Action-based XCOM game has undergone an evolution: 2K Games

2K Marin has been very quiet about XCOM action games. Parent company 2K Games has announced on its blog that the game has undergone an evolution and that it will be revealing more about the game in the coming days.

The company claims that the game will be a new experience in the world of XCOM, and that this is the perfect time to explore the series from a different angle because of Firaxis' strategy game, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, reiginited the series.

The action-based XCOM game has been in development for a long time now. It was originally announced back in 2010, much to the dismay of fans who wanted the series to stick to its turn-based strategy roots. While the fans’ wishes were answered with Firaxis’ XCOM: Enemy Unknown, the action-based XCOM was hardly mentioned by 2K.

An evolution you say?

Earlier this month, it was hinted that 2K may be rebranding the action-based XCOM game to The Bureau. 2K seems to have pulled down the websites related to the action-based XCOM game. On attempting to visit the game's website, visitors are greeted with a 404 error.

While it is possible that the company may be facing some problems with its servers, it is worth noting that the websites for Firaxis' strategy game, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, is still working fine. The XCOM action game may be rebranded as something else, as reports state that 2K Games has registered some new domains, namely, thebureau-game.com, thebureau-game.net, whathappenedin62.com, and whathappenedin62.net. Since the XCOM shooter is set in 1962, it is likely that it will be rebranded as The Bureau.

Back in October 2012, there were hints that the originally-planned-to-be-FPS XCOM game would instead be a squad-based third person shooter in the vein of the old SOCOM games. The hints came from a bunch of leaked screenshots.

Judging by the screenshots, the game seems to be keeping the 60s setting of the original games. It is supposedly being pitched as a squad-based shooter with the player in control of a squad of agents that have to take down the alien threat. One major issue with the screenshots is that the textures seem to be of a very low quality.

We reviewed the other XCOM game, dubbed XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and loved it. Here is a description of the game according to its offical website: “Threatened by an unknown enemy, the Earth’s governments unite to form an elite paramilitary organization, known as XCOM, to combat this extraterrestrial attack. As the commander of XCOM, you control the global defense team in a battle against a terrifying alien invasion by creating a fully operational base, researching alien technologies, planning combat missions, and controlling soldier movement in battle.”