XCOM: The Bureau Review Thread

People will inevitably complain about these scores. Here's the thing, if you want to like the game, you'll probably like it. Don't waste time arguing over why "this score is wrong," etc.
 
Very predictable scores. If anything they're slightly higher than I thought they would be from everything I saw on the game.
 
The IGN hits on the things I was worried about, that the permadeath not making much sense, and the lack of research. The game seems very linear, and it's only meat is in commanding the squad. I wish they had done a little more than telling a story I probably won't care about.
 
IGN's review seems to be more critical of the game not being XCOM and the lack of a clear continuity with the story.

But is the game still fun as a TPS? That's what matters to me. Which is why reviews can sometimes be inaccurate went it comes the fun factor of a game.
 
This game is up against some stiff competition too, with Saints Row and Splinter Cell out the same day. I think it's going to be rough times ahead.
 
2k Marin got screwed having to shelf their original fps plan.They placated to an audience who has been satiated by shifting to a weird tps with drab character and level design who doesn't even care for this game now that they had their game arrive already. Sad to see cause these guys know how to make a shooter. This is not what this game should be. Oh well...
 
Shocked that this game that was at one point was two other games might not be the most well put together product. Still a bummer though.
 
There's what I thought was a minor spoiler in the Destructoid review, don't read if you're very sensitive.
 
I'm about 10 hours into my review play-through.

I'm kind of digging it, but yeah, it's got some flaws.

* The balance between tactics and TPS is pretty even. You can't just charge in like a standard TPS and do all the work yourself. Just most of the work. Companion AI is a consistent problem, running into gunfire a lot, and in this game a second's worth is deadly. But if you give them directions regularly enough they can become helpful. So your commands tend to be more about keeping your guys from getting killed than using them to help you kill. But as you get a feel for your style and level them up, the skill tree perks can make them pretty damn handy.

* Difficulty for some reason alternates between breezy and murderous. There's also a gun you get about six hours in that noticeably notches down the difficulty and allows you to play it more like a standard shooter.

* The story is pretty blah. Carter is your standard Traumatized Middle-Aged White Ex-Soldier to a tee.

* Ammo is actually managed quite well. You'll run out at the end of some battles, making you risk taking fire to vulture corpses.

* Taking down Mutons -- who give me Nemesis-like chills at this point -- and just barely surviving battles with them is pretty exhilarating. Plus dressing all my squad up in hokey '60s pastels is neat.

So I'm definitely keen on finishing the game.
 
bigboss370 said:
a part of me thinks this project would've gone so much better if it wasn't for the unnecessary backlash after the first reveal.
Click to expand...
Nah. It wasn't like there would be a different developer making it. Same guys with lots of time. Would have been the same weak result.
 
TheFLYINGManga_Ka said:
IGN's review seems to be more critical of the game not being XCOM and the lack of a clear continuity with the story.

But is the game still fun as a TPS? That's what matters to me. Which is why reviews can sometimes be inaccurate went it comes the fun factor of a game.
Click to expand...

The answer to your question seems to be yes. It's exactly what I expected and posted earlier today, that some reviews would harp on it being an xcom game in name only and dock points for it.

This quote from the Escapist's review:
The Bureau: XCOM Declassified doesn't tell much of a story, and the gameplay is split between the action-packed missions and the supremely boring HQ meanderings. You'll have a ton of fun when you're actually on missions, but that only accounts for 60% of the time you'll spend in game.
Click to expand...

So it looks like you'll have a blast for 60% of the time while actually playing the missions. Poor storyline, which is a bummer for me but not a total dagger. I'd pay about 30 bucks for this.
 
Not surprised at the subpar impressions from reviewers. Game looks like an un-cohesive mess. To be honest, I don't think it was a good idea for this game to be made in the first place.
 
You know I am sorry, but I keep reading these reviews and I just DONT GET IT!

IGN gives the game a 5.5 which usually means crap, but the way they described it, it looked like a fun game and there complaints seemed dumb.

They mention in the review how you gain an alien review, but never explain it.

Well ................... so what?

Who gives a crap!

How does that affect the gameplay, at all? Pretty stupid complaint.

All of these reviews make the game sound better than what it is getting score-wise and many of the complaints just make no sense.
 
Well, this was supposed to be my third game with my buy 2 get 1 free coupon that expires in a week. Saints Row, Pikmin 3, and... Now what?
 
TheFLYINGManga_Ka said:
IGN's review seems to be more critical of the game not being XCOM and the lack of a clear continuity with the story.

But is the game still fun as a TPS? That's what matters to me. Which is why reviews can sometimes be inaccurate went it comes the fun factor of a game.
Click to expand...

EXACTLY!

I could care less of whether it plays like the classic XCOM. This was always supposed to be a spin off.

Its not meant to be Xcom again. Thus far all the complaints leveled at the game just seem like the reviewers taking the game for what it isn't rather than what it is.
 
davewiththeid said:
I'm about 10 hours into my review play-through.

I'm kind of digging it, but yeah, it's got some flaws.

* The balance between tactics and TPS is pretty even. You can't just charge in like a standard TPS and do all the work yourself. Just most of the work. Companion AI is a consistent problem, running into gunfire a lot, and in this game a second's worth is deadly. But if you give them directions regularly enough they can become helpful. So your commands tend to be more about keeping your guys from getting killed than using them to help you kill. But as you get a feel for your style and level them up, the skill tree perks can make them pretty damn handy.

* Difficulty for some reason alternates between breezy and murderous. There's also a gun you get about six hours in that noticeably notches down the difficulty and allows you to play it more like a standard shooter.

* The story is pretty blah. Carter is your standard Traumatized Middle-Aged White Ex-Soldier to a tee.

* Ammo is actually managed quite well. You'll run out at the end of some battles, making you risk taking fire to vulture corpses.

* Taking down Mutons -- who give me Nemesis-like chills at this point -- and just barely surviving battles with them is pretty exhilarating. Plus dressing all my squad up in hokey '60s pastels is neat.

So I'm definitely keen on finishing the game.
Click to expand...

Hmm that doesn't sound too bad. Said you're 10 hours in, are you almost at the end you think? 10+ hours would be good
 
Aaron said:
Nah. It wasn't like there would be a different developer making it. Same guys with lots of time. Would have been the same weak result.
Click to expand...

I don't think it was the guys, I think it was the property. BioShock 2 was perfectly good after all; it's just that 2K Marin had to make too many sacrifices to make The Bureau look like XCOM but without capturing any of the elements that made the series compelling. If they had been allowed to pursue their own original vision of a mysterious, X-Files-type investigatory game I think it would have at least been more interesting.
 
If nothing else I'm blown away by how good the PC version looks. Physx destruction, great lighting, FOV slider, and use of tessellation. Was not expecting this to be a looker.
 
Well.

I guess Blacklist is the only thing I'll be picking up tomorrow.

I found this game a lot more interesting when they showed off the sci-fi horror FPS. While the cover art and aesthetic is nice, the cartoony third person tactical stuff didn't intrigue me as much as the initial creepy preview.

Remachinate said:
I don't think it was the guys, I think it was the property. BioShock 2 was perfectly good after all; it's just that 2K Marin had to make too many sacrifices to make The Bureau look like XCOM but without capturing any of the elements that made the series compelling. If they had been allowed to pursue their own original vision of a mysterious, X-Files-type investigatory game I think it would have at least been more interesting.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. That mysterious X-Files investigation game is the one that I wanted to play. I never played XCOM, so I wasn't beholden to any of the previous games or that genre or style. What's being released doesn't seem as interesting as what 2K Marin originally seemed to pitch.

Maybe that stuff will see the light of day down the line as an original property. Probably not... but I can dream.
 
GravityMan said:
To be honest, I don't think it was a good idea for this game to be made in the first place.
Click to expand...

There isn't much of a problem with the idea of translating the X-Com formula into a squad based shooter instead of a TBS. As in, it has the potential to be as good as normal X-Com, albeit different. But this seems like poor execution.

The old abstract, geometry based enemies from the first trailers looked really neat, although I suppose its possible some of them made it into this version (and we just haven't seen it in prerelease marketing). I don't like the bizarro mixing of aesthetics with the 60's suits and advanced tech, although that's a personal thing.
 
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