This has to be the biggest news story for PC Games in the last 17 years, and yet there are no details for us to salivate over. The cover of the May issue of Official XBOX Magazine has been revealed showing not one, but two covers depicting the announcement of X-COM’s return. The game is being worked on by 2K Marin and is being reimagined as a shooter, putting the player in the role of an FBI agent that is fighting and exposing the invading aliens.. I have to say, I am very worried. This is already a very polarizing topic in the PC community for many who did not wish to see their champion of strategy games rebirthed as a first person shooter. Here is the exact description, as quoted from the game’s website:
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.
Reading that description, a lot can be inferred. It could possibly be that the First-Person perspective is simply for the combat portions of the game, and there still will be some overarcing strategy elements. It is, understandably, skeptical when the herald of my top games of all time is ushered back on the cover of a console magazine. I am not saying I don’t like consoles, I am simply saying I am concerned if this new rendition will be a faithful continuation of the coveted original, or if it will fall short of grace. I’ll be honest, if 2K can recreate the immersion and depth of Bioshock, in the X-Com universe, AND someone can remake the nostalgic original, similar to how well Bionic Commando : Rearmed was done—-I could die a happy man.
If you’ve never heard of X-Com, it is considered the grand-daddy of all strategy games. It was made by Microprose, way back in the Stone Age of 1993. The player started by picking a base location on a rotate-able globe, and began outfitting his base. As head of the secret multi-nationally funded organization, X-Com, you were tasked with managing all of your funds supplied by all of the countries on the globe to fight and research aliens in modern day society. Those funds didn’t come cheap, you had a team of Interceptors and soldiers that must be used to fight back the alien menace, and if a particular country wasn’t happy with your efforts, you lost their funding. UFO’s were shot down by your Interceptors, and your soldiers were then dispatched to mop up the surviving aliens via turn-based strategic combat. All the while, you could research and reproduce alien technology at your bases for use against the alien menace. All of these elements blended together perfectly, for a gaming smoothie bursting with flavor that no one has been able to clone the recipe for in the 17 years since it’s inception. Just for clarification, this is not Ken Levine, but the Bioshock 2 team handling the project. You can be sure that as soon as more details emerge, you will find them updated here. Above, is the only screenshot available at the new website, xcom.com. Below that are the covers for the May issue of OXM, hitting newstands on May 5th. I will be anxiously counting down the days until then.
