The Bureau: XCOM Declassified vs Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist
The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is an open-world RPG game from 2K Marin (2013) while Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist is an action-adventure FPS game from Ubisoft Toronto (2013).
What each one is
Steam files The Bureau: XCOM Declassified under Open-World and RPG. In contrast, it files Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist under Action-Adventure and FPS.
The year is 1962 and the Cold War has the nation gripped by fear. A top-secret government unit called The Bureau begins investigating a series of mysterious attacks by an enemy more powerful than communism.
In this stealth-action thriller, a terrorist group known as the Engineers launches the Blacklist, a series of escalating attacks on US interests. Only one man can stop them: legendary covert agent Sam Fisher.
At a glance
| The Bureau: XCOM Declassified | Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 6.3/10 | 6.7/10 |
| Steam rating | Mostly Positive (70%, 12,080) | Mostly Positive (79%, 21,615) |
| Critic aggregate | 66/100 | No aggregate |
| Price | $19.99 | $19.99 |
| Install size | 12 GB | — |
| Steam Deck | verified | playable |
| Released | 2013 | 2013 |
| Developer | 2K Marin | Ubisoft Toronto |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
The Bureau: XCOM Declassified vs Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
The Bureau: XCOM DeclassifiedOpen-world RPG gameTom Clancy's Splinter Cell: BlacklistAction-adventure FPS gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
The Bureau: XCOM DeclassifiedAction, Tactical, Sci-fiTom Clancy's Splinter Cell: BlacklistStealth, Action, Co-opThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
The Bureau: XCOM DeclassifiedScore 6.3 · 70% on Steam · 66 criticTom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist ✓Score 6.7 · 79% on SteamThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
The Bureau: XCOM Declassified12,080 reviews · 3 add-ons · 12 GBTom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist21,615 reviewsReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
The Bureau: XCOM Declassified$19.99Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist$19.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
The Bureau: XCOM Declassified ✓VerifiedTom Clancy's Splinter Cell: BlacklistPlayableValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Across the rounds a number can settle, it is level at 1 each. Which one is "better" is the part no figure decides, so we leave it to what you want from the two.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueThe Bureau: XCOM Declassified and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- Nintendo
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The higher-rated of the two: Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist (GamingPickz Score 6.7)
- Better on a Steam Deck: The Bureau: XCOM Declassified (verified)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
ActionTacticalThird-Person ShooterSingleplayerThird PersonStrategyShooterRPG
Where they differ
Sci-fiAliensCold WarOpen WorldNoirRetro
Co-opOnline Co-OpParkourFPSControllerFirst-Person
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| The Bureau: XCOM Declassified | Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | — | 512 MB |
| Minimum CPU | — | 2.53 GHz Intel® Core™2 Duo E6400 |
| Minimum RAM | — | 2 GB |
| Install size | 12 GB | — |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: The Bureau: XCOM Declassified · Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 1 accessibility feature for The Bureau: XCOM Declassified and 0 for Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are The Bureau: XCOM Declassified and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist in scope?
The Bureau: XCOM Declassified has drawn 12,080 Steam reviews, ships 3 add-ons and installs in 12 GB. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist has drawn 21,615 Steam reviews.
Is The Bureau: XCOM Declassified or Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist rates higher (6.7 to 6.3). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified or Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist?
The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is cheaper right now at $19.99, against $19.99. Prices move, so this is read live from Steam and can change.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
How we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.