14 DAY TRIAL // The story of X-COM begins in 1998, with numerous reports of UFO sightings. As more people are abducted, states realize they need to unite in the face of an alien threat. On December 11, 1998, representatives of the most powerful nations in the world meet in Geneva, Switzerland, and discuss the problem. The Extraterrestrial Combat Unit or X-COM is created as the last line of defense against the threat from space. This is how one of best games ever created begins, a game that has attracted players from its very original release, only to be plagued later by sequels that did it no justice. A game that, at least once a year, is rumored to be on its way to revival.
The latest edition of the Official Xbox Magazine seems to make resurface the rumor of 2008 regarding X-COM. The idea is that 2K Boston, the people that have given us last year's Bioshock, are even now working, under a cloak of secrecy, on a game that is X-COM based. Ken Levine himself is overseeing the development of the game.
There are two elements that support the above rumor. The first one is that 2K Boston are no longer the team behind Bioshock 2, as 2K Marin, a newly formed studio, is handling that project. To pull Bioshock 2 out of the hands of its creator must mean that there's something even more important that needs the entire attention and resources of 2K Boston. That something might be an X-COM game.
The second element that fits nicely in the puzzle is the fact that 2K has the rights to the X-COM universe. Apparently, they have been purchased from Infogrames last year, when the French company was having financial troubles and was looking to unload some old intellectual property.
As always with beloved old games, there are people that are questioning the credentials that 2K Boston has regarding such a project. X-COM offered a unique blend of resource management and tactical turn based combat that could not be recaptured even by its direct sequels. So, the fact that 2K are working in secrecy could be a sign that they aim to have something good completed to show off when they announce their new project. At this point, everything is just speculation. But let's hope that this year's rumor about an X-COM revival will prove to be true.