Phoenix Point: Behemoth Edition | PS4 Review

What do aliens and disfigured human crab monsters have in common besides trying to take over the world? Gosh you’re smart, yup it’s Julian Gollop. While the name might not ring a bell, he is known as “the man who gave birth to X-Com.” Working on games for over 30 years, he has started and led several companies and made even more games. Phoenix Point is the most recent project of his. Since being released in December of 2019, the game has seen great reviews from fans, an anniversary release with pushes to consoles, and several DLCs. Needless to say, this game is doing well for itself as it hits and exceeds many marks players want out of a game like this. Being a fan of X-Com, I can’t wait to see how this game evolves over time. So, let us get to the point.

X-COM’S Little Brother

In the not so distant future global warming has melted the polar caps, rereleasing an alien virus into the earth’s oceans. After dominating the sea life and evolving into horrific creatures, they set their sights on land and all of the people living there. You play as The Phoenix Project, Earth’s underfunded defenders. Having to rebuild your organization from the ground up after years of peace left it unneeded and neglected. This game runs very similarly to X-Com with world views, managing teams, research, and factories. Also like X-Com, Phoenix Point pushes you to do more as time progresses until ultimately a final showdown takes place. The game progresses as time passes, but seems to get even harder as certain missions become completed. I took my time on a few different playthroughs to try out different things and while I found out what I like to do, it made it clear that you don’t need to follow the same path every time to win or lose. 

It’s A Whole New World

I could be completely wrong on this, but X-Com always felt as if I was babysitting countries while juggling teams to complete missions just so I could continue babysitting. This isn’t going to be everyone’s take on the game and it doesn’t seem to be Phoenix Point’s game plan either. A huge part of the game is the protection of the human race, but not protecting humans doesn’t seem to have a drastically negative effect as it does in previous games. The world is not split into countries, rather it is very different factions that live all around the world in scattered cities. These factions are valued assets that allow you to trade for resources and collect recruits for your teams.

You can build your reputation not only with the factions, but with the cities themselves. While getting cities to like you will help with subtle things, getting a faction to support you will open new avenues in research allowing you to make new weapons and armor. Each city has different facilities, resources, and population count. They also have standing armies that defend the cities from foreign invaders. These facts allow you to pick and choose which cities and factions you want to support. Maybe two cities are being attacked at the same time. Maybe you like one city more than the other so you help who you like. Maybe these two cities are part of two different factions, but can defend themselves so you choose not to get involved to keep your reputation good with both. It’s up to you who to help or hurt when you see fit.

Crab Battle

Like something straight out of a horror film, The Pandorians are a mix of creature and human. Having the power to assimilate different animals into one monstrosity gives these enemies a continuing edge against your forces. Animals are not the only thing the new threat uses. These creatures are able to meld metal and flesh together to allow them to carry different weapons into battle. To combat these threats you are given an arsenal of different weapons, troops, and abilities. Some weapons and armor need to be researched, while others need a good standing with certain factions. Troops are about the same as weapons, starting off with basic classes and unlocking more as you reach the needed levels in the factions. Each class has their own set of abilities that are able to be used after your troops level up. At a certain point, you can give one soldier two classes to help diversify their weapons, armor, and abilities. The main enemy in the fight for earth are The Pandorians, but many other groups have their own ideas about who or what should control earth. As you progress new forces will start fighting for their own beliefs and with them different tactics may need to be used. 

60% of the Time, It Works Every Time

One of the most frustrating things in X-Com is the probability of hitting your enemies. Honestly, I shouldn’t be able to stand 3 feet away from something and only have a 45% chance of hitting it. Phoenix Point does away with that idea and adds a slight bit of realism into shooting. You can help each soldier to aim at their target. How good your soldier is with the weapon they are using determines the accuracy. While helping them aim, you’ll be given a circle that tells you where your shoots will land. The better a soldier is, the smaller the circle, meaning more of your shoots will land exactly where you want them to. 

This new feature will help with the next feature; destroyable weapons and disabling body parts. Maybe not the newest addition to any game, but a slight game changer here. In other games, you had to hunt down every enemy to finish the stage. In Phoenix Point, just disabling the enemy to a point might force them to run and leave combat altogether. Each body part has a skill or ability that can be removed by disabling it. Weapons can be destroyed to remove them from battle completely, but can’t be retrieved afterwards to research or use. These two new mechanics allow for more control, but are met with greater threats as enemies get stronger limbs or abilities to heal damaged limbs.

Point of No Return

There seems to be a few things this game could have been a little more specific with, but nicely explains what needs to be done and how to do it. I have about 200 hours into the game with a few play throughs and as much exploration as I could get in and I know I haven’t done everything yet. This game is easy to pick up and, for more experienced players, easy to get lost in. With everything going on and exploration sites this game makes sure there is plenty to do as you scavenge and grow into a new world. Julian Gollop started perfecting his craft years ago and Phoenix Point is another great creation to add to his resume. As the game continues to grow in popularity I hope to see Julian and Snapshot Games continue with these new ideas into their next projects.

 

This review is based on a PlayStation 4 copy of Phoenix Point: Behemoth Edition provided by Sandbox Strategies for coverage purposes. It is also available on Xbox.