The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is the mysterious XCOM shooter, first game details and release date

Do you remember way back to E3 2011 when a trailer for a first-person XCOM game was shown? That game no longer exists--in its original form. You see, the XCOM shooter--long thought to be in development hell--has now been re-revealed as a third-person, squad-based shooter titled The Bureau: XCOM Declassified.

The Bureau, developed by 2K Marin, sees players taking on the role of U.S. soldier William Carter at the Cold War's height during 1962. As he joins the ranks of The Bureau, an organization formed to combat the Soviet Union, he soon finds himself leading a team to fight off alien invaders. In doing so, Carter plays witness to a conspiracy-in-the-making that reveal to players long-held secrets about the XCOM initiative.

“At a high level, what we were attempting to do was find a third-person tactical squad-based interpretation of the classic XCOM gameplay tenets,” creative director Morgan Gray told IGN. ". . . It’s me leading my soldiers in battle to success against numerically superior and technologically superior forces.”

Gray echoed these feelings with Polygon, emphasizing the game's tactical nature in "battle focus mode." "To use a sports analogy: It's more about calling audibles then huddling," he said. "We are trying to emulate the fantasy of being the squad leader out in the battlefield versus the commander sitting at the desk who has all of the time in the world observing from afar."

Of interest is the fact that The Bureau will not feature multiplayer of any kind, with the developers instead focusing efforts to create the best single-player campaign they can. Of greater interest? The Bureau is coming out very soon: August 20, to be exact.

Pre-ordering at certain retailers will grant you a bonus DLC mission; we'll let you know when advertised offers start going live at major retailers.