14 DAY TRIAL // 
William Carter is accustomed to sketchy situations and to weird crimes, but nothing on this Earth could have prepared him for the fact that aliens have landed in the backyard of his beloved United States and are getting ready to strip it naked of all potential resources.
We know that the aliens are beaten back at some point because we have already fought them before in XCOM: Enemy Unknown, so The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is designed to tell us the story of the very first invasion, the one that caught everybody unprepared.
The game created by 2K Marin and published by 2K Games aims to take all the core tenets of XCOM and move the action to the third-person perspective, increasing the level of action while decreasing the focus on management and long term strategy.
The game mostly succeeds in its attempts but it’s hampered by a certain long term monotony linked to the battles and a narrative that at one point pretty much stops making sense.
Fans of the universe who loved Enemy Unknown in 2011 will probably enjoy the experience that The Bureau can offer, but the announcement of the coming Enemy Within expansion will probably reduce enthusiasm for the current game.
Story
William Carter, the main character, is a cliché, a secret agent with a tragic past who is now focused only on the defense of the US, initially from the Soviet threat and then, after a memorable initial assault, from alien forces.
The Bureau: XCOM Declassified does a great job at painting a picture that in our minds reads as the United States of 1962, from the clothes, to the characters that are part of the new initiative, and to the reaction of the population.
However, I would have liked for the game to focus a little more on the reaction of those affected by the alien invasion rather than on the banter between the XCOM operatives, which is pretty generic given the traumatic events that they are witnessing.
The dialogs that Carter has with the survivors and the military men he is leading also fail to have a clear effect on the story and lack the emotional impact of some of the side conversations in Mass Effect 2.
All those who were excited to see exactly how the story of The Bureau led into the remade XCOM universe will also be disappointed because the link is not suggested or even offered here, which might either hint at a sequel or a lack of communication between 2K Marin and Firaxis.
Gameplay
Going into battle is the best part of The Bureau: XCOM Declassified because it blends action, tactics, and some solid work on the user interface.
The experience in many ways reminds me of Mass Effect and its own tactical battles, but with more options and more decisive moments.
The player character and two henchmen are dropped in areas that the aliens have invaded and they need to use careful tactical movement and their own unique powers, from laser turrets to defensive bubbles and other tech, to take out all enemy units.
There are four classes to choose from: Commando, Support, Recon, and Engineer, and each of them gets special abilities that can quickly change the course of the fight.
I mostly used Support and Commando during my playthrough of The Bureau, but other players might discover that other combinations might work better for them.
Each of the sidekicks can be killed in battle, which is a major tactical loss, because it often forces a restart, and a strategic problem, because a new agent needs to be built up from scratch.
To make sure that they don’t succumb in front of the aliens, gamers need to use the Battle Focus feature, which slows down time considerably while orders are issued, ranging from simple movement to clearly explaining how to use certain powers.
The system is interesting, but using it becomes a little tiring because it takes away from the core action of The Bureau and forces the player to direct his team using a system that’s a little too focused on terrain.
I appreciate the tactical options that I am offered, but I would have liked to have a few more automation options for my sidekicks, giving me a chance to focus more on my own action instead of constantly babysitting my comrades.
The combat can be both fast and fun, as long as your teammates and their enemies don’t do something dumb on their own, and it’s often a pleasure to see how a mix of movement and clever ability use can bring down even the toughest opponent.
The level layout, however, is very often repetitive, a mash-up of corridors and wider battle spaces that never feels as open as something seen in Enemy Unknown.
Even worse is the fact that all those involved in a fight tend to do very stupid things, like standing out of cover just soaking up enemy fire or running away with their backs turned to the enemy.
Enemies and weapons are also introduced very quickly and, at one point, the game runs out of surprises and the overall experience becomes a little static.
The Bureau’s gameplay is better than any of its other constituent elements and, with a little more work, open levels, and more squad members to offer tactical options, the game could have offered a unique third-person battle experience.
Graphics and audio
The Bureau: XCOM Declassified really wants to take players back to the ‘60s, and the visual style uses some toned down colors and sepia effects to achieve the retro look, which I mostly enjoyed, especially when it comes to the clever small details that are spread around the various levels.
The characters get less love from the development team, although it’s nice to see some of the enemies up close and in person, especially those who have a clear equivalent in Enemy Unknown.
2K Marin also did a good work on the weapon effects and the look of the special abilities, but they failed to understand that sound is just as important as graphics in creating a world that the player would want to immerse himself in.
Carter, the main character, is the typical gruff protagonist that gaming needs to stop using at this point, and the supporting cast also sounds pretty unconvinced about the story they are enacting.
The music is instantly forgettable – the various battle sounds are pretty solid, even if a little generic, but the world needed more work to seem believable.
The narrative is not engaging, and there’s no reason to care about any of the characters, which is a shame given how closely I was connected to the soldiers I was able to recruit in XCOM: Enemy Unknown and how affected I was when they were in danger. The gameplay is mostly solid and I liked taking out aliens using my unique team, but there are small problems like the resurrection mechanic that stop it from keeping its promise. The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is a solid experience for those who love the universe and want to see what happens when aliens first arrive on Earth, but newcomers are better served by buying and playing XCOM: Enemy Unknown while waiting for the Enemy Within expansion.
The Good
The Bad
Conclusion
