2K uncovers The Bureau: XCOM Declassified

The more action oriented XCOM game is very much alive- but very different than when you saw it last.

2K Games just took the wraps off of The Bureau: XCOM Declassified. It’s not a first-person shooter, but instead is a third-person ‘tactical’ shooter where you’ll command a crew of operatives. The title is set during humanity’s first fateful brush with the alien threat that would make itself known in a much bigger way in 2012’s XCOM: Enemy Unknown- way back in 1962.

Set in 1962 at the height of the Cold War, The Bureau tells the origin story of the clandestine XCOM organization’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.

2K Marin has been working on The Bureau and promises a “challenging” experience for strategy-minded gamers and also one that “embraces permanent consequence”- and you know what that means. As the game is set in the Cold War era (not to mention that it’s chock full of ET’s), I can’t imagine it wouldn’t have more than a little cloak and dagger and a healthy level of paranoia either and 2K is also playing up that angle as The Bureau will have an appropriately tense feel.

If you’re up to join the team, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified can be preordered right now and will net you the Codebreakers side-mission if you do. Codebreakers figures into the main campaign as a side-mission set in a communications facility that’s “gone dark”.

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is set to be revealed on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC this August the 20th in the US and on the 23rd in internationally.