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. iseeall
    Mar 15, 2023
    7
    A game in the XCom style which tries to improve on the 2010s versions by adding back features from the 1990s versions. However, it's mired with poor camera controls, glitches and lags

    Good: - the 4AP system is closer to the original 1990s XCom and is a major improvement compared to the 2AP system which sadly became so common in the more recent squad-based tactical games - extensive    A game in the XCom style which tries to improve on the 2010s versions by adding back features from the 1990s versions. However, it's mired with poor camera controls, glitches and lags

    Good:
    - the 4AP system is closer to the original 1990s XCom and is a major improvement compared to the 2AP system which sadly became so common in the more recent squad-based tactical games
    - extensive character customization and classes taken from the later XComs are good
    - the story is nicely written, it's higher-quality sci-fi with at least no obvious logical inconsistencies. Factions with their ideologies are believable
    - music is great and deserves a download for listening when not playing the game
    - graphics and sfx are good
    - the tutorial does a good job showing you all the numerous game systems
    - the aiming system is a good idea (borrowed from Fallout New Vegas), it works better than I'd expect

    So-so:
    - like in all newer XCom games, overwatch is still king. You can put a few snipers on constant overwatch in the corner of the map and that's it. The game tries to discourage this by putting resource barrels which the enemy will destroy if you don't rush forward - but I guess a bit of lost loot is still far better than a dead soldier. Btw in the original 1990s XComs there was the same issue: there you could just skip 35 turns, the aliens will rush forward to find you, and you put a line of crouched soldiers with laser rifles - the game turns into a shooting practice. The real solution to this was offered by JA2 with its mix of real-time and turn-based modes + interrupts (based on wisdom stat and soldier's line of sight).
    - the game shows approx locations of enemies which makes the game a bit too easy. The original XComs had this tension where you could never know where the next alien will come from - that's lost here

    Bad:
    - can't reconfigure key bindings. E.g. I'd want to flip Q/E, T/G and mouse wheel but that's not possible. Rotating the camera was a constant pain for me. Instead of Q/E, camera should be freely rotatable, say, with middle mouse button, since it's a 3D game. Also, I was constantly trying to zoom out to see where the enemies are - in vain. The camera just refuses to be controlled properly. Most likely, it's because this game was made for consoles first, not PC first. So, everything is optimized for controllers, not mouse and keyboard
    - there are missions where you need to reach a location or pick an item - even after all enemies are dead you still have to move each soldier in turn-based mode
    - performance is bad: even at "low" gfx preset, my gaming laptop with NVidia GTX1100 had noticeable lags. When you move around the cursor, it aparently runs pathfinding all the time, so there are delays when all those lines and borders of movement are shown. This creates a laggy experience overall and takes out much of the fun
    - vehicles are a nusiance. They drive through scenery objects including barrels, explode them and take damage. Instead, vehicles should only enter objects if you explicitely tell them to go there. Or maybe hold "shift" while clicking to move

    Try it if you're into the newer XCom releases. I'll just wait for Xenonauts 2 instead.    … Expand
  2. Biberattacke
    May 1, 2020
    7
    Julian Gollop als einer der Erfinder der UFO/Xcom Reihe hat versucht Xcom von Fireaxis Konkurrenz zu machen. Wir nehmen die Grundfrage Vorweg: Ist Phoenix Point das bessere Xcom. Antwort: Nein! Aber es macht ganz viel richtig! Die Taktikkämpfe sind herausfordernd und selten unfair. Die Gegner sind sehr abwechslungsreich, und jeder erfordert eine andere Taktik. Die Waffen und Utilities dieJulian Gollop als einer der Erfinder der UFO/Xcom Reihe hat versucht Xcom von Fireaxis Konkurrenz zu machen. Wir nehmen die Grundfrage Vorweg: Ist Phoenix Point das bessere Xcom. Antwort: Nein! Aber es macht ganz viel richtig! Die Taktikkämpfe sind herausfordernd und selten unfair. Die Gegner sind sehr abwechslungsreich, und jeder erfordert eine andere Taktik. Die Waffen und Utilities die man seinen Teams mitgeben kann ergänzen das Spiel sinnvoll. Die Strategiekarte mit den einzelnen Basen ist.. naja OK. Vielmehr war bei Xcom 2 diesbezüglich aber auch nicht drin! Das Spiel ist also recht gut, aber warum nur eine 7/10? Bietet es doch so noch so viel mehr wie verschiedene Fraktionen, eine solide Storyline, die auch zum mehrfachen durchspielen anregt. Die Antwort ist: Es zieht sich wie Kaugummi! Mein Gott Walter, warum ist das Endgame so künstlich verlängert? Ständig sich wiederholende Missionen und im letzten Viertel machen ein gutes Spiel mit sehr guten Ansätzen zum Sisyphosarbeit. Schade! Sehr Schade, denn das Potential den Genrekönig Xcom 2 vom Thron zu stoßen war in Ansätzen vorhanden.… Expand
  3. YordanYanakiev
    Jun 8, 2021
    7
    A game which dividing me is rare.
    Absolutely great ideas, great graphics, great gameplay, great story.. but well - why should be this pushing up from the monsters over taking the planet. It's feels like absurd pressure which is with a predicted doom over your small world. This result killing the fun and practically ditching the game.
    Absurdly wrong decision for such a gem. I really hope    A game which dividing me is rare.
    Absolutely great ideas, great graphics, great gameplay, great story.. but well - why should be this pushing up from the monsters over taking the planet. It's feels like absurd pressure which is with a predicted doom over your small world. This result killing the fun and practically ditching the game.
    Absurdly wrong decision for such a gem.
    I really hope that it will be reconsidered in the next episode. ;)    … Expand
  4. Imoen
    May 11, 2022
    7
    It would be a very good game if not a HUGE number of unnecessary actions that developers add every DLC. For example, what they did with a seemingly good DLC about the weapons of the ancients is simply infuriating. Or an DLC where a Behemoth makes an already difficult game to regret that you yourself are not a mutant with 5 hands. This game deserves a better rating than 7, but so far it isIt would be a very good game if not a HUGE number of unnecessary actions that developers add every DLC. For example, what they did with a seemingly good DLC about the weapons of the ancients is simply infuriating. Or an DLC where a Behemoth makes an already difficult game to regret that you yourself are not a mutant with 5 hands. This game deserves a better rating than 7, but so far it is the only one.… Expand
  5. Nartau
    Nov 2, 2021
    7
    Great game in terms of mechanics and best shooting for X-COM clones out there, but man micromanagement of items gets tedious over time and just unbearable in the late game.
  6. Vasot
    Dec 13, 2019
    6
    Good but inferior from XCOM games in many aspects. Quality is surely worse from XCOM games with worse menus much worse base management and characters are poorly designed and lack emotion. Feels like an old Flash game sometimes with some minimalistic static screens. There is no aerial combat and the gameplay is more complicated that it needs to be, The plot feels lacking and it's not thatGood but inferior from XCOM games in many aspects. Quality is surely worse from XCOM games with worse menus much worse base management and characters are poorly designed and lack emotion. Feels like an old Flash game sometimes with some minimalistic static screens. There is no aerial combat and the gameplay is more complicated that it needs to be, The plot feels lacking and it's not that interesting when you fight the same mutant alien crabs. Overall it's not as good as the XCOM series sorry… Expand
  7. drumbunny
    Dec 6, 2019
    6
    The core game is fine and fun but far from polished. The cover mechanic is broken on many maps as well as the line of sight. In such a strategic game it can break a mission if you rely on the line of sight indicator.

    Also the maps and missions get repetetive pretty fast...
  8. MadclownJack
    Apr 8, 2020
    6
    Love it so far. It's reasonably easy to get into, easier if you're versed in micromanagement from earlier UFO games. It contains enough new mechanics to distinguish itself from its equivalents, but also contains enough familiar mechanics so as not to appear repellent to anyone. Enemies have interesting designs, and so do player characters, and playable factions (in the form of theLove it so far. It's reasonably easy to get into, easier if you're versed in micromanagement from earlier UFO games. It contains enough new mechanics to distinguish itself from its equivalents, but also contains enough familiar mechanics so as not to appear repellent to anyone. Enemies have interesting designs, and so do player characters, and playable factions (in the form of the occasional recruits). Huge fan of the mutated sea creatures (lovecraftian horrors)! I do hope, however, that there's no timer mechanic present, because i am currently having a lot of fun just finishing random missions, if only to study the enemy behavior (and have their AI study mine, apparently) and to accrue necessary materials/loot. The mission variety is similar to that of the last XCOM games, with a twist towards eldritch horror, rather than science fiction alone. I think this is a worthy addition of the turn-based sci-fi horror genre. I am not a backer, and i got the latest build of the game, and again, so far, it's been very stable. No crashes, bugs, nothing. Every XCOM/UFO fan owes it to themselves to play this. 9/10

    Edit. After a full week of playing i found out that i often had to resort to save scumming to be able to progress due to the game being terribly unbalanced. On top of that, Bosses just destroy everything in their path and trample anyone found under them just by moving. Why? I mean the game is fine as is, why resort to such cheap, borderline unfair mechanics? Are they really going for realism THERE? So great, it's a tank. Fully armored, highest HP in the game, shoots literal nukes. Why the trample mechanic? Such a detriment to an otherwise great game. Insult to injury, i managed to kill set boss but had to evac because an enemy got stuck behind an indestructible wall becoming unkillable, making all my effort a waste of time. Also why am i stuck with the crappy weapons and armor while the pandorans are evolved to hell in like 10 missions? The Sirens kind of feel cheaper than the rest and multiple ones in the same mission just isn't fun or fair. I can deal with one of them, but again, savescumming. Also, i feel as if i'm bottle necked to lose the campaign because i feel no progress in research, or armor and weapons upgrades.That said, Had to detract two points from grade. Must be re-balanced and fixed stat. Still good, just not as good as previously thought. 7/10

    Edit 2. Just had a mission with two Sirens. Mind-controlled 4 of my 6 characters in one turn. It's worth mentioning that they are fully armored and can't be killed by anything less than 3-4 subsequent attacks. I can't pretend this is any sort of fair anymore. I'm all for learning to play but this is clearly not that. I'm also starting to feel that this is somehow by design, to prevent players from reaching an end point to a game that is in reality unfinished. 6/10

    Edit: Apr 04. Updated to hell, STILL has weird difficulty spikes. Sirens still spawn 2 at a time. Still able to hijack two soldiers in one turn. On the side of new things BioArmor looks nice. The Pure are just another unnecessary stumble you're set to slip on. Weapons still feel waaay too slow to research, forcing you to either steal or slowly grind diplomacy missions. It's like, there's a ton of choices and stuff to do, but all of them leading to the realization that the leaders in this world are illogical narcissistic caricatures of men/women, inevitably bent on mutual self-destruction. God i want to like this game, i really do. It's got great, GREAT ideas. Some of them well executed even. But it's just not for me. Guess i just want a coherent tactical turn-based strategy that'll let me win every once in a while, without giving me anxiety and forcing me to choke the HDD with saves. Also, why do my characters still miss shots at unobstructed targets a literal FOOT in front of them? What sort of RNG is this exactly?    … Expand
  9. sherbz
    Dec 5, 2019
    6
    IMO Phoenix Point does everything that XCOM does, but does it worse. And the other game to compare it with - Xenonauts - it only manages to beat it on a handful of occasions. Thats not to say it is a bad game - because it is not. But honestly i was expecting more. One area it falls down in dramatically is in sound. The soldiers sound like their recordings were done in vacuum tubes.IMO Phoenix Point does everything that XCOM does, but does it worse. And the other game to compare it with - Xenonauts - it only manages to beat it on a handful of occasions. Thats not to say it is a bad game - because it is not. But honestly i was expecting more. One area it falls down in dramatically is in sound. The soldiers sound like their recordings were done in vacuum tubes. The music is there, but not tied to the script. It basically has a lot of good ideas and the germ of a good game is there, but it really lacks overall execution. Which is a real shame (im a backer btw). I dont begrudge my backing. But i dont think this will be taking the title of best turn based squad game from XCOM anytime soon. Firaxis's offering is smarter, better designed, and just better in all facets. If you want to play a polished game of a similar ilk then play xenonauts. If you are willing to wait, then Phoenix point may end up surpassing it. But that time is not now. For the vast majority of people, there is not really much to see here. Go play XCOM you fools.… Expand
  10. Duloth
    Mar 30, 2021
    6
    What would you get if you built a total conversion mod for X-com 2, wherein you were dealing with a Zerg invasion of earth, with a slowly expanding creep from which colonies of the organic invaders would swarm out to attack nearby cities, and then tacked on a faction system where mid-tier equipment was gated based on allying yourself with one of three groups of survivors?

    Phoenix    What would you get if you built a total conversion mod for X-com 2, wherein you were dealing with a Zerg invasion of earth, with a slowly expanding creep from which colonies of the organic invaders would swarm out to attack nearby cities, and then tacked on a faction system where mid-tier equipment was gated based on allying yourself with one of three groups of survivors?

    Phoenix Point. Its clearly an unfinished game, where some aspects that may have been considered early on were changed and removed with their legacy remaining in the game, never quite balanced out properly, and with a fair number of bugs still held over well after release.

    And when Is say Zerg, I mean Zerg; one of the alien units looks like a more detailed version of a Hydralisk, and the entire faction follows an alien/insect/crustacean aesthetic that means every creature you run into would fit in well with the swarm, including infested terrans. Couple this with an aesthetic on one of the factions that resembles blue-armored starcraft space marines, and this seems like a Starcraft total conversion for X-com.

    That being said... while it wasn't well-designed or balanced, they certainly weren't lazy about it either. A truly ridiculous number of options for equipping and customizing your soldiers by the end, some of which are more useful for fighting specific enemy types, and some vehicles which are incredibly overpowered early on, and later only useful for gimmick tactics.    … Expand
  11. eded9999
    Mar 8, 2021
    6
    Very good unfulfilled intentions.

    The aiming system, the action points and the real ballistic instead of RNG **** is the way to go for this kind of game in the future. But as a game PP need more work, more content: maps, ENEMIES, different kind of missions, maybe bosses...? Because the game feels unfinished and a bit grindy sometimes, making the same havens defence again and again.    Very good unfulfilled intentions.

    The aiming system, the action points and the real ballistic instead of RNG **** is the way to go for this kind of game in the future. But as a game PP need more work, more content: maps, ENEMIES, different kind of missions, maybe bosses...? Because the game feels unfinished and a bit grindy sometimes, making the same havens defence again and again. Also, on release the game is way too buggy.
    Ending needs more work too. They feels a bit disappointing.

    It's rough around the edges, but with future work it could be a good game.    … Expand
  12. joshbreviews
    Dec 7, 2019
    6
    I really REALLY wanted to love this.

    As of writing this review, it's nothing more than a slightly polished beta. PROS: Very interesting story premise. Cool enemy visual designs. Interesting warring factions premise. Interesting take on x-com aiming system. Interesting take on global map mechanics. CONS: Direly lacks polish. Horribly un-intuitive user interface, making it an    I really REALLY wanted to love this.

    As of writing this review, it's nothing more than a slightly polished beta.

    PROS: Very interesting story premise. Cool enemy visual designs. Interesting warring factions premise. Interesting take on x-com aiming system. Interesting take on global map mechanics.

    CONS: Direly lacks polish. Horribly un-intuitive user interface, making it an absolute chore to learn the game. The game tends to hide important information. Game balance is a total mess. Clearly not play-tested enough.

    Some examples of how messy PP is right now:

    1) Mini-bosses called Sirens attack you in handfuls - MINI-BOSSES. HANDFULS. Inexplicably, the devs intentionally actually created the Siren and intended them to be all-powerful with no weaknesses or counters. The only way to survive an encounter with a handful of Sirens is to hope that they don't all attack at once, which is totally outside your control. One or two, you can defeat. But 3 or 4 at a time? You're dead. Dealing with Sirens is RNG. Will your snipers miss hitting breaking the head or tail? How close will they spawn? How small is the map? Which of your allies gets mind-controlled first? Note that Sirens can mind-control AT RANGE, MULTIPLE TIMES, AND IT HAS NO COUNTER. You will encounter squads of Sirens very early in the game, meaning you'll have to save-scum to scrape by. A SINGLE mind-controlled ally often results in a total squad wipe. It's telling that the devs did NOT ship this game with ironman mode.

    2) Random, run-ending base attacks with ONLY 12 HOURS WARNING. Before the 12hrs, it's RNG. You won't know until it's too late because your plane is halfway across the world. Also, of course, a handful of Sirens will join the assault so you need all hands on deck or it's game over.

    3) Allies WON'T DUCK when ally behind wants to shoot, resulting in friendly fire. Seriously?

    4) The game does not show you the percentage to hit. Seriously? In an X-Com-type game? Who thought this was a good idea? The realistic bullet-tracking is cool, but the game needs more consistency. I NEED TO KNOW THE CHANCES OF A HIT. This is especially notable on one-shot soldiers like snipers or heavies. The lack of percentage calculation is very, very infuriating, considering this is a core concept in these types of games. I understand that they wanted to eliminate the comical 99%-to-hit-but-miss-at-point-blank scenario...but at what cost? PP is much worse off for it.

    5) The maps are smaller and the enemies attack you all at once the moment they know where you are. This make combat faster and tighter, which is good, but somehow it's not quite as good as x-com. I'm not a game dev so I'm having a hard time elaborating. One, the combat skills your soldiers get feel very...generic. They don't really feel like they add flavor to the soldier's specialty. Add to that the cross-class system and it makes each soldier feel less special. X-com's leveling system is more fun and more intuitive. It gives you limited but meaningful choices. PP just throws a bunch of generic buffs at you to choose from. Two, somehow the enemies feel very generic, too. Sorry, can't elaborate well. X-com did enemies better, too. For whatever reason, fights play out very same-y in PP. In x-com, they were more dynamic.

    After an additional year of polish and patching the core mechanics, this could be a GREAT game. But as it stands, this is nothing more than a prototype. If you buy it now you're just a beta-tester. It sucks bad because there's a great game hidden under the thick muck.    … Expand
  13. D3D11
    Feb 12, 2020
    6
    This game is the shining example of how to make something absolutely mediocre. Whoever said that this was from the creators of X-Com, is lied. There is a retextured X-Com game with the missing about 70% of the fun, an added 40% not fun, including unnecessary game mechanics, like AMMO.

    This game shows the difference between professional game making and amateur game making. You can feel    This game is the shining example of how to make something absolutely mediocre. Whoever said that this was from the creators of X-Com, is lied. There is a retextured X-Com game with the missing about 70% of the fun, an added 40% not fun, including unnecessary game mechanics, like AMMO.

    This game shows the difference between professional game making and amateur game making. You can feel that the creators absolutely not loved the game at all, and they aren't really even players.
    You get CRABS (???) instead of aliens, a terrifyingly bad MOBILE HUD instead of a clean and professional one, an overtextured, terribly optimized graphics instead of a nice and clean one and the most boring campaign you ever had.

    The story is just simply idiotic.

    I really wanted to love it, but I caught myself falling asleep constantly.

    Why did they even had to make this game?

    EDIT:

    After playing 20+ hours, I have to say that this is pretty much a decent game. While I still don't like the art-style, the game mechanics is pretty interesting and contains lots of stuff which was missed from X-Com2. Only, you have to take time to unravel this. But there is still no interesting story-line. The optimization is terrible, including the huge loading time.

    Therefore I give it a 6 score instead of a 3, after all.    … Expand
  14. vurst22
    Feb 20, 2020
    6
    It is hard to say for me but I am bit disappointed with game. I loved to tune airplains and base in X-Com Apocalypse. I loved X-Com 1 and 2 tactics missions, but nothing from it is here. Base is just picture - not very clear what room is it. And airplains cannot be modified. Research is not very interesting since not very usefull equipment is there (at least in the beggining) and mainly anIt is hard to say for me but I am bit disappointed with game. I loved to tune airplains and base in X-Com Apocalypse. I loved X-Com 1 and 2 tactics missions, but nothing from it is here. Base is just picture - not very clear what room is it. And airplains cannot be modified. Research is not very interesting since not very usefull equipment is there (at least in the beggining) and mainly an absurdly high level of difficulty. First missions were fine, but suddenly it increased difficulty madly. No joy to play on such level. Hopefully They will work on it yet but I am afraid that it will not be the game I was expecting.… Expand
  15. SupereM
    Feb 7, 2020
    6
    I want to like this game, but it still has numerous bugs like enemies getting stuck inside objects. It just feels unfinished.
  16. huliolopez
    Dec 8, 2019
    6
    Relatively weak game. It has nice feeling of dying world with alive population counter and some good mechanics, but some bad as well. Why mist an global map looks like red outline, and not like mist? Why mist is totaly absent on tactical battelfield? Why I can't hire crew that I want, instead I have to fly from one haven to another in hope they have a sniper for hire (usually they don't,Relatively weak game. It has nice feeling of dying world with alive population counter and some good mechanics, but some bad as well. Why mist an global map looks like red outline, and not like mist? Why mist is totaly absent on tactical battelfield? Why I can't hire crew that I want, instead I have to fly from one haven to another in hope they have a sniper for hire (usually they don't, so keep flying). Why my heavy soldier sometime dies after landing? Why base managment and diplomacy are so primitive? Why there are so many controller bugs - camera flying off the screen, lists not scrolling, some skills can be called only using mouse. Naming convention - Odin? Eidolon?Acolyte? Do you gues have at least some creativity? it's not a bad game, I like it - but sometimes it feels cheap.… Expand
  17. Bubber
    Dec 21, 2019
    6
    Being a huge fan of the original XCOM game I had high expectations for this Phoenix Point. I hoped for an added layer of complexity compared to the Firaxis XCOM games. But unfortunately it just feels a bit messy and become boring quite fast, many of the added features seem pointless and don't really add anything to the gameplay.
  18. Paul_L
    Mar 11, 2021
    6
    Can Phoenix Point bring you a proper amount of hours of intense fun ?

    Honestly, the pitch is awesome. Promising. The lore is great, it really did catch my interest. The factions & dialogue are wonderful, you really feel involved with those and want to serve their interests, or burn them to the ground (looking at you Anu). The game design has a nice value proposition. Compared to what    Can Phoenix Point bring you a proper amount of hours of intense fun ?

    Honestly, the pitch is awesome. Promising. The lore is great, it really did catch my interest. The factions & dialogue are wonderful, you really feel involved with those and want to serve their interests, or burn them to the ground (looking at you Anu).
    The game design has a nice value proposition. Compared to what we usually witness in turn-based strategy games involving shooting, Phoenix Point chooses the simulation of ballistics, for the good and the worse, but it's overall pretty fun.

    However, it is flawed.
    It. Is. Slow. Bugs and overall design don't ease one big disadvantage that turn-based strategy has: it's so slow. Your turn often times takes long minutes to strategize and play in the right order, and the enemies turn, computer-driven, also takes so long to unfold. Fights are long. And sadly, they also are MANY. From what I've understood, your goal is to manage to defend the population, concentrated in fortresses belonging to faction. You do pursue side-stories and quest, but your goal is that of an alien counter-force. However, not every fight holds a worthy challenge, and it's deceiving to have to have to invest minutes into a fight that won't bring you much fun or resource for the sake of the %age of living humans left.
    Another aspect of the game that turned out to be disappointing, is the goal. There seem to be a main quest to pursue, while you do alien-countering on the side, but it does not take much place, neither does it take much of your time, and you just feel left like you have a day-to-day job. Shooting aliens, but still routine.

    So yeah, Phoenix Point has really great arguments thanks to its lore, design and faction. They better be likeable, given the time you'll spend doing the alien police without much challenge. The fights are slow, the progression is slow. There is room for funnier fights, using more verticality that is already in the game design, and some kind of mechanic for dodging easy fights could be so beneficial too.

    However, for the time being, you could spend much time on Phoenix Point without seeing the end of it, but "intense" isn't the word for it from my experience.    … Expand
  19. Fryr
    Aug 29, 2022
    6
    the graphics wasn't that good and the animations were too slow made the game not as fun
  20. Nrhej
    Oct 12, 2022
    6
    this game is alright but the pace is too slow and some may find it not engaging enough
  21. Winterpsy
    Feb 6, 2020
    5
    A good beginning and a terrible mid game.
    Enemies are bullet sponges, or can ruin your day too suddenly in no time (two bombarding artillery aliens one shooting your soldiers from across the map)
    Equipment doesn’t scale well to be competitive I found many missions to be boring and a slugfest, chipping away enemy hp slowly. Some map designs are horrible. (Alien hives, with endless    A good beginning and a terrible mid game.
    Enemies are bullet sponges, or can ruin your day too suddenly in no time (two bombarding artillery aliens one shooting your soldiers from across the map)
    Equipment doesn’t scale well to be competitive I found many missions to be boring and a slugfest, chipping away enemy hp slowly.
    Some map designs are horrible. (Alien hives, with endless reinforcements)
    When it takes over 30-50 mins for a single resource run map due to slow AI turns, I decided to uninstall.
    Had high hopes. Waiting for the patches.    … Expand
  22. ravenblade
    Apr 3, 2020
    5
    As a platinum backer I been disappointed several times throughout its development but let's keep it short and stick to the game at hand: It still needs a lot of work until it's in actual release-ready state. Mechanics feel clunky, animations feel drawn out, the storytelling is a bit lacking in regards of depth and and in general after a short time you've had already your fill of theAs a platinum backer I been disappointed several times throughout its development but let's keep it short and stick to the game at hand: It still needs a lot of work until it's in actual release-ready state. Mechanics feel clunky, animations feel drawn out, the storytelling is a bit lacking in regards of depth and and in general after a short time you've had already your fill of the game. After all the trouble I really thought the team could pull at least something on XCOM 2 level but this feels like are just only aspiring to be as good as Firaxis latest sequel in this series which started off as Gollop's brainchild after all.… Expand
  23. karlito31
    Mar 5, 2021
    5
    This is not a poor man XCOM. Oh, no. This is a raped, beaten and starved poor man Xcom. Absolutely everything in this game, from the look and presentation to the content and the gameplay screams budget playing straight from the early 2000s. Something appropriate to gather dust on the 2$ specials on Wallmart’s shelves.
    Just a couple of hours in the game, and I’ve already opened the    This is not a poor man XCOM. Oh, no. This is a raped, beaten and starved poor man Xcom. Absolutely everything in this game, from the look and presentation to the content and the gameplay screams budget playing straight from the early 2000s. Something appropriate to gather dust on the 2$ specials on Wallmart’s shelves.
    Just a couple of hours in the game, and I’ve already opened the Modbuddy for the first time in
    months. Here, at least some benefit.
    Just because of that and out of respect for Gollop, 4 stars.

    Edit 5.3.2021.
    A large number of patches through 2020 have improved the game somewhat, so I’m raising the initial rating of 4 to 5.
    With some really serious modding, it could turn out to be a solid game. Unfortunately, there is no official modding support.    … Expand
  24. Klarum
    Dec 16, 2019
    5
    The game is fine. But this is an indie level game, that was crowdfunded, and it shows. So I dont understand why it is being sold at AAA pricing and exclusive on EPIC.
    Wait for it to come to Steam and at a discount. By then the bugs of the game should be fixed and they had a year to add content to the game.
  25. Mandulum
    Aug 26, 2020
    5
    I loved the new XCOM games. I played each of them twice, which is rare for me. I'm not completely sure what's turning me off with Pheonix Point. It might be the repetitive gameplay, there's not much variety. Or maybe it's the geoscape with the constant allies under attack. I also don't much like how the story is doled out.

    Date Dropped: 2020-08-10 Playtime: ~ 10h Enjoyment: 5/10    I loved the new XCOM games. I played each of them twice, which is rare for me. I'm not completely sure what's turning me off with Pheonix Point. It might be the repetitive gameplay, there's not much variety. Or maybe it's the geoscape with the constant allies under attack. I also don't much like how the story is doled out.

    Date Dropped: 2020-08-10
    Playtime: ~ 10h
    Enjoyment: 5/10
    Recommendation: It didn't do it for me, so no.    … Expand
  26. Alixon
    Nov 11, 2020
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Unbalanced. In Late game bored. Last mission is crazy and buggy. I play Last mission About 10hour and no kill boss, because enemy still resurection. Boss have all 4 shields up. **** the game!… Expand
  27. spitfire_ch
    Dec 25, 2019
    5
    Promising game that is crippled by an absurdly high level of difficulty. Even on Easy I have to use a trainer to have a chance in later missions. But that destroys the fun of the game completely. Even if I hate to give up, I have to realize now that it makes no sense to torture myself with it any longer. This isn't a game, it's frustrating, hopeless work without any pay. That's really aPromising game that is crippled by an absurdly high level of difficulty. Even on Easy I have to use a trainer to have a chance in later missions. But that destroys the fun of the game completely. Even if I hate to give up, I have to realize now that it makes no sense to torture myself with it any longer. This isn't a game, it's frustrating, hopeless work without any pay. That's really a pity, because the game mechanics and the story would in principle be a lot of fun.… Expand
  28. PEnchan707
    Dec 11, 2019
    5
    TL;DR It's unbalanced, completely unfit for Ironman mode (which isn't even in the game yet) and feels like a Beta.

    The good bits: There's 6 classes that all have their uses, which can also dual-class. There's plenty of room for experimentation. Enemy variety is quite good. Lovecraftian feel works well. Atmospheric music. Interesting aiming system which allows for    TL;DR It's unbalanced, completely unfit for Ironman mode (which isn't even in the game yet) and feels like a Beta.

    The good bits:

    There's 6 classes that all have their uses, which can also dual-class. There's plenty of room for experimentation.

    Enemy variety is quite good.

    Lovecraftian feel works well.

    Atmospheric music.

    Interesting aiming system which allows for greater tactical variety.

    Wide variety of equipment (though something that is definitely a downside is how you unlock it)

    Downsides:

    Very slow start. You can expect the initial 10-15 hours to be comfortable, even on the penultimate difficulty setting, bar a few specific situations here and there. This means that starting a new campaign is tedious and repetitive.

    Missions are, generally, repetitive and many don't feel like they're important. For exmaple, you have to defend other people's bases a lot, and there's not much variety in those missions. You feel like you're running around putting out fires and not getting on with your own objectives.

    Ridiculous yo-yoing of difficulty with some, quite frankly, silly situations that can occur due to enemy composition and/or spawn areas. There will be instances you lose soldiers, or maybe the entire squad, to these kinds of things. That means one of two things; 1: Restart the campaign with all the tedium that brings, as mentioned above. 2: Savescum your way through, which for many will be completely ungratifying.

    Bugs. For example, your team might spawn behind scenery they cannot move out from. Game can get stuck on enemy turns.

    Unbalanced mechanics that make things very unpredictable and either very hard or, sometimes, very easy. On their own turn, for example, you or the enemy can only fire once or twice. However, a mechanic called return fire can mean that guns can be fired up to any number of times when it's NOT the shooters turn. Example;

    You have a squad of 6 soldiers. An enemy stupidly runs into the middle of you and takes no cover. The logical thing to do is blast him, right? Well, not if he's wearing armour. If you shoot him, you'll just chip a bit of health off, but he'll blast you for a quarter of your health. If you were to shoot him twice with all your team, 3-4 of them would be on half health by the time you take him down. Instead of shooting him, you go overwatch and wait for him to run to cover. Everyone shoots him and hopefully, on your next turn, you can finish him off.

    Sniper rifles and armour shred weapons are king since enemies rely on heavy armour to provide a challenge later on. It leads to a shallow experience with little variety, despite there being so many classes, items and weapons.

    The geoscape (world map) is very limited and base management is very shallow. You'll have 6+ bases but you won't really care as you'll just use them to heal troops. They do little else and defending them is sometimes such a pain you'll simply get fed up and just maintain 2-3 on opposite sides of the world so you have global coverage.

    Attacking the big enemy camps is either long and tedious or short and cheesy. You see, if you play like a normal game, the enemy has infinite reinforcements. So instead you just cheaply send in a 'ninja' to stealth-bow the alien hatchery until it's destroyed. Or riskily jump-pack a heavy trooper with a sniper rifle over to it. Not satisfying.

    When you take all this into account, Ironman mode is a non-starter. I think that's why they haven't implemented it yet. They know the game's structure doesn't fit such a mode.    … Expand
  29. mechagamera
    Dec 17, 2019
    5
    This game is a hot underdeveloped mess. An intriguing story and concept of a long dormant virus released from melting permafrost is wasted. The global map and games overall pacing are underdeveloped. The bases have no strategic game to them and look like place holders for real content. Maps are small and cluttered and most times you out gun the enemy except when your forced to face armoredThis game is a hot underdeveloped mess. An intriguing story and concept of a long dormant virus released from melting permafrost is wasted. The global map and games overall pacing are underdeveloped. The bases have no strategic game to them and look like place holders for real content. Maps are small and cluttered and most times you out gun the enemy except when your forced to face armored monstrosities a few hours in with no hope of beating them. Gear and Danger should escalate slowly over time. It just isn't fun in it's present form.… Expand
  30. tyr8338
    Feb 18, 2021
    5
    Phoenix Point is a pretty descent game of that I`m certain after playing for around 15-20 hours. It dosn`t had huge budget and you can feel it but there is enough depth to enjoy it.

    After spending more time with it I must say it gets extremally repetetive unfortunatelly, X-com games offer much more interesting missions and story elements.
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

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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.
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  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.
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