Phantom Doctrine
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Phantom Doctrine is a strategic turn-based espionage thriller set at the peak of the Cold War. Drawing on a wide variety of influences and capturing the subtle intrigue of classic spy films, the game thrust the player into a mysterious world of covert operations, counterintelligence, conspiracy and paranoia. As leader of a secret organization known only as The Cabal, you are charged with preventing a global conspiracy that seeks to pit leader against leader, and nation against nation. By carrying out secret missions, investigating classified files, and interrogating enemy agents, a sinister plot is uncovered. With the clock ticking, it must be thwarted in order to save the world from an unthinkable fate.
Steam User 32
My experience with this game began somewhat confusedly, got worse, and then I played it like it was my job for a couple weeks straight. It's pretty great.
There is a bit of jank in Phantom Doctrine, but some of what other players complain about are just the mechanics of the game and their unfamiliarity. The game could do a better job explaining a few things, but players could do a better job of experimenting. I actually did read a bunch of other reviews and many people seemed confused by the combat. I was too, at first, but found it rewarding to push through. Does it make sense that busting through a window behind someone does not cause a full alert when walking through a door in front of someone does? No. But, like, neither does hiding in a cardboard box. Nor are suppressed assault rifles actually quiet, much less "silent."
* Espionage * Action * Tactics *
I would not recommend the game to someone who isn't into spy stuff at all. A good bit of the fun for me was tied to this theme. The story is... ultimately kind of basic, but not as basic as it would appear to someone not thinking about it or who ignores all the documents.
I do not recommend Ironman mode for this game. There are basic missions, and then there are special story missions. If you encounter a bug such as I did and can't even initiate a story mission, that's it; that save file is over with, and if it's an Ironman game, you basically lost for nothing. Force majeure?
Otherwise, Easy isn't really THAT much easier than Normal. And Hard isn't really THAT much harder than Normal. Some of the agent perks can be exploited, if you're so inclined. It's pretty easy to blow a basic mission when you are impatient or imprudent, and it's not impossible to ace a harder mission if you're properly prepared and not rushed. I could see some players finding it taxing to have to "be careful" on a routine mission when that means an extra twenty minutes of real-life time. If you can only play a game for less than an hour at a time, this one probably isn't the best choice.
Things I like about Phantom Doctrine:
Although combat can be swift and brutal, a run going sideways isn't always a total loss. Say you sent two agents to retrieve something and you encounter stiffer resistance than you expected. If you know where your evac will be, you can still grab some intel and kidnap an enemy agent on your way out. It's only a "loss" in that the main objective wasn't achieved. You still get to interrogate the prisoner. Good stuff. The gameplay is too wonky to be truly "immersive," but it absolutely offers emergent opportunities, attainable either through planning or adaptive thinking.
Soundtrack is great. If I play a game long enough, I'll turn off the music no matter how good it is though. In this case, I have actually listened to the music on its own. Kind of jazzy, orchestral stuff with a bit of Hans Zimmer Dark Knight type stuff here and there.
The game takes full advantage of its M rating by allowing you to give all of your agents cigarettes.
A couple complaints:
There are visual markers denoting where a restricted area's boundaries lie. But I don't think they always work on stairwells. Also, it can be hard to estimate line of sight between floors.
There should be more maps. If you only played through once, you'd still become maybe a little too familiar with certain layouts.
If you do recon for an assault mission, you should know what the objective will be before gearing up. Also, I wasn't crazy about the "kill all bad guys" missions. If you get them all before reinforcements arrive, then the reinforcements don't count towards the total required for mission completion. But if the backup comes in one turn before you ice the final guy, their number is added to the objective total. That's annoying.
~
Altogether, it's a really good game, mainly to be enjoyed if you like the spy/Cold War tropes and aesthetic and have more than a few minutes at a time to devote.
Steam User 13
The first few times I tried to play Phantom Doctrine I suffered through it, eventually getting tired by the third act and dropping it entirely. The tactical situations seemed way too hard and extremely punishing, forcing you to play always in a hurry and eat shit for it.
Then something clicked, and I realized - this is a stealth xcom. You will have a hard time if you try to play it like a regular xcom and you will eat shit if you don't play it how it wants to be played.
That said, Phantom Doctrine has a very steep learning curve to get the hang of its many mechanics - mechanics which are deterministic and I prefer infinitely over regular xcom RNG bullshit - and despite most of its content, I end up doing most of the same through the run. Move agents in pairs stopping plots to avoid unnecessary tactical scenarios and sending solo disguise agents to dismantle entire enemy bases.
Suffice to say, Phantom Doctrine also suffers somewhat of balancing issues, starting just about right and becoming way too easy by the end of the game, first by the nature of its own infiltration mechanics and then by the 'body enhancement' system.
Despite its many flaws, I still think it's good enough to merit a thumb up and hope that Phantom Doctrine 2 is a vastly more polished title.
Steam User 8
I've owned this game for a while and never really played it all that much. Decided to try it again after some time, got through the first mission, almost decided to quit out, but pushed through. I then proceeded to play the game for a solid 10-12 hours straight.
Understand that this game is not for everyone. If you're not a fan of watching pretty amateur made animations, or reloading saves constantly to get the right outcome, or 20+ turns of trying to stealth your way through a tiny building, this game probably ain't for you. It's best to wait for a sale to get the game, or at the very least, be ready to refund it if it's not for you.
For me, I had an absolute blast, and I'll probably finish the story soon.
Steam User 6
Xcom + Commandos + Hitman = PD? A unique turn based tactics game that plays out like a cinematic spy thriller. The paperwork mechanic is tedious, there can be excessive micromanagement as your agent roster grows, and most perks are geared towards action even if you're playing stealth. Gripes aside, its definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of turn based tactics, or spy thrillers for that matter.
Maybe the upcoming derivative third person shooter sequel will increase awareness of the franchise and reinvigorate the original concept. One can only hope.
Steam User 5
I really enjoyed this game, 9 out of 10.
The game loop is fun and the systems are well made. There are definitely some things I would have preferred and some directions I disagreed with in the UI and skill system. However, none of them were enough to take away from my enjoyment
It might be quick and easy to say "Another XCOM game", but other than at a super macro level of tactical RPG, they are not the same. The management and combat aspects are different and equally enjoyable. The espionage / counter-espionage centered story is fun and suspenseful. It intertwines real life events from that time period throughout the narrative and that makes it hit even harder. The game offers options for stealth if you choose or just going all out if you enjoy the crush of combat. So you can accomplish your field missions without firing a single shot.
The combat system is different from XCOM in several very important ways. For example, there is no random hit chance in combat. You know what will hit and what won't with certainty. But, that does not make it easy by any means. It is very challenging, so be prepared. After your first "gung ho gone wrong" experience, you'll see what I mean.
The map management aspects offer variety, and once you build your detention/interrogation base module, the options for how to handle situations open up real nicely. I am trying not to spoil anything, so I'll leave it at that.
All in all, I really enjoyed this game and would recommend it to anyone that likes T-RPGs and for anyone looking to try one. The price on this one (when on sale) was amazing, and even the full retail would be worthwhile for fans of the genre. If you're just curious, then wait for the next sale and give this a shot.
Steam User 7
Easily the most fun i've had from a game in the last couple of years!
Steam User 5
I did enjoyed it.
This game filled my XCOM withdrawal greatly. But in a half sense.
The concept of the game is fantastic. But some elements of the game hinted out the struggles that the game itself tried to maintain to catch up with XCOM concepts and at last they remained as the questionable assets to game itself.
The needs to Dipose the Body for example. The sake of stealth theme while balancing the nature of turn-base-XCOM-like ended up having our characters magically delete the dead bodies even in the weirdest scenario.
The Stats and Skill requirements to fit the DnD characters backgrounds.
This I do like but I also heavily disliked how Skills and backgrounds story of a characters have to be too fixated on stricted Weapon proficiency. That honestly doesn't hit right. It messed up the freedom of creating the characters players want.
And speaking of Stats.
The requirements to knockout enemy is that you need to have your guy's HP more than them is most questionable concept I learnt.
As far I understand there's no Percentage to Hit here. But having the Focus Bar to help out your survivability. Needing to have more HP than your enemy to be able to non-lethally knock them out is not good. I hate trying to juiced up my guy's HP JUST so I can finally match the gameplay for its stealth espionage theme and not just awkwardly get to mandatory loud or killing my targets when I wanted then alive instead. And trying to get more HP and Stats upgrade is not easy to come by.
Overall. The Investigation Board system is VERY unique and fun. Of course after a while I did notice the pattern and realized later how repetitive some names can be. But that's to be expected by then.
For a game to keep XCOM fans busy and dope up, I still do recommend this game. There are flaws but can say it was well-made.