After seven years in development, the XCOM FPS is dead… and now say hello to its replacement, the third-person tactical shooter The Bureau: XCOM Declassified.
Set in 1962, The Bureau goes back to the beginnings of the alien-hunting organization and their efforts to keep humanity in the dark about the extraterrestrial threat. And without a Men In Black-style neuralizer, that’s going to require a bit more effort:
The Bureau tells the origin story of the clandestine XCOM organisation’s first encounter with a mysterious and devastating enemy. Originally established as America’s covert defense against the Soviet Union, The Bureau must adapt and overcome a threat unlike anything the world has faced before. As special agent William Carter, players will call the shots and pull the trigger, leading their squad of agents in the high-stakes secret war for humanity’s survival. Paramount to repelling the outside threat is The Bureau’s ability to cover-up the enemy’s existence in order to prevent worldwide panic.
Like the XCOM FPS before it, The Bureau is in development at 2K Marin (the same team behind BioShock 2). According to Creative Director Morgan Gray, the team at 2K Marin wants to respect the XCOM tradition in their third-person world: “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. To that end, The Bureau will challenge players unlike any other third-person tactical shooter.”
The Bureau: XCOM Declassified will be released for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on August 20. Players who pre-order the game will receive access to the “Codebreakers” DLC mission.
