The Bureau: XCOM® Declassified™

It's a cover based shooter with some tactical elements. The story is fine if a bit... unbelievable (I don't think it'd be a big spoiler if i said the events of the game got classified and no one really noticed a massive alien invasion on the entire planet.) also it hints at the real identity of the commander in X-Com (2012) and X-com 2... sorta. The Squad mates are... sorta useless but not quite. Their base attacks are horribly inaccurate (I suggest equipping them with a plasma minigun and have them attack a gunship. I guarantee you will be amused by their (in)accuracy.) unless they are flanking (and they are still rather weak even when flanking) but they also come with a set of pretty powerful special abilities you are encouraged to use as often as you can. Which is pretty complicated at first as the controls were made with gamepads in mind but M+K players like me can cope after a map or two... or i did at least. The graphics are fine even if there is some weirdness with the cutscenes (instead of rendering it in engine they use a badly compressed avi or something... and it's a badly compressed avi of the cutscene made in game... just... why?) The story has a couple twists including one big one near the end of the game. Plus you get to walk around the base between missions and see how new guns are developed, scientist notes ETC. It's pretty nifty overall. Even if your actions during the campaign have actually very little effect on gameplay and no effect on the ending... with one exception near the end where you need to pick one of 3 options that will result in a bad, neutral, or a good ending. But it's not clear which one is which unless you have some character reading skills.

First I believe a disclaimer is in order: I've purchased The Bureau knowing full well it's 3rd person squad based cover shooter. I did not expect any tactical depth, I just though that the idea of having the 60's visuals mixed with sci-fi weapons, gadgets and aliens (kind of retro future setting) is a neat and fun idea. Well it IS a neat and fun idea, sadly The Bureau manages to completely bury it under the run of the mill averageness. Actually as far as the visuals go, The Bureau does pretty well, the setting is represented nicely in my opinion. There are old timey monitors at HQ, people are dressed appropriately, everyone is smoking... It's the gameplay itself that just gets boring. The levels are your average cover shooter linear corridors with waist-high walls scattered around, guns are just bland (you have a pistol, an alien pistol, a rifle, an alien rifle... how exciting), also if you though that, in what is basically XCOM shooter, they would implement some weapon research and customization, you'd be wrong. Enemies, while there is some variety, are just a little too bullet spongy (it's especially noticeable on higher difficulties), special abilities are just run of the mill too - you can heal and lift enemies out of cover, deploy drone, mind control enemy... Also note that while there are 5 agent classes, player character is stuck with one (the Squad Leader), so your choice is fairly limited. All in all game just gets boring quickly, you just use the same bland weapons, same unimaginative skills on same enemies following mediocre story (there is rather predictable "twist" to it too of course). It's like someone wanted to replicate Mass Effect 2 style of play, only without all the fun stuff. I wanted to give it 2 just out of sheer disappointment, because there is an interesting setting behind it and it could have been great if it was just a little bit expanded, but in all fairness and with heavy hearth I rate it at 3, it's just bland in its averageness.

This game is a forgotten gem, and if you like the 50s style of science & sci-fi action.. you should try this game. While there certainly are better games.. this is an enjoyable ride.. and one that have stuck with me.

First, let me say that I wanted to like this game. It is essentially Mass Effect in the XCOM world. As such it could have been awesome, but in reality is mediocre. My critique is as follows. 1. The game engine is okay, but not great when compared to Mass Effect 2 and 3 which its game engine was obviously modeled after. Somehow it didn't feel polished. It is not a game breaker at all, and probably is the strongest element of the game, but it doesn't stand apart from better game engines of its kind. 2. The characters are shallow, unlikable, and I really don't care about any of them. Yes, this does not effect game play per se, but plot and story and characters are part of what made the first three Mass Effect games so replayable and enjoyable. 3. Replayablity. Again, Mass Effect had tremendous replayability due to a well developed story and characters. This had very little replayability. Yes, you could choose from a few different companions but most are generic with no built in story line, and the others offer nothing really new to the gameplay. 4. Different endings? Well, sort of. In this day and age, different paths can be a terrific bonus for a game, but we have come to expect more than a few generic paths. No matter what choices I made (and there are only a few limited choices) I feel like the story was essentially the same. This again goes to limited replayability. 5. Short game length. They were probably expecting to add many add-on packs but the game was not successful leaving a rather short game. Admittedly, the game is not tiny, but compared to its predecessors the game comes and goes too quickly, so consider this a factor, and buy only if it is on sale. Do I regret buying the game? No. It is a pleasant diversion with a 50s sci-fi feel which I loved, but I was very put off by the rude jerk I was playing, and the shortcomings of the game that I have been unable to replay it. Three stars I think is fair. Good, but don't expect too much.

Mass Effect meets L.A. Noire with Independence Day cliche and XCOM fan service. Don't expect rich dialogues, but who doesn't want to explore XCOM HQ up close and blow Sectoid heads in a gorgeous 1960s setting. Playing on Veteran the game's tactical interface does feel like playing Enemy Unknown at times. Given the harsh criticism this game has received from the fans of the series, I went into this expecting not a whole a lot, but got more than enough. Thank you 2K Marin.