The story takes a look at the origins of the XCOM organization, originally called The Bureau. It was established by the US government in 1962, at a time when the whole world was trembling in fear of the outbreak of a nuclear war. The main task of the XCOM prototype was to protect US citizens from harmful information coming from the Soviet Union. This changed when an extraterrestrial civilization became the number one threat.The main enemy of XCOM and all humanity is an alien race called the Zudjari. They feed on different planets to survive, and eventually their attention was drawn to Earth.

Since the Zudjari are close to extinction, to fight the humans, XCOM: Enemy Unknown to fight humans, but they themselves appear on the battlefield as elite units. The player attempts to save humanity as William Carter, acting with a team of three. His mission is to reach locations where the enemy has been detected and use force to get rid of the threat. While the gameplay mostly consists of shooting aliens, it's important to choose the right tactics. The third-person perspective, command system and environmental mechanics help with this. I also recommend always paying attention to and using advanced alien weapons during the game, which can be easily used against their former owners. Often, the effects of such weapons are very different from human weapons and can provide invaluable assistance in battle.

Before embarking on a mission, you can choose two team members from the four classes of characters: Recon focuses on dealing damage, Engineer tends to battle equipment with turrets or mines, Support improves your teammates' defense stats, and Commando draws the enemy's attention to you. In battle, you can slow down time and give detailed orders to your comrades regarding movement, attacks or the use of special abilities. It is important to remember that your comrades in the game are not immortal. When they fall to the ground, you must help them quickly, otherwise they will die permanently. This is an important loss, because team members gain experience levels along with new abilities.

After each mission you return to the XCOM headquarters. There you can talk to the staff and choose the missions you want to go on. The operations are divided into story-based, minor missions and dispatch missions performed by your team members. During the main missions there are also situations where Carter has to decide someone's fate or make other difficult choices. The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is developed with the Unreal Engine 3 engine. The game has a contrasting but interesting visual style, with a lot of 1960s design, but also blended with sci-fi elements. Unlike other popular games, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified focuses entirely on the single player campaign and does not have any multiplayer support. The game offers an average of 15 hours of gameplay.

Reviewed on Oct 07, 2023


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