The Bureau: XCOM Declassified

Game Info

Grab your fedora, gun and a glass of scotch and get ready for an adventure. You follow the story of a man named William Carter. A seasoned war vet who’s lived through some traumatic times. Sometimes off the rail, mostly an excellent soldier, doesn’t act too much like a team player but he’ll learn. The Bureau: XCOM Declassified takes place in America during the early sixties in the cold war era which is definitely a unique vibe. This was my first time experiencing the XCOM world and I have to say it was pretty fantastic. The nostalgic recreation of the sixties is excellent in every way. From the way people speak to what they wear and how technology is represented in the game, it’s authentic as it can be. The graphics are awesome and 2k Marin definitely put a lot of effort into every bit of detail. To add frosting to the cake this game has a great sense of personality and humor that captivates its audience and makes you want more. If you missed the review that James did of XCOM: Enemy Unknown you should check it out, these games are different but in a good way.

The Bureau has a standard base of operations (HQ) in a secret location, this is where you’ll recruit your agents, plan missions, do your research and launch your missions. The game is pretty open at HQ but does take a linear approach during missions. There are a lot of side missions and even fun events that occur at HQ that you can participate in. After each mission you wind up back at HQ to regroup, customize your agent and teammates and pick what you’d like to do next. It has an RPG element to it as you have side missions at HQ and can talk to people in a Mass Effect way where cause and effect determine the actions of what happens. Now, its not a huge change but definitely noticeable. How you handle situations reflect in the responses you get from people which is pretty awesome.

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified plays very much like a normal 3rd person strategy game. Think movement like Gears of War and communication with NPC’s like Mass Effect. There are different options you can take to guide conversations and different approaches affect the way NPC’s respond. Gameplay is very smooth and intuitive, although some people may be disturbed by the lack of jumping, it didn’t seem to bother me. The AI in this game is pretty darn smart as well, with that being said the cover system is top notch. On Xbox 360 if you hold L to move and then press A you can cross gaps in coverage with ease. That with the combination of coverage and dodge and roll and you’re all set to take on the Outsiders.

When it comes to actual battle and strategy you get a pretty nice menu called Battle Focus. What this does is slows time down and allows you to strategize your situation and deploy team members to flank Outsiders, use special abilities like Levitate which you can focus on one enemy and lift them from cover. Another cool special ability is the use of a Blob which is actually a “Silacoid” a magnetically charged blob that looks like an inky creature. Other things you can do is focus on attacks and use critical strikes to take down your enemies. Carter does get all the cool gadgets from HQ as you hunt down the Outsiders and steal their technology HQ re-purposes them so you can use their weapons to take them down. When you are hunting down the outsiders you find their technology and are outfitted with backpacks that appear to be retro steam-punk looking things, made from glowy tubes and shiny retro metal plates. 2K Marin does an excellent job making things look like futuristic retro tech. The backpacks have an advantage too, as you collect more you realize they each have an individual characteristic whether that’s protection from enemy fire, or the ability to pierce armor you’ll realize they are suited for specific team members and situations. During missions you find hubs that you can re-gear your team and swap members to continue missions which definitely gives you the upper hand.

It’s interesting because everything runs in fluid time within the game. The Bureau doesn’t actually pause while your planning your attack it just slows down so you can’t mess around you have to be decisive in your actions and with perma-death you don’t want to lose your squad unnecessarily. You can only see the battlefield based on Carters position so its important to scope out your surroundings and position yourself in a place to give you an advantage or possibly a window to flank your enemies.

The sound and music in this game is excellent too, it doesn’t distract you but it pulls you further into the surroundings making you feel you are definitely in a different time period. The best part is it can be delightful then eerie and then it makes you feel the imminent threat that’s upon you. The more you progress through the game and the more gear you get you become aware of things as they happen and that helps you decipher the situation and respond with an excellent plan of attack. The Bureau is also good at making you uncomfortable. Yes, that’s a good thing! A lot of time you’ll have fun calm situations but out of nowhere something happens to break that up so you are always on your toes and never feeling too comfortable.

The Recommendation

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified definitely is a unique strategy shooter game that stands on its own. Whether or not you have experienced the XCOM world there is something in this game for all who love hybrid strategy games. I definitely recommend you check out and visit the 60’s with agent Carter.