Phoenix Point Reviews
With the pedigree and ideas going into this, Phoenix Point should have been much, much better than it is. The cool ideas are overshadowed by ever-present bugs, glitches, and hiccups that constantly get in the way of the player. Even excusing these, the ideas and presentation come off as incredibly bland very soon into the adventure. Little customization, little options, and little reason to care about your soldiers or base, round out reasons this is in need of massive updates and overhauls if it is to be saved.
Phoenix Point has some interesting ideas that are brought down by a bad UI, poor difficulty balancing, and a distinct absence of polish.
Phoenix Point comes from the creator of the original XCOM, and as such you'd think it'd be an imperious, spiritual successor to the pre-Fireaxis series. Instead, it's a decent if disappointing addition in its current state and in dire need of some TLC from its creator.
Despite a bunch of interesting ideas, Phoenix Point rarely offers a viable alternative to the many other games of the same genre. Greatly unbalanced, unpolished and poorly optimized, the game by the creator of the X-Com series is but a shadow of Gollop's past.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The granular gameplay in this post-apocalyptic strategy game becomes an administrative headache, and the story is presented with all the drama of an engineering textbook
Like XCOM, then, Phoenix Point is a gripping tactical strategy game.
Phoenix Point is a good try at capturing some of that XCOM magic, but it falls short of being great. I found myself enjoying the experience, but at the same time, couldn't help feel that something was missing. Hopefully it's something that can improve in a sequel, if it ever comes.
Phoenix Point fits firmly on the foundation of modern XCOM, but rethinks combat with an action point system and the ability to free aim. While the latter seems like a gimmick, it's actually a wonderful tactical option that pushes the strategy forward. It's a shame then that a reliance on procedural generation leads to a lack of variety, weapon balance isn't great, and the technical execution is rough. Phoenix Point is a great starting point for something amazing, but it's not quite there yet.
Pheonix Point brings us everything we love about the X-COM series, but isn't unique enough to step out of the franchise's shadow.
Phoenix Point’s great aspects do eventually shine through, as long as you’re willing to weather some fairly harsh storms and deal with lackluster onboarding and presentation.
Phoenix Point successfully introduces a slew of new features and mechanics that sufficiently evolve the XCOM-inspired genre of strategy games, though is brought down by some buggy, wonky, and unbalanced implementation of some mechanics.
Good but not perfect try of Julian Gollop restore X-com vision. With some battle improvements and unbalanced gameplay.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Phoenix Point just wrote a love letter to XCOM, for better and for worse.
I give it a tenuous recommendation to fans of XCOM
Whether you're jumping directly from XCOM, or jumping in completely oblivious to what the genre entails, there's a lot to like in Phoenix Point's pleasant assortment of boots-on-the-ground tactics and overhead, commandeering strategy.
Phoenix Point is a great tactical game with interesting diplomatic features and a user-friendly interface, which suffers from the same type of missions closer to the final and incredible peaks of difficulty due to an artificial intelligence system that adapts to your battle tactics and in combination with randomly created stages turns some maps into impossible challenges. I hope that in the console release this brutal level of difficulty will still be fixed.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Phoenix Point has some amazing gameplay ideas and even fun fluff, but it needs to work on quality of life and balance.
The creator of XCOM returns with some interesting new ideas, but without the budget or time to refine them Phoenix Point struggles to offer a viable alternative to its more established rival.
Phoenix Point's more complex take on the classic X-COM formula has some great ideas, but most of them feel experimental and in need of fine-tuning and balance.
Phoenix Point is a very cautious game, a repetition almost as it is of the formula of the original X-COM and those made by Firaxis. The title developed by Snapshot tries to take some steps forward, to dismantle some science fiction clichés with a much more avant-garde approach to narrative than the congeners, but dissolves most of the intentions because they are voluntarily trapped in traditionalism.
Review in Italian | Read full review