Hey. Do you want XCOM? Do you just like the current and glorious MechWarrior Techniques recreation? And most significantly, are you in any respect within the passage of time? In that 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 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 de facto setting itself aside in just a few key methods.
First up, it seems to be superb. It’s obtained a really Digital On sort of vibe taking place 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 superb, taking cues from video games like Countless Legend, and exhibiting 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 Traces, which I appreciated and wrote about just a few years again, Phantom Brigade is kinda turn-based, in that you just undoubtedly get on a regular basis on the planet to line up your strikes, however the precise decision of these choices performs out in real-time.
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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 under takes you thru it intimately, however the starting stage of every flip includes lining up a sequence of actions on a timeline, on which you’re capable of “scrub” backwards and forwards to see how every little thing goes to go. When every little thing is to your liking, you hit play execute and the entire sequence of strikes performs out.
Which may sound straightforward. For those who 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 defend, these actions are timed, and play out throughout an animation sequence.
Preventing recreation followers may know the place that is going; it’s all effective seeing what your opponent is doing and establishing one thing to defeat or counter it, however in case you get the timing unsuitable, 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 transferring. There’s little or no extended use of canopy right here, the sport desires to make this extra of a dance than a gunfight. I’m very a lot into this at only a click-by-click degree, because it at all times provides me quite a bit 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 after we first coated it, however has now reached model 1.0 standing and dropped on Steam as effectively, trying 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.