Phantom Doctrine (Cold-War Squad-Based Tactics Game for PC)

[The Macho King]

Publishing + Investments for Games | Good Shepherd Entertainment

So it looks like the release for this is sometime in the "summer" - no fixed date yet. But damn it looks good.

They are letting streamers play what basically amounts to the tutorial missions + maybe one or two more from what I've seen - here's a YT stream of one.



The game is set during the Cold War. You pick whether you are CIA or KGB (and I think you can choose Mossad after one successful playthrough as either of the above) with different stories. The investigation board looks awesome, as does pretty much anything you can do in your safe house. It looks like the preferred playstyle is stealth, although you can go in guns blazing if you want.

It seems somewhat inspired by the XCOM remakes, with the two AP system and stuff like that, but seems different and (frankly) deeper in some respects. Instead of chance to hit, actions are deterministic with damage adjustments determined by the targets "awareness". So if you have LoS, you'll hit - but the damage can range depending on the opponent.

Anyway - it's a good indie game almost at release and I thought worthy of some attention.

Click to read more...

 

[Osprey]

It looks promising. I like the somewhat realistic graphics, for a change. They're not as stylized or as cartoony as most of the XCOM clones (and other isometric stealth games) do. A more realistic appearance also seems to suit a more realistic game. I love the Cold War setting, as well, since too many of these types of games are futuristic. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Publishing + Investments for Games | Good Shepherd Entertainment

So it looks like the release for this is sometime in the "summer" - no fixed date yet. But damn it looks good.

They are letting streamers play what basically amounts to the tutorial missions + maybe one or two more from what I've seen - here's a YT stream of one.



The game is set during the Cold War. You pick whether you are CIA or KGB (and I think you can choose Mossad after one successful playthrough as either of the above) with different stories. The investigation board looks awesome, as does pretty much anything you can do in your safe house. It looks like the preferred playstyle is stealth, although you can go in guns blazing if you want.

It seems somewhat inspired by the XCOM remakes, with the two AP system and stuff like that, but seems different and (frankly) deeper in some respects. Instead of chance to hit, actions are deterministic with damage adjustments determined by the targets "awareness". So if you have LoS, you'll hit - but the damage can range depending on the opponent.

Anyway - it's a good indie game almost at release and I thought worthy of some attention.

Is it an XCOM game? The YT title is: Phantom Doctrine - XCOM: Enemy Unseen

 

[SeidoN]

Is it an XCOM game? The YT title is: Phantom Doctrine - XCOM: Enemy Unseen

its not an XCOM game. just that style.

 

[The Macho King]

Is it an XCOM game? The YT title is: Phantom Doctrine - XCOM: Enemy Unseen

That was the title by the guy doing the LP.

 

[Osprey]

Is it an XCOM game? The YT title is: Phantom Doctrine - XCOM: Enemy Unseen

I was confused about that at first, too, but, no, it isn't. I think that that YouTuber was just trying to get hits by putting XCOM in the video title. Putting "XCOM clone" or "XCOM-like" would've been OK, but making up a fake, misleading name like that irks me.

 

[Bjorn Le]

Been following this for a bit and it looks awesome.

 

[The Macho King]

Story trailer. Maybe not the best "trailer" in the world, but since it's all in-game footage instead of cinematic shots, I give it a pass.

 

[Seedtype]

Looks cool, will be checking it out probably if it's gets good reviews.

 

[NyQuil]

I love X-Com games and this looks good.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

I'm in for sure

 

[The Macho King]

Apparently it will get a console release as well.

 

[The Macho King]

So launch day today. Damn my job.

 

[Commander Clueless]

Seems like a really cool game. I'll definitely keep my eye on this one.

The XCOM combat isn't my favourite (it's certainly not bad), but depending on how good the espionage stuff is, I may have to pick this up.

 

[The Macho King]

Seems like a really cool game. I'll definitely keep my eye on this one.

The XCOM combat isn't my favourite (it's certainly not bad), but depending on how good the espionage stuff is, I may have to pick this up.

I'm not a fan of the two action point system at all, but this seems to have a good stealth function + the overwatch system is pretty cool.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

So launch day today. Damn my job.

Good thing that Manafort trial didn't go all the way today

 

[Alex Jones]

Getting some mixed reviews, might be worth waiting for a couple patches to play it.

 

[The Macho King]

Getting some mixed reviews, might be worth waiting for a couple patches to play it.

Some of the mechanics are a bit disappointing. LOS was completely borked (since fixed). Some of the perks are overpowered to the point of trivializing the whole game.

Bones are great - should have done more playtesting though IMO. In general I'm not a fan of deterministic systems over RNG, but that's a design decision they made. Devs already released like three patches and another one is coming early next week that's supposed to fix a couple of other issues. This is one of those "give it a month and then play it" games rather than a day 1 purchase IMO.

 

[NyQuil]

I held off buying it for that reason.