Incredibly underrated.

[✪ DraZtiC]

This game is absolutely brilliant imo. One of very, VERY few medias that ever had me excited over sci-fi. I love the storytelling, the gameplay is incredibly fun and I love the fact that it takes place in the 50's.

No, I don't randomly start threads about everything I appreciate but I just really felt that the fairly low metacritic scores shouldnt be enough to keep people away from this game. Sure, I haven't played it from start to finish yet. But I just got extremely positively surprised when I fired the game up after seeing the metascores and complaining people.

[Treyen]

brilliant? not imo..average game, doesn't deserve the tanking it's metacritic score got on release, but it's not worth full price either. Wait for inevitable sale.

[jigsaW]

OP is a little overexcited in my opinion, while I really enjoy this game, the ratings and all the problems people have with the game are valid and the game deserves no higher than a 6. OP and myself would probably rate this game 10/10 for personal enjoyment, but I wouldn't get overexcited and make a forum post about it.

[ToriK]

Imho this game is not that bad as it's hammered on metacritic. In fact, I say it's rather good than bad. Sure it has it's problems and far from perfect, but none the less it's a decent shot. My guess is that everyone expected another Enemy Unknown set in the 60's, and they had to realise that this game is far from that. I don't know that whether it has been patched or me being super patient, but for me the teammates weren't getting killed that much that it'd be annoying (I played on normal difficulty).
In my book The Bureau is a solid 7.5~8/10

[Pulsei]

The game is very, very overcriticized. However, my problem is if you want to make a XCOM that isn't a sequel to EU, fine, but in that case ditch all of Enemy Unknown. Don't include the painfully slowly jogging around the base to do simple tasks, get rid of your normal/laser weapon schtick, just get rid of it. Also, the classes need more maximum levels, I think the Bureau was discouraged by people complaining that they couldn't fully uprgrade their units in EU, so they overcompensated and made your squaddies easy to save, hard to kill and easily replacable since they have few upgrades.

[Awesomer]

Originally posted by Avocadopinata:

The game is very, very overcriticized. However, my problem is if you want to make a XCOM that isn't a sequel to EU, fine, but in that case ditch all of Enemy Unknown. Don't include the painfully slowly jogging around the base to do simple tasks, get rid of your normal/laser weapon schtick, just get rid of it. Also, the classes need more maximum levels, I think the Bureau was discouraged by people complaining that they couldn't fully uprgrade their units in EU, so they overcompensated and made your squaddies easy to save, hard to kill and easily replacable since they have few upgrades.

dude u realize EU is like the 6th title? i personaly thot this game was alot of fun and a really neat aspect of the xcom games. i do agree with some points tho

[✪ DraZtiC]

I started this thread to see a discussion and telling people in doubt that I really think this game is much better than the critics make it seem like. This is ofc my own personal oppinion!

I'm not sure what makes me like the game so much but something just keeps me interested in it and I absolutely love the combat system. The TPS combined with tactical decisions and telling your squad what to do-- I love it! It feels fluent and exciting at the same time. This, again, is only my personal feelings!

[a very dead man]

try mass effect 3 or something if you like that
:|

[MuzixMon]

I agree with OP and really enjoyed this game and I didn't like Mass Effect games at all. I'd give it a 8 out of 10 easily. It didn't deserve the bashing it got, in fact I started a thread a while back when the game was released about it being unfairly bashed. I would've liked to see future titles like this from this franchise but that'll never happen after the reception it got... it's a shame really.

[ko]

I really enjoyed this game. The missions are fun and the game looks great on a good PC. I loved the visual design and the gameplay. I didn't care much about the base interactions which I found to be the low point of playing the game, but everything else was highly enjoyable in my opinion. The game has its flaws but overall I think it's a very good game.

I've played UFO/XCOM since the original game, but I guess I can appreciate different things. There's far worse games in the series.

[acidbottle]

agreed entirely, whilst game isnt the greatest, the UI for character selction and movement being perhpas the most cumbersome element, it does actually play very well. love the visuals and attempt to try something new. critics are too hard on the game.

[Coldhands]

I really liked it ... but I was also bummed that it wasn't better, because you can SEE a way better game in there, if only they'd had the time/buget/talent/whatever to make it.
If 2K Marin wasn't toast (that's the rumor anyway) I'd really love to see another Bureau game, because it could be super sweet.

[Winston Enjoyer | Razec Razputin]

Gotta agree, this game is great.

Its a refreshing take on Sci-Fi, and Third Person Shooters.

Graphics are great, storyline and presentation are fantastic, concept is and sounds are also done well.

I'd have to give it an 8/10, I would have liked to see a bit more in the terms of customization and research.

I wasn't going to into this game thinking it was a full blown XCOM game (because that would just be retarded of me, having seen videos of the game play), but I have enjoyed this title a lot more than I expected.

[November]

I disagree. Here is what I did not like:

The story is incoherent: The idea is that you will appropriate alien technology and use it against them sounds cool, but how can you and your squadmates already use unexplainable powers against them from the tutorial mission? Why do the player's dialogue choices do absolutely nothing?

Controls: Sluggish. In Gears of War and Mass Effect, having the 'dash' button being the same as the 'use cover' button was nice because the game understood what you were doing and wouldn't unnecessarily stick you to walls you weren't interested in. Not so in The Bureau.

Poor Performance/optimization: My gtx 735, while not the most powerful card, should be able to handle this game without having to go to the lowest settings.

AI: The pits. The ally AI are helpless beyond measure. They stand in the open unless told to find cover. They continue to get shot while in cover because they don't know when to shoot and when to stay down. While issuing orders, the game is not paused- only in slow motion. Your enemies are still shooting and moving while you do this.

This game was the preorder that made me decide to never do preorders again.

[Winston Enjoyer | Razec Razputin]

Originally posted by Kokamo_Joe:

I disagree. Here is what I did not like:

The story is incoherent: The idea is that you will appropriate alien technology and use it against them sounds cool, but how can you and your squadmates already use unexplainable powers against them from the tutorial mission? Why do the player's dialogue choices do absolutely nothing?

Controls: Sluggish. In Gears of War and Mass Effect, having the 'dash' button being the same as the 'use cover' button was nice because the game understood what you were doing and wouldn't unnecessarily stick you to walls you weren't interested in. Not so in The Bureau.

NO. This game as well as those has sluggish controls. You are just saying that. I have all Mass Effect titles (Collector's Edition for 2 and 3) and played on the Gears of Wars (and have the PC version) and none of those have better controls than the other.

Originally posted by Kokamo_Joe:

Poor Performance/optimization: My gtx 735, while not the most powerful card, should be able to handle this game without having to go to the lowest settings.

WRONG. That is a terrible card, you think because it has a higher number that its better, while in fact you are using a 600 series card my friend, with a rebranding. And a crappy 600 series at that.

Originally posted by Kokamo_Joe:

AI: The pits. The ally AI are helpless beyond measure. They stand in the open unless told to find cover. They continue to get shot while in cover because they don't know when to shoot and when to stay down. While issuing orders, the game is not paused- only in slow motion. Your enemies are still shooting and moving while you do this.

Like in every other game with squad mates, useless AI unless you tell them what to do.

I am in no way saying this is a perfect game, but don't jump on the bandwagon and make things to be that serious. They aren't. This is a solid third person shooter.

[Toastor]

I've been having alot of fun with this game. Like others have said, my expectations were not very high due to the many negative reviews & forum posts, however I've been really pleasantly surprised by the quality of this title. The graphics are great & the squad combat works reasonably well. I was a big fan of the Brothers in Arms series and so am pleased to have another squad based combat game to play.

There seem to be several indicators that the game was rushed out without the final polish and tweaking it needed (apart form the clunky console interface). The main story narative seems disjointed in places as though some things are not happening in quite the order they originally intended. Having said that, the attention to detail in the base has been a very big surprise to me.

I also like that much of the alien technology and terraforming structures have a similar look to Xcom EU, this provides a great feeling of continuity across the games.

As Coldhands said, while playing this game it's clear that there is a great game underneath the surface which they haven't quite had time to fully develop. It's a real shame that this game is unlikely to receive any further updates or DLC as it could have become a real gem.