XCOM: THE BUREAU - New DLC and My New Game Plus Wishlist
By now I’m sure you’re aware that XCOM: The Bureau (a fantastic game by the way) has some pretty sweet DLC coming, and if you aren’t, well, BAM! Now you know.
That’s right, you’ve just been Emeriled.
I actually stunned myself on that one.
Anyway, the upcoming pack is called Hangar 6 R&D, and is set before the events of The Bureau. Right off the bat the DLC makes an impression by getting rid of The Bureau’s constant killjoy, William Carter, and subs in Agent Nico DeSilva. For those who have played the game, DeSilva had more charisma in his glass of scotch than Carter had throughout the entirety of the game. The DLC also provides another agent as well as some new weapons to go along with its prequel story. You can catch the screens from the new campaign in the gallery below.
This is all well and good, and I’m looking forward to playing it, but I’m all about looking towards the future. With that said, let’s take a look at some improvements that would greatly benefit XCOM’s (potential) next outing.
NO WILLIAM CARTER
'Nuff said.
Okay, maybe I’ll say a little bit more. Carter is fine early on, but rarely does a game make you despise a character the more you converse with people. Typically conversations flesh out a personality, but not here. Seriously, the guy's kind of an ass, and by game's end you kinda sorta hate him. I know it was the '60s, but they actually had personality back then, so an injection of some into the next entry's main character wouldn’t hurt.
Where Are The Women?
While we’re talking about the '60s, you know what else they had? Women, and lots of them. I get trying to paint a semi-realistic portrait of the 1960s, and they succeeded in that in many ways, but the lack of female characters is just absurd to me. Seriously, there are 2 women that you can talk to in this game, and neither can be in your party. You’re fighting aliens for control of the earth, and I’m pretty sure women would be up for that fight as well, so next time let's not be so one sided with gender please.
Oh, and Minorities While We're At It
Yeah, ditto for people of other colors. Evidently there were only 1 or 2 facial types for people who weren’t white back then. Its crazy to see all the facial types, where you have 6 or 7 variations of white to pick from and 2 African American, 1 Hispanic, and 1 semi-Asian face alternatively. Seriously? Like I said previously, I get what they were attempting to do, but c’mon. If you're going to offer choices of ethnicity to pick from, at least make it a bit less skewed. Its just rather glaring when you stare at the choices available.
Operations Could Be More Than Grade School Math
There are many aspects of the game I enjoyed, and one of those was being able to send your troops on missions you didn’t directly control. I loved being able to level up my troops without having to physically take them on a mission with me, as throughout the game I developed a few favorites. However, actually executing the missions was very simplistic, as you just meet the level required, say 10, with a combination of soldiers whose levels equal said number. Not very much to that, and me? I want a bit more danger with my cocktail. Most of these missions offered extra packs you could use in the main campaign, which is actually quite useful, but what if there were multiple tiers in the same mission?
Hear me out on this one. Let's say one side operation has two or three tiers, one easy, one normal, and one hard. The easy ones would be low level, and offer a nice reward, but nothing fancy. Mid-tier would offer a new pack if successful, but would also offer a risk of your troops being unusable for a certain amount of time if injured (akin to XCOM: Enemy Unknown), and the high risk tier would offer a new power, rare agent, or rare pack, but if unsuccessful you could lose an agent or two permanently. Your equipped packs would also come into play in these missions, and equipping your squad efficiently would help the savvy gamer take home some high rewards. Again, I understand this is not for everyone, but having the option would be nice for those of us who care.
More Sweaters
I like sweaters. Plus, if they add more variations I can live out my fantasy of fighting aliens dressed as Heathcliff Huxtable.
The Bureau did a lot of things right, including its wonderful combat, fun to use powers, and interesting supporting cast, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be even better, and that is all this list is. Got some ideas? Send them our way!