I digress. After plenty of procrastination and numerous overhauls, The Bureau is finally available on the PS3, Xbox 360 and the PC. Developed by 2K Marin, it tells the tale of the humble beginnings of the XCOM organization way back in 1962 at the height of the Cold War.

Following hot on the heels of last year’s mega successful XCOM: Enemy Unknown, this prequel sees you take control of gravel-voiced Special Agent William Carter as he takes on the alien onslaught during a time when hats and waistcoats were obligatory and everything had a kind of sepia haze to it.

"Things aren’t looking good, with bulbous headed alien sectoids scampering about the rubble and a heap of corpses left in their wake. Cue the start of a lengthy and enjoyable campaign…"

As the Bureau’s top agent, and accompanied by a couple of occasionally dopey AI colleagues, Carter is clearly the sort who’s rarely ruffled even in the face of adversity. What’s more, despite diving about the place while under alien gunfire, he manages to keep his hat firmly on his head – now THAT’S the mark of a true American hero circa 1960!

The game kicks off with Carter in his apartment before answering the door, getting shot and waking to find himself miraculously healed with his attacker’s charred and lifeless remains staining the carpet. Mmm, intriguing. With sirens blazing and smoke permeating the building, what ensues is a mad dash outside to find out what the hell is going on. Things aren’t looking good, with bulbous headed alien sectoids scampering about the rubble and a heap of corpses left in their wake. Cue the start of a lengthy and enjoyable campaign…

Right from the start, everything looks pretty great visually – the aforementioned yellow-brown hue is well suited to a game set in the 1960s, while the incidental music, voice acting and overall feel of the game is appealing. You really get that sense that you’re being invaded and that no one was really prepared, which instantly reels you in. From the flickering lights and smoke effects, to the piles of debris and splatters of blood about the place, it’s all very atmospheric. The game’s a bit of a slow starter but persist and it’s an enjoyable affair.

"There are various alien creatures to take on – ranging from the impish swollen headed types that leap about the place to the lumbering fellas that take a fair bit of damage before they fall."

On PC at least, the controls take some getting used to – especially in the midst of an alien attack. That’s not so much a flaw in the game rather my ineptitude when using a keyboard and my preference for a console controller. Nevertheless, once you’ve mastered contorting your fingers into the various positions to run, roll, shoot and clamber over debris it all becomes second nature fairly rapidly.

Quickly you learn that charging headlong into combat is not a shrewd move. Instead, using cover and some tactical nous is the order of the day. By employing the “Battle Focus” function, the action slows to a crawl, allowing you to set orders for your team, draw fire, flank enemies and hit them where it hurts. The bad guys’ positions are highlighted by an orange glow, making it easy to plan your next move and perform that all important Critical Strike or deploy laser turrets and call in aerial strikes to turn things a little more in your favour. Make no mistake though, this is a tough game that poses a real challenge on the harder difficulties.

There are various alien creatures to take on – ranging from the impish swollen headed types that leap about the place to the lumbering fellas that take a fair bit of damage before they fall.

"Cut scenes push the story along nicely and a dialogue wheel allows you to glean more details from the people you encounter. Admittedly, there’s a sense that you’ve seen much of these ideas before though."

The game’s environments are varied and there are some truly standout levels. As you progress, you pick up new equipment and weaponry, with some alien gadgetry available too. Notes and photos littered around the levels allow you to learn a little bit more about what’s been going on and are well worth taking the time to pore over as it certainly adds to the plot. Cut scenes push the story along nicely and a dialogue wheel allows you to glean more details from the people you encounter. Admittedly, there’s a sense that you’ve  seen much of these ideas before though.

Carter and his colleagues all have certain attributes and abilities – with those in your charge belonging to Recon, Engineer, Commando or Support classes. Just like the previous game, fail to revive a fallen comrade and their demise is on your conscience – that’s it, they’re gone for good and you’ll have to fill the void with another willing – but less skilled – replacement. Strangely though, the permadeath element never truly leaves you mourning a colleague like it did in Enemy Unknown, which is a real shame.

Personally, I found The Bureau enjoyable and entertaining but it paled in comparison with last year’s epic. It is refreshing, however, when such a popular franchise returns with a different slant to it and, for the most part, this third person shooter is a decent effort and features some good tactical elements and ideas. Overall, it’s well worth a play but falls short of being a classic.

This game was reviewed on the PC.

Game Overview:

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is a third-person tactical shooter that tells the origin story of the XCOM organization. Players take up the role of Special Agent William Carter. He is the Bureau’s top agent, and must lead his squad against an alien threat.

The game is published by 2K Games and developed by 2K Marin. The game is now available on the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Check out the video walk-through of The Bureau XCOM Declassified below and let us know if you have any questions in the comments section below.

For video game guides, tips and wikis, check out our gaming portal here.

2K Games have released a new developer diary which provides some insight into the development of their upcoming release, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, and gives us a look at how the members of the 2K Games team work together.

Our narrator for this video, in large part, speaks specifically to the time period that The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is set in: 1962 was in many ways a very tumultuous time for America, with counter-culture inspired distrust of government, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and being right around the time of the Kennedy assassination.

With all of this governmental chaos on the inside, and mistrust on the outside, the idea of a secret war going on between government agents and aliens really throws one’s perspective for a loop. Petty conflicts between different sects of humans start to feel trivial once you start getting into inter-species war.

In terms of the actual development of the game, we are told that since it’s commencement in 2010, it has seen quite a few revamps, but one aspect has remained true: This is a character focused game. The idea behind the main character is tried and true, and has survived the entire process.

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is slated to release August 20, 2013 for Windows, Xbox 360, and PS3.

The Bureau will have players assuming the role of Agent William Carter who works for a secret government organization and assembles a team to fight off the invaders that have mysteriously appeared. We don’t know if Orbit the Clown will be a team member. For that matter, we’re not sure he’s still alive.

Regardless, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is at least deeply committed to its premise. We’ll see how the final game comes out when it releases on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on August 20th in North America and August 23rd in Europe.

2K Games President Christoph Hartmann states that, “We take great pride in our track record of providing high-quality post-release content for our games. We will continue to expand the XCOM universe by telling original stories set in the paranoia-drenched Cold War era of The Bureau.”

2K Marin development director Morgan Gray says, “The alternate 1962 universe that we’ve created for The Bureau is vast and there are many more stories to tell about the early days of XCOM. We’re excited that our stories will provide a new perspective on the war effort, much like how our critically acclaimed Minvera’s Den DLC for BioShock 2 allowed us to present a unique perspective of Rapture.”

Though Codebreakers will be available on Xbox 360, PC and PS3, it seems it will be arriving for a limited period exclusively for the Xbox 360. The Bureau: XCOM Declassified releases on August 23rd 2013.

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is due to release on August 20th for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.

“XCOM’s not a game about putting on your diaper and giving you a bottle of milk. It asks you to be a hero if you want to have any chance of succeeding.

“The emphasis on tactics cannot be stressed enough. We’re trying to get a very hardcore, really small-unit tactics game. This could easily have been a game about modern day special forces, but in our version imagine modern day special forces back in 1962, using technology provided by NASA that never could have existed — but should have, because it’s cool — fighting an alien threat.

“Anybody who attempts to run and gun or Rambo this will die. It’s about a team working together,” says Gray

Gray says that the team “felt confident that the modern gamer was gravitating towards things like Demons Souls, like Firaxis’ XCOM, and that we can make games with a difficulty and a skill level more in line with what us old-school gamers were used to growing up and cutting our teeth on.”

“What is generally happening in the more modern era is that things are almost obscenely accessible. So it was nice to see this movement towards more skilful play — and I just want to call it difficulty because it’s not about hard games, it’s about challenging games — and seeing that wave come back, seeing people really wanting to have some games with some crunch to them, some meat, is one of the things that let us go ‘yeah, we can bring this aspect of XCOM into The Bureau’.”

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is currently set to release on August 20th for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.

(Source)

Now, it’s back as The Bureau: XCOM Declassified but the name isn’t the only thing that’s changed. The game has a new creative director as well.

Morgan Gray has taken over from previous creative director Jordan Thomas. Having worked as a senior producer on Capomc’s Dark Void and with Crystal Dynamics on Tomb Raider, we can assume he’s partly the reason for the game’s new identity. For the most part, one wonders if that will help.

As for what happened to Jordan Thomas, well, 2K Marin hasn’t really provided any clarification on that. Don’t ask, don’t tell, right? The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is currently set to release for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 on August 20th.

Source: GIBiz

President of 2K Games Christoph Hartmann, “We’re thrilled about 2K Marin’s refined vision for The Bureau: XCOM Declassified. The game has evolved through a creative and iterative development process, and the result is a narrative-driven experience that is smart, engaging, and challenges players to think tactically.”

Though delayed for a long time, 2K Marin apparently has the third person mechanic and Battle Focus, which allows one to make tactical decisions in combat, down pat.

Morgan Gray, creative director at 2K Marin, stated that, “The Bureau tells the story of XCOM’s mysterious beginnings. We’re expanding the universe with a declassified tale of government conspiracy and heroic cover-ups told through third-person tactical gameplay.

“The team has been working hard to leverage core XCOM elements like tactical decision-making and permanent death of squad mates in a purposeful way that makes this a unique tactical shooter,” added Gray. “To that end, The Bureau will challenge players unlike any other third-person tactical shooter.”

Apparently, 2K Games will be re-revealing the game as a “squad-based tactical shooter” and is still in development by 2K Marin. Described as a “collaborative process of discovery and iteration”, the developer promises to showcase the game in a “matter of days”. Given the success of Enemy Unknown, 2K Games thinks it’s the right time to reveal their title.

The game is apparently a “high-stakes narrative experience imbued with core XCOM concepts”. That’s interesting, since the first reveal was far from anything that XCOM represented. Regardless, hopefully the finally reveal will be something of note – if not true to the spirit of the original series, then at least a strong action title.