After a long early access period, Phantom Brigade, the tactical RPG about big mechs finally has a release date.
Developer Brace Yourself Games announced via its socials earlier this morning that the game will arrive on Steam on February 28th (that’s March 1st, for those of us in Australia and New Zealand). Phantom Brigade is a blend of turn-based and real-time strategy that uses an innovative tactical timeline not dissimilar to Unreal Engine’s switch nodes and flow control UI. Players can see the enemy’s next moves, and assess their strategic options with real-time simulations, before approving the live fire action. It’s a little bit XCOM, a little bit Into the Breach, and a little bit Battletech.
Here’s a trailer to show you what I mean.
Tell me that doesn’t look rad as hell. There’s something incredibly satisfying about a game that lets you use your big mech to shoulder-check another and throw it out of position for its next move.
Phantom Brigade has been in early access for the last two years, using funding from sales to complete the game. Kotaku has been following the game from the jump, calling it a “giant mechanical ballet.” That’s appropriate: the way the game’s interface has been constructed means that, despite getting a glimpse of the future, timing is everything. You’ll need to use the game’s strategic interface to put your mech not just where it needs to be, but when. It’s a sequence that needs to be arranged just so, which is where the ballet comparison comes in. It’s not enough to see where the enemy is going and move to counter it — if your mech doesn’t arrive in place and perform the right move at the right moment, the dance falls apart.
Phantom Brigade is planned for release on March 1 locally. You can find it on Steam here.
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