BioShock 2 creators to resurrect XCOM

By Ellie Gibson Published 14 April, 2010

As strategic FPS for PC and Xbox 360.

2K Marin, the studio behind BioShock 2, is setting its sights on classic series X-COM.

They're keeping the capitalisation but dropping the hyphen for the new instalment, which is thus titled XCOM. According to 2K it "combines the strategic core of the groundbreaking franchise with a suspense-filled narrative and distills it with a tense and unique first-person shooter experience".

As confirmed by extensive research on wikipedia, the first X-COM game was released in 1993 and was all about strategy. Two sequels followed, along with a fourth game which placed more of an emphasis on action.

2K's offering will put in in the role of an FBI agent who must identify and eliminate a growing alien threat. You'll be expected to overcome tough odds by taking strategic risks and enjoying "heart-stopping combat experiences that pit human ingenuity - and frailty - against a foe beyond comprehension". The game's first-person perspective is designed to increase the level of tension and fear.

"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 2K president Christoph Hartmann.

"Players will explore the world of XCOM from an immersive new perspective and experience first-hand the fear and tension of this gripping narrative ride."

XCOM is in development for PC and Xbox 360. There's no word on a release date yet.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (70) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • BabyJesus #1 2 years ago

    Uh-oh, some people won't be happy.

    I predict a petition before the end of the day.

  • Lee_Morris #2 2 years ago

    I'm really suprised this is 360 and PC only. By the sounds of things 2K Marin did a good gob with the PS3 version of Bioshock 2 and we all know most third parties are developing multi-platform games now.

    And wow to the Bioshock 2 team announcing thier next game before the Ken Levine and the Bioshock 1 team. It's amazing publishers will bank roll development studios for so long.

  • GamesConnoisseur #3 2 years ago

    Enemy Unknown was the first game in XCOM that I played and immediately loved, now I m all for resurrecting the series as otherwise it would have just been stay dormant and dead.

    So please make it the best possible interpretation and in keeping with the tensions as per the first game, of gradually revealing a widening UFO conspiracy and then invasion.

  • Eraser #4 2 years ago

    If they keep the spirit of the original games, it'll be good.

  • Shinetop #5 2 years ago

    Reserving final judgement until the demo and all, but preliminary response: lame. Screw first person shooters.

  • Syrette #6 2 years ago

    What, no PS3?

  • Rack #7 2 years ago

    FPS? So this is a resurrection in the case of making a zombie, rather than bringing a person back? Not that I think it will be a bad game, but really all the XCOM name means to gamers is that an XCOM strategy title can never be made.

  • Weezer #8 2 years ago

    Missing the point totally. X-Com wasn't great because of the set-up or story; this was tense strategic turn-based play. Turning it into a FPS would be like making Monopoly: The Movie... oh wait.

  • Schiraman #9 2 years ago

    WTF? So they're resurrecting a classic strategy game as an FPS? Um... missing the point a bit there aren't they?
    What's next? Risk as a platformer?

    Don't get me wrong, if X-COM was a strong background with a rich world and characters to draw on, then I could see how you might apply it to any genre and make something worth playing - but it's not like that at all. It's just a collection of fairly generic alien horrors invading modern-day Earth.

    X-COM was never a big deal because of the story or background, people loved it because it was a great strategy game - lose that aspect and there's literally nothing left but the name.

  • SL33PY #10 2 years ago

    This is a sad day in the history of gaming. They already tried to port XCOM over to other genres and until now, failed miserably imo (XCOM Apocalyps anyone?)

    Moving away from the turn based strategy to make yet another shooter is just sad. I don't mind a good FPS game just as any other games fan. But XCOM and turn based strategy belong together like Command & Conquer with real time strategy.

    Anyone remember the farce C&C: Renegade?

    Please 2K, don't make the same mistakes

  • matrim83 #11 2 years ago

    Fucking ridiculous. Even Fallout 3 had at least a passing resemblance to F1 and F2. This is just idiotic.

  • Malek86 #12 2 years ago

    I'm waiting until a demo or something before I spew out judgments, but stilll... this doesn't bode well. X-Com Enforcer wasn't exactly good either.

  • GamesConnoisseur #13 2 years ago

    Mass Effect 2 is RPG and yet a FPS, so perhaps a case where two different genres can combine and works well. So possibly that its ll do the same for XCOM?

    I agree that C&C Renegade FPS was a disaster but Marin will know that and the challenge for them to better the experience, but what I would not want is to see the game dumbed down to essentially just a shooter with strategtic elements loosely bolted on. Got to be central and more meaningful than Fallout's VATS system.

  • Moribundman #14 2 years ago

    Yeah its not a strategy game which is a shame, but 2K Marin are a great team. I'm sure if they've decided to bring back the license as an FPS they have their reasons. Sounds like a bit of a Fallout vs Fallout 3 situation to me... How 'bout we reserve judgement until the previews start rolling in?

  • ocmerius #15 2 years ago

    sooooo, everybody is reading "unique first-person shooter experience" while I clearly read "combines the strategic core of the groundbreaking franchise with a suspense-filled narrative and distills it with a tense and "unique first-person shooter experience".

    Maybe we should wait until we actually know something of the game?
    Seems like a lot of peopel are passing judgement on something we actually know nothing about.
    Edited by ocmerius at 14/04/10 @ 08:16

  • PlugMonkey #16 2 years ago

    SL33PY:

    This is a sad day in the history of gaming.

    No. A sad day in the history of gaming is when a so-called games 'journalist' has to look up a game like UFO: Enemy Unknown on Wikipedia. Shame on you Ellie!

    The first game was mostly built around a perfectly pitched research tree that saw the advantage swing back and forth between constantly between me and my foe. If the game had just been the strategy maps, would you have still played it?

    Making it an FPS with a main character does feel weird though. The aliens in the 1st game were extremely dangerous, which was pretty effectively communicated by the fact that none of my soldiers survived the entire length of the game. Sticking some super-hero character in the middle of it doesn't mesh well for me.

    Mostly, I'm just disappointed its 2K Marin. No offense to them, but weren't Irrational supposed to be doing X-COM?

  • The-Bodybuilder #17 2 years ago

    @GamesConnoisseur
    Do you even know what an FPS is? Really, ME2 is an FPS? o_O

  • Evolution #18 2 years ago

    The potential is there I suppose, but seeing as the original game was one of the greatest games ever (and the first PC game I ever bought) I can't help but feel apprehension hearing it coming back as a FPS. That being said, they have had fps xcom games in production before and the potential is there so I guess we'll see what they come up with.

  • Tomo #19 2 years ago

    Sounds like the Fallout 3 formula to me.

  • Dizzy #20 2 years ago

    X-com was great because of the b-movie style and the unknown aliens. It might work as a clever fps and these devs are no beginners. I have hope for something good.

  • metalangel #21 2 years ago

    This has got to be a joke. The "lore" of X-COM wasn't one of FBI agents uncovering an alien conspiracy so much as a marked increase in the appearance of UFO activity. The whole world knew (you couldn't cover up a terror mission!) and X-COM was the UN endorsed response. For fuck's sake. @Sl33py: Apocalypse was great! You could still play it as a turn based tactical game but the new real time mode meant searching a large building was much quicker and more fun. You must be thinking of Enforcer (or to a lesser extent Interceptor) for your abortive attempts to cross genres.

  • the_dudefather #22 2 years ago

    Game starts

    The doors to the lander open
    A alien agent in the darkness fires a single shot which kills you instantly

    X-Com

  • Katsumoto #23 2 years ago

    It's a shame my favourite genre seems to not even exist in the minds of devs anymore. I mean, this game may be good (just like Fallout 3 turned out to be good (although not my particular cup of tea)), but why does everything have to be first person nowadays?

    I don't buy the "modern gamers wouldn't get turn based gameplay" line. For a start, i'm sure a lot of modern gamers also gamed in the 90s, surely a lot of people would go out and buy a proper turn based tactical game? And isn't it just incredibly patronising to assume younger gamers only want FPSs? And at least Fallout 3 stuck to the "RPG" aspect, if not the isometric and turn based aspect. I can't see how an FPS X-Com could retain anything of the originals...

    Oh well. Maybe i'll be pleasantly surprised!
    Edited by Katsumoto at 14/04/10 @ 08:32

  • glottis0 #24 2 years ago

    I thought this studio just picked up work on Bioshock 2, and wasn't Levine's actual studio...anyone know for sure?

    Edit: Looks like it was updated.
    Edited by glottis0 at 14/04/10 @ 09:25

  • Der_tolle_Emil #25 2 years ago

    I will stay optimistic.

    What made the game so fantastic was the tense athmosphere created by the turn based gameplay and the music - it wasn't the setting or the story. Now if you take away the gameplay there's not much left what really defined XCOM. It might of course still turn out to be a really good game but I have my doubts about it fitting into the XCOM series.

  • teabagger #26 2 years ago

    Bit early to be writing it off isn't it? Oh wait, sorry I just remembered where I am!

  • chudders #27 2 years ago

    I've been playing UFO: Enemy Unknown (let's use the proper name please) again recently and it is still as compelling as ever. Such a well designed game.

    I will reserve judgement for this title but I can't say I agree with the direction - it doesn't seem to suggest any of the features which made the original so good.

  • Hog-lumps #28 2 years ago

    Maybe i'm over-optimistic, but 'Valkyrie of The Battlefield' showed that you can successfyully do a 3rd person turn based strategy - maybe a 1st person turn based strategy is not that unfeasible either?
    Edited by Hog-lumps at 14/04/10 @ 09:04

  • jumpdeveraux #29 2 years ago

    Surely all that we need is a few of us to head over to 2K Marin for a little 'mind control' ... failing that we can just panic them...

    I'll just grab my Psi-Amp from the back of the wardrobe...

  • metalangel #30 2 years ago

    @Katsumoto: with a Brothers in Arms style command system it could work but I don't see that happening here.

  • MikeN #31 2 years ago

    The original x-com game had a charm in the style of the old "UFO" tv series whereas this concept seems like some sort of X-files knock-off that's about 10 years too late.

  • TheTingler #32 2 years ago

    @glottis0: "I thought this studio just picked up work on Bioshock 2, and wasn't Levine's actual studio...anyone know for sure?"

    Sorry glottis0, I didn't understand any of that, but I'll try to straighten things out for you anyway. 2K Marin is the studio that is making this new XCOM and they also made all of Bioshock 2. They used to be part of 2K Boston, which is now back to being called Irrational Games again. Irrational/2K Boston is Ken Levine's studio, and they made the first Bioshock. Neither Irrational nor Ken Levine had anything to do with Bioshock 2 and have nothing to do with XCOM either.

    Hope that makes sense.
    Edited by TheTingler at 14/04/10 @ 09:26

  • Boomerang #33 2 years ago

    I have no doubt they'll make a good game, but it won't be a true X-Com game.

    /weeps

  • EvilBob_leeds #34 2 years ago

    Ooooh sweet! Turn based shooters are too few and far between these days. I just hope they don't dumb down the big research element to it.

    If this becomes a real time squad shooter, they can stick it.

    EDIT Re reads article

    "heart-stopping combat experiences..."

    "Players will explore the world of XCOM from an immersive new perspective"

    Fuck.
    Edited by EvilBob_leeds at 14/04/10 @ 10:06

  • rhinoxious #35 2 years ago

    I bet they dropped the hyphen to please their Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) team

    "Sorry guys, but if it doesn't google well then its got to go"

  • rhinoxious #36 2 years ago

    @Lee Morris

    It's probably based on the same game engine as Bioshock 2, that would allow for the quick turn around in development.

    The original BioShock team are probably working on some spangly new tech.

  • Lemming81 #37 2 years ago

    BOO! Not an FPS! Just give us TFTD with a graphics update and release it as a Steam/PSN/XBL title.

    Don't mess with the formula, please.
    Edited by Lemming81 at 14/04/10 @ 09:53

  • andywilkie35 #38 2 years ago

    Hmmm, I used to love this game, really tense strategy game but not sure how this will work as a FPS. Of course I'm holding judgement until I know more, I really hope they get this right :)

  • space_ace #39 2 years ago

    doesn't wikipedia also state that this was one of the most addictive games ever and a symbol of the 90s gaming?
    because it's true :)

  • Murton #40 2 years ago

    XCOM they will re-imagine and ruin the rich lore of this revered franchise," said 2K president Christoph Hartmann.

    Fixed.
    Edited by Murton at 14/04/10 @ 10:37

  • des #41 2 years ago

    I welcome the change.
    As for the moaning...lol...game development is not democracy,nobody cares,not to mention that old games are massively overrated through nostalgia goggles.

  • PlugMonkey #42 2 years ago

    the_dudefather:
    "Game starts

    The doors to the lander open
    A alien agent in the darkness fires a single shot which kills you instantly

    X-Com "

    LOL! So true.

    katsumoto:
    "I don't buy the "modern gamers wouldn't get turn based gameplay" line."

    Me neither. Pokemon seems to do OK despite being completely turn based, and attracts a young audience. Turn based games have never gone away, they've just been disguised.

  • sneetch #43 2 years ago

    @PlugMonkey
    Me neither. Pokemon seems to do OK despite being completely turn based, and attracts a young audience. Turn based games have never gone away, they've just been disguised.

    Nor me, if anything they could have gone with a Dragon Age style, real time but can be paused to give instructions if you want style of game and that would have been fine too.

    This could be good but it doesn't sounds too X-COM like at the moment, despite their claims that it "combines the strategic core of the groundbreaking franchise with a suspense-filled narrative and distills it with a tense and unique first-person shooter experience".

    What does "combines the strategic core of the groundbreaking franchise" actually mean? Does that mean we'll still have bases, deploy interceptors and lead teams? Or does it just mean that we'll be going to multiple locations after cut-scenes of saucers being shot down by interceptors?

  • muscleblade #44 2 years ago

    @The Bodybuilder

    Sorry mate. See you point but ME2 is definently not an FPS. Its a TPS (third person shooter). Loved XCOM and excited about this even if its played form a first person view.

  • PlugMonkey #45 2 years ago

    Does anyone actually use the term TPS?

    I mean, an over-the-shoulder shooter is, essentially, viewed from the perpective of the main protagonist. Isn't it?

  • sneetch #46 2 years ago

    @muscleblade
    @The Bodybuilder
    Sorry mate. See you point but ME2 is definently not an FPS. Its a TPS (third person shooter). Loved XCOM and excited about this even if its played form a first person view.

    That was his point: GameConnoisseur said it was a FPS, The Bodybuilder questioned whether GameConnoisseur knew what an FPS is.

  • RESIDENT_nEVILe #47 2 years ago

    The only way I could see this doing any justice to the originals is if 2k employ a system similar to Valkyria Chronicles.

    A Turn based FPS could be quite interesting: Moving one troop/unit at a time with limited action/movement points. Would keep a modicum of strategy intact rather than just another run n gun, pop n stop brainless shooter.

    Edit: actually turn based may be a bit much for the ADD generation.
    Edited by RESIDENT_nEVILe at 14/04/10 @ 11:26

  • mandella #48 2 years ago

    FPS trend nowadays is like interactive movies back in times when CDROMs were introduced. It will pass. Developers think FPS=instant win. Soon, their stupidity will hopefuly diminish and they will understand that isometric view, turn based gameplay etc. is still viable if done right.

  • Johnsters #49 2 years ago

    Never played Xcom, But I would like a reboot or Rebel Star 2 or Lazer Squad
    Hours wasted on those 2.

  • muscleblade #50 2 years ago

    "That was his point: GameConnoisseur said it was a FPS, The Bodybuilder questioned whether GameConnoisseur knew what an FPS is"

    Yes i know that. Problem is ME2 is not an FPS as it isnt viewed from a first person perspective. Using Fallout 3 would have been more correct to make his point. Gear of war or Resident Evil 5 is not FPS games either.

    @PlugMonkey:Does anyone actually use the term TPS? YES. Its a shooter viewed from the third person perspective like Gears of war. MW2 is an FPS.
    Edited by muscleblade at 14/04/10 @ 11:43

  • PlugMonkey #51 2 years ago

    @muscleblade:

    Yes, thankyou. I'm loosely aware of MW2, but thanks anyway for pointing it out to me.

    Meh. Whatever. Maybe. I can't say it's something I see every day.

    It just seems like a pretty redundent and pedantic distinction to make in the context of a "they could make it like this" example. Would the gameplay of Mass Effect and Fallout 3 be massively altered if you switched from a full FPS to a close over-the-shoulder? You're still basically seeing what the character can see, hence viewing it from their perspective. I think most people increasingly use the terms FPS to include very close, over the shoulder perspectives.

  • thelzdking #52 2 years ago

    As an FPS? Biggest dissapointment of the year so far. What's the point of reviving the franchise if you're going to remove one of it's defining features? Not good enough.

  • Spekingur #53 2 years ago

    It's first-person because that's what they know that works on consoles.

    Almost seems like they are trying to resurrect that XCOM FPS team game that was cancelled.

  • makeamazing #54 2 years ago

    @thelzdking Totally agree, the games design is the reason the game is a classic.

    Personally dont see it working at all, but will reserve judgement until its released...

    I would prefer a turn based isomectric game, obviously the general console users would not have accepted anything less than a 1st person 3D shootem up game.

    Looks like i am going to have to continue with steam versions of the old game and some of the clones that came out after :|
    Edited by makeamazing at 14/04/10 @ 12:47

  • Shinetop #55 2 years ago

    ""Players will explore the world of XCOM from an immersive new perspective and experience first-hand the fear and tension of this gripping narrative ride."

    This isn't a joke, right? It sounds almost exactly like something from Penny Arcade.

  • ShiftyGeezer #56 2 years ago

    FPS?? Then I don't care PS3 isn't getting it. A strategy game in orignal mold would have been great, but modern developers are extremely boring FPSitus.

  • Acrid #57 2 years ago

    What!? No Wii on-rails shooter version? Or will that be out 9 months after?

  • muscleblade #58 2 years ago

    Would the gameplay of Mass Effect and Fallout 3 be massively altered if you switched from a full FPS to a close over-the-shoulder?

    Mass Effect is close over-the-shoulder already so no. Fallout 3 is both close over-the-shoulder and first person as you can choose. I think Zelda games would have been different in first person if thats what you asking. The same would Mass Effect. Even if it wouldnt
    i still think the terms should be used right. Street Fighter IV is not a beat em up btw.

  • metalangel #59 2 years ago

    You know what would be good? An X-COM remake with more equipment and options (real world stuff possibly) as well as a choice of traditional turn based or Apocalypse's real time modes. Graphics would still be 2D but very clean, detailed stuff. Possibly even from a good anime studio (as was the original's ambition), Japanese strategy stuff like Power Dolls is what I'm thinking of.

  • PhoenixMDK #60 2 years ago

    Weird, I thought the rumour had been floating around for a while that this is what Levine and the original Bioshock team were working on. Plot thickens, I guess.

  • the_mtfr #61 2 years ago

    Why the hell are all the big-budget companies turning everything into shooters? Sure shooters are nice. But it's so sad to see that none of the big projects are pure turn based games any more. Thank God the Russians had the balls to make the beautiful King's Bounty.

    Oh well it's back to that Czech UFO Afterlight for now. And there is some Greed Corp nice turn-based game gonna launch if I remember correctly. Hopes up.
    Edited by the_mtfr at 14/04/10 @ 14:03

  • CatWeazle #62 2 years ago

    Mixed opinions on this..

    What made the originals extra-special to me was the two-tiered game approach : you had the campaign management (world-view) strategy game, and then you focused in on the isometric turn-based game. Sometimes you could get so absorbed in either of these modes, that you almost forgot that there was a whole other game in there waiting for you.

    Even if they make the FPS parts as excellent as the original XCOM isometric sections (with some variation on Laser-Squad / VATS) it will be nothing without an overarching strategy campaign, with tech-trees, etc.

    As an example, consider UFO:Aftermath - the spiritual successor to XCOM, which sadly lacked the campaign game.. it wasn't a patch on the originals consequently, and had no depth. (*)

    Lets hope 2k Marin are aware of all this, and come up with the goods..


    Oh and PlugMonkey, give Ellie a break - I bet she can name a few games which you passed over back in the day! :)


    (*) just checked UFO:Afterlight - looks like this one does have a campaign game.. hurrah!
    Edited by CatWeazle at 14/04/10 @ 16:34

  • PlugMonkey #63 2 years ago

    musclebalde:
    Sorry, I meant if you swapped the views round between ME and FO3.

    "I think Zelda games would have been different in first person if thats what you asking."

    Well, that's pretty much my point. Zelda being a true 3rd person perspective, in that you are not viewing the action from the perspective of you're character, as you are in Fallout and, to a greater extent, in Mass Effect (which is why there would be less of an impact on the gameplay if you switched the views round between them).

    CatWeazle:
    "Oh and PlugMonkey, give Ellie a break - I bet she can name a few games which you passed over back in the day! :) "

    I was just joshing, chief, it's good for morale. ;)

  • Mayhem64 #64 2 years ago

    I loved Laser Squad, I loved Lords of Chaos, I loved the first two X-Com titles... turn this into a FPS though? Bleerghh...

  • intrepidbeaver #65 2 years ago

    This is a travesty.

    Where do I sign up to the facebook petition to have all the staff at 2K Marin publicly flogged?

    No one would turn Civ into a FPS why do it to XCOM!

  • SilverInfinity #66 2 years ago

    Good news to see XCOM / UFO (however we knew it) back in the limelight after all these years...man I loved those games...spend ages setting a squad only to land the skyranger and after 1 turn half the squad and HWP wiped out by a heavy plasma :D

    I really hope they don't screw this up...more importantly I hope they include the originals within the new game to play on the Xbox...hell i'd settle for an iPhone port of the games too!

    Long live XCOM / UFO!

  • realalien #67 2 years ago

    I loved X Com Enemy Unknown i spent many an hour researching new technology, building new bases and those terror missions where almost the end of me, but (as you may have felt coming) i don't won't my golden memories shatered by some cash-in FPS! if you want to make a FPS based around an alien invasion fine with me, make it good and i'll buy it like the next man but don't ride on the coat tails of such a great game!

    The one good thing that might cone out of it is a re-release of the original on XBLA and or psn so please give us what we really want!

  • Gammerz #68 2 years ago

    I was addicted to Enemy Unknown and Terror From The Deep (I've even read the novel!) and I don't think I've been hooked on a game that much since. In Enemy unknown, I was surprised to find that my base design in the strategic game was drawn with the correct layout in the tactical game when the base was invaded. I didn't like the mind control (line of sight rules didn't seem to work for aliens, they could still attack thru smoke) nor the weapon with massive blast radius. The aliens that could infect and convert your men (insectoid?) were scarey and their floating counterparts in TFTD were too mobile. Tech tree in TFTD was flawed and you could get stuck not knowing where to go next. Cyberdisks were scarey and tanks were prone to rifle fire! Aliens were distinctively excellent.

    Shame it's a FPS. They just needed to keep the gameplay, upgrade graphics, AI, playing area size and add MP (co-op: 2 squads V aliens or competitive aliens v xcom). Would have been excellent.
    Edited by Gammerz at 15/04/10 @ 01:18

  • Yargh #69 2 years ago

    I'm not too hung up on the UI they are going to use for the game to be honest, the parts that worry me are the ones that appear to indicate you will only have the one character to play with (an FBI Agent? What happened to the UN then?) and that the game will have a deep narrative (one of the great bits in the original games was that you made the story through playing the game).

    For me X-Com means that individual soldiers mean little, it is the team that fights the war, the soldiers either get eaten, go to the morgue, the infirmary for a few weeks or, for the very lucky ones, get promoted.

    There are ways that using an FPS interface could work out. Brothers in Arms, Hired Guns and Space Hulk have all done squad play pretty well. Rainbow Six did tactical planning brilliantly. Bad Company 2 and Red Faction do a very nice take on destructible environments... Is this what the new XCOM will bring? I don't know, but I'll wait and see. If it's not a game that says X-COM to me then I just won't be buying it.

  • Zephro #70 2 years ago

    Damnation to consoles! Damnation to the attention deficit ridden console population! Damnation to it being 2KMarin not Irrational games.

    And damn it there were 5 X-Com games not 4. I admit only 3 good ones but 5!