XCOM has 'evolved', not 'changed' since initial showing

XCOM didn't change radically between its 2010 and 2011 E3 showings in response to negative reaction, 2K has said - it's just continued its natural development.

"We've had a bit of radio silence over the last year and during that time we've really taken the effort to step back and look at what we could add to the game to make it even more XCOM," 2K's Jonathan Pelling told Gamespot.

"The game has changed a lot, but I don't think of it as 'changed' so much as 'evolution'. A year is a long time in development," he said.

Pelling said the 2010 demo of the game showed off its shooter elements, explaining that this year, the team wanted to show the other side of the coin.

"What we wanted to do this year is describe how XCOM is really strongly a tactical game. So we [came to E3 2011] with quite a different demo that articulates how you're going to go an meet the enemy in combat and how's that's different from your typical action game," he explained.

2K describes XCOM as a "thinking man's shooter". Players will recruit and level a squad of agents and control action in a paused tactical mode viewed from a third-person perspective.

XCOM is due on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in March 2012. It's a reboot of a cult-favourite 1990's tactics series.