The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is a multiplatform computer game developed by 2K Marin and published by Take-Two Interactive. The release of XCOM Declassified took place in August 2013 on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.
Although The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is part of the official XCOM series (X-COM), the game does not belong to the tactical strategy genre, unlike Enemy Unknown by Firaxis Games and Sid Meier. XCOM Declassified is a third-person shooter with tactical and role-playing elements, set in 1962 - during the tense times when relations between the USSR and the USA were at their peak.
The main character is special agent William Carter, whose skills and abilities are suddenly needed by the so-called "Bureau" - a top-secret organization created in case of war with the Soviet Union. And war did happen, but not with the "Evil Empire", but with aliens who launched a full-scale invasion across the United States. Although Agent Carter is just a small cog in the vast mechanism of a giant multi-level bunker, he must become the savior of humanity.
In The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, there is a conditional division into strategic and tactical parts. Conditional because there is no actual strategy in the game - you cannot build anything, create or research either - and tactical encounters take place not only outside the base but also, rarely, inside its perimeter. So what kind of place is this - the base? It is a secure bunker where agents from various special services and military departments, as well as scientists, engineers, soldiers, and even civilians, try to resist the alien invasion using all available resources. The player, in the guise of Carter, can walk through different rooms of the bunker, talk to people, take small quests, read notes and diaries, listen to audio recordings, and assemble a team for future missions, equipping them with weapons and alien gear.
In The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, there are three types of missions: autonomous, side, and story missions. Autonomous missions do not require Carter's presence - only other "Bureau" agents can be sent to complete them. If the tasks are successfully completed, the agents bring back various alien items - for example, special backpacks that provide different bonuses to attack or defense. Side missions, like autonomous ones, are not mandatory, but if the desire arises, Agent Carter is deployed with two teammates to various locations in the U.S.: to stop alien factories, rescue scientists, prevent nuclear missile launches, etc. Story missions (also known as large-scale tasks) are key components of the entire game and are mandatory.
The tactics in the game are quite simple. To issue commands to teammates (engineers, commandos, etc.), Carter needs to activate tactical view mode and use the appearing panel to activate the skills (or actions) needed at the moment. Time does not stop completely but continues to move slowly forward. After issuing instructions, the protagonist's teammates act according to the given instructions, while Carter uses the skills chosen by the player. The variety of skills available to the protagonist and his companions depends on the levels they possess. Ordinary agents can level up to a maximum of rank 5, while Carter can reach rank 10 inclusive. The perk selection system is similar to that found in Enemy Unknown from 2012 - you almost always have to choose one of two options.