The Bureau: XCOM Declassified Critic Reviews

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is an interesting hybrid between a traditional third-person shooter and a strategic game, with elements of role-playing game; but the impression is a game crippled by a troubled production. If you are in search of a different action videogame, maybe The Bureau is the game are you searching for.

Paradoxically, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified feels immediate and inclusive as a strategy game, relying more closely on your rapid-fire commands than the bursts of your rifle. The odd hybrid is far from being fully evolved, but it's well suited to further study.

With the plot being one of its most worth highlighting features, The Bureau takes the strategy from XCOM and makes it work within a shooter-based gameplay.

The Bureau builds up adequately on a lot of ideas taken from XCOM. As a result it is entertaining and generally true to the XCOM canon but its potential is, more often than not, half-expressed.

It offers a glimpse in the history of XCOM through a tactical third person shooter, without becoming a simple mindless shooter. The Bureau requires a good amount of tactical thinking, which really makes it feel like a true XCOM game. Lack of strategy, however, might make the game less appealing to some XCOM fans, but the majority of players will revel in the tactical gameplay.

Takes inspiration from Mass Effects, but offers a richer, more tactical combat. Usually there’s a reason for scheduling a game release for the slow summer season, but The Bureau turned out to be a really good game.

A fun shooter with a tactical edge, but not as strategy focused as other XCOM games.

The tactical shootouts are very entertaining.

Considering the game’s fraught development history and arguably ill-conceived premise, The Bureau is practically a best-case scenario. It may not be a game that anyone asked for, but perhaps that has, in a way, strengthened the final game, forcing it to reel itself in a bit and focus on being entertaining rather than revamping an old IP. It succeeds admirably as an enjoyable sci-fi shooter, and that’s good enough for us.

2K Marin's work is intuitive and fun, but with a little more courage it could've become a game of rare strength. Too bad the developers didn't want to risk all the way, by focusing on limited customization of classes and equipment.

XCOM Declassified is missing that something more that could make it a third-person shooter you have to play. Right now is just another shooter with an original twist in the gameplay.

As it winds towards completion, the plot jumps the rails more than once. I lost touch with what was going on, but eventually I was charmed by the pure insanity on display.

Developer 2K Marin has put everything into creating the best tactical fights possible. Because of this the third person alien shooter is at its best when taking on enemies in combat. Unfortunately everything else is less refined, but despite this The Bureau is still a great addition to the series.

The Bureau is a good game. I like the fact that it forces teamwork, has a great atmosphere and solid graphics. The aliens tend to attack with various and difficult to kill forces from the beginning - that's good as well. Unfortunately later on the magic kind of disappears - the story becomes silly, fights get easier and the interface irritates more and more. But taking all things into consideration, The Bureau is a solid, well made game. A cool appetizer to all the big games arriving this fall.

OK, so The Bureau is different to what XCOM fans would be used to, but does that make it a bad game? As a squad based shooter, The Bureau is reasonably good.

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified does not deliver. It is not bad, but rather depressingly average.

2K Marin has done their best with the almost impossible task to create a narrative rich, tactic driven TPS that justifies the name of "XCOM". The result is a decent and professional effort from a team that could have done better without being tied to that name.

The underutilized XCOM base is an appropriate metaphor for The Bureau itself. Limitless possibilities for intrigue, tactics, mystery and terror appear to be on offer. But The Bureau keeps most of it to itself, leaving only scraps and the grunt work of killing aliens.

Not your average XCOM, but more of an "XCOM take on the Mass Effect recipe". Still, it's an enjoyable game with a nicely written story.

With better polish and an add genius touch, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified could have been a great game. But for now, it's old technique, it's bugs and numerous incoherencies don't let this game into the hall of fame of videogames. Happily, the worthy gameplay, the 60's ambiance and the XCOM universe are here to salvage the game. The mix between action and strategy works well, and the choice in dialogues brings a cool RPG touch. In the end we go through missions with quite an enjoyment in spite of all this, and we don't leave the bureau that easily.