The Bureau: XCOM Declassified

 PC
User Score
6.5

Mixed or average reviews- based on 689 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 284 out of 689
  2. Mixed: 261 out of 689
  3. Negative: 144 out of 689
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. Jeshua
    Aug 20, 2013
    2
    This shooter is in no way related to the XCOM series. It's extremely uninspired, devoid of substance or meaning. The trailers tried to sell something that seemed history-driven but the final product is, from start to finish, just a series of over-the-top explosions, random shooting and NPC babysitting.
    Avoid it like the plague if you don't love bland shooters; buy it if you love CoD or    This shooter is in no way related to the XCOM series. It's extremely uninspired, devoid of substance or meaning. The trailers tried to sell something that seemed history-driven but the final product is, from start to finish, just a series of over-the-top explosions, random shooting and NPC babysitting.
    Avoid it like the plague if you don't love bland shooters; buy it if you love CoD or BF.

    (and yes: this game would get a 7 from me if not for the XCOM "bait" on the title.)    … Expand
  2. Silverqt
    Aug 20, 2013
    3
    Stupid port from consoles, playing on keyboard are horrible, every time wants to press esc. Framerate also big joke, I7 overclocked gtx 680 and 19 fps on 1080, and this stupid dialogs in mass effect style,everything stolen and made for stupid kids who wants to shot every time like no brains idiots and imbiciles, this game is totally garbage for me. I like xcom enemy unknown very much, but this
  3. MadDavid
    Jan 11, 2015
    1
    I'm a big fan of the shooter genres, and I usually dive straight into them on the hardest difficulty. Understand that when I say, this is the single most difficult, frustrating, and poorly designed shooter I have ever come across. And in "Poorly designed," I'm including "XCOM Enforcer." Most games try to make the *process* of playing fun and easy. This is the only "game" I've playedI'm a big fan of the shooter genres, and I usually dive straight into them on the hardest difficulty. Understand that when I say, this is the single most difficult, frustrating, and poorly designed shooter I have ever come across. And in "Poorly designed," I'm including "XCOM Enforcer." Most games try to make the *process* of playing fun and easy. This is the only "game" I've played where if feels like the developers set out to make the game unintuitive and difficult to master.
    I'm writing this review, because after several tries, I'm unable to get past the first part of the first actual mission (after the tutorial level) on Veteran.

    2K Games has no concept of "Learning Curve." The most basic enemies (sectoids) in the game take eight hits from the M-14 or multiple hits from the friggen shotgun to down (at close range). Meanwhile, your entire team goes down in seconds.

    The choice of having a way-point save system is mind-boggling in this day and age. Way-point saves were a product of the limitations of early console systems. "It's fun to have the developers choose exactly where my game saves," said no gamer ever. The actual choice of where the game saves leaves a lot to be desired. For example it saves after you choose your team and personal equipment, after which you can't go back. Having trouble and want to try different team members or weapons? Tough. Go back to the beginning of the level and watch all the cut-scenes again.

    Your squad's AI is actually worse than nothing. The squad members don't start the battle by rushing to the nearest cover and opening fire. They don't start the battle by standing in place and opening fire. They start the battle by rushing across the battle-field to your side while not opening fire. You have to baby-sit all of their actions from the battle-commander view to get even remotely competent performance out of them, a big problem when you want to be getting to cover and opening fire yourself. This is something you can't do from the group coordination screen. I would much prefer if you could give orders to your own character and treat the game as a real-time squad combat game instead of a shooter. Or if I could give generic orders a-la Unreal Tournament and have the squad carry them out competently. As it is, you can choose to get perforated while trying to manage your squad, or have your squad go down, and then get perforated.

    As far as shooters go, it's just not very good. Aside from everything mentioned above, there are problems such as requiring you to press an "aim" button to see a reticle of where you're aiming at, and grenades that work--well, I don't know. There was no explanation of how to throw a grenade, so I assumed it was simple. I pressed the grenade button, and nothing happened. (Meanwhile, time's ticking down.) I hold down the grenade button and see a grenade aiming curve, so I place it on my enemy and release. Nothing happened. (Meanwhile, time's ticking down.) Am I supposed to hold down the grenade button and then press "fire?" Maybe. That was my next thought. I don't know, because by that time I was dead. Which sums up much of the problem with this game. You die and get a TPK before you can actually figure out the mechanics of how to play it.    … Expand
  4. Newfr
    Aug 26, 2013
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Well, when i first heard about this "shooter with XCOM in it" i thought about another quick cash grab game like "X-COM: Enforcer".
    First of all as most of us (i hope so) thought this game has nothing to do with XCOM. Just some shooter with some mutons and sectoids in it.
    First of all i'm going to talk about plot. I don't like it. At all. At first it's ok: despair of losing war, some tension building with this sleepwalker disease. But around the mid game all that goes to hell and 2K start to feed you something that makes no sense at all as a plot. First mistake is that they tried to do some emotional things like agent Weaver's brother and agent DaSilva turning into sleepwalker. But they forgot to do anything to get you attached to any character in game. So you literally don't give a single f*ck. So then Carter let Weaver kill Axis after millions of warnings that everyone and their mothers want him ALIVE i was sitting in my chair with one thought "WTF??! Why?!" After that things goes completely nuts along with Carter himself. And suddenly scientists who's job before was primary to set silacoids inside the base on rampage or blow you up with new weapon prototype invented and constructed some flying sausage that (despite major advantage of aliens in technology) completely undetectable (even if it's clearly visible visually) by Outsiders. So all their military might doesn't matter any more, because XCOM can strike anywhere (for example at main ship surrounded my massive defensive fleet). 'Merica, f*ck yeah! Oh, btw, i wonder why "ruassians" in modern games mostly speak the same awful pseudo russian language as in old movies? Don't think it that hard to find decent russian voice actor now in America. So only thing i can say about plot is that they bite more than they can chew. In my opinion game should focus only on the earliest incursion, defeating expedition force at best and leaving main force for "Enemy Unknown".
    As for strategy TPS a have a mixed feallings. On one side this is the best incarnation of it so far. I found it much more interesting and tense than in Mass Effect. Only thing i wish is slow time effect while you targeting with grenade. At the same time this tactical combat became boring too quickly. Mostly because you doing same thing over and over again. You meet all aliens and all agents hit max level (except Carter) in about first third of the game. So there is nothing new to bring in, just variations for the same enemies but more bullet spongy. Add awful console controls to it. Just imagine sprint, stick to cover and jump over cover all this actions are on one button. And that not the worst thing. The worst is that you can't move cursor in tactical pause mode over obstacles. So you have to move it around but that's not always possible (because of placement radius limitation). To make thing even more frustrating there is an AI for you. You think about enemy AI that cheats or something? Nope, it's about your mates AI. They act like they know better what to do. So if you gave command to friendly agent to take cover behind this crate don't be surprised to find him somewhere on the other part of the map just some 20 seconds later.
    While graphics are good and probably the best part of this game it still have it share of problems. First of all lip sync. It doesn't sync at all. Also there are flame rate drops. There is nothing in this game that modern PC can't handle but from time to time frame rate drops under 20 fps.
    So there was a chance to make Bureau a good game. Despite technical problems first half of this game really trying to be decent while everything else have a "oh crap, lets quickly finish and sell it already" taste. But 2k wasted that chance. So if you want a XCOM go buy Xenonauts or Enemy Unknown at least. If you want a good TPS go buy new Splinter Cell. Or Saint Row IV if you want TPS with totally nuts story ("'Merica, f*ck yeah!" included).    … Expand
  5. piepgras
    Aug 22, 2013
    3
    I was excited when I saw footage of this new XCOM game, I thought it was a fresh idea to try and make XCOM a more streamlined (crowd friendly) experience, but boy was I wrong. I'm generally an "Any genre guy", I play it all, but this new hybrid take on turn based strategy and 3rd person shooting just doesn't work. Hell, it's even hard for me to put the words strategy and shooting in theI was excited when I saw footage of this new XCOM game, I thought it was a fresh idea to try and make XCOM a more streamlined (crowd friendly) experience, but boy was I wrong. I'm generally an "Any genre guy", I play it all, but this new hybrid take on turn based strategy and 3rd person shooting just doesn't work. Hell, it's even hard for me to put the words strategy and shooting in the previous sentence because the game misses both aspects by a mile.

    For a shooter to be enjoyable, you need to have comfortable shooting mechanics, nice gun feel and an overall sense of power when you hit an enemy, XCOM fail completely in this aspect. The gun feel is horrible, there's no feeling of "UMFFF!" when you fire any weapons or activate any abilities, it all seems completely static. Most fights feel like all I'm doing is transporting ammunition from my ammo counter to the faces of my opponents with little to no joy at all.

    This being an XCOM game it's no surprise that most of the game takes place in cover; behind walls, crates, vehicles and things of that nature, that's all fine and dandy, but it really shows how lackluster this game is when you realize there's no way of you to tell your teammates that "You have to STAY in cover!", no no, your teammates will keep blasting until they drop or get saved (And still you'll end up killing 90% of the aliens you encounter). Your teammates insist on being part of the mayhem and in many cases you either have to save them yourself or reposition them again and again using the slow-motion tactical view--- which leads me to the strategic part of the game:

    Everything strategic is done using a slow-motion spider sense that enables you to tell your teammates where to go and what to do, this feature is so slow to use considering the game is still "playing" while you're moving this huge marker across the battlefield to your desired location. Imagine a level where you have a lot of different elevations, high and low, for me to tell my teammate to "Get to high ground, Here!" I have to move my marker AROUND all the obstacles on its way and up the stairs, instead of this marker just floating up and over anything in its way. This may seem like a small issue, but considering when you've finally repositioned your team the enemies will have had enough slow-mo time to move to entirely new locations, which leads to a very vicious circle of constant slow-mo management (In many cases I found it easier to just let my teammates stay waaay behind in cover and then go and shoot the baddies myself, even later in the game). Well then, I just need to do it faster and better then... but isn't that exactly the opposite of what any fan would expect from these series? It rushes the decision making, it forces crude judgement and quick thinking. In the old games I could take a dump between each move and still come out on top, but if I misclicked once BAM, my team would be in trouble, but not doomed. Now you have to think on your feet, if you place a teammate in the wrong location once and he decides to play the hero and keep blasting, BAM down he goes, down forever.

    It may sound like I'm judging the game because of its difficulty, but I'm a very passionate gamer and love a serious challenge, but XCOM has simply taken a route I completely disagree with- the story and characters are all rather enjoyable (at least I enjoyed it) but I simply couldn't handle the simplistic strategy and boring shooting when I was expecting a sweet blend of XCOM mechanics and "Mass Effect"'ish firefights and storytelling.

    It's also plain to see as a mostly PC gamer (Is it possible to write this without sounding like a douche?) how this game was specifically designed to be played on a console, which leads me to the conclusion that this game was nothing but an attempt to use yet another great IP to do a quick hit and run cash-in by catering to the sheeple who can't stretch their minds around too many game elements at the same time.

    Call me a fanboy or whatever, but the changes done to this XCOM is the equivalent of adding shooter elements to Civilization V or changing zombies in Left 4 Dead to normal soldiers- it takes the CORE out the game. It's no longer what it was born as- It's simply not XCOM.    … Expand
  6. Juggler
    Aug 21, 2013
    3
    While the atmosphere of the game is quite good, and the graphics are highly detailed, The Bureau just fall terribly short in other areas.

    The plot line makes NO sense at all, if taken in the context of the XCOM cannon. There is no research to speak of, and no base management. Interaction with NPC's is limited to rather boring, decision driven conversation, and the decisions you make    While the atmosphere of the game is quite good, and the graphics are highly detailed, The Bureau just fall terribly short in other areas.

    The plot line makes NO sense at all, if taken in the context of the XCOM cannon. There is no research to speak of, and no base management. Interaction with NPC's is limited to rather boring, decision driven conversation, and the decisions you make in conversations have no repercussions of any kind.

    Movement in somewhat counter-intuitive, and the AI of squad members is laughable. Because of that terrible AI, you will find yourself hitting the space bar to issue orders so often, that the flow of the action as a shooter, is terrible.

    So basically, the strategic elements that we've come to love in the XCOM universe are non-existent, and the tactical interface is lackluster.

    Still, the eye candy is very good. The details to the environments are really nice. I just wish that the developers had put more depth into the game play.    … Expand
  7. TeeJaxOff
    Aug 23, 2013
    1
    If you like XCOM, do not buy. Seriously. This is the single most important review I will ever write.

    XCOM: Enemy Unknown (And MOST XCOMs prior to this) are amazing. Fantastic interface, brilliant storylines and immerse gameplay. This is shallow and pathetic. Imagine XCOM yeah? Now imagine a game NOTHING like that, yeah? That is this. A weird hybrid game that wants to be Call Of Duty so    If you like XCOM, do not buy. Seriously. This is the single most important review I will ever write.

    XCOM: Enemy Unknown (And MOST XCOMs prior to this) are amazing. Fantastic interface, brilliant storylines and immerse gameplay. This is shallow and pathetic. Imagine XCOM yeah? Now imagine a game NOTHING like that, yeah? That is this. A weird hybrid game that wants to be Call Of Duty so badly it's shameful.
    How can you take a strategy series and make it action without any reasoning behind it?
    The game doesn't work and it never ever will.
    Your squad literally have to be babysat. They are useless on their own and will go down consistently. There is no RTS/TBS element to the game anymore and everything is down to luck. It is chaotic in the battlefield, cutscenes are long, boring and repetitive and there is no real storyline, just people talking at each other.
    Save yourself money, never ever buy this game.
    Seriously. Not even if it goes on sale. You will get way more enjoyment out of a new pair of socks.    … Expand
  8. urieaal
    Aug 21, 2013
    3
    bought and played this just recently... Now as a fan of x-com games i have to honestly say the bureau fails miserably to recapture anything more then some run and gun alien killing...

    Theres NO base building or even upgrading your base its just a hub to create new recruits of which theres no female versions. its one big sausage fest here. theres no real threat looming you can do any    bought and played this just recently... Now as a fan of x-com games i have to honestly say the bureau fails miserably to recapture anything more then some run and gun alien killing...

    Theres NO base building or even upgrading your base its just a hub to create new recruits of which theres no female versions. its one big sausage fest here. theres no real threat looming you can do any mission in any order as you see fit..

    The voice acting is not terrible but its lacking considerably theres little to no life to the characters. lots of graphical clipping, mouths don't move very well and sometimes not at all while the "actors" are speaking.

    This game from my point of view seems incredibly dumbed down for an x-com game. every time you get a new ability it gos in to lengthy detail via a cinematic movie about how the ability works. which is helpful but should be a side thing not a requirement. it really detracts from the story which is'nt really all that great, with out going in to great detail, aliens invade "skins look ripped right out of the previous x-com game for the 360." you fight them blah blah blah boring...ZzzzzzZZzz

    you dont get to capture alien tech and research it, you just find it in the field and equip it once you've found one aliens just drop there guns which you couldn't get that way before hand because they would disintegrate...now there every where...

    TLDR:
    Nothing to do with an xcom game other then the title and aliens..
    No base building this is a big big NO NO imo.
    No tech capturing and research, you just find them and use them in the environment. once found you can equip them.
    No real looming threat, fills like no reason to continue playing, theres no real bad guy just a bunch of aliens to kill.
    No character creation, just minor customization.

    Doesn't fill like an x-com game at all really needs base building and character creation. In this day and age theres no excuse not to include a character creation with both male and female versions doesn't even have to be super in depth. Its just laziness to omit such things.

    You just don't make a new game and complexly leave out the major things that made up a big enjoyable part of previous incarnations. I have half a mind to go back to walmart and get a refund. they always take them back.    … Expand
  9. midwinter
    Sep 21, 2013
    0
    the worst game i have ever pre-ordered (i have over 300 on my steam library and have been gaming for A LONG time) what to say it runs with terrible fps drops (on a top of the range pc) the gameplay is old enough to be in the mid 2005 budget games, the gaphics can be somewhat okay but they didnt take the 40's look to heart. also the controls are clunky, the movement system is terrible andthe worst game i have ever pre-ordered (i have over 300 on my steam library and have been gaming for A LONG time) what to say it runs with terrible fps drops (on a top of the range pc) the gameplay is old enough to be in the mid 2005 budget games, the gaphics can be somewhat okay but they didnt take the 40's look to heart. also the controls are clunky, the movement system is terrible and after 4 hours of trying to like this game i cant find one thing i enjoy in this sad state of a money grab (towards xcom fans). to date the worst game i have ever pre-ordered (and possibly that i own)… Expand
  10. C3ntauR
    Dec 29, 2013
    1
    This is XCOD really, nothing to do with XCOM. No way to do any proper tactics, with 10:1 enemy fights, as they overrun you and overpower you at all times. Boss fights is another stupid addition, which makes it like quake, with the exception that you're running out of ammo on every single occasion. Freedom of movement doesn't exist, as there's always only one way in/out and around. YourThis is XCOD really, nothing to do with XCOM. No way to do any proper tactics, with 10:1 enemy fights, as they overrun you and overpower you at all times. Boss fights is another stupid addition, which makes it like quake, with the exception that you're running out of ammo on every single occasion. Freedom of movement doesn't exist, as there's always only one way in/out and around. Your team is getting shot at all the times, because they have to be standing in order to shoot. There's no stand down order, so they will force you to keep moving them back, otherwise they will get killed quickly. Your healing power is useless, in those situations, as they get shot down again very quickly, and it only regenerates every minute or so. Enemy AI is always pushing forward, and you'll get 6 8 enemies shooting from around you in very short time.
    Ammo limit seems the worst choice here, as who wouldn't want to be well stocked when fighting hordes of 10 enemies at every single time, which take minimum 4 headshots to get killed,
    Some boss fights are ridiculous, i.e. against some flying crafts, where you have no choice of any heavy weaponry what happened to Heavy MG class, or grenadier? You fight flying crafts with hand guns instead how ridiculous is that! Conversations are boring and meaningless. Running around to find tapes with recordings or notes with general info, is also not needed, as there are no added benefits for doing that.
    All in all, game feels like an arcade semi-shooter with Crysis like colors, and loads of BS put into it, which makes it a boring gameplay.    … Expand
  11. SRKNZ
    May 26, 2014
    2
    THE WINDOWS 8 OF COMPUTER GAMES. I only paid $3 for this title on EBAY and now I know why. Utterly horrible usability with an command interface that looks like it was designed by aliens for aliens.

    If you enjoy frustration and swearing at your computer this is the title for you. If by contrast you are a normal person with better things to do with your life then give this big budget    THE WINDOWS 8 OF COMPUTER GAMES. I only paid $3 for this title on EBAY and now I know why. Utterly horrible usability with an command interface that looks like it was designed by aliens for aliens.

    If you enjoy frustration and swearing at your computer this is the title for you. If by contrast you are a normal person with better things to do with your life then give this big budget lemon a wide birth.

    A REAL STINKER.....    … Expand
  12. cwestpha
    Sep 2, 2013
    0
    This is one of the worst games I have played this year and it all comes down to one thing: Controls. I pre-ordered this game on steam seeing the XCOM name and how they were going to make a strategic shooter that has had some great entries in its genre in the past (ie Republic Commando). The Bureau has a downright lazy control system that is more likely to get you killed. Pressing space mayThis is one of the worst games I have played this year and it all comes down to one thing: Controls. I pre-ordered this game on steam seeing the XCOM name and how they were going to make a strategic shooter that has had some great entries in its genre in the past (ie Republic Commando). The Bureau has a downright lazy control system that is more likely to get you killed. Pressing space may be fine, but since its a 10% real time speed strategic mode you MUST nail the control scheme or your squad will be slaughtered... something 2K Games failed to do. Issuing commands are only taken as vague suggestions by the engines, your squad constantly goes to illogical cover only to be shot up. So you overide and by the time you plot out a path and execute the order they are down to half health (about 20 of our seconds plotting the move, issuing cover, and then designating a target). By the time you have one position designated and in proper cover there is already a grenade hurled towards you that the broken cover system wont let you clear in the 5 seconds it takes to pop. Now your allies break cover trying to rez you resulting in a team wipe. Rinse and repeat for perhaps 13 hours of some otherwise good story telling and interesting back-story on how XCOM originally came to exist... though this seems to be quite alternative universe.

    This game isn't to bad other then that, but it still is unplayable and 2K clearly designed this game to be unplayable despite otherwise decent to excellent content. So go ahead and get a game that has a better day 1 experience... like the new SimCity. :p    … Expand
  13. EpicNarwhals
    Aug 21, 2013
    2
    Terrible story, clunky controls, AI with the approximate intelligence as a log, as well as levels that have about as much effort put into them as the concept of the game, for example: Being able to see the entire battlefield. This is a disappointment, and doesn't deserve to bear the XCOM title.
  14. MaestroVolpe
    Aug 8, 2014
    0
    I have never seen such an elegant cross between action and strategy, fun and playability, be so quickly ruined by taking everything you ever remotely thought you loved about XCOM and throwing it down the drain. Everything you could possibly love about this game is instantly ruined by the awful story, the dialogue that's so crappy it's not even fun to make fun of, or the weird, sexist twistI have never seen such an elegant cross between action and strategy, fun and playability, be so quickly ruined by taking everything you ever remotely thought you loved about XCOM and throwing it down the drain. Everything you could possibly love about this game is instantly ruined by the awful story, the dialogue that's so crappy it's not even fun to make fun of, or the weird, sexist twist the developers made by deciding that this should be the only XCOM game that only lets male soldiers on your squad.

    If you're a fan of having your favorite things destroyed for no good reason (or if you just love awful writing), grab this game.    … Expand
  15. Deadmeat553
    Jul 19, 2014
    0
    Major texture bugs EVERYWHERE! I was standing on clear ground, letting me see through the entire world, the entire world is flashing wildly with weird static effects on all the walls, and many of the textures stretched randomly through the world! Completely unplayable!

    Even if you somehow manage to make the game playable, the guns feel like BB-guns and your AI team-mates are all idiots    Major texture bugs EVERYWHERE! I was standing on clear ground, letting me see through the entire world, the entire world is flashing wildly with weird static effects on all the walls, and many of the textures stretched randomly through the world! Completely unplayable!

    Even if you somehow manage to make the game playable, the guns feel like BB-guns and your AI team-mates are all idiots who never shutup.

    0/10 DO NOT BUY.    … Expand
  16. Jabbernec
    Aug 25, 2013
    0
    boring, seems 30$ of the pricetag went to the Xcom label and the leftover was put into dev. Halfassed Mass Effect clone with bad controls, stiff character control, and bad performance
  17. Davil
    Aug 25, 2013
    3
    I know it's not a strategy X-Com game and I know the other X-Com games weren't all strategy either, but this one really just missed the mark. From the start it just feels lack luster and uninspired as if the developers didn't even care about their own game. The combat feels clunky and unrealistic, for example you would think blasting away at an alien with a shotgun would make them duckI know it's not a strategy X-Com game and I know the other X-Com games weren't all strategy either, but this one really just missed the mark. From the start it just feels lack luster and uninspired as if the developers didn't even care about their own game. The combat feels clunky and unrealistic, for example you would think blasting away at an alien with a shotgun would make them duck back into cover, but instead they shoot back and often times do far more damage in less time. The problems with the weapons is that they do so little compared to the alien's weapons which would be fine since they have better technology but even using their own makes little difference. Most of the story is a drawn out sob story about an emo CIA agent seeking redemption and every turn and twist can be seen from a mile away. The side-quest system is a pain, the deployment system is atrocious, and the tactical game play is a joke. Stay away from this one.… Expand
  18. MyNameIsHuman
    May 13, 2014
    2
    Bad. Bad. Bad. What the hell 2K?! I always liked you and your games but no this THING if you can call it a thing is just horrible. I've played it for about 10 hrs and now it doesn't even turn on. Please everyone who reads this and if you're planning to buy this game the fricking don't because it is a piece of crap. That's all I can say. Sorry 2K but it is just HORRIBLE.
  19. kappapi99
    Feb 11, 2015
    0
    This is not XCOM. It tries to mix XCOM and Mass Effect, taking the best from both genres, but it falls horribly short. The developers relied on the XCOM name to sell a game that is poorly designed. You cannot save at all. The plot destroys the XCOM universe. The gameplay is clumsy. The graphics are decent for an FPS, but that is the only thing going for it. If you are an XCOM fan,This is not XCOM. It tries to mix XCOM and Mass Effect, taking the best from both genres, but it falls horribly short. The developers relied on the XCOM name to sell a game that is poorly designed. You cannot save at all. The plot destroys the XCOM universe. The gameplay is clumsy. The graphics are decent for an FPS, but that is the only thing going for it. If you are an XCOM fan, then this game is not for you. Worst game to bear the name XCOM since Apocalypse.… Expand
  20. HexDoctor
    Aug 26, 2013
    0
    the "series" has 20 years behind it creating good games with good stories, good interfaces, stretching from stragety to fightsimulators, and then this pops up...
    i feel robbed, this game suffers from console-syndrome, i don't believe i'm ever going to play this through
  21. ragehavoc
    Aug 23, 2013
    4
    I don't know what worse the Story or the AI, but neither is complete without the horrible graphics, I give this game a 4/10 and that's being generous, this game is an atrocity not just for the game play but also for allowing itself to be called x-com.
  22. Usser
    Aug 21, 2013
    0
    This game could be a great horror that would have great ratings and was one of the best horror this year
    but no
    We got another boring and repetitive shooter
  23. JamesBondX
    Jan 26, 2015
    1
    This game is terrible, it leeches off the name of XCOM, it could be named the bureau: aliens invade. But no, the devs wanted to make money off of XCOM and their fans. It's not particularly tactical, flanking is about as far as you get. Initially the game was buggy and the AI was literally miserable.

    In my opinion the setting doesn't work either.
  24. Morring
    Jul 28, 2014
    2
    It is obvious that whoever decided to port it to PC didn't care about the game being playable. The controls are simply baffling, one of the worse cover shooters I have ever played. Tries to copy mass effect in different areas, without improving anything and usually accomplishing much, much less, also thanks to the appalling AI. Your soldiers will jump to their deaths as often as they can,It is obvious that whoever decided to port it to PC didn't care about the game being playable. The controls are simply baffling, one of the worse cover shooters I have ever played. Tries to copy mass effect in different areas, without improving anything and usually accomplishing much, much less, also thanks to the appalling AI. Your soldiers will jump to their deaths as often as they can, forcing you to micromanage every second of a battle. Since the story is quite mediocre at best, this is a forgettable title I can't recommend to anyone. Also experienced a few annoying graphic glitches.… Expand
  25. DRiVER_helsinki
    Jan 24, 2014
    1
    Really the hype made me do it buy it . but as i got deeper into this one i felt more and more frustrated about the slobby controls, and many things felt like amateurs built this, started to feel like a port. omg i checked , it was a port . no wonder it unrespects gamers so much. heres cool looking game sold for kids. that will disappoint most of the heavy gamers.
  26. eponymous
    Jun 29, 2014
    2
    Great game and unique gameplay. Would score much higher except I encountered the common 'war factory door' bug in Mission 4 'Not of this Earth' and was unable to progress further. No patch for this to date. Also squad members frustratingly only follow orders briefly before wandering off to do their own thing. Often walking right out into the open to get gunned down. Stupid. ResolveGreat game and unique gameplay. Would score much higher except I encountered the common 'war factory door' bug in Mission 4 'Not of this Earth' and was unable to progress further. No patch for this to date. Also squad members frustratingly only follow orders briefly before wandering off to do their own thing. Often walking right out into the open to get gunned down. Stupid. Resolve these 2 issues and the game would be significantly better.… Expand
  27. Fredownsyou
    Sep 2, 2013
    2
    One word Disappointing.

    Squad based shooter with poor AI and even worse execution. The action is frantic and hectic, but lacks any of the XCOM charm or draw except for the possibility of the 'powers'. Locking weapons to squad class sucks. The engineer is hampered throughout most of the game because they're bringing a shotgun to a sniper fight. Its somewhat demoralizing to run up    One word Disappointing.

    Squad based shooter with poor AI and even worse execution. The action is frantic and hectic, but lacks any of the XCOM charm or draw except for the possibility of the 'powers'.

    Locking weapons to squad class sucks. The engineer is hampered throughout most of the game because they're bringing a shotgun to a sniper fight. Its somewhat demoralizing to run up close on an exposed and flanked enemy for a single digit damage projection.

    Lack of vertical movement also sucks. The recon, a sniper class, seems like it would do best perched atop a high post so they can look down and lay some good fire. Instead, the squad AI gets antsy if you move too far and even if they have the perfect sniper's nest your squadie will run out of cover and straight to you across open ground because of fear they are being left behind. Your perfect sniper is now screaming for assistance in an open field within the perfect alien killzone because they didn't want to sit still. Directing things like mine and turret deployment is also a pain because it has to follow a footpath so you can't just throw a mine into an alien sniper nest simply because you can't walk there.

    Aliens have grenades and your squad doesn't. This means the enemy always, and I mean ALWAYS, has something to flush your squad out of cover to be gunned down. On the flip side no one had the foresight to give your squad anything perhaps out of the fear that if explosives are not in your hands the AI would start chewing on them or something.

    The entire 'research and build' aspect of XCOM has been gutted and thrown away. You unlock new weapons by finding them in the field and once you pick up your first new toy everyone can have one. The same can be said for backpacks and grenades and a lot of those upgrades are given far too late to make a difference. Oooh...laser backpack? Awesome! That'll help my plasma weapons a lot! Oh...wait...it won't.

    Decisions? Pfft! Who needs to make decisions? The choices during conversations provide some neat flavor, but have no impact on the game whatsoever. Missions and dispatch? Send everyone on everything! No time limitations or choices in the side missions means you have ample time to do everything and you'll be going into the 2nd act of the game with a roster filled with 'senior' agents. The actual dialogue itself is somewhat stilted and disconnected. Several times you would get a response because the game was expecting you to say something different so the NPC would wax on about some story they haven't mentioned yet because it was part of the other decision dialogue.

    A decent third person shooter with a load of 'XCOM juice' sprayed over it, but otherwise a very disappointing pickup. Lacks any hint of tactics or weight that a title with the XCOM brand should hold. Just you gunning down aliens while you escort tweedle dumb and tweedle dumber with you.    … Expand
  28. CWM
    Aug 24, 2013
    2
    This Game is very disappointing! Forget the X-Com Label. Its not X-com anyway and not even close to it.
    Basically its a 3rd Person shooter vs Aliens. Beeing no X-Com at all doesnt mean it has to be Bad. What Bad about this is that everyone expecting at least "some X-Com flavor". And you wont get anything... no research, no mission-planing, completly NON-interaktiv base..... and so on.    This Game is very disappointing! Forget the X-Com Label. Its not X-com anyway and not even close to it.
    Basically its a 3rd Person shooter vs Aliens. Beeing no X-Com at all doesnt mean it has to be Bad. What Bad about this is that everyone expecting at least "some X-Com flavor". And you wont get anything... no research, no mission-planing, completly NON-interaktiv base..... and so on.

    So how is the shooter? Well Graphics are BAD as well as the Controls. Its a simple Console-Port. From a shooter i dont expect a deep strategic gameplay! But i expect good graphics and Animations on the PC.
    The AI is Horrible! Your guys are hoping out of cover for no reason dying in the Bulletstorm. Or even worse staying in cover but standing up while all enemys firing on them.
    But you can work around this if you permanently micro them.
    But the enemys....... "invasion my arse".... they would have trouble invading a theme park cause the Kids would slaughter them. They are ALWAYS standing behind a cover but showing their head permanently over the cover. Headshot-Time! NONSTOP! EVERY shooter-fan will more likely die of laughing at them.

    So its a "Tactic shooter"?! Well you give your guys commands where they should go and where they should die.... ehh fight i mean. Using their abilitys is fun for like 2 minutes then you realize that skills are either completly OVERPOWERD killing all enemys with 1 Mousklick (Artilery barrage) or entirely useless and your better off using that second to kill 3 Aliens with Headshots.

    I preordered on steam and got the free copy of "Spec Ops The Line". Actualy THIS was a awesome shooter! I played it through in 1 Day! Realy Take your money and buy SPEC OPS instead! WAAAAAYYYY better!    … Expand
  29. Scritty
    Sep 10, 2013
    4
    I wanted to give this 4, but not a "red" review. 4 should be amber...but 4 is all it's worth really.
    Ok the game is alright. The first couple of hours it seems like their is more depth, but that peters out pretty quickly to "not a lot". Gameplay is ok when you are on foot, and shallow when tactical (even more shallow than Firaxes..which itself was a helluva lot more shallow than the    I wanted to give this 4, but not a "red" review. 4 should be amber...but 4 is all it's worth really.
    Ok the game is alright. The first couple of hours it seems like their is more depth, but that peters out pretty quickly to "not a lot". Gameplay is ok when you are on foot, and shallow when tactical (even more shallow than Firaxes..which itself was a helluva lot more shallow than the original games). So yes like all games made now, it's dumbed down for idiots. But in an idiot modd I sort of enjoyed it...just    … Expand
  30. keefbaker
    Oct 17, 2013
    2
    On paper this sounds like a winner. A game with a mechanism like Mass Effect with strong ties to the XCOM franchise but set in a stylized 50s. Shame its a massive bag of crap then, eh? That is, of course unless being trapped in constant revive loops sounds great. In fact there's more loops in here than the whole of the Venetian Snares backcatalogue, except of course that's actually good,On paper this sounds like a winner. A game with a mechanism like Mass Effect with strong ties to the XCOM franchise but set in a stylized 50s. Shame its a massive bag of crap then, eh? That is, of course unless being trapped in constant revive loops sounds great. In fact there's more loops in here than the whole of the Venetian Snares backcatalogue, except of course that's actually good, whereas this is like having your eyes fried in urine and then having to drink the resulting soup.… Expand
  31. GLaforte
    Sep 28, 2013
    4
    I enjoy the XCOM universe enough to despise this game. This is a team-based shooter, without an ounce of the strategy gameplay that I look forward to. The AI for your team mates and for the enemies is weak: you will have to constantly tell them what to do, while doing most of the killing yourself. You never get the feeling that time is not on your side...
  32. Liteit
    Nov 17, 2013
    3
    The first impression the game made was really good. The plot and the gameplay seemed interesting. But after some time this impression was ruined. It's just really boring to play this game. It's really repetitive and dull. And the worst part is kilometres you went in your secret base, just to launch another boring mission.
  33. TGAMCallahan
    Sep 2, 2013
    4
    Although by no means terrible, The Bureau does not feel like an XCOM game, and should not be considered as such. Extremely poor shooting mechanics, an excruciatingly boring storyline, vapid, uninteresting characters, truly terrible progression systems, and sub-par voice acting combine to create an uninteresting and lackluster game.

    You will not be surprised, or engaged while playing    Although by no means terrible, The Bureau does not feel like an XCOM game, and should not be considered as such. Extremely poor shooting mechanics, an excruciatingly boring storyline, vapid, uninteresting characters, truly terrible progression systems, and sub-par voice acting combine to create an uninteresting and lackluster game.

    You will not be surprised, or engaged while playing this game. You cannot customize your troops in any real way. You form no genuine connection with them. There is no large unit tactics. And in turn, it falls into all the same pitfalls that ME2/3 fell into in terms of the cover system, and it falls into them even worse.

    This game is clunky, frustrating, unforgiving, and boring. I would not advise anyone to purchase it under any circumstances. And I pity those who were foolish enough to pre-order it.    … Expand
  34. Xicronic
    Sep 28, 2013
    4
    The Bureau is a bad game. The levels are extremely linear, the controls are clunky, and the AI is subpar. The game has an interesting premise but is littered with an absurd amount of small mistakes which make the game unenjoyable. The story is hit and miss, with many cliches and plot holes but takes full advantage of being an XCOM game. This game isn't worth your time unless you're a bigThe Bureau is a bad game. The levels are extremely linear, the controls are clunky, and the AI is subpar. The game has an interesting premise but is littered with an absurd amount of small mistakes which make the game unenjoyable. The story is hit and miss, with many cliches and plot holes but takes full advantage of being an XCOM game. This game isn't worth your time unless you're a big fan of the series.… Expand
  35. Lucky-Jinx
    Nov 14, 2013
    3
    This game is not worth it. The characters are bland, the plot is a thumb in the eye to the entire series, the gameplay is tedious, and customization is non-existent. There are much better tactical combat games on the market.
  36. Lotto74
    Dec 28, 2013
    3
    Another console port. Graphics is fine, the gameplay itself is terrible. Storyline and maps are straightforward. Attempts to copy Mass Effect interaction style failed utterly: the interaction wheel provides no choices affecting the storyline, it's just a set of boring recorded conversations. The combat engine sucks: little ammo, incredibly hard to unstuck your character from a cover (it'sAnother console port. Graphics is fine, the gameplay itself is terrible. Storyline and maps are straightforward. Attempts to copy Mass Effect interaction style failed utterly: the interaction wheel provides no choices affecting the storyline, it's just a set of boring recorded conversations. The combat engine sucks: little ammo, incredibly hard to unstuck your character from a cover (it's critical when you try to avoid a grenade blast or just change your position under heavy flanking fire), checkpoint save system (there is even no quicksaves), your computer-controlled partners are idiots, and so on. On Veteran difficulty, first missions are hard (especially when you fight tougher enemies with bullet weapons), but after you've developed your character and acquired plasma weapons, a combat drone, a silicoid and a mind control ability, combats become too easy and boring. Even shielded mutons are not a real threat anymore. Following the storyline, when you need to select who of your comrades must die, you make this choice indifferently it doesn't affect anything, and this is not ME1 choice where the emotional choice between Kaidan and Ashly was really difficult. In addition, this is NOT X-COM. At least, not that X-COM as in strategic games.

    And it's just 15 hours of gameplay.

    In short, this is one shooters which I'll never play again. There's only one bright spot: it was a sale, so it cost me just ten bucks. It doesn't cost even a cent more.    … Expand
  37. Pickle
    Jan 6, 2023
    4
    Recuerdo cuando supe de este juego; leí de él en una revista hace algunos años donde aún ni sabía de XCOM ni cuándo iba a salir. Después de un cierto tiempo fue como si este juego desapareciera y nunca volvía a saber de él, asumí que el juego había sido cancelado, hasta que recientemente leí nuevamente del juego.

    No fue bien recibido, tiene problemas, tiene demasiados problemas que se    Recuerdo cuando supe de este juego; leí de él en una revista hace algunos años donde aún ni sabía de XCOM ni cuándo iba a salir. Después de un cierto tiempo fue como si este juego desapareciera y nunca volvía a saber de él, asumí que el juego había sido cancelado, hasta que recientemente leí nuevamente del juego.

    No fue bien recibido, tiene problemas, tiene demasiados problemas que se han exacerbado con el tiempo.

    Técnicamente no tuve problemas con el juego, pero en términos de diseño, este es un juego que no sabe decidir si ser un juego de disparos en tercera persona o alternativamente un juego de estrategia similar al titular XCOM. Idealmente hubiesen separado este juego y se hubiese preservado esto como un juego aparte y único, en cambio, se intento mezclar la experiencia, pero de formas bastante poco constructivas.

    Entonces se tiene un juego que no tiene mecánicas bien implementadas o desarrollaras de juegos de acción de disparos en tercera persona, con un sistema extraño y confuso de estrategia que no se acerca a la calidad de los juegos de XCOM.

    Una pena por que el concepto del juego parece bastante bueno, es tan solo la ejecución lo que lo acabo.    … Expand
  38. kennypowers0815
    Mar 13, 2019
    4
    From a technical standpoint this game has some serious issues, because even in 2019 using an RTX 2060 you still get hard fps drops down to 15-20 fps when you play with activated PhysX. You also have to MANUALLY put an up-to-date PhysX runtime library into the game's working folder to stop it from crashing on Windows 10.

    The game itself has some interesting ideas to stand out from the    From a technical standpoint this game has some serious issues, because even in 2019 using an RTX 2060 you still get hard fps drops down to 15-20 fps when you play with activated PhysX. You also have to MANUALLY put an up-to-date PhysX runtime library into the game's working folder to stop it from crashing on Windows 10.

    The game itself has some interesting ideas to stand out from the classic Xcom games but everything is executed so mediocre that while I really tried to like it, I just didn't. Besides the really boring gunplay and imprecise movement controls it was mainly the absolutely awful character dialogue and childish storytelling that finally made me stop playing after about 3 hours. Wasted potential.    … Expand
  39. Nerevarinho
    Nov 6, 2020
    3
    Poorly cloned Gears of War gameplay (and it came out 7 years after Gears 1), in an XCOM setting.

Awards & Rankings

46
#46 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013
51
#51 Most Shared PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
66

Mixed or average reviews - based on 45 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 45
  2. Mixed: 29 out of 45
  3. Negative: 2 out of 45
  1. PCGamesN
    Nov 6, 2013
    60
    For all that The Bureau get’s wrong, it is at least a passable tactical shooter with a novel, well-realised setting. If you love the golden age of science-fiction, there’s something here for you. Just don’t expect it to ever get truly interesting, because XCOM Declassified never captures what XCOM is all about.
    Read full review
  2. Pelit (Finland)
    Oct 5, 2013
    73
    The Bureau: XCOM Declassified does not deliver. It is not bad, but rather depressingly average. [Sept 2013]
  3. PC PowerPlay
    Sep 25, 2013
    70
    A competent tactical shooter that doesn't push any boundaries and is only peripherally related to XCOM. [Oct 2013, p.96]
See all critic reviews »