Phantom Doctrine
XCOM-ESQUE TACTICS IN A COLD WAR SKIN
THE PROSPECT OF a tactical RPG in the vein of XCOM, set during the Cold War, pitting shadowy CIA and KGB agents against one another, is very appealing indeed. In many ways, PhantomDoctrine lives up to its promise. Once you’ve selected whether you’re rooting for the Americans or the Soviets, the game doesn’t hesitate before lathering layer-upon-layer of tactical depth, both in its sprawling noir-hued maps, and inside the base where all objectives are ladled out and where loadouts are handled.
For genre diehards, it’s a no-brainer. What it lacks in Firaxis-brand polish, it more than makes up for with atmosphere and new approaches to the genre. Rather than creating a simple CIA-versus-the-KGB storyline, studio CreativeForge has pitted both sides of the Cold War conflict against a shadowy organisation called The Beholder Initiative. While a lot of the familiar tactical play is about infiltration and information gathering, the macro, base-oriented portion of the game resembles a slow-paced management sim, where you’ll send agents all over the world in order to spy upon or otherwise contend with the shadowy Beholder group.
XCOM2 had its fair share of supplementary, base-centric gameplay: Phantom Doctrine doubles down. If you’re after a pure tactical game, one that presents a series of maps and objectives to complete linearly, you might become frustrated with this game’s ever-increasing demand that you micro-manage every aspect of your game. But it’s in keeping with the power fantasy of espionage; after all, this wasn’t a game made for anyone with less than a hundred percent dedication to it.
That doesn’t mean genre veterans are likely to find it especially challenging: the missions do become repetitive, and rarely is there an encounter that feels especially unique. This isn’t a watercooler game, but it is an impressively engrossing first outing for an ambitious independent developer. As a side note: we reviewed this on PS4, and for a tactical, PC-centric title, it made the jump to console surprisingly well. A note to all console developers, though: allow the user to increase font size!