Phoenix Point

 PC
User Score
5.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 398 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 161 out of 398
  2. Mixed: 94 out of 398
  3. Negative: 143 out of 398

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  1. Borreh1973
    Oct 22, 2022
    4
    I tried to like this game. I really tried. I bought a lot earlier, a long time ago. I started and tried to get this to work before they hit DLC, hoping it would get better, but it got worse and worse.
    "Festering Skyes" was the death of it for me, with a shovel of lime thrown over a stinking corpse.
    DLC FS is an idiocy that sadly resembles a very bad old Atari game using a recent GPU. In    I tried to like this game. I really tried. I bought a lot earlier, a long time ago. I started and tried to get this to work before they hit DLC, hoping it would get better, but it got worse and worse.
    "Festering Skyes" was the death of it for me, with a shovel of lime thrown over a stinking corpse.
    DLC FS is an idiocy that sadly resembles a very bad old Atari game using a recent GPU. In fact, those were better because they were what they could be. This one, october/2022, lacks control and speed, each upgrade has to be tested and it's expensive, very expensive, everything is very expensive.
    There is no balance of costs and earnings on missions.
    Attending the factions of idiots who are trying to kill themselves while the world is under terror is the biggest of the stupidities that leads to think better monsters win because these humans really deserve to die, unwilling to help one or another faction.
    It's the end of this game for me.    … Expand
  2. Maitrify
    Jul 31, 2022
    0
    Not even a finished game. Massive swathes of the game have features missing. (Case in point: When attempting to change video resolution, all the options literally say 'NEEDS TEXT'.)

    It's like the game didn't even have a Quality pass to check for basic **** like this. Don't waste your money on this trash.
  3. maximtemplar
    Nov 19, 2021
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I have been playing these types of games, on board and on computer for over thirty years. Never has a game wasted so much of my time. On the plus side, the general setup is good, even if it is just Xcom with tweaks. The backstory is good. Animation is average for these days. Loading times, for these days, are abysmal, especially on the console version. On the minus side, there are many problems which can be solved by patching, some already have been. The console version has been rushed out and crashes regularly ruining hours of gameplay. So much so I have given up on it until its updated. Latest nonsense on PC was fighting a large creature on a long and difficult game. Only to find its corpse was blocking my troops from leaving the map. Poor playtesting there, troops can climb over things you know, they even sit on tanks. Overwatch continually fails to activate, and sometimes when it does the shot is taken when the target is behind cover. There are all sorts of advanced laser and gauss weaponry available to the troops, but no smoke grenades. Grenades can only be thrown overarm. Why? Don't know. For a game that boasts real ballistics it has some very stupid drawbacks. Great idea, but very, very disappointing. I shall be dropping it for a few months, I've had enough of its non thought out nonsense. Stuff your DLC, try getting the basic game right.… Expand
  4. Man-Rata
    Jun 19, 2021
    4
    There is a lot of hate for the story, etc., but the main reason this game isn't worth it is the speed of the combat.

    They've decided to make combat physics based, which sounds good, but once you're a little into the game, enemy turns quickly takes between 5-10 min., and it cannot be sped up in any way. It makes the game mind-numbingly dull. Also the levels are often too small, making    There is a lot of hate for the story, etc., but the main reason this game isn't worth it is the speed of the combat.

    They've decided to make combat physics based, which sounds good, but once you're a little into the game, enemy turns quickly takes between 5-10 min., and it cannot be sped up in any way. It makes the game mind-numbingly dull.

    Also the levels are often too small, making it so enemies can see you from your entry point, making stealth nearly pointless. AI is dumb as hell, and instead of improving it, they just pour in more enemies, and make them VERY tough. Combine that with the slow turns, it just becomes dull.

    If they could fix this somehow, this could be a descent game, though the story is really non-existant.    … Expand
  5. jhnAlien
    Jan 26, 2021
    0
    For all you complaining MFs, get "cthulhu" update of the game! The update makes the game well ballanced, utterly enjoyable and absolutely perfect! Frickin 10/10 experience.
  6. procyon4
    Jan 5, 2021
    0
    This is definitely not X-COM. The X-COM games right through X-COM 1 (X-COM 2 was not a true X-COM, more like a multi-player arena fight game) had much more diversity and were feasible in more than one way and always with some strategy. Here the progression pace is extremely slow for the player but lightening fast for his opponents. The enemy constant re-spawning in most missions makes itThis is definitely not X-COM. The X-COM games right through X-COM 1 (X-COM 2 was not a true X-COM, more like a multi-player arena fight game) had much more diversity and were feasible in more than one way and always with some strategy. Here the progression pace is extremely slow for the player but lightening fast for his opponents. The enemy constant re-spawning in most missions makes it totally unfair. The AI always knows what you are planning (Like if your soldiers are on over-watch facing a direction, the enemy will not move or simply move into an other direction even if it makes no sense to do so). With limitless re-spawning on the AI side its easy to make winning impossible or with great loss to the player. Resources are scarce and everything is overly expensive. Stuff recuperated after a mission makes no sense. Like you were fighting aliens and you get humans' ammo or from a faction that did not at all appear in that mission. Honestly, it seems fun in the beginning but it will all be gone within a few hours. Its more than disappointment, its total crap!… Expand
  7. Zsoleszmaximesz
    Jan 4, 2021
    1
    This game is an unbalanced dumb pile of **** Few very good ideas, but overall an illogical mess, copying 99% of its content from other titles.
  8. MCmetacritic
    Nov 18, 2020
    0
    If you loved X-COM so much that you'd play a hollow, ugly, glitchy shell of an X-COM clone, you might just be able to tolerate this hollow, ugly, glitchy shell of an X-COM clone.
  9. megabear
    Sep 26, 2020
    0
    This game could've been epic, but I think they gave up when Epic paid them enough money to move on to other projects. Game is unpolished, and downright lazy in some aspects. Very disappointed.
  10. josemg08
    Jun 12, 2020
    1
    I really like the premise of this game but the implementation is extremely laking on balancing and quality assurance.

    Even on the lowest difficulty the artificial difficulty makes the game extremely slow and punishing, with the same aliens increasing their HP exponentially between missions while also throwing more and more at you. This wouldn't be a problem if your units could keep up,    I really like the premise of this game but the implementation is extremely laking on balancing and quality assurance.

    Even on the lowest difficulty the artificial difficulty makes the game extremely slow and punishing, with the same aliens increasing their HP exponentially between missions while also throwing more and more at you. This wouldn't be a problem if your units could keep up, but this is impossible unless you use some of the exploits that the community already consider mandatory for the game, forcing everyone to play exactly the same way if they don't want to fail after 7 or 8 mission inevitably.

    Another Issue I have with the devs is that they notice that the community was asking for valance changes, they asked for feedback and I was hopeful for the game again. But they decided to implement some of the community recommendations as DLC! Basically a pay to win circumstances.    … Expand
  11. spiteandmalice
    May 10, 2020
    4
    Released in a buggy and unbalanced state; after two patches some bugs have been fixed, but balance issues remain.

    Initial missions start off quite well, but before too long both your own soldiers and the enemies that you'll face become terribly overpowered - This leads to a situation where the game ends up being more about trying to alpha strike the enemy with your superhuman squad    Released in a buggy and unbalanced state; after two patches some bugs have been fixed, but balance issues remain.

    Initial missions start off quite well, but before too long both your own soldiers and the enemies that you'll face become terribly overpowered - This leads to a situation where the game ends up being more about trying to alpha strike the enemy with your superhuman squad before they can do the same to you. Top tier soldiers, moving at top speed, are able to reach any point on the map in a single turn and whilst doing so still have the possibility to shoot multiple enemies and regain actions along the way, thus making the whole 'turn based' aspect of turn based strategy redundant. None of this is helped by the fact that the maps themselves are tiny, meaning that you and your opponent will nearly always be right on top of each other from the start of every mission and rarely experience any change of pace.

    Basic features such as change of stance and different firing modes for weapons aren’t present, instead the game relies on its USP of a free-aiming system - This was an interesting idea in theory, but I found that trying to estimate what area of a targeting reticule was filled became stale fast and would have preferred at least the option to be able to switch to seeing the percentage chance to hit whatever I was aiming at instead. The free aim system also creates problems of its own when combined with an automatic cover system - head shots for example aren't fatal (as they would be too easy to make), but you will be able to experience death by being shot in the toe.

    If you liked the modern Firaxis XCom games then you might enjoy this, but if you were a fan of the original XComs/UFO titles then don’t expect Phoenix Point to be in the same vein.    … Expand
  12. Stalmag
    May 3, 2020
    2
    There's still so many issues with this game and the devs are now shipping DLCs for cash.
    I've played so many Gollop games over the years and it seems sadly you can't teach this old dog any new tricks. I would not recommend the game to anyone other than hardcore Xcom2 fans.
  13. Bill13123
    Apr 18, 2020
    1
    Game is just a disaster, tons of bugs, crappy combat system, mediocre research tree. Going from the new X-Com games to this is an enormous step down, I would really be surprised if any of the original X-com fans even enjoyed it. I torrented this game for free and still feel l like I overpaid.
  14. popuaka
    Apr 17, 2020
    1
    Game literally doesn't work. After three months after release there are still long loading. Even after that I couldn’t play. There is nightmare lag. It’s early access but not finished game.
  15. HotRod2020
    Apr 15, 2020
    0
    Going back to X-com 2, Phoenix Point is too awful to play. Buggy missions, missing dialog (I hope it is missing and not a case of "Who reads it anyway. Skip it") Backed it early, very disappointing.
  16. Ashb93
    Apr 7, 2020
    0
    It’s just a frustratingly annoying game. I found myself too annoyed with the glitchy, clunky and frustrating gameplay to enjoy it. Phoenix point puts you in a starting position where it’s difficult to get going and build any momentum.

    It could have been a fantastic game, but they have hamstrung themselves by adding too many variables, complex difficulty scaling with enemies and just not    It’s just a frustratingly annoying game. I found myself too annoyed with the glitchy, clunky and frustrating gameplay to enjoy it. Phoenix point puts you in a starting position where it’s difficult to get going and build any momentum.

    It could have been a fantastic game, but they have hamstrung themselves by adding too many variables, complex difficulty scaling with enemies and just not filing the game with any meaningful content.

    There are not many games that I begrudge buying, however this joins them. It’s nothing like Xcom, a game I enjoyed.    … Expand
  17. lordzzz
    Mar 16, 2020
    0
    garbage, stay away at all costs
    dont botter buying... full of bugs, abysmal content, scam practices
  18. kursku
    Mar 7, 2020
    4
    Are you an X-Com aficionado? Have you amassed massive hours into the genre? If you did, then avoid this game—buggy, boring, unbalanced, and unplayable.
  19. ScienceAdvisor
    Mar 6, 2020
    1
    This was sold as cutting edge graphics and gameplay, yet delivered basic mechanics and very outdated graphics. The "evolution" system is borrowed from many older JRPG games as is nowhere near as ground-breaking as the devs would have you believe. This brings us to a 4/10 if it were not for the following:

    This has become a typical cash-grab by releasing DLC (Blood & Titanium) with    This was sold as cutting edge graphics and gameplay, yet delivered basic mechanics and very outdated graphics. The "evolution" system is borrowed from many older JRPG games as is nowhere near as ground-breaking as the devs would have you believe. This brings us to a 4/10 if it were not for the following:

    This has become a typical cash-grab by releasing DLC (Blood & Titanium) with critically missing content, balance, and other aspects that prove this was EA but falsely advertised as complete. Also the initial lack of refunds when the juvenile imbalance in gameplay drove many to request one with the first 90 minutes, makes this one more reason to avoid this until (or more likely IF) this game is ever finished and a total pack for a very reasonable price ever comes out.    … Expand
  20. MyK_DiaBLo
    Mar 5, 2020
    2
    После больше 6 часов игры, я понял лишь одно, это позорише, которые оголтелые фанаты настолько защищали, оказался редкостным дерьмом, впрочем олдфаготам нравится разные вещи в их горле, так что неудивительно что они защищают это убожество, забагованная, недоработанная, украдено всё что можно из новой Xcom 2 (да я знаю что феникс поинт разрабатывал автор оригинальной игры), но серия емуПосле больше 6 часов игры, я понял лишь одно, это позорише, которые оголтелые фанаты настолько защищали, оказался редкостным дерьмом, впрочем олдфаготам нравится разные вещи в их горле, так что неудивительно что они защищают это убожество, забагованная, недоработанная, украдено всё что можно из новой Xcom 2 (да я знаю что феникс поинт разрабатывал автор оригинальной игры), но серия ему больше не принадлежит, как и некоторые вещи которые он просто скопировал из новых частей, при этом сделав их хуже, не покупайте это, НИ-ЗА-ЧТО!… Expand
  21. vargata
    Mar 2, 2020
    2
    Well, this game became exactly what I was expecting, so happy I did not buy it.

    There are THREE big big big issues with the game: 1: Its a FiraX-Com copy paste straight away. I bet they have even got the scripts from Fira to copy it and compile it in unity, a quick cash-grab with minimal work and hey have probably shared the profits. It has the same flaws, same bugs and same stupidly    Well, this game became exactly what I was expecting, so happy I did not buy it.

    There are THREE big big big issues with the game:

    1: Its a FiraX-Com copy paste straight away. I bet they have even got the scripts from Fira to copy it and compile it in unity, a quick cash-grab with minimal work and hey have probably shared the profits. It has the same flaws, same bugs and same stupidly illogical decisions

    2: Its totally half-arsed. Even the good parts are not fleshed out, they well seen simply did not care to work on it, even basic mechanisms have such mind-boggling stupidity built in that made me bang my head against the wall. Some examples:
    -infinite reaction shots. If a unit that has reaction shot skill added, it can do it with every attacker. Seriously, a single crabmen can devastate an entire army as it deals more damage with reaction shots than a shotgun user soldier from 2 meters
    -the reaction shot itself: it has the same accuracy than normal attacks. a reaction shot is not accidentally called "reaction", somebody attacks you who you might never even seen before, you shouldn't be able to shoot back fully aimed
    -all units have reaction shots on the attacker not only the one been attacked. stupid
    -the reaction shot and friendly fire: yeah, the worst of all... if one of your soldier is in line of sight to the attacker, your unit will happily shoot the back of his mate. PP has the dumbest ever soldiers

    3: built in cheats... yeah, its so annoying and so visible, but this too comes from Fira, if you are too good, simply everything start missing. 400 damaging shotguns start doing 10 damages, snipers miss shots where there was only a hair-thin area not covered in the aim circle etc. And if it happens ones or twice, yeah, bad luck, but 5-6 times with both my snipers in the same one mission... that's not random. The game keeps cheating both for you and for the aliens depending on how well things go...

    +1: bugs. Insane bugs. not odd crashes of wrecked savegames, I could live with those. No, bugs that are affecting gameplay. enemies walking through walls, grenades missing targets that are within the explosion ball, soldiers running where you click with right click, even though I was just cancelling a dash or an aiming... Ehhh

    ++1: Many was hoping this will be more of a classic XCom but its not. Its not even close. There are no big dropships, no 16 soldiers on missions, no air-to-air fights, no alien crafts, NOTHING. This game is even LESS than FiraX-Com. Which is very sad.

    +++1: The maps are the utter joke. They are always the same and they are tiny. so tiny, my better soldiers can run through any of them in just 1.5 rounds, well, with dash, in a single round from corner to corner. Its insane. The only exceptions are the alien lairs and citadels, those are bigger but any average map you will encounter during the game are just that. a building in the centre and some crap around it. done...    … Expand
  22. zelloxy
    Feb 25, 2020
    1
    I want to love this type of game but I just can't. The gameplay is not balanced to be fun with these damn mindcontrolling units etc. Also the GUI is horrendous, the game looks nice and all but the GUI menus etc. looks like they were made in paint.
  23. Deltium
    Feb 17, 2020
    0
    this game is very buggy and unbalanced. content feels a bit repetitive and boring.
  24. dalu
    Feb 12, 2020
    0
    I have known Metacritic for years. This game is so bad that I actually decided to go through the registration process on this site.
    This game sucks ass.
    It's an insult. I bought the ultimate edition when it was released. On the Epic Store. No reviews, no changelog. This game isn't even finished. It's a barebones game full of bugs, unpolished, unfinished. No story, like someone else    I have known Metacritic for years. This game is so bad that I actually decided to go through the registration process on this site.
    This game sucks ass.
    It's an insult. I bought the ultimate edition when it was released. On the Epic Store. No reviews, no changelog.
    This game isn't even finished.
    It's a barebones game full of bugs, unpolished, unfinished.
    No story, like someone else wrote, it's all just numbers.
    And the performance is terrible and all you do is wait.
    You can't skip the enemy animations.
    The setting sucks.
    Some virus sent by the aliens has now turned people into bugs.
    And they start mind controlling you 15 hours into the game.
    WIth super resistant mind control bosses. The avatars from xcom2? Regular appearance.
    Mindcontrol idk what they are.. vaginas that land on your soldier's face, but there are 10 of them and you just killed the Scylla it's called a brood mother huge bug type that explodes into those when you kill it and yeah all your soliders are around it and yay you managed to kill the superbug and now you have those mind control vaginas on your face on all soldiers and game over.

    **** those devs.

    They claim they worked on xcom. Yeah as what? Coffee boy?
    80€ for the ultimate edition!

    They better re-release this game. This isn't even a game, it's an alpha.
    It's an insult. Give me back my money.

    Absolutely unrealistic and uninspired skills.
    You can't just recruit soldiers, oh no, you have to make friends with some other faction and fly there to recruit them. ****

    Balance, what balance?

    Seriously I want my money back.

    Oh yeah and then they copied the concept of xcom. You know there is the loading screen where your team lands. In xcom it's used as an actualy loading screen that loads stuff.
    Here it's just fluff, to make you waste more time watch some irrelevant video.

    Give me my money back!    … Expand
  25. Rocharox
    Feb 4, 2020
    0
    Horrible animations, the game engine is outdated and boring. The menus look like a mobile game and the combat is slow and boring as well.

    I would NEVER buy this game or recommend it to anyone.

    The voice acting is laughable, it sounds like some dev recorded himself with his phone...
  26. JachAnen
    Jan 29, 2020
    4
    Has real potential, but it is clearly unfinished, even text is missing, it says so.

    It's unbalanced, the game is an uphill struggle and it never gets better and I ended up cheating just to finish it, even with that I found myself depending on them way too much, not because I had them available, it seemed necessary to have them on. Mind you, I have completed several of these turn based    Has real potential, but it is clearly unfinished, even text is missing, it says so.

    It's unbalanced, the game is an uphill struggle and it never gets better and I ended up cheating just to finish it, even with that I found myself depending on them way too much, not because I had them available, it seemed necessary to have them on. Mind you, I have completed several of these turn based tactics games and never turned to cheating in them, as they progressed naturally; Enemies gets harder, but you get so much better, not just by your own experience, but because you have better equipment and stronger people. That's not how it works here, you get stronger, but the enemy gets much sronger and starts attacking factions and your bases frequently, because you need to buy people from the other factions, you'll never have the manpower to protect yourself and help those factions fend off attacks, even defending yourself will be too big of a task, as you might have enough people, but you won't be able to afford the equipment to give them a fighting chance or vice versa.

    Ressources needs to be found, stolen or traded for. You can only produce food, so you can use that for trade, but you can only find or raid tech ressource, which is needed for everything of worth. This breaks the economy system as you have way too much to do, with defending, raiding/finding, attacking and following the quests.

    It seems like they tried hard to make XCOM with a few twists, but they never really bothered trying out how those twists or adding all they needed from XCOM. They could have added stuff to take the pressure off from the frequent tasks, like protecting your bases, where they could have made made the ships fast enough to get there in time when they're close, added defenses, maybe guards that stays put, added ressource production for the other 2 ressources, they could just produce very little with the possibilty of upgrades, so you don't need to raid or search for it all the time.    … Expand
  27. whamtheman
    Jan 26, 2020
    4
    The game has the makings of a great X-COM reboot, harkening back to the good old days, but it stumbles in several key areas and lacks some key features. It is also incredibly alarming to see some of the core X-COM features from the old games, such as interception, stripped away and sold off as DLC.
    The game, while potentially great fun and challenge, is unfinished, unpolished, technically    The game has the makings of a great X-COM reboot, harkening back to the good old days, but it stumbles in several key areas and lacks some key features. It is also incredibly alarming to see some of the core X-COM features from the old games, such as interception, stripped away and sold off as DLC.
    The game, while potentially great fun and challenge, is unfinished, unpolished, technically clunky. It feels like a beta rather than a full release. As I write this in January 2020, I'd advise people to hold off for another 6-12 months and seeing if the game has been finished to a complete state by then.    … Expand
  28. JRSmiff
    Jan 20, 2020
    2
    Do you like deceptive game trailers? Are you a fan of paying full retail for half a game, and then paying full retail twice more for base content sold as DLC? Do you like frequent bugs that make the game unplayable, self-corrupt save games, "balance" in a game that's an unplayable mess and a customer service department that practically sings "COMPLIMENTS ONLY PLOX, NO REFUNDS KEK"?Do you like deceptive game trailers? Are you a fan of paying full retail for half a game, and then paying full retail twice more for base content sold as DLC? Do you like frequent bugs that make the game unplayable, self-corrupt save games, "balance" in a game that's an unplayable mess and a customer service department that practically sings "COMPLIMENTS ONLY PLOX, NO REFUNDS KEK"? Buddy, have I got the game for you: Phoenix Point. A spiritual successor to XCom: Apocalypse (the worst XCom game from the 90s) with an update of Terror From The Deep's aesthetic, (admittedly, I like this portion--the main reason for one of the two stars [out of ten]) with all the effort and attention to detail you've come to expect from an industry that doesn't care what they ship as long as they can make money on pre-orders. Content that appeared in the trailers does not exist in the game, and likely will not until it drops (who-knows-when) as paid dlc, graphics that don't measure up to what's shown on the best settings, unoptimized engine, frequent freezes, crashes and zero guarantee that your return to your saved game will not result in a failure to load error. The UI is something you'd expect from someone who's learned nothing about graphic interfaces in the last 30 years, gameplay is lacking in everything--except unnecessary time sinks to pad play time and repetition, and once you buy this game, your hopes of getting your money back are as minimal as your chances of actually enjoying the lies that are Phoenix Point.… Expand
  29. Francishwuwjdj
    Jan 18, 2020
    2
    There is no way to describe how annoying filled with bugs and broken the game is.

    If you’re gonna do a literal copy and paste of another game, you should make sure you are better then the other one.

    Don’t spend more then 20$ on this, it’s probably what it’s worth
  30. psycros
    Jan 17, 2020
    0
    Suffers from the same design flaw as nearly every X-Com wannabe including the terrible rebooted X-Com games: enemies get free attack after free attack and usually bonus movement as well. My first battle with other humans consisted of me moving, getting hit by free reaction shots, firing back, getting hit by free return fire, repeat ad infinitum. Even after enemies use full movement theySuffers from the same design flaw as nearly every X-Com wannabe including the terrible rebooted X-Com games: enemies get free attack after free attack and usually bonus movement as well. My first battle with other humans consisted of me moving, getting hit by free reaction shots, firing back, getting hit by free return fire, repeat ad infinitum. Even after enemies use full movement they can do this. Couldn't uninstall fast enough.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

27
#27 Most Discussed PC Game of 2019
97
#97 Most Shared PC Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
74

Mixed or average reviews - based on 48 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 48
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 48
  3. Negative: 0 out of 48
  1. GameCritics
    May 7, 2020
    80
    Even with all its technical flaws and strategic hiccups, Phoenix Point manages to pull together some of the best aspects of classic and contemporary turn-based tactical design and, in doing so, it somehow leaves me wanting more. It’s not a recommendation that comes without caveats thanks to the bugs and hiccups, but the struggle is worth it.
    Read full review
  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Feb 28, 2020
    80
    In some ways, the game may look simple, but the opposite is true. Thanks to the difficulty and intriguing environment you will spend dozens of hours playing the game. [Issue#301]
  3. Games.cz
    Feb 28, 2020
    80
    This is a true spiritual successor to X-Com games. The tense atmosphere and terribly lopsided fight to save humanity make this a wonderful strategic experience.
    Read full review
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