Wed, Apr 14, 2010 | 14:32 BST
BioShock 2 team resurrects XCOM… as a first-person shooter [Update]
Update: OXM will have the first look at the game in its June issue. You can also check out the teaser site here.
Original: Hey, you got your first-person shooter in my turn-based strategy classic!
Only time will tell if the two go together like chocolate and peanut butter or water and cats, however. For now, though, 2K’s understandably optimistic.
“With BioShock 2, the team at 2K Marin proved themselves as masters of first-person, suspenseful storytelling, and with XCOM they will re-imagine and expand the rich lore of this revered franchise,” said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. “Players will explore the world of XCOM from an immersive new perspective and experience firsthand the fear and tension of this gripping narrative ride.”
This time around, you’ll be playing as an FBI agent “tasked with identifying and eliminating the growing threat.” 2K’s also promising all knds of “risky, strategic gambits,” so maybe the game won’t stray too far from its roots after all.
The full press release is below.
2K Games Announces XCOM® – Suspense and Mystery-Filled First-Person Shooter from Creators of BioShock® 2
Award-winning developers set their sights on re-imagining the suspense, tension and fear of one of gaming’s most beloved franchises only on Xbox 360 and Windows PC
New York, NY – April 14, 2010– 2K Games announced today that XCOM®,the re-imagining of one of gaming’s most storied and beloved franchises,is currently in development at 2K Marin, the studio behind the multi-million unit selling BioShock® 2.Currently in development exclusively for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Windows PC, XCOM combines the strategic core of the groundbreaking franchise with a suspense-filled narrative and distills it into a tense and unique first-person shooter experience.
“With BioShock 2, the team at 2K Marin proved themselves as masters of first-person, suspenseful storytelling, and with XCOM they will re-imagine and expand the rich lore of this revered franchise,” said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. “Players will explore the world of XCOM from an immersive new perspective and experience firsthand the fear and tension of this gripping narrative ride.”
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.
XCOM is not yet rated by the ESRB. For more information on XCOM please visit www.XCOM.com.
2K Games is a division of 2K, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO).
About 2K Marin
With sister studios in Novato, California and Canberra, Australia, 2K Marin is a 2K development studio focused on creating new IP and expanding proven franchises for 2K Games. Having recently completed the award-winning BioShock® 2, 2K Marin is currently developing XCOM®, a suspenseful first-person shooter where players must do battle against an unknown and faceless enemy that is violently probing and plotting its way into our world.
About Take-Two Interactive Software
Headquartered in New York City, Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is a global developer, marketer and publisher of interactive entertainment software games for the PC, PlayStation®3 and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment systems, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Wii™, Nintendo DS™, iPhone™ and iPod® touch. The Company publishes and develops products through its wholly owned labels Rockstar Games and 2K, which publishes its titles under 2K Games, 2K Sports and 2K Play. The Company’s common stock is publicly traded on NASDAQ under the symbol TTWO. For more corporate and product information please visit our website at www.take2games.com.
Windows, the Windows Start button, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.
All trademarks and copyrights contained herein are the property of their respective holders.
25 comments
#1
scuz
14/04/10, 6:39 am
6:14 am is a horrific time to be awake…/goes to bed
#2
unacomn
14/04/10, 6:48 am
*head explodes
LE: Ok, I’m better now. X-Com Alliance is aliiiiiiive!
#3
winter
14/04/10, 6:59 am
sigh, First-Person Shooter
#4
ybfelix
14/04/10, 7:05 am
um.. RUINED FOR EVAR, yay?
I vaguely remember there was a FPS X-com years before?
#5
revolting
14/04/10, 8:02 am
@4 X-Com: Enforcer. It was undiluted tripe shoe-horned into an X-shaped coffin.
To date, no turn-based strategy has matched the original X-Com for me, including it’s own sequels and spiritual successors. The first one is the very definition of computer game nostalgia for me.
#6
ybfelix
14/04/10, 8:15 am
I played the original UFO Defence at a very late date. Was actually surprised that its art style was quite animation-influenced and colorful. Now this new game, bet it would be much more “atmospheric”(i.e. bleaker and starker)
#7
Blerk
14/04/10, 8:46 am
I’m torn. For one, X-Com as a FPS doesn’t seem to make sense. On the other hand, they did a fantastic job with Bioshock and X-Com already has a very rich ‘world’ to draw on. Providing it’s not a bog-standard corridor shooter and actually has some RPGey elements to it… who knows?
I hope they don’t make it all dark and Gears of War, though – X-Com was always all primary colours and stylised visuals.
#8
Blerk
14/04/10, 8:58 am
Hey, I just noticed that this is a 360/PC exclusive! Seems a weird thing for Microsoft to pay for.
#9
Blerk
14/04/10, 9:05 am
Gamersyde have a single ‘screenshot’ and a piece of artwork.
#10
endgame
14/04/10, 9:25 am
n1! also ty Blerk.
#11
Old MacDonald
14/04/10, 10:05 am
Strange that Take Two don’t take advantage of Firaxis and their strategy expertise. I mean, if they want to resurrect the franchise, why not do it with a game that existing fans will want to play?
(not saying this won’t be worth playing, but why call it XCOM if it isn’t designed to appeal to the fans of the series?)
#12
mington
14/04/10, 10:28 am
June OXM reveal xcom, the ‘spooky’ new shooter
http://www.allgamesbeta.info/2010/04/june-oxm-xcom.html
#13
The Hindle
14/04/10, 11:18 am
I dont think this is the only 3rd party exclusive Microsoft have planned as there are rumours Driver is returning and is a 360 exclusive.
Its ok buying 3rd party exclusives but you would think they would buy massive ones not ones like this or Splinter Cell. Those are hardly gonna sell systems.
#14
Blerk
14/04/10, 11:48 am
Driver is Ubisoft now, isn’t it? I can’t imagine them doing another MS exclusive now that Splinter Cell’s out of the way.
#15
The Hindle
14/04/10, 11:52 am
It was put up on this site round the time of X10 that Driver was returning and was a 360 exclusive. It was taken down faster then the speed of sound though.
#16
Johnny Cullen
14/04/10, 12:11 pm
Ubisoft does own Driver and is, in fact, coming back within this fiscal year.
http://www.vg247.com/2010/01/13/driver-5-given-fy2011-release-by-ubi/
That 360 exclusive thing was just something that was lost in translation, innit.
#17
The Hindle
14/04/10, 12:12 pm
Ahh i stand corrected then, just remember seeing it and thinking eh then it was taken down and it got me wondering.
#18
Happy Hardon Harry
14/04/10, 12:14 pm
A FPS? Fuck sake, can they be any more unoriginal.
There is too many shooters… Why can’t more devs read beyond page one in the genre diversity 101 manual?
It’s a sad state of affairs when a publisher that is in control of one of your favourite IP’s fucks you up the ass like this.
#19
DeSpiritusBellum
14/04/10, 1:36 pm
Yeah, let’s take one of the most beloved games ever made and completely change EVERYTHING.
Very bright, Take Two.
Note that they left it to their B-team as well. I guess Levine got stuck with the IP and had to put it to use somehow, but fuck, what an insult.
@7 An X-Com without strategy is still completely missing the point. It wasn’t just an “alien game” it was the best turnbased strategy game ever made.
#20
Broncanus
14/04/10, 2:55 pm
Jesus Christ, I can’t stand the internet sometimes. WIll everyone stop complaining about this? There is no way they should try to reproduce the original games. The best thing about those games was not the clunky interface or slow, laborious pace… it was the terror you felt and the care you took over your men. If they take that approach they WILL be recreating the game. I WISH people could see this.
#21
daytripper
14/04/10, 2:57 pm
“Jesus Christ, I can’t stand the internet sometimes”
same here which is why i log off. opinions are entitled but they are also entitled to be disgreed with.
#22
Happy Hardon Harry
14/04/10, 3:08 pm
@20
Stop coming across like the fucking Conservative Party!
#23
daytripper
14/04/10, 3:23 pm
chill out soft arse
#24
Happy Hardon Harry
14/04/10, 4:46 pm
::Rolls Eyes::
#25
DeSpiritusBellum
14/04/10, 7:10 pm
@20 What you’re describing sounds like The Sims with a few aliens tossed in there randomly killing everybody. There was a lot more to X-Com than simply managing your men, although that was also a lot of fun.
Today X-Com seems slow and unintuitive. Big whoop, it’s been 15 years, what were you expecting? Games like Silent Storm have far beyond proven that turnbased strategy is still very doable, if not AAA-viable.
Personally I’d like to see a developer with a spine, who didn’t just cry “We’ll make it a shooter!” as soon as investors start to apply a bit of pressure.