independentparty,canuse different,
oftenriskymethodstoget this
information.“Youcanally with a
faction,defendingtheirsettlements
tocurryfavor,”saysGollop. “Or you
canattackthemandjust steal their
resourcesandtechnology.
“Youcanalsotradeand exchange
researchandtechnology peacefully. So
thataspectofthegame,including from
a storytellingperspective, is a lot richer
thanX-COM.Wealsohave plans for
thestorybeyondeventhis first game,
aboutwhathappensnextin theworld
ofPhoenixPoint.”
Thebeliefsofthefactionsmeans
you’llbenavigatingdangerous
diplomaticwaters.“Youractionswill
haveconsequencesandcouldleadto
a factionturningonyou,”saysGollop.
“Butif they’reunderattackandyou
choosetointervene,theymighttrust
you more. However,if youdefend
a Disciples of Anubaseandnota
Synedrion one,becauseyou’remore
interested in forminganalliancewith
the former, the lattermayreactbadly.”
You also havetoconsiderthe
structure of eachfactionbeforeyou
go charging in lookingtomakea deal.
“With the DisciplesofAnu,youcan’t
just march in andtalkdirectlytothe
Exalted. You havetoprogressthrough
several levels oftheir,let’ssay,priest
hierarchy to reachher.TheSynedrion
are changing leadershipa lot,asthey’re
having these internaldebates,soyou
might talk to differentpeoplewith
different demands.”
And the factionyousidewith,if
you decide to sidewithone,canalso
directly affect howyouwinthegame.
“Each faction hasitsownsolutionto
the alien menace,”saysGollop.“They
haven’t developedit atthestartofthe
game, however,soyoucanchooseto
ally with one ofthemandworkwith
them to achievetheirgoal.There’salso
a fourth solutiontothegamebesides
siding with oneofthethreefactions,
which you can pursuewithoutcreating
you want to take its weapons out? Or focus
on the most vulnerable part of its body?
These things are all a very important part of
your tactics in battle.”PICK AND CHOOSE
Grand strategy games are obviously an
influence on Phoenix Point, and I wonder
if players who want to focus on that side
of things can choose to automatically
resolve battles. “You can’t automate
battles, because they’re really the essence
of what the game is all about,” says Gollop.
“However, you do have a lot of choice
in what battles you pursue. It’s a much
more free-form mission system than you’d
normally find in a game like this. You can
instigate battles if a faction has something
useful: an aircraft factory, say. You land your
squad, fight the local defenders, and steal
the aircraft. That’s your choice.”
And, in an example of things coming
full circle, it’s clear in Phoenix Point’s slick
animation and interface that Firaxis’ XCOM
has inspired Gollop in some ways. “I love
those games,” he says. “I really like the
sense of drama they manage to get from a
turn-based game. There’s some impressive
3D graphics and camera work in there. A
nice interface too, which works smoothly
with a mouse and keyboard or a controller.
XCOM 2 in particular had great character
customisation. They obviously streamlined
a few things compared to the old X-COM
games, most of which I think were good
decisions. And they managed to reach a
really wide audience with those games,
too.”
It’s great to see Gollop return to the
genre that made his name. Phoenix Point
is set for release in June, and it’ll be
interesting to see how it stacks up against
Firaxis’ take on XCOM. The added layer
of grand strategy — warring factions,
diplomacy, espionage, and so on — will
hopefully sit comfortably alongside the
more granular, turn-based decision-making
of a battle. With such a rich, storied history
of making strategy games, from the ZX
Spectrum to the present day, I reckon
Gollop can pull it off.anyalliances,butit’smoredifficult to
pulloff.”
Thegame’stenseturn-based
combatwillhaveyoumaking equally
interestingandimportantdecisions,
albeitona smaller,moreimmediate
scale.Oneofthemostexciting
featuresis how,thankstothe weird
mutatingpropertiesofthePandora
virus,enemiesareprocedurally
generatedfromdozensofdifferent
parts,andyou’reneversure what it’s
goingtothrowatyounext.
“Thealienmutationsystem works
ata strategiclevel,”saysGollop.
“Forexample,therearearthropod-
typeenemieswithprimitive claws
andshields.Butif youbeat them
a fewtimes,anddecisively, they’ll
gothrougha mutationprocess. So
nexttimeyoufacethem,they might
beabletousehumanweapons, or
developdifferenttypesofattacks
suchaspoisons.Andthemore they
defeatyou,themoresuccessful the
mutationwillbe.Thiswillrequire
playerstoconstantlychange and
adapttheircombattacticsin battle.”
Anotherinterestingfeature is the
freeaimsystem.SimilartoVATS in
Fallout,thisletsyoutargetspecific
bodypartsofanenemy,opening up
a realmoftacticalpossibilities. “This
is importanttacticallybecause a lot
ofthealiens’abilitiesstemfrom their
variousmutatedbodyparts,” says
Gollop.“Ifyouhave,say,a crab-type
enemywitha shieldanda gun, you
candisableitsarmtoknock the gun
outofitshand,whichlimits it to using
a close-quartersshieldbash. Some
mutationshaveweakspots to deal
extradamage,too.If youattack an
enemy’sleg,it mightstopit from
movingasquickly.
“Whenyou’refightinga monster,
thefreeaimsystemis more important
thanever,”Gollopadds.“They’re like
organicbattleshipswithmultiple
weaponsystemsandyouhave to try
andpicka strategybasedon that. DoEX-COM
The mutation system
means you never
know what enemy will
come at youThis post-apocalyptic
Earth is a grim place,
but you can save it
from total destruction.