I am going to play the new XCOM for the first time and I'm wondering if I should play Enemy Unknown to start out with or would I be better off just jumping right into Enemy Within?

Enemy Within. You just get more stuff and more options for tech. If you feel completely overwhelmed you might want to restart with unknown though. Both offer tutorials and such

I always think you should do one play through of a game without the expansion, unless it is literally buggy garbage and the expansion serves as a giant big fix patch. I think it's nice to be able to appreciate the additions/tweaks.

I understand that sentiment, but maybe I should rephrase my question. If I were to only play through XCOM one time, which version would be the best version to play? I know that isn't exactly how I worded my original question, but that is what I meant to ask. :)

@sargon: Alright, then Enemy Within. On Normal. Classic (hard) will tear you apart until you fully understand the pace you have to set with the tech tree to keep up (plus you need to know every way to leverage tactical advantages in combat). I do recommend playing the game a few times, though.

Ok, thanks for the replies. I went ahead and picked up Enemy Within for 50% off in the Steam sale, so I will give that a go over the holiday.

I recently started playing as well, and I actually prefer having more assault soldiers than heavies. Dat run and gun.

Enemy unknown first. Enemy Within makes you way too powerful and can change the game to a reckless run and gun style.