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. Hreha
    Nov 17, 2022
    5
    there are some technical flaws and bugs but overall it has managed to be an enjoyable game
  3. 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
  4. Nrhej
    Oct 12, 2022
    6
    this game is alright but the pace is too slow and some may find it not engaging enough
  5. derek_
    Oct 9, 2022
    10
    Great game. Plenty of interesting ideas, great tactical combat, beautiful graphic, good enemis-story-factions. Definitely right step forward for x-com type games.
  6. Fryr
    Aug 29, 2022
    6
    the graphics wasn't that good and the animations were too slow made the game not as fun
  7. 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.
  8. 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
  9. Prometheus1241
    Jan 1, 2022
    5
    Game requires a lot of work: firstly, it is fixing terrible balance. Secondly, soundtrack is quite poor, comparing to such strategies as, for example, XCOM or Divinity. Buges, lags, and other things that require fixing, Nevertheless, developers just keep adding new DLCs without fixing that problems. I understand that they need money, but it is simply terrifying to see this. Overall, gameGame requires a lot of work: firstly, it is fixing terrible balance. Secondly, soundtrack is quite poor, comparing to such strategies as, for example, XCOM or Divinity. Buges, lags, and other things that require fixing, Nevertheless, developers just keep adding new DLCs without fixing that problems. I understand that they need money, but it is simply terrifying to see this. Overall, game has really great ideas, but execution is simply bruh. I hope developers will find the way to fix it all and give the game what it deserves.… Expand
  10. 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
  11. 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.
  12. Xubaca
    Oct 12, 2021
    10
    - Excelent turn-based combat
    - Good graphics and sound effects
    - As good as XCom 2 - Good management options (research, build bases, manufacture equipment) - Diplomacy adds a new dynamic do the game, comparing do XCom series - Loading maps is very slow on Xbox One, but game is very good - Game still have some minor bugs on Xbox One and I had 3 crashes after 50 hours gameplay. But the    - Excelent turn-based combat
    - Good graphics and sound effects
    - As good as XCom 2
    - Good management options (research, build bases, manufacture equipment)
    - Diplomacy adds a new dynamic do the game, comparing do XCom series
    - Loading maps is very slow on Xbox One, but game is very good
    - Game still have some minor bugs on Xbox One and I had 3 crashes after 50 hours gameplay. But the game is good and worth your pattience.    … Expand
  13. 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
  14. 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
  15. 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
  16. 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
  17. 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
  18. 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
  19. 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.
  20. 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.
  21. SexiPlexi
    Jan 18, 2021
    5
    The campaign could of been good if there was 80% less receptive stuff like constant defending, to find lairs, and citadels...would of been at least an 8/10 if you didn't have to do 100s of repeat levels just to get to citadels maybe 5 would of been acceptable, it just overwhelming and extremely depressing, that repetition ruined my mood and ruined this game......most people would preferThe campaign could of been good if there was 80% less receptive stuff like constant defending, to find lairs, and citadels...would of been at least an 8/10 if you didn't have to do 100s of repeat levels just to get to citadels maybe 5 would of been acceptable, it just overwhelming and extremely depressing, that repetition ruined my mood and ruined this game......most people would prefer a quality game that lasts only 10-20 hours but only 5% repetition, so many producers just stretch everything out too long, it just gets boring.… Expand
  22. 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
  23. 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.
  24. Rkshz
    Dec 28, 2020
    5
    small maps
    no balance
    few content on game
    few types of enemies
    few types of weapons
    random useless skills second tier
    no tactical placement of units
  25. Combiner
    Dec 19, 2020
    9
    Great different look on XCOM formula with very alive world and many random and non-linear things.
    Now devs just released Year One edition and they will keep improoving the game in 2021.
  26. Mukirana
    Dec 9, 2020
    10
    Player over 40 hours on the first week alone. Extremelly addictive. Stay away.
  27. 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.
  28. 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
  29. napomocht
    Sep 28, 2020
    5
    Au bout d'un moment on s'ennuie a mourir. Ça devient répétitif les missions ne sont pas variées , l'histoire n'avance pas, il y a trop d'armes différentes pour que ce soit stimulant d'en choisir une plutôt qu'une autre et de spécialiser les équipes d'intervention en fonction de la mission. Les attaques de bases se succèdent sur un modèle toujours absolument identique.. C’est rasoir..
  30. 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.
  31. 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
  32. realblacktea
    Jun 26, 2020
    10
    I am playing on legend difficulty without save load and having a lot of fun, It is my 60-th try and i almost got it to the last mission, however got wiped out again, Best x-come like game in the last couple of years.
  33. K0O
    Jun 26, 2020
    9
    Very nicely balanced. Very addictive and interesting gameplay. Good solid game engine. Nice sounds and graphics. A bit repetitive, but still one of the very best turn-based strategy/tactical XCOM-type games. Recommended highly, if you liked the newer XCOM.
  34. SerGjant
    Jun 20, 2020
    8
    I think it's a pretty underrated game. There are quite interesting mechanics. It was not boring throughout the game.
  35. Val_b3
    Jun 13, 2020
    10
    While game has it's gripes and difficulties user score on meta is not representative of the quality of the game. It's a bit on the low side.
    First thing to know about it - it's slow. Very slow. I've wasted 60+ hours on a single campaign and I'm still not finished.
    Second thing - research tree is... unique. Unlike X-COM series where research is very straightforward, here it's not. You'll    While game has it's gripes and difficulties user score on meta is not representative of the quality of the game. It's a bit on the low side.
    First thing to know about it - it's slow. Very slow. I've wasted 60+ hours on a single campaign and I'm still not finished.
    Second thing - research tree is... unique. Unlike X-COM series where research is very straightforward, here it's not. You'll be getting most of your tech from factions, be it stealing, gifted or even collaborations.
    Third - experience from similar tactical games will help, but also impede with you. Unlike most of tactics where range and dice toss are the king, here it's range, aiming reticle AND dice toss. It's still clunky but fun to operate. Takes time getting used to.
    As for the gripes - squad requires MICRO management (goes as far as reloading BETWEEN missions and healing ONLY on bases or in battles (despite having all the medkits in the world and an assumed ability to use them in between; that's just dumb)); sheer volume of numbers makes it impossible to deduce most things, you'll be lost operating thousands of numbers each turn (there is a reason that X-COM series doesn't like going beyond 20 - not only does it enhance tactical experience, it also keeps them manageable (players need to be able to compute SOME numbers and possibilities on the fly)); enemy types are limited - while the enemy variations can be described as shifting and changing, the game suffers from lack of enemy types, this in turn backfires on the stuff you'll be spending 80% of your time on - tactical combat; more types = more fun; a whole pleiad of technical issues/bugs/freezes.
    Back in the day game release has suffered a lot of blowback due to EGS exclusivity. Despite all the negative it looks like team is set on continued support and developement of the game. I cannot help but support that. Hope that developers will keep on shaping this project into a game they can be proud of.    … Expand
  36. 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
  37. 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
  38. 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.
  39. 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
  40. 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.
  41. 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.
  42. 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.
  43. Leeroyfan101
    Apr 14, 2020
    5
    Overall, I like the game and see it has potential. Sadly, its wasted potential. Notice I said I like the game, not that I enjoy the game. The game itself has a fantastic framework and some intuitive ideas. But sadly it's patched together in a way to frustrate the player, rather than challenge the player. I would say most of the issues stem from odd balance decisions exacerbated by in-gameOverall, I like the game and see it has potential. Sadly, its wasted potential. Notice I said I like the game, not that I enjoy the game. The game itself has a fantastic framework and some intuitive ideas. But sadly it's patched together in a way to frustrate the player, rather than challenge the player. I would say most of the issues stem from odd balance decisions exacerbated by in-game bugs.
    The Overwatch mechanic, for instance, is almost pointless to use. Not only do you have to risk the fact that your soldier might naturally miss. But also have to roll the die on if the ability will activate at the correct time. There have been so many instances where the enemy would run through the engagement zone I set without triggering the ability. Then when they cross an object that is obstructing the line of sight of my soldier is when my soldier would decide to start shooting.
    On a similar note, your troops shooting at their cover is also an issue. It's just a glaring and obvious bug that you think would be the first thing the developers would fix. When you see it happen, you're dumbfounded. It's the sort of thing you would see from an Early Access game, not the final product.
    Other issues are that your grenades sometimes do no damage for no reason, troops missing shots on Pandorans when the area of fire within the body of the Pandoran.
    For the balance side:
    Sirens mind control - this has been the bane of my existence, mainly because of how one-sided this mechanic is. First of all, it requires no line of sight from the enemy doing it. If you're within range, you get mind-controlled. Your "Will" stat contrary to what you might assume, doesn't actually help. This ability also comes at the cost of the victim. Even if you manage to kill the Siren, it uses up the turn of the victim. What makes this worse is past the early game, there is usually more than one of them. In similar tittles, units that could mind control are balanced by being physically weak. Not the Siren, she has high armor, as well as blades for arms that also make her deadly in close combat.
    Chiron's ICBM's - It's an organic lifeform the size of a tank and armored like one too. That, for some reason, behaves like it has some sort of laser-guided missile system. It can accurately shoot you from across the map without even seeing you. Is this fair? No. Is it fun to deal with? No.
    The Spawn System - Enemies can attack the same turn they spawn in. I don't even know how to describe how unfair this is. There is no amount of skill in the world that can help you against an enemy that essentially cheats. You are at the mercy of the game and simply have to hope luck is on your side.    … Expand
  44. Dark_Ansem
    Apr 9, 2020
    10
    I really didn't want to give this game a 10, but considering the ridiculous reviews about Epic Games or from people who expected an action RPG, I have to. It's superior to XCOM2 in principle (and occasionally performance), but it lacks the same polish and amazing toolset. YET. More DLC and the toolset are coming.
  45. 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
  46. 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
  47. 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
  48. lordzzz
    Mar 16, 2020
    0
    garbage, stay away at all costs
    dont botter buying... full of bugs, abysmal content, scam practices
  49. geesloper
    Mar 13, 2020
    5
    [Edit 14-Mar-20 - I'm going to bump this up to a 5/10, because the March patches have done a lot to address the issues. That said, I still had to cheat the final level (and it was horrible even with cheats), so I'm still not persuaded it deserves more than 5/10]

    I am so bitterly disappointed in this game. First and foremost, it is *stupidly* difficult and unforgiving. There's nothing    [Edit 14-Mar-20 - I'm going to bump this up to a 5/10, because the March patches have done a lot to address the issues. That said, I still had to cheat the final level (and it was horrible even with cheats), so I'm still not persuaded it deserves more than 5/10]

    I am so bitterly disappointed in this game. First and foremost, it is *stupidly* difficult and unforgiving. There's nothing innovative about the monsters, they just hit really hard, and can take repeated sniper rifle shots to the face without dying. I should note that I've played similar games without issues, *and* I had Phoenix Point on the easiest setting. Worse, it's often not apparent that you've made a critical error until literally twenty hours of gameplay later, by which stage it's much too late to actually do anything about it.

    Secondly, the devs repeatedly pushed the release date out, ostensibly to make sure that it was polished and bug free. I also waited a month after it came out to avoid the worst of the (inevitable) bugs. Despite this, it was buggy as all hell, and even the hotfixes just seemed to solve one set of problems while creating another.

    Finally, it is very poorly optimised. My PC is relatively high-end, but it runs like a pig, and frequently hangs on enemy turns (which, as it happens, cannot be halted or interrupted so you can reload).    … Expand
  50. Boros
    Mar 12, 2020
    5
    Aporta algunas ideas más al Xcom2, pero también comete muchos errores en mi opinión.

    Por el lado estético: La dirección de arte y el diseño de menús y demás es horrible, hasta las letras se pixelan si haces zoom. Técnicamente (texturas, iluminación...) no aporta nada, cumple y ya está. En serio los menús y la interfaz son muy feos y anticuados. Por el lado jugable: Añade ciertas    Aporta algunas ideas más al Xcom2, pero también comete muchos errores en mi opinión.

    Por el lado estético: La dirección de arte y el diseño de menús y demás es horrible, hasta las letras se pixelan si haces zoom. Técnicamente (texturas, iluminación...) no aporta nada, cumple y ya está. En serio los menús y la interfaz son muy feos y anticuados.

    Por el lado jugable: Añade ciertas mecánicas como las clases dobles, los vehículos y las criaturas que me parecen muy adecuados (de ahí el aprobado), de resto el juego está desbalanceado, el diseño del tutorial y el inicio del juego es muy poco imaginativo y horrible, muy poco orgánico, con flechas amarillas enormes que te indican donde picar, como el típico juego casual malo de la PlayStore.

    Vamos que el juego es durito en sus primeras horas. Si soportas más horas te llevarás algunas alegrías, pero realmente es un juego de 5-6 de Nota, incomparable con el X-COM 2 que fue un juego con una calidad y unos añadidos excepcionales.    … Expand
  51. Vitamin-J
    Mar 11, 2020
    9
    A revolutionized engine for the "X-Com Like" genre.

    Granted, the original Xcom had a similar mechanic - Phoenix Point's free aim systems makes any other game that uses percentages feel seriously dated. The factions are a great addition and allow multiple play throughs with different endings and outcomes. The factions lack a little asymmetry but with the mods there are out there, one    A revolutionized engine for the "X-Com Like" genre.

    Granted, the original Xcom had a similar mechanic - Phoenix Point's free aim systems makes any other game that uses percentages feel seriously dated.

    The factions are a great addition and allow multiple play throughs with different endings and outcomes. The factions lack a little asymmetry but with the mods there are out there, one can customize the differences and provide a truly unique feel for each one.

    It feels great to have another strategy game with a turn based tactical layer and geoscape strategic layer that isn't centered around the traditional sense of an Alien Invasion. Phoenix Point's story is very unique, eerie and provides the same novel feeling Julian Gollops originally produced X-COM: UFO Defense had given us, so many years ago.

    Not to mention Vehicles. There is vehicles! I always want there to be vehicles and too many developers just skip out on this part.

    I am very excited to see the additional content drops for this game and I truly think this is going to change the sub-genre, for the better.    … Expand
  52. 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.
  53. 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
  54. 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
  55. 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
  56. Sinistars
    Feb 28, 2020
    10
    After finishing my last game I was looking for something isometric strategy or RPG and after trying many xcom wannabes I went back to play another round of XCOM2, until, this little gem came along. Creator of the original XCOM was enough to pull me in and I am so glad it did. If you played XCOm, you will feel at home fairly quick, not a huge learning curve for us, a lot of the sameAfter finishing my last game I was looking for something isometric strategy or RPG and after trying many xcom wannabes I went back to play another round of XCOM2, until, this little gem came along. Creator of the original XCOM was enough to pull me in and I am so glad it did. If you played XCOm, you will feel at home fairly quick, not a huge learning curve for us, a lot of the same mechanics and layout, with some improvements and a few not so much. Combat improve the are the most notable for me, the zooming in to shoot and target areas of the body and such I love, where the ship building leaves a lot to be desired, no improvements and maybe less challenging since you can place new rooms anywhere, no challenge figuring out how or where to place your rooms. It does go into a lot more detail about diplomacy, factions and with so many decision to change the outcome of the game, it seems it will be Very repayable. So far I love it, it’s fun, challenging and is helping relieve the XCOM 3 cravings, for now. game.… Expand
  57. jarjanes
    Feb 26, 2020
    5
    I could write for hours about this game but for God’s sake I’d just point out the main issues that pushed me to give the score of 5.
    Fist of all, the game is boooooooring. The missions are always the same. There are 7 types of enemy. They said that Pandora could mutate; the true is that the kind of enemy, mutated or not, is always the same (crabman is always a crabman, with shield or    I could write for hours about this game but for God’s sake I’d just point out the main issues that pushed me to give the score of 5.
    Fist of all, the game is boooooooring. The missions are always the same. There are 7 types of enemy. They said that Pandora could mutate; the true is that the kind of enemy, mutated or not, is always the same (crabman is always a crabman, with shield or machine gun). So the missions are always the same.
    Second: the game play is not balanced. Some classes are a waste of time, other are overpowered. The skills are always the same with very little options. So every assault or priest or heavy soldier, at the end, is always the same.
    Third: base attack is awful, terrible, boring. At the end of the game you would defend your base a lot of times (10, 15, 20 times) with attacks every 30-40 minutes of gameplay and the mission are always the same and the same and the same. The only things that change is the starting position of the soldier. So booring (did I say it?). And by the way: what is the sense of having the pandoran attack preannounced 16 hours before if you can’t choose the starting position of your man? So you find all your soldier scattered in the base and you lose 3-4 turns just to regroup. It’s not realism is wasting my time!
    Fourth: what is the sense of making me recharge every magazine of very weapon of the squad?? Can’t it be automatic? Again we’re to talking about hardcore game, etc… but about boredom.
    Fifth: research? What? After 5-6 hours of gameplay you’ll have all the weapons researched. No improvement, no surprise. So in the end: same enemies for the same soldiers with the same weapons, armors, gears, from the start to the end.
    The true good ideas are: the aim system (XCOM should take note), the movement system (versatile) and the lovercraftian background.
    We are far far far away from fireaxis (maybe just because XCOM are fun…).
    Try it if you have times (a lot) to waste.    … Expand
  58. 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.
  59. 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
  60. Deltium
    Feb 17, 2020
    0
    this game is very buggy and unbalanced. content feels a bit repetitive and boring.
  61. 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
  62. 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
  63. Aliarm
    Feb 9, 2020
    8
    Game have better core gameplay, combat mechanic and variety then XCOM. But still need some better interface, tutorial and polished.
  64. 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.
  65. 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
  66. 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...
  67. 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
  68. 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
  69. 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
  70. 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
  71. 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
  72. homer3142
    Jan 9, 2020
    0
    I was a huge fan of the X-com games and I want so bad to say this game is good... but unfortunately it is just so terribly balanced that I can't play it anymore. Enemies are ridiculously overpowered, but then certain combinations (stealth infiltrators, rage burst snipers, etc) are even more ridiculously overpowered. Absolutely nothing is explained in the game, everything is confusing andI was a huge fan of the X-com games and I want so bad to say this game is good... but unfortunately it is just so terribly balanced that I can't play it anymore. Enemies are ridiculously overpowered, but then certain combinations (stealth infiltrators, rage burst snipers, etc) are even more ridiculously overpowered. Absolutely nothing is explained in the game, everything is confusing and undocumented without going to the forums to ask for help. And then of course all the bugs that occasionally crash the game - I could live with those, but do have to point that out.

    This game is clearly NOT ready to be released yet, but the creators needed the cash grab so they threw away their reputation releasing a crap game, probably hoping that they can fix the issues as they release more paid DLC content. No thanks, I uninstalled and I'm done with this garbage game.    … Expand
  73. AntiCaezar
    Jan 5, 2020
    2
    This game is nearly a **** even though I like turn-based tactic games particularly and strategies as a whole.
    Gameplay copies XCOM while screaming everywhere that it's not XCOM. Literally, this game took the worst mechanics from XCOM and added their own fails. Ok, there is no % hit chance, however, the covers work absolutely awful. I mean part and full covers. There is no difference    This game is nearly a **** even though I like turn-based tactic games particularly and strategies as a whole.
    Gameplay copies XCOM while screaming everywhere that it's not XCOM. Literally, this game took the worst mechanics from XCOM and added their own fails. Ok, there is no % hit chance, however, the covers work absolutely awful. I mean part and full covers. There is no difference between cover types and my soldiers got hit even behind the walls. Most of the time covers work against me as they don't allow to shoot or overwatch enemies (WHILE THEY CAN HIT MY SOLDIERS AT THE SAME TIME). That is also another point that makes me mad: soldiers can't turn or peek in covers. Staying near the door they literally look into the wall, while are expected to look into the next room or at least be able to peek and shoot there. Line of sight works pretty bad while shooting and even worse during the overwatch.
    Next. You can't research new weapons or gear. Yes, you can disassemble and copy them, but "scientists with guns" as someone says about Phoenix organization can't make something new or improve the existing gear. Factions are... well, they could have been interesting. However, their principles and differences are pretty uncertain, so I couldn't choose any to ally, although I have to. And why do I have to? Aren't they all humans and the game idea is "humans vs crabs"? Moreover, if I choose to ally with New Jericho, as I want to get their guns and stuff (as my own scientists are morons), I have to fight against other factions - against humans (instead of the real threat) and loot their gear (while I want New Jericho's ones).
    Enemies are pretty interesting and well-designed (mostly the crabs). But the battle mechanics are bad, so it's not interesting to fight. Almost forgot! The aiming and the ability to shoot off some body parts. Do you know that the head is not so important for humans? **** headshot from **** sniper rifle DOES NOT instantly kill the human. That is so stupid that I couldn't believe in this ****.
    The graphic is usual (worse than XCOM 2). However, the details are awful, for example, the hairstyles. The effects are mediocre as well. Music and sounds? Well, nothing to remember. The story? Dialogs? They just exist. Nothing new, nothing interesting. WE ARE NOT XCOM - that's the main idea of the story.
    To summarize, the game doesn't worth the attention of the players (and it absolutely won't be interesting for the players new to turn-based tactics).    … Expand
  74. mucke973
    Dec 31, 2019
    0
    The most frustrating game you will ever play...

    Firstly a little about me. I am 39 and been gaming since I was 15. I've never written a review as quite frankly I can never be bothered. I have played many games where they were so poor I vowed to write review afterwards and let everyone and the devs know about how mad and disappointed I was with the game. But then I calm down and think my    The most frustrating game you will ever play...

    Firstly a little about me. I am 39 and been gaming since I was 15. I've never written a review as quite frankly I can never be bothered. I have played many games where they were so poor I vowed to write review afterwards and let everyone and the devs know about how mad and disappointed I was with the game. But then I calm down and think my energy can be better spent elsewhere. This game though, is so bad that I just felt compelled to tell you all. The point I am making here is that this is by far the worst and most frustrating game I have ever played. I won't even mention the pros cause there are none.

    The main issues are bugs and glitches. I am actually going to try to remember all ones I have encountered so far:

    - The game has a zoom feature so you can target body parts. Every single time I shot with one of my soldiers, (even if I was right next to the enemy) I would use the zoom feature to target their head to play it safe. This happened about 20 times without issue. To use the zoom feature it takes the tiniest amount of extra time so one time I just decided not to use it. I was so close that it was impossible to miss…but I did. What is important to note here is that it wasn’t RNG. Phoenix Point doesn’t use RNG, instead you have a reticule like an FPS and if that circle is wider than your target then some of your shots may miss. In my case, the reticule was basically the size of the enemies nose so it was impossible to miss, but it did. This was the first bug and resulted in the death of the soldier.
    - About half way through the campaign it just decided to no longer autosave. Due to the insane amount of bugs your soldiers will die a lot and you are forced to save scum. The game always autosaves before you deploy for a mission so when everything went wrong I decided to quit and reload the most recent autosave...but it was 10 real-time hours ago...I almost rage quit there and then. Eventually I started up a new campaign and autosave started working again…bug no 2
    - LIke xcom you can throw grenades. When targeting, the game shows you the trajectory of the grenade and it highlights who will get hit and how much damage will be done etc. But in one occasion my idiot soldier through it straight at the wall in front of him and blew himself up. Bug 3
    - One soldier class can deploy turrets. The turret auto targets enemies; you have no control of it. Can you believe that the first time I deployed the turret it targeted the enemy behind me. Since I was in the way it emptied every single bullet into me instead and killed my soldier. I mean really?? How stupid are the game designers?
    - Some of the ingame guns/items don't even have descriptions. One item was a turret and the image for it was an assault rifle and the flavour text said "needs text". That is just outright lazy. That is the standard we are dealing with
    - There are many many many more.

    Then there's the balancing or game mechanics which were obviously never tested. Some of the worst are:

    - There is a perk called "return fire" but it doens't work how you might expect like xcom. If an enemy shoots at you (even if you've used all your action points) your soldier will shoot back. But there is more! ANYONE who has line of sight to the enemy and has this perk will also shoot. Some enemies have this same perk, it sounds like an interesting wrinkle but it poorly implemented. Here is what happens; there are 5 enemies and you shoot one of them. All 5 of them shoot you back and kill your soldier. So another dumb design! You could use this to your advantage and to be honest you will so that you can cheese your way through missions. So let's get that right, in the end you just bunch up all your soldiers together and don't even SHOOT the enemy, instead you just wait for them to shoot you and all your soldiers return fire as this is the most effective.
    - at a certain point in the game when the difficulty is meant to increase, one type of enemy suddenly can one shot your soldiers…with an assault rifle. So it is the power of sniper rifle with all the flexibility of an AR. Once this happens your soldier start dropping fast and there is no counter to it because guess what? You can’t even one shot them, with your shotty at close range.
    It is just a terrible terrible game and is without a doubt the bugiest alpha game I have ever played.

    Was going to write more but there is a 5000 char limit. It is a steaming pile of you know what!    … Expand
  75. inverguy
    Dec 30, 2019
    4
    I have played the first xcom game and since then absolutely loved the franchise. Needless to say, enjoyed some titles and dropped some very quickly. This is conditional love. Some time back I watched the phoenix point trailer and completely forgot about the game. Few months later... or years and I can see this gem in the xbox beta pc store. I thought about it for like 0.1 second andI have played the first xcom game and since then absolutely loved the franchise. Needless to say, enjoyed some titles and dropped some very quickly. This is conditional love. Some time back I watched the phoenix point trailer and completely forgot about the game. Few months later... or years and I can see this gem in the xbox beta pc store. I thought about it for like 0.1 second and installed it. Some annoying things from the XCOM series were removed. It was always funny to have rifle in the face of the enemy (standing next to him) and having 85% chance of hitting him. This time they fixed it with double aiming reticle. There is 100% chance that it will hit the circle and 50% to hit the inner circle. Well... this is the beginning of the issue. Not sure what has happened but my guys kept missing that 100%. It wasn't often that this happened, but 100% is broken. There were no obstacles on the way so I guess the hit zones are somewhat broken here and there. Then there was the biggest deal breaker for me. The difficulty. I enjoy the learning curve on bits of the game but at some point most of the enemies got an upgrade in armor. The most powerful weapons were not so powerful anymore. One of the enemies had to be shot by my guys x6 4 turns in a row. Problem is there were other guys coming in. Also the enemy was spawning more enemies. So pretty quickly, from challenging the game turned into ridiculous. I heard that they AI adjusts the game so it matches your play style, but it is my play style that I enjoy in the game. Most powerful sniper rifle with armour piercing felt more like a pistol. At this point I thought that maybe I'll get a better armor like in the xcom series. That would be a redeeming feature. ...well turns that that 'super' armor was already reverse-engineered by my scientists at the beginning of the game, and it didn't feel like an upgrade. It added 3x the armor but removed the aiming, perception and movement bonuses to what I already had. This meant that all my snipers needed to be dropped for new heavy troops. There is more explanation that is needed but cutting to the chase I googled all weapons and armors and turns out, there is nothing more. I immediately stopped playing this, as it felt more like a punishment for surviving so many days.

    CONS: game sucks, still filled with bugs

    PROS: got it via xbox pass so it was for free... a free disappointment.    … Expand
  76. StrategyAddict
    Dec 28, 2019
    5
    After almost a hundred hours into this game, it`s might seem hard to give it a low rating. I do because much of this time was spend grinding for resources, doing the same missions over and over again, running into bugs, looking for story missions (that actually differ from the ordinary kill everything missions). I spend all this time hoping it would get better, but research takes foreverAfter almost a hundred hours into this game, it`s might seem hard to give it a low rating. I do because much of this time was spend grinding for resources, doing the same missions over and over again, running into bugs, looking for story missions (that actually differ from the ordinary kill everything missions). I spend all this time hoping it would get better, but research takes forever and after all this time in the game I'm nowhere near the end - even though I couldn't tell because there's not really a clear story ark.
    The game certainly has it's pros, like flexible class composition and great measure of freedom in planning and executing on the strategic level. Also the diplomacy is a big plus.
    On the other hand, there are only very few types of enemies and the weapons are very similar to each other - most of which you get early in the game. The overall game progression it ridiculously slow. I guess the first 20 hours or so are neat and that's what most reviewers see.

    But then it falls apart. No new missions, enemies, weapons. But grave balancing issues. Some skills and especially combinations of skills are overpowered so that it looks like an exploit: An attack on the third biggest alien base requires you to kill a specific big alien, which you can see from your starting point. With the right skills, you can kill it in one action, ending what is supposed to be one hard type of mission with just that.
    And that's even more sad, as you usually have to kill everything. In missions where you don't, balancing fails. Often in not in your favor, so that half your soldiers get killed the first enemy turn, no matter what you do.
    Oh! I'm a die-hard XCom fans since the original one in the 90s from Micropose. I really would love to see a proper remake. What troubles me in phoenix point also is the practically none-existent base building. You just discover bases (and can't even choose the location) and then you seldomly need to build anything in them. You build one storage unit, one alien containment and it's enough for the game. Hospitals are useless because you can use medipaks instead, base defence non-existent.

    What brings me to the last point at which I quit. If your base get's attacked you'll get a timer. You can move soldiers there, if you have them near. But they need to be relatively near, because even the fastest vessel doesn't cross a third of the globe in that timer. If the timer runs out before you can send in troops, you'll love that base. So - you'll have to reload and send troops before the attack timer even starts. If you did a difficult mission just before or during the timer and don't want to reload to much earlier. Your bad. You'll lose a base without having had any chance to do anything about it.

    And after all those hours spend doing repetitive missions for resources and not being offered anything new to keep you going, that really breaks it for me.

    Could have been much more. I suspect they just ran out of budget. Due to the fact that it's a crowd-founding game. With all the additions build in and a lot of balancing and bugfixing, it could really be better then the Firaxis XCom. Shame I couldn't wait and played it now and not after a year. Maybe I'll take another look then. Glad I bought it, so they can work on it some more.    … Expand
  77. vassmuss
    Dec 28, 2019
    2
    I'm a huge Xcom fan. I've been a Backer since 1-2 years, been looking forward to Phoenix Point since then. After 20 minutes of the Backer Build, I decided to give the full version another shot, for a couple of hours. It didn't take.

    The game sure do have some great mechanics: free aim, ballistics, movement mechanics, etc. BUT! It's hollow, lack of story. No background, nothing    I'm a huge Xcom fan. I've been a Backer since 1-2 years, been looking forward to Phoenix Point since then. After 20 minutes of the Backer Build, I decided to give the full version another shot, for a couple of hours. It didn't take.

    The game sure do have some great mechanics: free aim, ballistics, movement mechanics, etc.

    BUT!

    It's hollow, lack of story. No background, nothing (besides the intro).

    You play a team of unknown soldiers in a world with unknown factions, without any particular introduction. You have no connection to what you're trying to immersive yourself into.

    And what is up with the aliens? Colourful blobs where you can't tell the difference between a leg, a torso and a head. They just look weird.

    This feels rushed. Very rushed.    … Expand
  78. 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
  79. ResidentGood
    Dec 25, 2019
    0
    I had high hopes for this game. I was left very disappointed. The whole thing seems very rushed and with a lack of polish that I with my somewhat limited amount of available game time cannot tolerate. This game should not be priced as a AAA title.

    Anyone looking for something to fill the gap until XCOM3 should look elsewhere. This just doesn't compare.
  80. watchm824
    Dec 25, 2019
    5
    The game quickly bored me and began to annoy. You will not see anything new in this game. Better to play XCOM again.
  81. Hidetoszi
    Dec 25, 2019
    3
    Game seems to have such a big potential. Great mechanics for tactical combats and new solutions for this kind of games.

    But what makes my score so low it's: there are plenty of bugs! Game constantly freezes (Laptop user) and there is no autosave every turn. Freezes can happened every 4th mission or often making this game unplayable. Enemy can move at surface inaccessible for your    Game seems to have such a big potential. Great mechanics for tactical combats and new solutions for this kind of games.

    But what makes my score so low it's:

    there are plenty of bugs! Game constantly freezes (Laptop user) and there is no autosave every turn.
    Freezes can happened every 4th mission or often making this game unplayable.
    Enemy can move at surface inaccessible for your crew.
    Interfaces are not convenient to manage your team members, and aircraft (after having more than 3 its very hard to to maintain geo-scape map.
    Researching does not bring you a lot of useful stuff (other havens have all you need to progress)    … Expand
  82. thzeitch
    Dec 25, 2019
    9
    I like classic XCOMs and Firaxis' XCOM2: WotC as well. Now I've played Phoenix Point about 30-35 hours.
    All visuals, sounds and music made very well - stylish and congruent. Really good job!
    The core game mechanics is rock-solid. Gameplay is addictive that leads me to insomnia. Lore/narrative content implemented good enough (btw, do not expect strong storyline or something, because this    I like classic XCOMs and Firaxis' XCOM2: WotC as well. Now I've played Phoenix Point about 30-35 hours.
    All visuals, sounds and music made very well - stylish and congruent. Really good job!
    The core game mechanics is rock-solid. Gameplay is addictive that leads me to insomnia. Lore/narrative content implemented good enough (btw, do not expect strong storyline or something, because this game {like original XCOMs} is much more about gameplay, not storytelling).
    Also, I must admit, some game aspects are unpolished yet, but noncritical. No doubt the game is definitely worth to buy and has a great potential that (I'm sure) will be properly unleashed in the future DLCs.
    9/10.    … Expand
  83. Teufler80
    Dec 24, 2019
    3
    Interesting at first. it get's boring on the long way. Diplomacy is so flat it makes me cry. They should rather remove it that make it this awfull. Rather stick with XCOM or Xenonauts
  84. mohamediat
    Dec 23, 2019
    4
    This game is an improvement (idea wise only) from XCOM 1 , it has nothing on XCOM 2, I was stupid enough to pay for the full game with the pass to get everything and it is really bad. I played 27 hours and It is a waste of money.
    I like the vehicles and the aircrafts, I like the faction warring, but the game is not new player friendly, the characters are very unremarkable, the classes are    This game is an improvement (idea wise only) from XCOM 1 , it has nothing on XCOM 2, I was stupid enough to pay for the full game with the pass to get everything and it is really bad. I played 27 hours and It is a waste of money.
    I like the vehicles and the aircrafts, I like the faction warring, but the game is not new player friendly, the characters are very unremarkable, the classes are bad, the graphics are bad and the maps are very limited.
    I regret paying for that game. If you want to try it still don't pay the full price for it, wait till it drops below 20 $.    … Expand
  85. daroubignole
    Dec 23, 2019
    9
    I think this game is really really good. The roots (and trunk) are XCOM(2), but there are a tons of hitherto unknown to me little mechanics sprinkled all over it. I like the troops & inventory management à la Soldiers of Fortune. I also like the eerie atmosphere that emanates from the whole package (lore, design, music, ...).

    If my understanding is correct, the dev team is basically one    I think this game is really really good. The roots (and trunk) are XCOM(2), but there are a tons of hitherto unknown to me little mechanics sprinkled all over it. I like the troops & inventory management à la Soldiers of Fortune. I also like the eerie atmosphere that emanates from the whole package (lore, design, music, ...).

    If my understanding is correct, the dev team is basically one guy, or at least one dude made most of FP. Anyway, there are a few bugs, a few problems, and some things are not clear at first glance. That said, the versatility and originality of the combat mechanics as well as the overall quality of the game in general outweighs the occasional frustration or quirkiness for me so far (about 200hrs).

    Also, the first patch that came out recently was decent and left me hopeful the the dev(s) will keep on fixing for a little wile before DLCs come out..    … Expand
  86. neogucky
    Dec 23, 2019
    3
    I really like xcom and this is a decent clone. Or at least it could have been. The problem is that there is no balancing making some missions impossible thus forcing you to replaying them. Also you can see that the XCOM team is much more experienced, there are many comfort functions missing like switching to the next soldier while the other is still running. The story is interesting badI really like xcom and this is a decent clone. Or at least it could have been. The problem is that there is no balancing making some missions impossible thus forcing you to replaying them. Also you can see that the XCOM team is much more experienced, there are many comfort functions missing like switching to the next soldier while the other is still running. The story is interesting bad badly implemented, you are not really immersed into it and it often feels a bit forced. Also there was no warning that the game will not be on Steam when I kickstarted it, disappointing to see that the developers where bought.… Expand
  87. valir
    Dec 22, 2019
    8
    This game is something that XCOM from Firaxis does not have. Phoenix Point has atmosphere of X-COM classic. I like this game.
  88. TheWaffle
    Dec 21, 2019
    0
    Update: This is my first and last purchase on the Epic Games store. I requested a refund for this game, it's just too glitchy and unbalanced, but they are giving me the run around and claiming that I have not made any purchases with my account. Which is bizarre, because they took my money and I can clearly see the game installed using that account. They are either lying or incompetent.Update: This is my first and last purchase on the Epic Games store. I requested a refund for this game, it's just too glitchy and unbalanced, but they are giving me the run around and claiming that I have not made any purchases with my account. Which is bizarre, because they took my money and I can clearly see the game installed using that account. They are either lying or incompetent.

    There's some good stuff in here, but Phoenix Point needs a new polish, a new coat of paint, and more. It looks and feels like a kickstarter game. The textures are good, but the models are far from smooth, the skybox flickers in and out when you're aiming, and the character movements are much jankier than you'll find in XCOM. I want to like this game, but it just feels underwhelming next to XCOM 2 and Wasteland 2, which still look and play great at 4 and 5 years old now. And with Wasteland 3 coming out in May, I suspect Phoenix Point will be an afterthought unless they make some serious improvements to the graphics and UI.    … Expand
  89. 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.
  90. Skrip
    Dec 20, 2019
    10
    real best game, fans of the genre I advise you to play. thanks to the developers
  91. Grimmblut
    Dec 20, 2019
    4
    Buggy on release, although that may be fixed over the time. What can't be fixed so easily are the repetetive and boring missions. Go there, kill that, finished. Over and over again. Tech tree is virtually non-existant. You are forced to ally with at least one of three equally appaling factions to get some useful tech and gear. The map design of combat missions is lacking, to say the least,Buggy on release, although that may be fixed over the time. What can't be fixed so easily are the repetetive and boring missions. Go there, kill that, finished. Over and over again. Tech tree is virtually non-existant. You are forced to ally with at least one of three equally appaling factions to get some useful tech and gear. The map design of combat missions is lacking, to say the least, as are the construction options when building your bases. Everything that added salt&pepper to the classic xcom not to say the 2012 re-release has been dumbed down in Phoenix Point.… Expand
  92. Invize
    Dec 19, 2019
    1
    Я вообще не понимаю кто и почему ставит этому... оценку 10. Это просто неиграбельный кусок долгостроя, который откладывали миллион раз и лучше бы закрыли. Патчи ломают 25 вещей, 10 чинят. В итоге чем дальше в лес, тем больше "веселья".

    Каждая миссия это рандом, где может заспавниться 10 неубиваемых врагов. Или таких же 10 убиваемых. Не получилось, реролим карту и мобов. Мобы всегда в    Я вообще не понимаю кто и почему ставит этому... оценку 10. Это просто неиграбельный кусок долгостроя, который откладывали миллион раз и лучше бы закрыли. Патчи ломают 25 вещей, 10 чинят. В итоге чем дальше в лес, тем больше "веселья".

    Каждая миссия это рандом, где может заспавниться 10 неубиваемых врагов. Или таких же 10 убиваемых. Не получилось, реролим карту и мобов.

    Мобы всегда в курсе о враге, не важно в какой точке карты они стоят. Аим мобов в 90/100 не мажет.

    Вариативность карт, нет не слышали. Разнообразие врагов, нет не слышали.

    Лучше перепройти Х-Сом чем эту пародию.    … Expand
  93. 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
  94. 2fatbear
    Dec 17, 2019
    10
    It's a great game in the tradition of the old and venerable XCom (not the recent games, but the old ones from the 90s), made by the creator of that games. Its true it is made with a low budget and it shows in sound that could have been better, between scenes graphics of variable quality and some small details like that. But the problems are all in these non-essential issues. The core ofIt's a great game in the tradition of the old and venerable XCom (not the recent games, but the old ones from the 90s), made by the creator of that games. Its true it is made with a low budget and it shows in sound that could have been better, between scenes graphics of variable quality and some small details like that. But the problems are all in these non-essential issues. The core of the game, the playability, the game itself, is great. Its well thought and implemented. No clicking wrong soldier or place (unless you *really* mess it), easy to understand interface. The game itself isn't easy to master and that's a great thing, you have to think, learn, play to get the hang of it. I'm currently on my third play and already seeing I made something wrong, but still can't say precisely what. So lets go on and discover!

    One point I complain a bit about is that we could have sceneries related to the places in the world where they are. Or more variation at least. This limitation was an aspect of the original games but by then we had games on 3 1/4 disquettes, now we have much more freedom so this could have been addressed.

    Another thing I'm asking myself, will it be possible to customize things around? I mean, at least the cosmetic part? I would love to be able to recreate my team of Hollywood actors as soldiers like I did on the original XCom games! (: By then we only had the photos of faces and names to change, now it would be much more complex, but...

    All in all, I'm loving to play this game. I like a lot the new XCom, played 1 and 2 to the end many times vamilla and customized, but Phoenix Point is like returning to the *real* thing.
    Can't wait to see the DLCs!    … Expand
  95. 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.
  96. Mrseven
    Dec 15, 2019
    3
    The game could be great, and is within the first few hours of play, but it all goes downhill after that. Balance is horrible in the game. It takes almost no time whatsoever for you to be nailed with OP enemies which would be mini-bosses in most other games. The sirens especially are game breaking. They have a mind control power which is always 100% successful, and that they can use atThe game could be great, and is within the first few hours of play, but it all goes downhill after that. Balance is horrible in the game. It takes almost no time whatsoever for you to be nailed with OP enemies which would be mini-bosses in most other games. The sirens especially are game breaking. They have a mind control power which is always 100% successful, and that they can use at a pretty long range. The worst thing about them is that they're complete bullet sponges so it's not like you can just pick them off first. (oh yeah, and they like to send them in groups)… Expand
  97. Pinkiesbrain
    Dec 15, 2019
    9
    I was very surprised. First from the game and then from a lot of Xcom veterans here on metacritic who polarize on the game.
    To me this was one of the best Xcom experiences across the last couple of years minus a few flaws.
    At the start, and with my high hopes, i felt a little bit disapointed about the game and I thought "well, it is not very deep, only 3 character classes, and the    I was very surprised. First from the game and then from a lot of Xcom veterans here on metacritic who polarize on the game.
    To me this was one of the best Xcom experiences across the last couple of years minus a few flaws.

    At the start, and with my high hopes, i felt a little bit disapointed about the game and I thought "well, it is not very deep, only 3 character classes, and the gameplay and customization is a abit shallow"
    But then with more and more hours in the game pretty much exploded in my face and soon i almost lost the overview of all my soldiers, all the classes and builds and loadouts and so forth. And while it became a lot to care about it did not become this behemoth like LW2 where things become messy after a while. In short - the game started to shine a lot later than expected.

    The gamplay works better for me than in the last two xcom titles, because it manages two things very well:
    1. The tactical games are much more predictable and therefore planable and "tactical"
    2. I did not need or want to save scum all the time although it was dificult every now and then. Which makes the gameply so much more fluid.

    There is one thing that is mentioned often in the critics which is "the soldiers dont have personality" which is true but i felt it to be a kind of advantage. I had loved characters in Xcom1 and 2 too. OFC.
    but this led to sad faces when the loved ones get hurt or killed.
    But Xcom has always been about exactly that: expendable soldiers, about losses and the hurt of war.
    Adn this does phoenix point manage very well the soldiers dont get too close to our heart and the skill trees are not toooo deep and this makes them expendable and taht makes the game concept work since we dont care(too much) about a soldier getting badly hurt or leaving someone in the base for a couple of days.
    Still- while I love the "new" aim mechanics so much more tahn the "old" (after some getting used to it)

    Still while this stuff worked good, and replayability is there because of the factions system there is some minor to major flaws imho.

    First , as metioned, it starts too late to develop its qualities. Second the game scales somehow strange. In the first twenty hours it was kinda (too) easy and by now it is really hard. All my soldiers have to be snipers because the storm rifle does 40 dmg max and almost all my enemies have 40 -60 armor. Ending in 0 dmg for "normal" rifles. I dont kow if I missed some research somewhere though...
    Anyways I feel extremely outdated with my weapons.
    The Story is not reeeally engaging thats true. I am not a lore guy- in fact I never in my gamer career was a guy who reads quests or backgrounds since I always found game lore very badly written even in "praised" games. But I like and need immersion and that is a little bit off in phoenix point.

    So all in all - it is a definitve recommend from my side. It is not Xcom3 but it is an awesome Xcom2.5 with great ideas and dynamics.
    And if you compare the Budget from Xcom 2 and Phoenix point - Phoenix Point CLEARLY did the better job in almost every aspect of the game.    … Expand
  98. Orras
    Dec 14, 2019
    3
    Bad xcom clone. Tedious and stupid. Has some good parts, but the mechanics are broken. Example: in missions where you need to extract a high value target, the enemy goes right past your soldiers and shoots directly at the civilian, killing him after one turn, no matter the cover. The AI has much better aim than your team, and they usually overwhelm you with numbers. The lack of aBad xcom clone. Tedious and stupid. Has some good parts, but the mechanics are broken. Example: in missions where you need to extract a high value target, the enemy goes right past your soldiers and shoots directly at the civilian, killing him after one turn, no matter the cover. The AI has much better aim than your team, and they usually overwhelm you with numbers. The lack of a comprehensive tutorial and the steep difficulty curve means that you will get stuck at some point in the game (haven't tried it on easy though). Not recommended.… Expand
  99. riley794
    Dec 13, 2019
    1
    This game is at war with itself and it is losing, badly!
    Let me start with the good. The story and the fractions are great. The aim system which lets you target body parts make the game more engaging.
    The issue is simple, each campaign and battle is randomized which can make each campaign and battle vary between hard and impossible. However, the steps you have to take to advance the    This game is at war with itself and it is losing, badly!
    Let me start with the good. The story and the fractions are great. The aim system which lets you target body parts make the game more engaging.
    The issue is simple, each campaign and battle is randomized which can make each campaign and battle vary between hard and impossible. However, the steps you have to take to advance the story and upgrade your gear are exactly the same. The impact of this as sometimes you may have missions needed to advance the story and improve your equipment that are on the opposite side of the world. As a result, by the time you complete story missions and improve diplomacy, in order to upgrade your gear, enemies will be OP. As a result they will either overrun you or one shot you. This leaves you two options: restart and hope the game does not screw you again, or save scum over and over again until you can hit that once and a life time shot from across the map and at least save one of your teammates. I should add that even on the easiest difficulty level, and being an experienced Xcom player, this game will make you rage quit. I know I should just "Get Good" but I am a grown man and have 99 problems but this poor excuse for an Xcom reboot is not going to be one. I can only prey that the developers and moders can take action and fix this thing. Here is some stuff to do that would vastly improve the game.
    At least on easy put the story missions for each fraction close to the players first base.
    Also on easy please mark where other base locations are, I spent half of my failed campaign flying form one side of the world to the other.
    Speed up weapons manufacturing.
    Fix the inventory, once I have a better weapon I don't ever want to look at the crappy version in manufacturing menu again!
    Speed up some of the animations, I stopped flying my heavy because I got tired of watching the cut scene.
    Don't make tech development directly tied to diplomacy and capturing enemies.

    I think the backers of this game are strong and the developers should have enough dirty money to polish it up. I can't wait to delete this negative review and replace it with a good one. Hopefully sooner than later. (Are epic exclusives just the new beta test?)    … Expand
  100. 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
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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.
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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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