Last year, the father of XCOM, Julian Gollop, teased a new project called Phoenix Point. Details were scarce, other than the promise of “turn based tactical combat – world based strategy”. Well, the big reveal has been made and Phoenix Point looks amazing.
It also looks a hell of a lot like Firaxis’ XCOM games and without context, you could easily mistake Phoenix Point as the next instalment, down to the over-the-shoulder gameplay and the grand strategy view provided by the “geoscape”.
The plot also borrows from XCOM 2, in that the narrative is set in a post-takeover world:
The human population has been decimated. Survivors gather in isolated havens spread throughout the world. A few factions control most of the havens and resources, but they have radically contrasting ideologies and guard deep secrets.
The player controls a cell of “the world’s best scientists, engineers and soldiers”. However, once you come online, you appear to be the only cell or the titular “Phoenix Project” still operating.
Similarities aside, developer Snapshot has some unique additions that will help it stand out. For one, there’s a Fallout-style VATS aiming system, allowing your soldiers to disable parts of your opponent, limiting their abilities.
Speaking of enemies, your underwater, alien foes are procedurally-generated and will adapt to your activities:
The Pandoravirus can mutate living forms, and it can incorporate DNA from multiple species and clone them rapidly. You will face an alien threat that mutates and evolves new forms in response to your tactics. Our procedural generation system for the aliens can generate a huge variety of challenges and surprises for you on the battlefield.
Everything is laid out on the game’s Fig page, where Snapshot has accumulated $US443,000 of its $US500,000 funding goal. With 39 days left, it’s safe to say it’ll hit its target (and then some).
$US30 is the minimum buy-in if you want the game, which also comes with a free copy of Gollop’s Chaos Reborn.
Phoenix Point [Fig]
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