Version 1.2.1 is now available!1.2.1 offers two significant changes over 1.2.0.
First: Weapon upgrades. Several weapons have been changed, mostly in terms of straightforward improvements.
- Fusion Cannon - Now behaves much like the M2 fusion pistol: fires faster, but the shots are weaker. Overall, the DPS is around the same as before. However, the projectiles travel very quickly, and carry some serious knockback. The charged shot remains the same: longer charge time than the M2 pistol, but much higher damage, and with some real knockback indeed. This is a huge upgrade and makes a lot of the earlier and middle levels much easier, as the weapon is easier and more fun to use than before.
- IMPs - Minor change; the shots now have some slight knockback. Not really noticeable until you get really close and start drilling enemies with dual IMPs; then they'll get pushed around a fair bit.
- Fusion Mortar - Formerly the EMP. The only actual change is that the damage type is changed to Fusion, which means organic enemies now take some damage from it. Its functionality hasn't actually changed much though; mechanical enemies take just as much damage as they used to, but now you can do some collateral damage to the Troopers that are standing by all those Hunters.
- N-Cannon - Formerly the Flamethrower. This is sort of a sidegrade; the weapon now behaves basically like a reloadable Alien Gun. It damages all units equally, but the shots are weaker and the weapon fires more slowly than the 1.2.0 Flamethrower. On the other hand, the second trigger fires on a wide spread, and you can use both triggers simultaneously. On the whole, it's just a more efficient and useful weapon than it used to be, especially considering how late in the game you get it.
Second: Pretty
crappy color tables!

Ever since the original Phoenix release, Renegade troops have always differentiated themselves from Pfhor troops in terms of their Minor/Major ranks. Basically, "Minor" Renegade troops have always been a little quicker and more aggressive, whereas "Major" troops would be tougher and fight at longer range, and these ranks would not be adjusted by difficulty. In other words, they weren't really minor or major, just different. (Major troops performed more or less the same as standard Pfhor troops.) Anyway, 1.2.1 increases this difference a bit, and adds in new Renegade color tables to help them stand out. It also adds a little visual variance in the endless sea of gray monster blobs. As a standard rule, lighter colors are the speedy, aggressive types, and darker colors are the slower, more defensive types.
There are also some smaller changes. Lots of texture bugs, monster bugs, and other niggling issues have been resolved. Physics models have been more standardized, reducing the amount of pointless variations in monster behavior from level to level. (Most people probably never noticed them.) Some monsters have been buffed or nerfed; for example, Renegade fighters now attack in melee about twice as quickly; getting cornered by white Fighters is a very quick death indeed. Red Defenders have been weakened slightly, Renegade Juggernauts now fire their missiles with a little error, Blue Troopers won't use their machine guns from quite so far away, and so on. All of this pointless cruft can be seen in the Very Specific Changelog included with the download. Also, I
think there are no longer any secrets you can screw yourself out of. There are no new levels or any really large changes to the existing levels, though.
TLDR -- Is it worth downloading and upgrading in the middle of a game?
Not really. YES OF COURSE. But if you were planning on another playthrough, it is worth it -- for the Fusion Cannon upgrade alone, really.