Industry veteran Julian Gollop, tired of constant restrictions and publishing control, in 2013 founded the studio Snapshot games in sunny Bulgaria, where I tried to create a new one with donations from fans X-COM. Three years of work were not in vain, and Phoenix point turned out to be one of the most interesting tactical games of last year, with a number of unexpected decisions.
The game takes place in 2047, when, after a global environmental disaster, the glaciers melted that released the ancient Pandora virus. In contact with animals and people, he turns them into aggressive mutants, and the red fog emitted by altered microorganisms gradually captures new islands of land. At some point, the authors even connect history with the Lovecraft universe.
Survivor groups are united in clans, and world governments recall a secret project of the 20th century called Phoenix. You, as the leader of a revived organization, are trying to unite a handful of survivors and save humanity from extermination.
The plot of the game worked Allen Stroud, known across the worlds Elite: Dangerous, and screenwriter Talos principle Jonas Kiratzes, so there is no doubt about the quality of the story.
As in the classic X-COM, you control from the command center with a global globe-world map, on which pockets of tension are visible. Using your advanced ship, you move between points of interest, explore the area and help numerous factions, fight back the enemy or get resources.
The game provides a tactical pause, which allows you to think about your next steps, it is better to study the map and choose the next point for research.
In the left part of the menu are the current plot tasks, side missions and tasks of the fractions, of which there are only three in the game. Members of the New Jericho place technology and the survival of mankind above all else. The ministers of Anu worship some strange deity and believe that only a mutation of humanity can survive in the new world. Therefore, they use terrible mutations on themselves. The third faction is the Sanhedrin, which dreams of building a new humanity with very unexpected methods in a world with pandorans.
Performing tasks for allies, you get their approval and loyalty, which gives you access to their technical branches and soldiers. However, instead of friendship, you can always steal their technology by attacking bases or by reverse engineering the weapons found on the battlefield.
The game gives you the freedom to choose allies, but to maintain neutrality will not work. At some point in the playing time, the factions will declare war on each other and will have to support one of the parties, otherwise you will have to resist the invasion of the pandoranes alone. Naturally, random events with a choice of side will also change the balance of power.
