When 2K Marin’s XCOM shooter went dark soon after the release of Firaxis’ successful XCOM reboot, rumours started to churn that suggested the third-person shooter may be seeing a radical name change to distance itself from the XCOM setting. The game soon resurfaced, but having adopted a new name, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, and also a new third-person view.

To help us make sense of all these crop circles and UFOs, we enlisted the help of special agent Jickle and his investigative techniques to see just what 2K Marin has to offer in the long-running XCOM franchise.

Considering the game’s fraught development history and arguably ill-conceived premise, The Bureau is practically a best-case scenario. It may not be a game that anyone asked for, but perhaps that has, in a way, strengthened the final game, forcing it to reel itself in a bit and focus on being entertaining rather than revamping an old IP. It succeeds admirably as an enjoyable sci-fi shooter, and that’s good enough for us.

Zap your way to outer space for the full review of The Bureau: XCOM Declassified.

2K Games has revealed a new trailer for their recently renamed XCOM FPS, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, featuring some small glimpses at gameplay while also including a large amount of redactions in tune with the theme.

At the height of the Cold War, The Bureau discovers a series of mysterious transmissions. Agent Carter and his team investigate the signal's origin and conceal it to protect citizens from the truth.

The trailer also unveils some hard information on one of the more important secrets, the pre-order bonus which will offer players an extra mission titled "The Codebreakers".

In related XCOM news an embargo has lifted on a round of previews across international publications that were treated to a hands-off demo of the alien title, bringing a UFO full of information including some action-packed gameplay showing off the third-person tactical shooter elements.

Polygon

The game plays from a third-person perspective, with players controlling their own character, William Carter, and issuing commands to two nearby agents. It feels a bit like a slicker version of 2004's Full Spectrum Warrior. When a player wishes to issue a command they drop into battle focus mode, which slows time to a crawl, giving them a bit more time to issue commands using a circular hub broken into three sections, one each for your character and the two agents.

Shacknews

The Bureau encourages far more tactical play by making the enemies far more durable and aggressive. And thanks to XCOM's signature perma-death, every single encounter could have serious repercussions not only for the remainder of the level--but for the game as well. No longer will you be able to Rambo your way through a checkpoint only to have Garrus auto-revive after you clear the area. You'll have to play a lot smarter than that. Thankfully, you can because you have far more control over what your squadmates do.

VG247

“If you go back and you look at the video from 2011, you will see that it’s a first-person experience in terms of navigating through the terrain. It’s almost like a navigation vehicle, as much as it is a tool for investigation and exploration. Having a first-person view gets you closer to things so you can explore and do that.

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is due out August 20th.

When 2K Marin’s XCOM shooter went dark soon after the release of Firaxis’ successful XCOM reboot, rumours started to churn that suggested the third-person shooter may be seeing a radical name change to distance itself from the XCOM setting. The game has now re-surfaced, continuing the XCOM setting under the new name 'The Bureau: XCOM Declassified' and is set to blow the top on the 1960's alien coverup.

Set in 1962 at the height of the Cold War, The Bureau tells the origin story of the clandestine XCOM organisation’s first encounter with a mysterious and devastating enemy. Originally established as America’s covert defense against the Soviet Union, The Bureau must adapt and overcome a threat unlike anything the world has faced before. As special agent William Carter, players will call the shots and pull the trigger, leading their squad of agents in the high-stakes secret war for humanity’s survival. Paramount to repelling the outside threat is The Bureau’s ability to cover-up the enemy’s existence in order to prevent worldwide panic.

“We’re thrilled about 2K Marin’s refined vision for The Bureau: XCOM Declassified,” said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. “The game has evolved through a creative and iterative development process, and the result is a narrative-driven experience that is smart, engaging, and challenges players to think tactically.”

“The Bureau tells the story of XCOM’s mysterious beginnings,” said Morgan Gray, creative director at 2K Marin. “We’re expanding the universe with a declassified tale of government conspiracy and heroic cover-ups told through third-person tactical gameplay.”

The title will see the use of third-person mechanics, offering players "a sense of spatial awareness and grants them the freedom to transition in and out Carter’s unique Battle Focus ability seamlessly – heightening the tactical shooter action." 2K Marin has also added that The Bureau will be utilising permanent consequences, with decisions factoring on just what happens to your squad.

For those eager you won't have to wait long, with 2K Marin revealing that the third-person title will be coming out August 20 for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Pre-ordering will net you a Codebreakers side-mission as a bonus. A new live-action trailer has also been released which subtly hints at the alien invasion, which you can check out below.

While publisher 2K Games has kept quiet on what exactly is going on with their troubled XCOM title, the rumour mills are spinning again, this time thanks to a new YouTube video from user Veritas MCMLXII (via AllGamesBeta). With a very strange description and a cryptic message hidden to the side, the video suggests that 2K Games may be announcing something April 26, possibly the re-reveal of XCOM but under the rumoured name The Bureau.

When we covered things up, no one knew what happened. But that's not right. People need to know the truth. The truth cannot be contained much longer.

Earlier last week we saw the removal of the official XCOM page and YouTube trailers relating to the original FPS concept, which meshes well with recent rumours that the game is undergoing a major re-branding away from the successful XCOM strategy franchise. Hopefully we'll be able to hear a more official word from 2K Games but for now the developer is staying quiet.

Publisher 2K Games appears to have mothballed the official website and YouTube trailers for the troubled XCOM, the 1960s-themed first-person shooter that was originally announced back in 2010 (thanks Polygon).

This latest development meshes well with recent rumours that the game is undergoing a major re-branding away from the successful XCOM strategy franchise, to a new IP titled The Bureau, fueled by recent domain registrations thebureau-game.com and whathappenedin62.com.

The most recent official word still had XCOM due for release during Take-Two's fiscal year 2014, which runs until May 2014. If that is still the case, we'll likely be hearing about the change of plans soon, but for the time being 2K is staying quiet.

The E3 2010 and 2011 trailers for XCOM can still be found on our local game page.

According to recent rumours via Internet sleuth Superannuation, the previously announced XCOM first-person shooter may have undergone a name change, dropping the XCOM brand completely. Under development by 2K Marin for awhile now, the title hasn't really seen that much activity since its initial announcement nearly two years ago with only a confirmed delay early last year stating it had been pushed back to 2013.

Last week, Take-Two registered the domains thebureau-game.com, thebureau-game.net, whathappenedin62.com, and whathappenedin62.net. These domains seem to hint at a rebranding of 2K's beleaguered XCOM shooter, which places players in the shoes of an FBI agent in 1962. Given the success of Firaxis' XCOM: Enemy Unknown, I wouldn't be surprised if 2K thought having two very different games in different genres could dilute the franchise's brand.

The XCOM shooter has been in off-on development since 2005 and gone through a number of iterations at several studios, including 2K Australia, Irrational Games and current developer 2K Marin. Recent information suggests that 2K dropped the first-person perspective in favor of SOCOM-esque third-person tactical shooter possibly for downloadable distribution platforms.

If the title has indeed been re-branded, we will probably (and hopefully) see more on the new changes sometime during this year either at E3 or later down the track. With the game being in development since 2007, hopefully the long ride hasn't caused the project to be completely wiped.

While the strategy reboot by Firaxis, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, is still on track for a 2012 release, the FPS re-imagining by 2K Marin titled XCOM has apparently been delayed until 2013.

Some have called the new strategy FPS an alien to the XCOM franchise, it's still however disappointing to hear it's being delayed until such a later date, especially when it's been in development since 2007. However, if this means we get the reboot of the classic strategy title first, then maybe this is a win-win situation for gamers, and would at the very least allow people to enjoy the FPS version a lot more.

Leave us a comment on what you think about the delay, and whether this could be considered good or bad.

Things have been pretty quiet on the XCOM front since E3, with very little new info about the game surfacing for quite some time. Today however, you can now get one big taste in the form of a new gameplay trailer.

This latest clip is a recording of the gameplay demo that was shown to press during the E3 expo back in June, narrated by 2K Marin Narrative Director Jordan Thomas. This is not your father's XCOM as the game differs in several significant ways from previous titles in the franchise, so check out this extensive gameplay video embedded below (or here in HD) and draw your own conclusions.

XCOM is due on March 9th 2012 for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Some more details have been revealed about the upcoming XCOM, a first-person remake being worked on locally in Australia:

Featuring a bold new origin story told from a first-person perspective, XCOM pits Special Agent William Carter and his team against the threat of human extinction from an insidious otherworldly force. But every enemy is an opportunity – players will strike surgically against the alien menace, capture their technology, and by the science of desperation – turn the invaders’ weapons against them.

Armed with these lethal new tools of war, players will command their squad on XCOM’s front lines: Main Street, USA.

Some new screenies are available on the game page and we've got a trailer which showcases some of the action, including some of the crazy alien technology you'll be up against.

Fresh from 2K at E3 comes the first trailer for XCOM, along with a bunch of new information about the game.

Join humanity�s struggle against an unknown enemy and step into the shoes of William Carter, an FBI agent tasked with identifying this mysterious growing threat and eliminating it at any cost. True to the roots of the franchise, players will be placed in charge of building a campaign of risky strategic gambits to overcome high-stake odds. Told from a first-person perspective, they will enact their plans through heart-stopping combat experiences that pit human ingenuity � and frailty � against a foe beyond comprehension. Players will feel the white-knuckle tension and fear that comes with confronting an elusive and deadly enemy across battle lines drawn through the homes and lives of the innocent.

Some more features are listed on the game page along with some new screenshots, and you can hit up the video stream or download now as well.

2K have announced XCOM, currently being developed by a local Aussie studio based out of Canberra, being reborn as a first-person shooter:

XCOM is the re-imagining of the classic tale of humanity’s struggle against an unknown enemy that puts players directly into the shoes of an FBI agent tasked with identifying and eliminating the growing threat. True to the roots of the franchise, players will be placed in charge of overcoming high-stake odds through risky strategic gambits coupled with heart-stopping combat experiences that pit human ingenuity – and frailty – against a foe beyond comprehension. By setting the game in a first-person perspective, players will be able to feel the tension and fear that comes with combating a faceless enemy that is violently probing and plotting its way into our world.

Targeted for the PC and Xbox 360, this re-imagining of the series will no doubt raise eyebrows around the globe. A single image accompanies the press release, which you can see right here.