After a long period of silence and much speculation about the game's future, the long-awaited shooter set in the XCOM universe, first announced in 2010 with XCOM: Enemy Unknown, will finally see the light of day in a full game release.
The game is now called The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, and is a third-person shooter, switching from the originally announced first person. The game is set in 1962, and features a shadowy government agency, set up to battle Russian invasion forces, now face extraterrestrial threats invading the country. Associate producer Andrew Dutra explains the game as such to Gamespot.
"So not only are you combating the aliens for the public physically, but you also have to keep it secret so you're not creating mass hysteria and panic in the streets," explained associate producer Andrew Dutra. "This is where the origin story comes in. The Bureau is one of these organizations and it's the start of how the hero becomes the XCOM organization."
Furthermore, creative director Morgan Gray explains how the game will play out, emphasizing that the player will have to contend with both tactical battle decisions and classic third person shooter gun fights at the same time.
"When we say tactical third-person squad-based combat game, that has a huge T on that tactical; it should be underlined and printed in bold. Because we're basically trying to get a game that puts you away from the turn-based, God's eye view of the action, and puts you in the boots of the squad leader in the battlefield where the bullets are flying,"
The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is being made by 2K Marin, the same team that made Bioshock 2. The game will be out August 20 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.