2K and 2K Marin, makers of BioShock 2, announced today that The Bureau: XCOM Declassified will be released on August 20th, 2013 in North America and August 23, 2013 internationally on PC, X360 and PS3. Even though this new XCOM game will retain the style of its earlier version, it has abandoned its first person perspective and is now described as a third-person tactical shooter.
Set in 1962 at the height of the Cold War, The Bureau tells the origin story of the clandestine XCOM organisation’s first encounter with a mysterious and devastating enemy. 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.
Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K said:
“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.”
Morgan Gray, creative director at 2K Marin added:
“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.”
In the spirit of the XCOM franchise, The Bureau’s calculated combat design requires players to think and act tactically. The game’s third-person perspective gives the player a sense of spatial awareness and grants them the freedom to transition in and out Carter’s unique Battle Focus ability seamlessly – heightening the tactical shooter action. The Bureau also fully embraces the concept of permanent consequence. As our last line of defense, every command can mean the difference between life and death for Carter, his squad and mankind.
Morgan Gray concluded:
“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.”
Enjoy the following screenshots and its debut live-action trailer!
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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