During the 2010 E3 Expo we had a chance to go behind closed doors and check out 2K Games re-imagination of XCOM. One of the best things about attending a 2K Games preview at E3 is the outstanding way they theme their screening rooms. I made my way into the XCOM room and was transported into a 1950’s kitchen with everything that you would expect. I was seriously waiting for the milkman to knock on the door looking to drop off his daily delivery…(cont.)

Check out the rest of the story and some screenshots, after the break!
(cont.)…The group of journalists were greeted by some of the producers from 2K Marin and off we went into the presentation. Being known for creating the Bioshock world is nothing to scoff at and 2K Marin set their sights on taking the beloved XCOM series to a whole new level. We were given a back story on the XCOM series and how it will be changing with this title. The developers wanted to apply what they have learned with Bioshock and put it into the XCOM world. A compelling shooter that not only provides fast action but tells a deep story.

The demo in game demo started and we were transported to the 1950’s. A car pulls into an airplane hangar which we later learned serves as a front for the XCOM offices. Something unknown is happening in America and there is an ever growing need for a secret government agency to find out what is going on. You are one of the agents sent to unravel the mystery, you are William Carter. The hanger base for XCOM is very important as it provides everything a secret agent will need. As you head underground you find yourself in the war room where you can pick or choose which missions you would like to take. The war room is one of the most important areas of the game as the choices you make tell the story. If you choose not to handle that distress call that comes in then you may lose that one important piece of the puzzle. The devs stressed that some options will vanish forever if you choose the wrong direction to take. As a player you need to form a strategy and choose which missions make sense to get things done right.

The underground base also houses your armory which has traditional weapons and experimental technology. Where do you get those wonderful toys? Well Shogunites as you make your way through missions you can use a handy recorder on different evil that you come across. The more information you gather the more weapons are at your disposal, like the awesome fire inducing blob bomb that the devs were using in the demo. Each time you go on a mission you can pick your loadouts to ensure that they are tailored for what lies ahead of you. The best part is you never really know what you are going to be up against.

The demo continued as William Carter arrived to his destination. A distress call has been received from a suburban house and when you arrive no one is around. The neighborhood has an eerie quiet to it until a call for help is heard from another house. At this point it is your choice to either help that neighbor or move to your main objective. As the dev made his way to the main house more screams were heard until a blob of black death literally made a NPC dissolve. The dev whipped out his research camera to show off how the system works and then lobbed a blob bomb at it engulfing the whole area in fire. As the demo went on it was pretty apparent that these black blobs of death are pretty brutal and normal bullets will not stop them.

Thankfully you are not out there alone as William Carter has some field agents with him. These agents go in guns blazing to assist you with taking down the alien force. The devs ran their way through the different houses until every alien blob was destroyed. Just when we though the demo was over the devs wanted us to see one more thing. This is what I like to call the ‘crazy ring of death’. This ring floated into the air and formed into some weird alien symbol. Not only did it kill every one of William Carter’s field agents but it destroyed everything in its path. This is not the kind of enemy you take lightly.

The demo ended and the one thing the producer wanted us to take home with us was this thought. XCOM is based in the ideal world of the 1950’s ripped apart by an unknown alien corruption. I am excited for this to hit store shelves in 2011 and think it will be one hell of a ride.