First Impressions: The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is a third person cover shooter set in the XCOM universe. First things first - if you encounter a bug early in the game, where The Bereau XCOM Declassified crashes as you head down the stairs after the initial sequence, you need to do the following (on Windows)
- Navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Engine\82D8704BAB07\
- Copy the PhysXCore.dll file
- Go to your Steam Install Directory, and then the game's directory.. eg:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\The Bureau\Binaries\Win32 - Paste the copied PhysXCore.dll file into that directory, replacing the old file.
The game shouldn't crash anymore in that section. This is apparently an issue that was first identified in 2016. In any case, now that it is fixed (thanks, Steam Forums) - you can, if you want; enjoy the game, or watch the video where I play it.
You're Agent Carter, and you start the game by getting viciously attacked by a fellow countryman, which quickly unfolds into an alien invasion.
There's a lot of XCOM fan service along the way, with the "Vigilo Confido" branding everywhere. There's sectoids, and familiar enemies, and familiar mechanics, except the part about the game delivering its combat in real time, and in third person.
Think the control you've got over your squad mates in Mass Effect. That's about the same level of control you're given in The Bureau, except they're even more useless in combat than Mass Effect party members. Luckilly, you've got a heal as the main character and "squad commander"
There's RPG elements, too, but I haven't gotten far enough into the game to see how effective the upgrades at various levels might be.You get some cool stats at the end of an operation to tell you how much you contributed to killing aliens, which is a very nice touch.
This, I will continue to play until either the poor optimisation in the game's graphical engine frustrates me to tears; or I see vast improvements in the way the title plays, feels, and renders - or; the story hooks me in.
None of that has really happened yet, but having said that, I've only spent about an hour with the game so far!