hen the game starts in 2047, most of
humanity has been killed, abducted, or
transformed into alien monstrosities,”
says lead designer Julian Gollop, who
is perhaps best known for creating the
original X-COM series. “But there are a
few isolated groups that have managed
to survive.”
“The Phoenix Project organisation
you’re the leader of is very diminished,”
he says. “You’re being attacked on all
sides by various different powers. But
out of the ashes of the devastation of
the virus, which comes to be known
as the Pandora virus, there comes a
number of charismatic leaders who
claim their factions will be able to
rebuild the world and make it better.”
Julian Gollop has been making
strategy games for decades, from Laser
Squad and Rebelstar Raiders in the
’80s, to the legendary X-COM series in
the ’90s. That’s the old X-COM, with
a dash after the X, rather than Firaxis’
recent (and equally superb) reboot,
XCOM. But Phoenix Point seems to be
bigger, grander, and more ambitious
than anything he’s done before, and I
ask what inspired him to start
the project.
“I wanted to pursue what I call my
vision of a grand strategy game, which
involves tactical turn-based battles as
well as a wider strategic conflict,” he
says. “I love this multilevel, multiscale
aspect to strategy games, which is
heavily influenced by some of the
board games I used to play when I was
much younger. Before computer games
existed, in fact.
“I also wanted to revisit some of the ideas I
was developing in the original X-COM series.
For example, in X-COM: Apocalypse there was
this idea of a living city with multiple factions
that you had individual relationships with.
This was something I wanted to explore a
lot more.”DEAD RISING
Gollop also wanted to bring back the feeling
of dread and tension that permeated the
X-COM series—of never knowing what horror
lies around the next corner, or if your squad
will make it out alive. “That was very much
a part of the tension and excitement of the
tactical battles,” he says. “In Phoenix Point,
we have a mutation system that can generate
hundreds of enemy variations, so you are
never sure what you’re going to be facing.
“I also wanted to bring some of the RPG
elements from the original X-COM to Phoenix
Point,” Gollop continues. “That sense that
you’re creating and nurturing a squad and
carefully building them up to a force that’s
going to save the world. We want the player
to have to decide whether they’re going to risk
their best soldier in a battle, or save them for
when things get tougher later.”
While the core of the game will be its
tense, deep, strategic combat, story is also
an important factor. But it’s more than just
window dressing: It actively informs the flow
of the game, and how you interact with the
various parties in it: Be they friend, foe, or aWGAMES PREVIEW
W
LEFT: You will need
to make use of the
free aim system to
take down these
beasts.MEMORY LANE JULIAN GOLLOP’S GREATEST HITS
REBELSTAR RAIDERS
1984
An early turn-based strategy game,
Rebelstar Raiders is a multiplayer sci-fi
game where players control opposing
squads of soldiers.LASER SQUAD
1988
Another turn-based game, this time
featuring a variety of tactical missions
including assassination, hostage
rescue, and infiltration.UFO: ENEMY UNKNOWN
1994
Also known as X-COM: UFO Defense in
North America, this was the world’s
first taste of what would go on to
become a hugely popular series.X-COM: APOCALYPSE
1997
A deeper, more complex take on
X-COM, with self-adjusting difficulty
and rival factions, including the
alien-worshipping Cult of Sirius.CHAOS REBORN
2015
A remake of Chaos: The Battle of
Wizards (an early Gollop project), this
strategy game features warring
wizards and challenging combat.Gollop also
wanted to bring
back the feeling of
dread and tension
that permeated the
X-COM series—of
never knowing what
horror lies around the
next corner, or if your
squad will make it out
alive.