X-Com franchise is not something I am familiar with, my first impression for the franchise is that game where you shoot against aliens with real time turn based strategy game play. The franchise has the biggest fan base and the newest game has good reception among the fans but not for me since I don’t have any idea catching up with the franchise appeal. So, I look forward and fond of games with 60s setting and The Bureau: XCOM Declassified caught my attention and decided to try to play the game.
The basic premise is simply about alien invasion scattered around the U.S.A and as agent Carter, a detective who has military skill and gloomy past must involve himself with the bureau of secret government organization that deals with advanced tech from space. And then the game revolves around tracking and investigating some places in the U.S.A where each place is kind of a hallway where the game progress needs to advance by dealing various alien enemies in each phase which is divided into walking simulators as the story reveals into bigger threats.
I think I can give my appreciation on how the third person shooter element mixed with real time strategy which the option is not only shooting enemies, players need to cooperate with two AI teammates with different classes that can be assigned in the first game that has a leveling system. The shooting scene is more interesting by trying some skills to defeat certain enemy by using special ability that regenerates itself but need to be more cautious and attention when its used in the right time and particular enemy. It’s a game that is hard to deal first but more easier later when players discover how things work.
Actually I don’t expect the game to become more exciting to play since my expectation is the background and setting that is my attraction toward the game not the game play when I decide to try. The story is kind of a placement holder and since its prequel for the later installment, new players like me will get the idea on how to understand the lore of X-Com franchise. It's not complex to grasp and the character dialogue is not filled too much with mumbo jumbo of science stuff. It's basically you are about the discovery about the invasion and how the main character has the biggest role in the game setting. One thing I am taking note from the game on how dialogue has branching of choice but in the end has the same aftermath.
One last thing I need to add, the game has a leveling and upgrade system but not too focused on collecting stuff to trade, literally in each level is easy to find some ammo and that’s it. And there are some items to discover to reveal the additional plot like audio recording from the survivors which break the immersion but its minor because in the emergency time, people on the past have little time to record their voice *wink* to Bioshock.
Rating : 9/10
Difficulty : Normal
Finished : 25 March 2020
Written : 7 April 2020
