Product Description

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified:

The year is 1962. JFK is President and the Cold War has the nation gripped by fear – but a far more powerful and insidious enemy than communism is threatening America. Known only to a select few, a top-secret government unit called The Bureau begins investigating and concealing a series of mysterious attacks by an otherworldly enemy. As special agent William Carter, call the shots, pull the trigger and lead your squad in a gripping third-person tactical shooter set within a high-stakes, covert war to defend humanity. The Bureau’s mission is clear – survive, adapt and overcome the enemy threat to protect the citizens from the truth. 

Minimum Requirements:

• Supported OS: Windows Vista Service Pack 2 32-bit   
• Processor: Intel Core 2 DUO 2.4 GHz / AMD Athlon X2 2.7 GHz
• RAM: 2 GB
• Hard Disk: 12 GB
• Video Card: Compatible ATI Radeon HD 3870 / NVIDIA 8800 GT / 512 MB VRAM
• Additional Requirements: Sound Card: DirectX Compatible

Recommended Requirements:

• Supported OS: Windows 7 Service Pack 1 64-bit   
• Processor: Quad Core Processor
• RAM: 4 GB
• Hard Disk: 12 GB
• Video Card: DirectX11 Compatible, AMD Radeon HD 6950/NVIDIA GeFore GTX 560 with 1024 MB
• Additional Requirements: Sound: DirectX Compatible
• NOTE: Incompatible with Intel HD 3000 Integrated Graphics

Steam account required for game activation and installation

The Bureau: XCOM® Declassified™

© 2008-2013 Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Developed by 2K Marin. XCOM, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, 2K Marin, 2K Games, Take-Two Interactive Software and their respective logos are all trademarks of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Q&A with...

• Creative Director - Morgan Gray
• Art Director – Jeff Weir
• Audio Director – Michael Kamper

1. What was your inspiration for this drastic new departure from traditional XCOM gameplay?

The major inspiration was to move away from the player conducting combat operations removed from the squad (either feeling like a commander watching the action via live feed from a predator drone, or looking at combat read outs from relative safety) and explore what it would feel like to be a battlefield commander, out in the field, with the team, having to make life or death decisions under fire. It is that aspect of the XCOM universe that we wanted to explore, and offer to the fans. – Morgan Gray

2. Are they trying to maintain similar themes (Enemy Unknown had a very high-tech feel)?

What we share in common with all XCOM games is our emphasis on gameplay focused on smart tactical team work against a technologically and numerically superior foe. We also focus on the concept of starting off with real world conditions (in our case in the 60s) and through the course of the game gaining access to higher tech, more amazing tools/gear/weapons so that at the end of the game, not only is the player victorious over the aliens, but XCOM itself has grown to be on par with them in terms of technology. We are hi-tech, but in an Apollo13/Right Stuff kind of way as we are a period story. – Morgan Gray

3. Have they had to make adjustments for the change in era?

When the story of the game shifted from the 1950s to the early 1960s, it opened up a lot of opportunities to illustrate the incredible technology and aesthetics of that era. The US was left with its pants down with the launch of Sputnik in the late 50s. By 1962, the space race in the US was reaching a fever pitch. Innovation and technology development was moving at a phenomenal rate. We wanted to bring some that amazing technology and vibe to The Bureau. The XCOM base itself was heavily influenced by the Mercury era NASA space program – evidenced most in the huge screen and rows of period computers in XCOM Operations. We also fashioned vehicles and flight gear off of what was seen in the Skunk Works test pilot program.

On the civilian side of things, offices took on the sleek, straight lined look of the 60s popularized in the television show Mad Man. Out in the world, we pushed the look from the curves of the 50s to the straight lines and geometric forms evidenced by the mid-century modern Googie movement. The affected everything from vehicles to buildings and signage. The overall feel produced a feeling that was much more space age and overall much more befitting an XCOM game. – Jeff Weir

4. What makes the XCOM art style unique?

5. Will the music in the new game be created by the same composer as Enemy Unknown?

No, but from the beginning, I wanted the music of The Bureau to match the era and vibe we were trying to establish with the art and narrative. I wanted it to have that 60’s FBI gangbusters feel since that is essentially the kind of people that you are playing, interacting with, and leading into battle. But I also wanted the score to be akin to the sci-fi films of the 50s and 60s. The two movie scores that really fit what I was looking for were both by the great film composer Jerry Goldsmith. The first was for the 1950’s based L.A. Confidential and the other was the original 1968 version of Planet of the Apes. Given the style of these two scores, I knew what I wanted was right in the wheel-house of Garry Schyman who had done such an excellent job on the Bioshock games. Garry and I worked out the main themes for the score and then Garry delivered an incredible score for us. He produced almost 80 minutes of music for The Bureau which was recorded at the Clint Eastwood stage on the Warner Brothers lot in Hollywood. I feel the score really gives The Bureau a unique identity and I feel it really sets the tone of the world that we are trying to have the player experience. – Michael Kamper, Audio Director.

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