Phoenix Point Review "Buy, Wait for Sale, Rent, Never Touch?"

[@ACGreviews]

MORNING! Thanks to all for watching. Spread the word, facebook it, twitter it, share it, whatever you can! FYI Gamepass and MS version is SUPPOSED to be day and date but hearing rumours they might be a bit delayed. Also if you want to check out the coolest damned discord and patreon ever come on by www.patreon.com/AngryCentaurGaming

[@bradhaines3142]

you should do reviews on games for the companies while theyre still in beta, maybe they'll stop being sent out half baked. love the way you look at things where you see a difference between unpolished or just bad.

[@BSMixi]

Game Pass made this decision easy, lol

[@shawn2993]

Your Prince 'When Doves Cry' quip was truly epic. Almost too evocative. LOL How you consistently come up with such clever turns of phrase I do not know (clearly, your verbal IQ is exceptional). Nice work as always.

[@Emily_Entropy]

I'm in the mood for an Xcom-a-like, but I've only got time for one. Phoenix Point or Mutant Year Zero?

[@BillClinton228]

Thank you for reviewing this. Seems like IGN and PC Gamer are not in a hurry to review this game.

[@samsonbishop8765]

I think the fact that they didn't try to shoehorn in a multiplayer mode in a clearly single player game is a positive, not a negative.

[@stevenmcsteven6693]

I dont know why ppl still care about some random clown review

[@buddycherrix4837]

Totally worth doing a second review after all DLCs and bug fixes.

[@IsAMank]

The lack of polish is painful, and I'm pretty sure I could come up with a better UI. Feels like a downgrade from XCOM 2.

[@clanechelon]

It's more of an indie title too. I'm expecting them to upgrade the game as they go. Most AAA title get rocky starts now days anyway (with the publisher pushing for an early release) and gets fixed after a few days/weeks.

[@The4xRED]

like they had the budget of xcom 2

[@grimthereaperz]

this game priced at AA game(40$)..but feels like Early access game instead (10-15$)..XCOM is priced at AAA(60$)

[@Jinx1349]

@@The4xRED Hmmm funny they were backed by epic who gave them milions so the could be exclusive on epic store, and the game lacks polish and is in some people's eye an downgrade from xcom 2. Now thats is odd, almost scammy.

[@ir6734]

@@The4xRED That's not my problem. I won't close my eyes when there comes an unpolished part of the game. Literally the only worthwile part of the game is the aiming system

[@PRuDislav]

So pretty much what i expected after last backer beta .... no way near ready for release , pushed forward for "eggsclusivity" . Waiting for steam release next year sounds about right

[@willthrizzal2647]

Yes or I'll wait for a console release it'll be a cold day in Hell before I put an epic game launcher on my PC

[@spacemonkeyentertainment6413]

​@Wire haired Dachshund You lost me at "racism". Cool if you like it, many people don't, partly due to their "exclusivity"-policies, that are objectively anti-consumer. But yeah, randomly insulting people with a different opinion works as well i guess...

[@MrBigturboweenie]

@Wire haired Dachshund Racism? Really? I love how this word gets thrown around like nothing these days.

[@hairtrigger8317]

@@willthrizzal2647 I downloaded Epic for the single purpose of taking the games they give out for free, I won't ever give them money but I will take free games. Got some decent free games so far.

[@meefstick]

@@hairtrigger8317 even if you pay nothing, your still supporting the anti consumer practices. Many are cool with that. I prefer to support those who support consumers as a priority. EGS exclusives are typically lower quality due to the gaurenteed income from exclusivity deals. Makes em not really care about how well it does, so why put as much effort into it? Welcome to "full release" alpha games

[@coreymilstein7407]

To EVERYONE thinking of buying this game: Definitely WAIT. WAIT WAIT WAIT. The features and potential and so good but there are so may different problems, some of which can literally force you to restart an entire campaign. Check out the reddit sub, wade through the overly-complainy posts, but most of them have a point. Rushed game. Wait for sale.

[@Juncboks]

Also, wait so you can not buy it on Epic. And di everything you can to never sorry Epic ever... at all.

[@karimkalache9034]

@@Juncboks Epic bad

[@CorwinTheOneAndOnly]

He had such a good concept going for him, but I think he was a tad too stuck on XCOM mechanics. A lot of it doesn't really fit with what we have here, it seems, or at least he didn't make it fit. I enjoy the hell out of the new aiming mechanic, but the lackluster map designs really don't capitalize on it at all.

[@wise3z]

wait until Microsoft finally release it ?

[@jadenquest9544]

Thank you for the heads up. I appreciate it👍

[@allansrensen1480]

I'm a early backer of this game and it's disappointing that the game still seems kinda unfinish. I'm hoping they'll "patch it up".

[@KopaczDziur]

I will buy it for 100 precenteges but i agree with you.

[@ralphwarom2514]

XD I'm pretty glad I came to the game 2 years a 6dlc later. Its was pretty solid for me. Not a single bug in sight. Had fun beginning to end.

[@bladechild2449]

Surely the whole point of taking Epic's money is to make the game the best it can be. The lack of polish is completely unacceptable

[@SaintSC05]

Unacceptable how?

[@jiado6893]

The designs themselves look pretty polished. Didn’t Enemy Unknown launch with bugs way back in the day?

[@ufuk5872]

@@jiado6893 also with Xcom 2 Run like a piece of pooper, but then come war of the chosen they fixed it, but it wasnt fix for the vanilla game, so you have to pay money to have it fix They gonna do the same thing to this game aswell, see the 3 expansion in the starting menu? Thats your fix.

[@knavenformed9436]

The point of taking Epic money was pure greed, they took the backer money, made the game with that, and thrn they said that they will gain more revenue even if they refunded every backer and took Epic money and the sales cut. It's just pure greed while spitting on fans.

[@ifofcourse]

@@knavenformed9436 Didn´t the main developer basically sleep on the floor because he couldn´t rly afford anything better anymore and thats why he took the epic deal? I´d do that aswell, especially if i have children.

[@hibanamain5709]

Looking at this game- it feels like they took the Epic money to not improve the game but to work on DLC before the game even comes out, it seems... really weird.

[@2killzore]

The first dlc is basic like extra items I belive..the 2nd tells a story of a lost civilisation underwater that encountered and presumably were destroyed by the virus..the 3rd is vehicle combat with giant pandora ships in the sky..I'm guessing the ships go wherever the virus spreads in the solar system/galaxy...its really cool but obviously ment to be part of the game already...the final 2 that make up the 5 dlc season pass will be the real dlc that I'm guessing hasn't been conceptualized yet else they would have show it as part of there advertising.

[@Ultimafatum]

I was excited and originally backed this game when it was announced on kickstarter. I got my money back as soon as they breached their promise of releasing the game on Steam and I'm pretty damn happy I did. This game needed another year of development, it just looks unfinished.

[@craigtrish2011]

Imagine caring what store you buy/play from xD still the same game. Stop being some pathetic white knight for steam.

[@bensosnowski1128]

Craig Robinson consumer freedom is important. Why would you not like choices?

[@Ultimafatum]

@@craigtrish2011 I spent money on this project expecting them to honour their promise that I'd get a Steam key for it. It was incredibly dishonest of them to say they would and then 180 a few months before release. Turns out the game was also released in a completely unfinished state for I'm perfectly fine having refunded it when I did. You can stop being bothered by how I chose to spend my own money tyvm.

[@bryan0x05]

@@bensosnowski1128 Well inshort they got an interest free loan, to develop a product to the point where the Epic Game store could look it and want it. Other kick starter games have done this and refused to refund backers. The Epic Game store is considered by a good number(myself included) subpar, with the lack of features and so on and we decide not to support as per our choice. I don't mind things like GOG, Steam, hell even the mircosoft with that game pass. However, epic, go can screw themselves, for this exclusivity stuff to force people into user a barely working platform(case and point: Borderlands 3).

[@simplygreen5832]

Backed it, still waiting on my GoG key before playing it. Est, Dec 2020.

[@Marquis_de_Nah]

This was totally suppose to be X:Com Terror from the Deep remake

[@StormkeeperPU]

That's true, especially considering the XCOM rebooted series didn't go underwater... Nor does this from what I gather, but it's closer to a modern version of Terror than any of its contemporaries!

[@StormkeeperPU]

@Theophilus the homeless I wasn't aware of that.... I need to probably play through the games without streaming or doing Let's Plays of them, so I can get a better feel for the games and be more confident with them whilst playing it where the masses can potentially see!

[@fekicamekicafekicamekica6813]

@@StormkeeperPU what masses ? you got 30subs. i mean, why would you do a let's play or stream it when nobody would watch it. what i'm saying is, don't waste your time. plus, everyone's already seen the ending. all the best.

[@StormkeeperPU]

@@fekicamekicafekicamekica6813 I did say "potentially", and also, I'm not really working on KZbin or content creation right now anyway, plus maybe I have a larger audience elsewhere? Either way, just because no one is watching now, it doesn't mean that they won't watch it later, plus like I said, I need the practice for when the camera is rolling, or stream is running... If I do nothing, then my audience will always be zero! It's not a waste of time if you're getting something out of it all the same, but to end on a pleasant note... All the best to you too.

[@rudesthazard5769]

More like Apoc, mechanically.

[@kritan84]

Just bought this to my wife as her early Christmas gift, she is all giddy and can't wait to get home from work to play it in a few minutes. She's an avid xcom fan and been waiting for this ever since I told her it exist, am looking forward see what it is all about.

[@Overqualified1]

Someone's getting some good nerd lovin tonight.

[@StubbornFunkyDonkey]

Kudos to your wife.

[@Spiritcr1jsher]

Kudos to your right hand...

[@squirrelattackspidy]

Original X-Com was better than this game.

[@grimthereaperz]

how is it? i just bought the game,and played 5 hours of it and it's just..bad.. compared to xcom series from fireaxis

[@Mugenmush]

"What if Finding Nemo was a hard R?" hahaha. Love ya Karak.

[@superscott597]

Mugenmush that whole bit had me in stitches.

[@ECSizemore]

And R stood for Revenge !

[@doomsdayng]

XCOM: The Bureau was great. Sub-par but serviceable gameplay, decent story and characters, excellent atmosphere and music that elevates the whole experience. People shit all over it, but I think it really held up.

[@mattiasheden8596]

I can't agree more. It's a really solid game.

[@Mintcar923]

The Bureau should be a sub series spinoff to it.. I’d like to see a reboot.. Kinda feels like XCom for Mass Effect fans👍

[@NZBigfoot]

Holy shit that base building UI... wasnt watching, looked up and saw it and I honestly thought i was looking at a cosmetics ingame store or something. What a mess.

[@AurioDK]

Completely agree, I was a bit disappointed with that, it´s not a screen you spend a lot of time on though so it doesn´t really bother me. It´s just there and serves it´s purpose.

[@willworkforfood7028]

@@AurioDK IRC the base is more than just a pretty layout. Each tile also as combat map tile. Your bases will eventually get attacked, so you will be fighting across the base you built.

[@AurioDK]

@@willworkforfood7028 Havn´t gotten that far, so I need to keep soldiers in my bases at all times?

[@willworkforfood7028]

@@AurioDK I haven't confirmed this personally but it does seem to be the case. Base attacks was featured in earlier beta builds.

[@Jamie-oo4eg]

Building up the base in xcom and xcom 2 was my favourite part of the game, hearing this is dissapointing.

[@nocturnowl_0100]

Final verdict: @ 20:30

[@Dermetsu]

The Kotaku and Polygon reviews didn't mention even a third of all this, that's why we come to you ACG!

[@HillHomeGaming]

Well gaming "urnalists" like work at Kotaku and Polygon are shills and write shitty tripe soooo.....

[@AEGISDEFENSE]

Wow the base building is a huge let down. Man XCOM 1 and 2 had the best where layout mattered for alien counter invasions.

[@saggi201]

The layout does matter

[@andersask5503]

Man, ur the Yt. reviewer with integrity. I just love ur reviews... No bullshit, just straight up info. And you also include sound, that nobody does anymore... So good with no ads and integrity. Big up from Norway ( sorry for my sub par English) keep it up

[@viridianloom]

I'm patient enough to wait for it to come out on Steam.

[@StormkeeperPU]

I backed it, and have mixed feelings about the game, but I'm otherwise waiting for my Steam code as well... Only another year to go, supposedly.

[@moonasha]

yep and by the time it does it will be more polished or have dlc. In the meantime i'll just play long war of the chosen (xcom2)

[@IIMANIXII]

just download it free now - it's up.

[@specterboy98]

@@IIMANIXII what whats free

[@SuperThest]

@@specterboy98 I think he's refering to game pass

[@gronkdamage]

Thank you for including that it's included on GamePass! (And personally, I'm one of those people that they pissed off with the Epic exclusivity - I'm really irritated with this; but still wanted to play it.)

[@elwismorgan1230]

That's my main use for gamepass, The Outer Worlds is the same situation.

[@drnovikov]

Never touch anything from devs who scammed their backers!

[@ECSizemore]

drNovikov didnt they refund them?

[@JoelGonzalez-oe9ct]

@@ECSizemore Yep, 100% Also... I know Julian Gollop was instrumental for Xcom, so I'll give him a chance

[@anghbalahr2971]

@@JoelGonzalez-oe9ct That's what the backers were saying: until they got scammed.

[@Juncboks]

@@ECSizemore they refunded them with a "take your pennies back peasant, I've got plenty of cash now, f** off".

[@robincray116]

@@anghbalahr2971 Where you a backer? I was a backer and didn't really care about the epic deal. So you can count me out of that statement.

[@AbbreviatedReviews]

Julian Gollop invents X-COM and then conveniently makes 80% of the same mechanical advancements Firaxis did to make XCOM. Mission Accomplished.

[@requited2568]

The problem is so far every copy has removed features from the original and while enjoyable they are not what they could have been.

[@DirkLarien]

Totally It seems like he just want to cash in on pop trend. If i close my eyes slightly all i see is firaxis remake again. It was a good game sure, but is it necessary to make yet another almost same game ? Even the UI looks same.

[@Grandmastergav86]

But the series devolved 😭

[@OmkaraHellcore]

Have you considered the possibility that Phoenix Point is a glorified testing game for new Xcom 3 mechanics? Just a thought.

[@Zealolicious]

Got the Year 1 edition. Honestly impressed with how much the mechanics add that Xcom lacks. Haven’t encountered too many bugs but they need to add a carry mechanic for your troops in case of paralysis

[@cyruslupercal9493]

Only get it if it gets put on an actual game store.

[@randallporter1404]

Like Steam? I wouldn't do GameStop. Regardless it will undoubtedly be digital, so, gonna wait for it on Steam.

[@allmight9840]

Steam or Gog please. Besides it needs polish and will be fun in a year

[@Wolfsheim23]

Yea sure lets all bow to the monopoly like good little sheep. Zero Respect

[@Thongger]

I hate how doors automatically open when your characters stand next to them

[@darron13]

Is it weird that I kinda liked The Bureau? XD It wasn't like set the world on fire amazing or anything, but it was fun for what it was

[@metal0n0v]

Remember how the dev majorly screwed the backers? I remember.

[@SaintSC05]

I don't remember.

[@reptilez13]

Yeah but they gave refunds for those who wanted them and would have screwed the people who work there if they didn't take the deal that epic offered them plus it's on Xbox game pass for PC

[@willworkforfood7028]

I don't care. I was a backer.

[@Ajc-ni3xn]

I was a backer and forgot about this game for a bit, what happened?

[@OmkaraHellcore]

I member

[@IRMentat]

I still like the original idea behind the bureau. Then the devs back peddled from an interesting concept (kinda risk of rain level scaling to fund a war machine with relics/resources/shinies that operates in a persistent manner in one front of a larger conflict). Instead we hit a crappy turn-ish based third person shooter with terrible AI, gameplay and visuals. The early trailer wasn’t Xcom but thats partly why I liked it. It looked like a sister series where you were fighting a different faction in an earlier point in the timeline.

[@RevanBartus]

The game that went Epic exclusive and I had to refund my kickstarter copy.

[@Redridge07]

@RevanBartus …. growup!!

[@Xport9]

@@Redridge07 That's a retarded response. Honestly. You purchase a product, in a platform of your choice, as it was promised. This is pretty prevalent in their marketing. Then, of course, they had the audacity to bait and switch by going Epic Games exclusive. It's about how you taunt your business. If anything, you're the one that needs to grow up.

[@tony3003001]

Redridge07 lol trump attitude won’t work here considering steam has more competitive capabilities than epic but hey try to pull another huawei bullshit when you can’t win as Cisco is less competitive than huawei on telecommunication infrastructure

[@danneltheflannel]

Idk why people think Epic is any worse than Valve, apparently to you its better spending time to wade through hundreds of garbo shovelware games to find something decent.

[@sairassiili]

@@danneltheflannel Oh but lately steam has been sensoring its markeplace. Of games commenting on hong kong.

[@MrMattyPlays]

Excellent work as always, brother.

[@Saurischian]

Nice to see you two have each other's respect. Wish the best for both of you.

[@stomynagari7963]

Holy shit is this a cross over episode?

[@mixedbusiness1]

It looks like a neat concept, especially the story. I'll definitely check it out. Thanks ACG! Love your reviews man.

[@centurosproductions8827]

Full bullet modeling is how you know Julian Gollop made this game.

[@andrzejsugier]

Goddamn, the interface looks SO MUCH like X-com. I'm still hyped, but they didn't really try to come up with their own GUI, it's IDENTICAL.

[@cw8]

He literally invented and made the original X-Com in the early 90s. But still sour he betrayed us backers for Epic.

[@chrisb364]

I do wish more of these games (tactical squad turn based strategy games specifically) did allow you to at least aim more with your characters. I remember playing Valkyria Chronicles years ago and thinking "man, I really wish more of these games similar to this and XCOM had this mechanic"

[@ulrichvonhermann2548]

Battle Brothers?

[@eiadtarabulsi]

The Xcom series has resulted in a popularity when it comes to this style of turn based games with titles such as, Hard West, Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden and now Phoenix Point. Having said that, Phoenix Point definitely looks interesting and intriguing and I would love to buy it at some point. I really like the story, setting and atmosphere. Otherwise, thanks once again Karak for another detailed and honest review. I really appreciate the hard work. Keep it up!

[@viridianloom]

Shadowrun too

[@PKDionysus]

00:50-1:00 reminded just why I love Karak's reviews so damn much! 😭😭😭😭😭😂😂😂😂😂 "BANG BANG BANG!!!!"

[@VirtualRealityOasis]

Excellent review as always! Really appreciate your content mate []-)

[@LordChaos2010]

Sadly this game just made me want to play Xcom 2 more. This is like a far cheaper version of Xcom. Gameplay is meh. Overall just a lesser product.

[@Vasharan]

XCOM2 or X-COM2:TFTD? Because I loved both, but I have a secret crush for TFTD and return to it every few years. I even thought Apocalypse was... okay, I guess? A little weird and klunky, but okay. Not touching Phoenix Point after they screwed backers, but fortunately we've had a turn-based renaissance since Firaxis rebooted XCOM.

[@bd06m0030]

@@Vasharan How did they screw the backers exactly? They were refunded if they didn't want the epic games copy. Otherwise they get an epic games key and a steam one when the game is released on steam. Plus all the backers get the DLCs.

[@MrODST57]

@@bd06m0030 so they used their backers as a interest free loan ie they took advantage of their customer base

[@jeiko111]

Exactly.

[@kierendefence]

@@bd06m0030 because it was a bait and switch, originally advertised that it will be on steam only to be like "lol jokes it's actually gonna be on steam after 12 months, now you have to play it on epic". many backers like myself wouldve backed the game assuming they'd be playing it on steam on release only for that to not be the case. we were lied to and used so that they could secure funding from a party like epic so that refunding us didn't have any meaningful financial impact on them

[@samsonmiller4922]

Just wanted to say thank you for your continued work in a space were it's so hard to find honest opinions. Thank you.

[@bakasoraa]

Buy, rent, wait for sale, or never touch? I'd say wait for steam release. If it doesn't come then never touch.

[@sairassiili]

What exactly that has to do with the qualities of the game itself?

[@fenbops]

Man I was hoping for a more traditional type of X-Com game. This looks ok but Enemy Unknown is in my top 5 games of all time and this looks too watered down like the recent X-Com games. Remember dropping into a terror zone with 10+ soldiers and blowing up half a city, this doesn’t look like it scratches that itch.

[@beady123]

same here we don’t need more dumbed down versions - give us more complexity not less

[@robertdukarm2578]

I actually beat xcom (enemy within) on Iron Man mode in the next-to-hardest difficulty. That's how much I liked that game.

[@fenbops]

Robert Dukarm they’re not bad games at all but the original is superior imo.

[@fenbops]

Beady 00 at this point in time I’d just take a HD release of the original untouched. Even the graphics now have a certain charm to them and the gameplay still holds up today. A true classic.

[@Jasta85]

Woohoo, didn't know if this game would get an ACG review or not, so happy it is.

[@rinku5555555]

Honestly I don’t wanna support this game dev for betraying their own banker.

[@jothain]

I dunno. I was expecting a lot from this title when I initially heard about it and what it was going to be. Now this looks way too much like xcom to me. I'm more interested in Xenonauts 2 even though it's going to offer pretty much same as before. But it did it well..

[@AEGISDEFENSE]

jothain xenonauts 1 was awesome. I agree with you here.

[@BillClinton228]

I have loved X-Com since the first game but this is not as engaging as the X-Com series. I pre-ordered this game in June this year and am very dissapointed of how it turned out, I played it for some time and never felt like I was invested in the story or the gameplay. Besides the graphics leave alot to be desired, there are indie games out right now that were made for a lot less money that look much better than this and yes gfx isn't everything but like I said, the gameplay isnt much either. I never felt challenged strategically and never feared for my soldiers lives, it was just meh. I dont think I'll back another video game project like this again.

[@kmeanxneth]

Phoenix Point is intended to be a spiritual successor to the original X-COM in 1994. both created by Julian Gollop

[@jothain]

@@kmeanxneth Indeed, I know. That's the reason I'm bit disappointed and I love Xenonauts so much as it's very faithful to original Enemy Unknown. This looks almost carbon copy of newer X-Com games. They're ok and believe me I've completed them all. But these newer ones just feel bit shallow. I would've hoped that Xenonauts 2 would've copied base game mechanics from Apocalypse where original TU system was in place and but it was possible to switch to real-time combat too. It was very close to idea solution imo. It was especially good when trying to find that last hidden enemy. At one point Xenonauts 2 I think was going to implement something like this, but afaik it has been ditched because lack of time and resources. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I haven't looked too much into it as I don't want to spoil game before getting it.

[@hyosunggt125rcomet]

Pros: 1. Can be fun at times. Cons: 1. There is no clear objective to the storyline, not sure how to progress. 2. Base is attacked daily (Repetitive and very boring) 3. Lairs are near impossible by the 3rd one 4. You could spend a day just doing a day on this game due to amount of attacks on alliance groups that fight each other more than the real enemy 5.Terrain is difficult at times to understand what is cover Bugs: 1. when using grendes or rockets you have to keep mouse still when you click on action or it will double click and fire next to you 2. Certain actions result in the current selected solider to become deselected

[@ChrisBires]

It's on GamePass? Time to resubscribe...

[@nevermore_howl1638]

Same here, I was planning to for Halo Reach but this is something worth playing too.

[@izorion6443]

Great news, but i'm not seeing it yet.

[@facehugger8995]

I don't see it in gamepass for pc

[@nevermore_howl1638]

@@facehugger8995 Apparently it's on gamepass Q1 2020 from what I could gather.

[@nevermore_howl1638]

I could still be wrong though, that may be the Xbox one & PS4 release dates.

[@AlexMoscow9mmpr]

Welcome back Karak. We missed ya!

[@CastledCard]

The tactical level gameplay looks like an overhaul mod for Xcom 2

[@BlackWipeout]

Maybe in 1 year (when it arrives on Steam), this game can be better if the developer adds stuff ;) Now, it just makes me want to replay XCOM 2

[@XxLegionPLxX]

true

[@VIPMVPanyquestions]

Didn't know this was on gamepass. Suck it Epic.

[@LukeVanja]

TB would love this game.

[@jake38ful]

God rest his soul

[@JorgeGarcia-lr3vk]

Rip TB

[@andrewj8520]

Considering they screwed their backers and anyone else who values human rights (such as TB) by taking the Tencent handout, he'd probably be condemning it. Also RIP TB.

[@andrewj8520]

@joseaca paying for or profiting from one is the same as supporting the other

[@svendays]

I'm almost positive TB would boycott this game simply on principle alone. The developer pulled a total bait-and-switch with their kickstarter shenanigans. He probably would talk about how much he wanted to play it, but he simply couldn't and it sucks (that he can't play it).

[@MINERAL-115]

Holy crap. It really is a UFO:Aftershock remake. The early geoscape stuff I saw suggested it was heavily influenced by UFO:A (itself inspired by the original X-Com), but I didn't expect it to be quite so 'on the nose'; the soldier levelling, faction concept, resources and majority of the geoscape portion of the game (including the spread of a hostile environmental hazard; mist in this, Biomass in UFO:AM) are all lifted almost 1:1 from the first two UFO games. I love that Phoenix Point is effectively a "mash-up" - the shooting mechanics from Valkyria Chronicles are very welcome here - but honestly was expecting something more; pretty much every element of the game can be attributed to being a slightly modified version of a mechanic from another game in this genre. Hopefully the DLCs will add some unique elements. At least they've got a year to get it developed and fix the dodgy low resolution textures and placeholder flyover text; it's very clear this has been released as a 'public beta' to come out in for the holidays - I'll be treating the steam release as "v1.0", personally.

[@Favriscius]

"A little bit like an evil clam chowder" - I'm sold.

[@Nefilum]

Aren't all clam chowder evil?

[@carpetclimber4027]

The research looks boring and the base building so basic.

[@GriffinKneesock]

It’s no different from any other XCOM game,

[@Malaclypse_the_Third]

@@GriffinKneesock I disagree, the interface in particular isn't great.

[@Dr.Strangelewd]

UI/HUD in the game is atrocious, reminds me of cheap mobile games.

[@reptilez13]

What has in your opinion a better HUD or UI? Just wondering what part of the aesthetic people dont like so much

[@willdall4]

i don't really see how they could do much better with that though, it has all the information you need when it comes to the tactical gameplay; abilities, characters, items, objectives etc. its just a product of the genre

[@lamezorlord]

@@willdall4 Its way too busy and has too much information with layers on layers of info boxes. If you design a game with mechanics that require that many UI elements, especially when you cant fit them all in adequately or easily on screen, then youve failed at something in the process. Lets compare this with the closest "cometition" being xcom 2. UI in that is simple and smooth. Easy to navigate and easy to remember. You had everyhing you needed at a glance. Ammo, turn count, combat options visibility and hit chances. When you zoom to attack an enemy, UI changed to show more details on the specific enemy. Further info like status effects could be opened when needed. Here, its all on screen. For example: why have all the units with portraits and moves left on the UI (especially when targetting). Its irrelevant and can as easily deliver the needed info with a "4/7" for the units still available in its spot. At a glance, I cant tell what is going on there and why some shots seem to hit and some miss, without hit chances being shown (or what passes for them in the game mechanics). Same with the map mode etc. Too much clutter, not enough defined distinction between each bit. So I would challenge the notion that its a product of the genre. Its a product of overdesign.

[@johnharder2925]

I appreciate your Ableton reference. Cheers, Karak.

[@TheBlueDeath123]

Quite glad I did not hop on the early access wagon. While I like XCOM a lot, it is a rare blend of humor, balance, challenge, fairness and great implementation.

[@aerohydra3849]

Hmm it sounds really intriguing as a fan of XCOM and tactical games like that, and the story looks really unique as well. Unfortunately there is a lack of polish so I maybe will wait for some more updates. But I think if they get the game up to snuff, I'll definitely enjoy it.

[@nathanielmcneal5835]

Ahhh it was the excitement 12 min in and the calm is in.

[@sortedevaras]

Might pick this up when it releases on PC next year.

[@bluevenom50]

I canny wait till this comes out on consoles. Love this genre

[@heroicgoo915]

@ 5:55 "...wade into the sea & FQ a bunch o crabs....!" Absolutely CLASSIC line!!!!!

[@PedroSouza-hm6wj]

One thing i wish reviewers do is use hawrdware that is more common, go to the steam hardware survey and check out the the GPUs and processors that are more popular, and include in the review the performance on those hardwares, i mean, it's no use knowing if the game is good if you can't run it on the first place, and not everybody has a 2080 ti and a 9900k.

[@vHiddenAce]

Why don't you just look at the game's minimum requirements and recommended specs?

[@PedroSouza-hm6wj]

​@@vHiddenAce have you ever seen a game where the minimum and recomended specs are a good indication of how well the game will run?

[@AnaxofRhodes]

Why do XCOM games and Phoenix Point all have really, REALLY slow and clunky processing? I'd really appreciate some faster load times between turns and don't have a clue as to why it's not possible or prioritized in these games.

[@Spinnekk]

Interesting timing with this... I just bought the XCOM 2 Collection yesterday. I might have to check this out someday.

[@cord113]

Second time watching this vid as I've been thinking about picking this up for a while now. Just saw that the Complete Edition is in a GOG sale at the moment, so I'll at least add it to my collection. Thanks for the review. :)

[@michaelsedzikowski3669]

I use Phoenix Point OST as a lullaby. It works.

[@kurgo_]

That Nick Young bit was gold

[@gloo1630]

It really does seem kind of unfinished, even for $40. Hopefully a ton of patches come out to fix it

[@Buckdodgers]

EXCELLENT REVIEW!!! I love the cut of your jib and your commentary style!!! You just got a new sub!!!

[@mellyell]

Finding out that ACG did a review on a game you were interested in... Priceless. Welp maybe not priceless but definitely awesome!!

[@devBadgerJ]

Dude I'm pissed, KZbin keeps setting things away from "All' notifications. I almost missed this. Wasn't even on my main page. Had to scroll through subscriptions.

[@Carsickness86]

Will work great as an xcloud game. Latency doesn’t matter on turn based games!

[@Mad77max77]

Let's wait for a Black Friday sale, it'd be great !

[@DocDoesGamingTV]

I'd really like this on Switch or something, playing strategy games in bed is my niche

[@ufuk5872]

Oh no this game will run 20fps on the switch and set it on fire. The optimization is awful

[@adamfrazer5150]

I've arranged to send my original X-Com manual over to Julian for an autograph - waiting for covid to stop its madness first 😤

[@RoboBreaker]

Imaginary nothingburger, nothing happened

[@VashGames]

Welcome to the fight. We nicknamed the virus "Filth" and us of the secret world have been fighting them for ages. XD. Beware the siren song!

[@Bandoolero]

if it wasn't made by that OG guy, this would be called just an XCOM clone xD

[@stefan1360]

@@nilsingvar7319 just because someone made the first game doesn't necessarily mean they will always make a better thing that those after then. Xcom 2 still looks miles better than this.

[@Zeoran]

It's worth watching these just for the humor & analogies alone.

[@Art0r1a]

Is 4K, 60 FPS with a mix of High and Low really what we should expect with a 2080 Ti? Maybe it's just me, but that seems a little silly

[@dushikorsou1]

Well xcom 2 was really heavy on launch it just ain't a great engine.

[@Art0r1a]

@@dushikorsou1 Not my point. Do we really say that a game's performance is good if a 2080 Ti - the most expensive video card - can run it at 60 FPS? That's just plain dumb. So if the most expensive card can run it, then the performance is good and we don't care about 90% of the people who have cheaper cards?

[@milkapeismilky5464]

" the less children thrown into the sun trying to atone" I literally spit apple cider all over the wall

[@joshgarcia4859]

Cadiz Hinterthumperbrow. Best trooper name ever! 20:18

[@johncoursey2582]

Did you ever play Silent Storm? It's a little older but the bullet physics are excellent. It's a WW2 setting with some science fiction as the story progresses. If your character in a house is downstairs and hears enemies upstairs, you can have characters outside just unload in the general direction of the enemies. Bullets will realistically pass through most walls, and you can clear whole buildings without making visual contact with the enemy.

[@Wolfsheim23]

competition is always good, if it wasn't for EPIC we'd still be limited on Steam to only one family member being allowed to play a game at one time. I HATED having to take turns letting my wife play Divinity OS2 even though she had her own PC. It forced one of us to play at a time.

[@TheMalarz1989]

Thanks for the review! I am looking forward to play this game ;)

[@taomahNEGEV]

Finally, the One Year Edition has been polished up.

[@dushikorsou1]

If you said this was just a xcom 2 mod i would believe you....

[@deadraque]

Oh epic exclusive.... not gone happen! Guess it's gone be a free one then!

[@Sixfootdig]

Do you know what exclusive means?

[@deadraque]

@@Sixfootdig You know very well what we are talking about even if the wording doesn't suit your arrogance! You want to be duped, be my guest! Hoodlum made it a little less EXCLUSIVE!

[@Sixfootdig]

@@deadraque dumb shit, assholes like you just need an excuse to pirate. Also, im not arrogant, its not my fault you don't know what exclusive means.

[@nexarath]

Wow, they straight up nicked that "humans going into the water and coming back out as mutant zombie crab hybrids" bit out of The Secret World.

[@vorben7826]

i mean, you think that was the first thing to do human alien, hybrids?

[@ACGreviews]

Man Secret World is amazing

[@nexarath]

@@ACGreviews Yeah man, fantastic game. Too bad it takes Funcom an age to come out with new content, and frankly everything past Tokyo kinda sucked :/ @Vorben No, of course not. But explicitly using the Cthulu-esque bit of sea creatures luring humans out to sea with the tide just for them to later mutate and be used as incubators or enforcers in their army is literally straight up out of SW from memory. Still, it's a cool twist on the standard Pied Piper trope as ACG said, so all good here. BTW, thanks ACG, this game would have totally flown under my radar, somehow never caught wind of it before I saw this review!

[@MaxGideonActor]

Read The Shadow Out of Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft, 1930s. Plus bunch of others with related themes. And he got inspiration from the writers of earlier works, and so on... ...

[@nexarath]

@@MaxGideonActor I know man, they did say at Funcom that they borrowed heavily from both Poe and Lovecraft for their first few areas in the game. Just saying, in videogame terms, that was the first such concept I could find and it seems to be present here as well in that exact form.

[@TimtheWinzard]

Thank you, Tim Sweeney. I appreciate you purchasing this game for me.

[@michaelcoffey1991]

[@ACGreviews]

thanks

[@wulf2863]

It's on gamepass dude

[@uhurunuru6609]

Fuck Sub services, I prefer to go with Epic (it's DRM free, unless devs add DRM) to MS stores UWP games, and renting them is even worse. As someone that doesn't give a damn what the store clients "Features", are like, DRM free means I don't need to use it, after downloading.. If it wasn't for their exclusive policy, epic would be my 2nd choice, after GOG, where due to GOG's offline installers, I don't even need to install GOG Galaxy, to get the games. I wouldn't use a sub service, (or worse streaming), if they paid me, I mod all my games, and replay them for years. I already own all the old games I wanted.

[@miamivicemastermixer]

Awesome review dude, although a couple of times you were going for elaborate metaphors that made it really difficult for me to understand what you were trying to say

[@carllazarraga2858]

ACG= Best reviewer in the world

[@nopoint2427]

Just play Xenonauts or wait for its sequel, fair superior game and its Devs don't screw its backers.

[@wesleybrehm9386]

Most important question about sound. Does Honest Trailers voice guy, Jon Bailey, return to voice anyone? * crosses fingers

[@ajw5388]

I’m intrigued.....don’t have game pass so probably will wait for a sale, but I could you more X-COM in my life and this looks like just the thing to hold me over.

[@raidermaxx2324]

just torrent it, and then if you like it, buy it when you have $$.. thats how you should purchase all your games, especially in this era of triple A fuckery on most releases...

[@bagginbrooks6573]

Hey Karak excellent review didn't even know about this game and will check it out on the games pass. I would like to ask a request in your PC reviews. Would it be possible for you to include any 21:9 (ultrawide) support for the games. I really hate the black bars on the side and it'd be cool if you were a one stop shop and brought up if it is supported or not. Thanks.

[@ACGreviews]

I try sadly many games dont show it as an option unless you have it hooked up. But I will keep trying

[@bagginbrooks6573]

@@ACGreviews I appreciate you for trying. In 2019 all games should support 21:9, but you'd surprised how many don't. It's like a gamble every time I buy a game if it's actually supported. Some games will have the 3440x1440 resolution as an option, but it will still have the black bars and for me it's basically an instant return.

[@DigitalFulcrum]

Your characters in this game miss way more than they do in Xcom as well. Also the upgrades seem very insignificant, you won't get more powerful weapons while the enemy grows armor over their body parts.

[@tunnar79]

You get AP or shredding weaponry which ignores some or all the armor....but you do have to get in bed with at least one of the factions to access their research of said weapons.

[@krops2331]

I liked the bureau.