Hey. Do you want XCOM? Do you just like the current and wonderful MechWarrior Techniques recreation? And most significantly, are you in any respect within the passage of time? If that’s the case, then there’s somebody I’d such as you to fulfill.
That is Phantom Brigade, a turn-based ways recreation that got here out final week. It’s a recreation of two halves, one the place you command a squad of mechs on the battlefield, the opposite placing you in command of strategic stuff like conquering enemy areas, managing pilots and upgrading/repairing your mechs.
These are all issues I really like and issues I’ll take a look at out in even essentially the most primary try at a turn-based recreation. However Phantom Brigade is actually setting itself aside in a number of key methods.
First up, it seems to be wonderful. It’s received a really Digital On type of vibe occurring with its mech design (and animation, even), and I simply love how slick and funky the entire thing seems to be. Even the interface is wonderful, taking cues from video games like Limitless Legend, and displaying that simply because a recreation is about technique doesn’t imply it additionally cant look good.
Subsequent, this isn’t strictly a turn-based ways recreation. Like Damaged Strains, which I favored and wrote about a number of years again, Phantom Brigade is kinda turn-based, in that you just undoubtedly get on a regular basis on the earth to line up your strikes, however the precise decision of these choices performs out in real-time.
G/O Media might get a fee
As much as 52% off
Customized Lenovo Laptops or PCs
Decide your processor, RAM, GPU, and extra
Whether or not you might be available in the market for a brand new laptop computer or desktop or if you happen to a particularly seeking to construct one thing to recreation on, you are able to do so right here and also you’ll save as much as 52% off.
The story’s narrative basis is that you just and your crew of mech pilots have gotten maintain of a secret prototype weapon that allows you to see briefly into the longer term. Simply lengthy sufficient to see how far an enemy unit goes to maneuver within the subsequent 5 seconds, and what they’re going to do whereas they’re getting there. Handy!
It really works like…a video editor. The developer walkthrough beneath takes you thru it intimately, however the strategy planning stage of every flip entails lining up a sequence of actions on a timeline, on which you’re capable of “scrub” backwards and forwards to see how all the things goes to go. When all the things is to your liking, you hit play execute and the entire sequence of strikes performs out.
That may sound simple. If you happen to can see into the longer term, then you possibly can see what your opponent is doing, and you’ll merely react accordingly. However there’s problem and unpredictably inherent on this, since each time you shoot, or transfer, or come into bodily contact, or deploy a protect, these actions are timed, and play out throughout an animation sequence.
Combating recreation followers may know the place that is going; it’s all high quality seeing what your opponent is doing and establishing one thing to defeat or counter it, however if you happen to get the timing fallacious, you then’re fucked.
You may additionally have seen from that video and gif that Phantom Brigade is, because of this emphasis on timing, at all times shifting. There’s little or no extended use of canopy right here, the sport needs to make this extra of a dance than a gunfight. I’m very a lot into this at only a click-by-click stage, because it at all times provides me loads to do, even on turns the place it seems to be like not a lot is occurring.
The sport launched in Early Entry on the Epic Video games Retailer a few years in the past, which is once we first lined it, however has now reached model 1.0 standing and dropped on Steam as properly, wanting a bit slicker and taking part in a bit tighter within the course of.
This put up was initially written in 2020; it has been up to date after spending time with the 1.0 launch.