Phantom Doctrine

Random Guy Esq. · 14 Aug 2018 at 14:08

A few of us mentioned this as one to watch in the recent "Upcoming Games" thread. Well, it's out today! The blurb on Steam;

The year is 1983. The world teeters on the verge of destruction as the Cold War tightens its icy grip. East or West: trust no one, question everything. The fate of humanity rests in your hands as you pit spy versus spy in tactical Phantom Doctrine.

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So at first glance, it looks like a Cold War XCOM. Apparently though, there are enough changes to the mechanics to make this feel very different. For a start, there's no RNG!! The mission prep, and gameplay between missions are also supposedly quite different. For example, rather than just researching new tech, you're investigating the main conspiracy on a retro style cork-board, whilst managing your spy ring.

The main campaign is going to be in or around the 40 hour mark, so those taking the plunge should get their money's worth. I'll be waiting for reviews to trickle through (especially vids from XCOM veterans) before buying. Speaking of which, the only place you could actually pre-order was GOG. Steam, Fanatical, Humble etc, didn't even have pricing up as of last night.

Anyway, anyone buying today, or are you holding off for reviews?

Tombstone · 14 Aug 2018 at 14:56

Interested in it, my style of game but wary enough that I will wait for a few reviews before pulling the trigger

Thumpsta · 14 Aug 2018 at 15:58

Only found out about this game a couple of days ago when I saw Bikeman streaming it.

I love the X-Com games but am concerned regarding the lack of info prior to release. Don't think you can pre-order it either. Hope it's good.

aoaaron · 15 Aug 2018 at 19:45

This game looks awesome, anyone picked it up yet?

Random Guy Esq. · 15 Aug 2018 at 19:49

Reviews are far too mixed for my liking (there are both 5/10s and 9/10s among the day one scores), so I think I'll hold fire for a while.

Clav · 16 Aug 2018 at 11:47

I tend to agree with RPS and they have panned it so it will only be a sale purchase, if that.

Tombstone · 16 Aug 2018 at 12:14

Yup, holding off for now as well, I like the look of it but the wild variance in reviews , with some giving quite low scores, means that I will skip this one for now and return to waiting for Phoenix Point.

Besty · 24 Aug 2018 at 13:57

aoaaron said:
This game looks awesome, anyone picked it up yet?

I have bought it as am waiting for the Original Sin 2 DLC to drop.

The bad reviews are wrong, you just cannot play the game like XCOM and kill everything, you need to use stealth, planning and cunning.

Its been a fantastic play so far, I am actually going back to it now.

Random Guy Esq. · 24 Aug 2018 at 14:17

Besty said:
I have bought it as am waiting for the Original Sin 2 DLC to drop.

The bad reviews are wrong, you just cannot play the game like XCOM and kill everything, you need to use stealth, planning and cunning.

Its been a fantastic play so far, I am actually going back to it now.

Thanks for your feedback. I've seen a few die-hard XCOM fans on YouTube bigging this up, saying the reason it's good is that it forces you to play differently than XCOM, i.e. it's not just a clone. The RPS review was particularly ill-informed, and I'd normally respect their output.