The Bureau: XCOM Declassified

 Xbox 360
The Bureau: XCOM Declassified Image
Metascore
68

Mixed or average reviews - based on 30 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
6.9

Mixed or average reviews- based on 124 Ratings

Your Score
0 out of 10
Rate this:
  • 10
  • 9
  • 8
  • 7
  • 6
  • 5
  • 4
  • 3
  • 2
  • 1
  • 0
  • 0
  • Summary: It's 1962. John F. Kennedy is the U.S. President and the Cold War has the nation gripped with fear – but a far more viscous and insidious enemy than communism is threatening America. Known only to a scant few, a covet government unit called The Bureau begins investigating and concealing aIt's 1962. John F. Kennedy is the U.S. President and the Cold War has the nation gripped with fear – but a far more viscous and insidious enemy than communism is threatening America. Known only to a scant few, a covet government unit called The Bureau begins investigating and concealing a series of mysterious attacks by an alien enemy. As special agent William Carter, you make the decisions, pull the trigger and lead your squad in a third-person tactical shooter set within a high-stakes, covert war to defend the human race. The Bureau’s mission is clear – survive, adapt and overcome the enemy threat (Heartbreak Ridge-style) to protect the citizens from the truth. … Expand
Buy Now
Buy on

Trailer

Play Sound
Please enter your birth date to watch this video:
You are not allowed to view this material at this time.
The Bureau: XCOM Declassified - Origin Declassified Trailer

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 30
  3. Negative: 1 out of 30
  1. GamesBeat
    Aug 19, 2013
    80
    The Bureau is Enemy Unknown’s hyperactive younger sibling who delivers something different while still fitting in well with its predecessors.
  2. VideoGamer
    Aug 20, 2013
    80
    Although not perfect, The Bureau is a brilliant squad shooter with an intriguing story and brains.
  3. Gamer.no
    Aug 31, 2013
    80
    The Bureau is a smart action game that combines the tactical aspect of Mass Effect with the simplicity of Bioshock. A surprisingly solid story makes this a great individual game, even if it struggles to find it's place in the XCOM-series.
  4. Eurogamer
    Aug 20, 2013
    70
    Given its fractured development and lumpen structure, the fact that The Bureau is actually pretty good is arguably victory enough. It's certainly the "contemporary" game 2K wanted - but it's never as inventive or memorable as the strategy game that inspired it.
  5. Xbox Achievements
    Aug 26, 2013
    65
    The Bureau: XCOM Declassified aims at combining Mass Effect’s combat with the trappings of XCOM: Enemy Unknown, but it fails to live up to either. The action is capable of offering some thrills, but The Bureau is a poorly put together game with a list of problems that prevent it from rising above mediocre. Disappointing.
  6. Giant Bomb
    Aug 23, 2013
    60
    As is, The Bureau makes for a decent enough 10 hours of alien-obliterating combat, but all the way through you'll find yourself lamenting the many aspects that feel like they could have, and should have, been better.
  7. Gaming Age
    Sep 1, 2013
    42
    The XCOM franchise deserves better than this, an experiment to take XCOM out of its comfort zone that clearly went awry.

See all 30 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 31
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 31
  3. Negative: 5 out of 31
  1. Za_Dobro
    Aug 20, 2013
    10
    The Bureau is very good game. It has a strong tactical component, good plot, and nice graphic, battles is very tense and hard. AI of enemiesThe Bureau is very good game. It has a strong tactical component, good plot, and nice graphic, battles is very tense and hard. AI of enemies is pretty smart, they may surround you, attack you from behind. In my opinion: one of the best shooters of last five years.… Expand
  2. theeDarkhorse
    Jan 29, 2014
    10
    Critics are wrong. It has the most expensive polygons i've ever seen. It is wonderfully voiced. It's gorgeously tactical yet perfectly firstCritics are wrong. It has the most expensive polygons i've ever seen. It is wonderfully voiced. It's gorgeously tactical yet perfectly first ''persony''. Theres even a perk/upgrade system not unlike Mass Effects.

    If i made this game i'd have expected better reviews.

    I suspect the people reviewing this game were chosen by the editors for their expertise in reviewing tactical games. This game is half tactical ergo the half-hearted reviews.

    This game failed to disappoint me and im saddened it took me so long to play it because of my respect for the average metacritic review score. Lesson learned    … Expand
  4. AlcatrazGaming
    Aug 20, 2013
    9
    I doesn't played XCOM games before but this tactical TPS is amazing.The story is beautiful, eventful and interesting.The graphics are not theI doesn't played XCOM games before but this tactical TPS is amazing.The story is beautiful, eventful and interesting.The graphics are not the best and i meet some bugs.This game is one of the biggest surprise in 2013.… Expand
  5. mastergamesbrhu
    Nov 19, 2016
    8
    o jogo e muito bom tem alguns pequenos probleminhas mudou sua jogabilidade mais eu gostei por que eu sou muito fã de mass effect e ê parecidoo jogo e muito bom tem alguns pequenos probleminhas mudou sua jogabilidade mais eu gostei por que eu sou muito fã de mass effect e ê parecido pelo menos eu gostei se você e fã de mass effect vai gostar da jogabilidade ele ê bom pagou o pato por ter mudado mais e bom vale apena… Expand
  6. Awanka
    Jan 7, 2022
    7
    Here I am playing this on Jan 2022, and despite all the X-COM purists who panned it when it came out... this is a solid game with goodHere I am playing this on Jan 2022, and despite all the X-COM purists who panned it when it came out... this is a solid game with good squad-based real-time tactical gameplay very similar to mass effect.

    The combat is engaging and quite challenging at the highest difficulty level. The graphics are decent for its era, with a retro futuristic WW2 vibe. The story is an interesting spin on the original X-COM. One of my favorite things about this game compared to the original is that this really conveys the sense of oppressive loss and hopelessness as the United States is slowly losing against a superior technological alien force.

    I would like to score it a little higher because it is a lot of fun, but on the downside it's a fairly short and linear experience. and I had a number of bugs occur with objects not loading that would force me to reload a checkpoint. The AI of your allies is quite frustrating at times, as they come from the school of running out of cover into the open school of fighting. The narrative also takes a wild turn in the final mission, and not in a good way.

    A quite decent and original take on X-COM that is worthy of the legacy in its own way, but I wish there was a little "more" here.    … Expand
  7. Baktanfuli
    Aug 23, 2013
    6
    Not a bad as feared, but clearly another game ruined by the catering to the console people.

    Good Overall game mechanic is acceptable    Not a bad as feared, but clearly another game ruined by the catering to the console people.

    Good
    Overall game mechanic is acceptable (combat)
    graphic ok
    Voice acting ok

    Bad
    Story holes the size of the moon
    RPG element is junk
    You max your chars to fast
    Everything is linear.
    if you open the wrong door, you cant go back, one of the worst things the console people have ever brought to the PC world.
    Running around the base gets pretty tedious very fast
    The whole backpack upgrade part should have been changed to something else entirely.
    The main char is a bit of a dick, he is just not likeable, you want a tough guy template, look to Jack Bauer or Guerrero.

    While the bad list is much longer than the good, the game is not horrible, just not very good, you play it through once, and forget about it.    … Expand
  8. Broyax
    Mar 15, 2017
    1
    C'est étonnant comme on s'attend à ce que tout aille de soi... mais tout ne va pas de soi bien au contraire ! et certaines choses que nousC'est étonnant comme on s'attend à ce que tout aille de soi... mais tout ne va pas de soi bien au contraire ! et certaines choses que nous prenons pour acquises et conçues simplement et efficacement comme on mettrait une lettre à la poste, ces choses là ne le sont pas.

    Prenons par exemple le système de combat des Mass Effect : simple, efficace, puissant, tactique ! mettons-le dans un Xcom.... putain c'est devenu de la merde ! comme une mauvaise copie chinoise (pléonasme) qui n'égale jamais l'original. Et pourquoi donc ? parce qu'il faut beaucoup de temps et de talent pour mettre au point ce qui nous semble aller de soi, ça ne se bricole pas comme ça par des incapables...

    Et en tant que jeu de tir à la troisième personne, comment s'en tire le Bureau ? comme une merde ! décidément ! on a pas vu plus mou et plus générique depuis longtemps. Et plus moche aussi. Seule la VF est de bonne qualité mais la bêtise des dialogues est hélas irrécupérable. On a qu'une envie, retourner jouer au Xcom de 2012.    … Expand

See all 31 User Reviews

Trailers

Awards & Rankings

95
#95 Best Xbox 360 Game of 2013
51
#51 Most Discussed Xbox 360 Game of 2013
6
#6 Most Shared Xbox 360 Game of 2013