The Bureau: XCOM Declassified Gameplay Video Fixes Generic Shooter Syndrome

My original comments about the first-person shooter rendition of 2K Marin's XCOM was nothing nice and nothing good. I referred to it as a generic FPS version of BioShock meets Brothers in Arms with the XCOM name. Thankfully, 2K has reinvented the wheel and has gone for something a lot closer to the original strategy series with The Bureau.

The latest five minute gameplay video of the XCOM prequel gives gamers a brief glimpse at a battle map, the characters, some weapons and the team tactics in play.

Some of you might remember that in the original FPS version of XCOM it was mostly run-and-gun and if your teammates died you just stopped, Gears of War'd them and kept plowing through aliens. You might also remember that the game used Call of Duty's regenerating health mechanic, enforcing very little tactical strategy and a lot of charge-in-and-think-later combat. In other words, the FPS rendition of XCOM had all the makings of a generic military shooter failure.

To be honest, I think I'm more excited about The Bureau than I was for Firaxis' XCOM: Enemy Unknown, only because I like the era, I like the weapons from that era, and I like that perma-death is there, tactical gameplay is a must and teamwork is absolutely essential. The best part about The Bureau is that it's its own game right now. There are no other games on the market like The Bureau in terms of combining RTS mechanics with TPS gameplay and that is a good thing. I now have a reason to want to buy The Bureau: XCOM Declassified.

If you enjoyed the five minute clip and can't wait to see more, well, then get in line because I can't wait to see more, either.

You can keep up to date on the game by visiting the official website.