The Bureau: XCOM Declassified

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified

A third-person, squad-based, tactical game that recounts humanity's first contact with aliens during the Cold War in the 1960s, and the subsequent founding of the XCOM organization.

Overview

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is the the eighth game in the XCOM franchise, and the second game in the rebooted series - the first being XCOM: Enemy Unknown in 2012. The Bureau is a third-person, squad-based, tactical game set in America in 1962. After being in development in some form since 2006, the game was announced in 2010 as a first-person shooter under the name of "XCOM". On April 26, 2013, it was re-announced under its current name.

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified was released in North America on August 20, 2013 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC via Steam. The game was released in released other regions on August 23, 2013.

Story

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified tells the origin story of the XCOM project. The initiative was created to combat the alien threat during the Cold War. The main character, William Carter, is a field officer in charge of leading a team to neutralize threats.

Gameplay

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is a tactical third-person shooter. Players take on the role of secret FBI agent, William Carter; the player must track the radio and radar for alien activity and perform field investigations to ensure that the task force gets proper funding to stay on top of their game. The game features RPG progression elements and squad based combat.

As in other XCOM titles, permanent death of customizable squad-mates will factor into gameplay.

Development History

The Bureau underwent an extended development cycle that saw it go through numerous iterations. It began life as a game simply called XCOM, and was first revealed to the public in 2010 as an FPS with an emphasis on stealth and investigation set during the Cold War era of the 1950s. The game was to feature aliens that were faceless and shapeless, emphasizing the idea of unknown enemies.

Over time, however, the initial design was altered to provide more structure with a linear story campaign featuring a variety of side missions. The emphasis on stealth and investigation was also dropped as the player's allied AI partners, originally NPCs, became controllable, and the formless enemies of the original concept were dropped for designs more akin to the Firaxis strategy game XCOM: Enemy Unknown. The game's perspective was shifted from first-person to third-person, as well, and a greater emphasis was placed on squad tactics and abilities in combat scenarios reminiscent of the Mass Effect series.

System Requirements

PC

MinimumRecommended
OS: Windows Vista Service Pack 2 32-bitWindows 7 Service Pack 1 64-bit
Processor: Intel Core 2 DUO 2.4 GHz / AMD Athlon X2 2.7 GHzQuad Core Processor
Memory: 2 GB RAM4 GB RAM
Graphics: DirectX9 Compatible ATI Radeon HD 3870 / NVIDIA 8800 GTDirectX11 Compatible, AMD Radeon HD 6950 / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560
Hard Drive: 12 GB available space12 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX CompatibleDirectX Compatible

Additional Notes: Incompatible with Intel HD 3000 Integrated Graphics

Incompatible with Intel HD 3000 Integrated Graphics

Mac

MinimumRecommended
OS: Mac OS X Mountain Lion 10.7.5 or higherMac OS X Lion 10.9 or higher
Processor: Intel Core i series processorIntel Core i series processor
Memory: 4 GB RAM4 GB RAM
Graphics: AMD HD4870 / NVIDIA 8800GT / Intel Iris Graphics or betterAMD HD5870 / Nvidia 650M or better
Hard Drive: 15 GB available space15 GB available space

Additional Notes: Keyboard and 3 button Mouse or Logitech Dual Analog Stick Gamepad

Keyboard and 3 button Mouse or Logitech Dual Analog Stick Gamepad