mission, that will add a new mechanical squad member, a SPARK, to your team once the mission has been completed and the added ability of producing more of them at your Proving Grounds. Being a mechanical unit you can take them into battles even when they are still wounded, or you can have them put into a repair bay in the ship. The units are costly to produce and you will need to take care of them in battle as they can not make use of cover, however, their powerful abilities will be an asset to your team. The SPARKs have the ability to go into an overdrive mode to receive additional actions and can be promoted and upgraded just like your human soldiers. They are given a powerful gun and heavy weapon to start with and can be upgraded with abilities that can make them stronger as they get promoted. They also have an item that is similar to a Gremlin that can hack enemy units. Promotions come with their own names and include abilities that can give them additional armor and cover for nearby squadmates, better aim, a melee attack, improved damage and range for equipped heavy weapons, smash through the environment while moving, directing attacks towards you, powering up your weapons when shot at, etc. The SPARKs are given a few cosmetic options and two voices to choose from but nowhere near as much as you would expect them to have, maybe this can be improved by player mods. With the addition of a brand new class of soldier to use this is likely to be considered the best of the DLC so far and is worth picking up.