PHOENIX POINT gets release date

Phoenix Point, the new game from the original creator of X-COM, has a finalised release date and it's pleasingly soon: 3 September 2019.

Phoenix Point is the second game from Snapshot Games, the studio set up by legendary British designer Julian Gollop to revisit some of his previous titles. Following the success of Chaos Reborn (2015) (a remake of Gollop's 1985 game, Chaos: The Battle of Wizards), Gollop launched Phoenix Point with a crowdfunding campaign in 2017.

Phoenix Point uses a similar structure to Gollop's 1994 game UFO: Enemy Unknown (aka X-COM: UFO Defence), but draws on elements from X-COM: Apocalypse (1997) and the recent XCOM series from Firaxis Games, which began with X-COM: Enemy Unknown (2012). A strategic metagame is played via a global view, in which mode new technologies can be researched, targets selected and equipment upgraded. Once a possible mission is identified, the player can send a crack squad of soldiers to the location in question, at which point the game turns into a turn-based tactical wargame.

Unlike XCOM's near-future pulp SF setting, Phoenix Point is a post-apocalyptic game set several decades into the future, after most of civilisation is wiped out by a mysterious mist that has risen from the oceans, bringing mutated and horrifying creatures with it. The Phoenix Project is an organisation devoted to restoring order to the world. To do this, the organisation must deal with several rival human factions, including the cult-like Disciples of Anu, the militaristic New Jericho and the high-technology Synedrion, aligning with some and perhaps eliminating others, whilst also working to contain the threat from the sea.

Phoenix Point is launching on PC and X-Box One. The game attracted some controversy when it was revealed that the game would be exclusive to the Epic Games Store for one year after release. It will, however, also be available on the X-Box Game Pass, which will also allow access for PC gamers.

PHOENIX POINT teaser trailer and new staff announcements

Julian Gollop, the creator of the original X-COM series of games (and an unofficial advisor on the modern XCOM reboots), is currently hard at work on Phoenix Point, a game that can be best described as "XCOM meets Lovecraft". He's now released the briefest of teaser trailers for the game:

The trailer suggests not much of the game exists, but in fact there was a playable build being shown off last summer and the game has an early-to-mid 2018 release date. I'm guessing this is the start of a more thorough marketing and release schedule to raise awareness of the game ahead of its launch in a year or so.

Gollop has also confirmed that composer John Broomhall is working on the new game. Broomhall previously wrote the music for the first three X-COM games (UFO Defence, Terror from the Deep and Apocalypse) and has since worked on the Forza and Railroad Tycoon franchises.

The game has also added Jonas Kyratzes as a writer. Kyratzes is a noted video game commentator, designer and writer, best-known for his work on cult hit The Talos Principle, as well as his own indie Lands of Dream series.

Phoenix Point is set in the near future when the world has been consumed by a strange mist (released from the Siberian permafrost) that has transformed vast numbers of people into monsters. The game features a detailed strategic layer in which players take control of a band of survivors and have to make alliances with other factions, recruiting soldiers and scientists whilst coordinating a defence against the mist and finding a way of dispersing it. The game also features turn-based combat against the monsters with detailed weapons customisation. Remarkably, as well as the game featuring procedural levels it will also feature procedural monsters, creating new mutant types out of hundreds of different body parts.

PHOENIX POINT announced, a major new strategy game from the creator of X-COM

Julian Gollop should need no introduction to hardened strategy game players. Back in the late 1980s he developed Laser Squad and Lords of Chaos, highly popular and influential strategy games. But he really hit the big time with UFO: Enemy Unknown (aka X-COM: UFO Defense), released in 1994 and frequently cited as one of the very best video games ever made. He wasn't involved in the sequel, X-COM: Terror from the Deep, but did return for the third game in the series, X-COM: Apocalypse, in 1997.

More recently Gollop has been involved with Chaos Reborn, a reboot of Lords of Chaos, and has been providing advice to Firaxis on their XCOM reboot games, Enemy Unknown, Enemy Within and XCOM 2, all of which have been excellent. Clearly Gollop's been re-inspired by these games because he's now announced a new game which clearly draws on both his original series, the reboots and - slightly unexpectedly - survival horror for inspiration.

Phoenix Point sees the world being inundated with a "mist", a plague released from the permafrost which kills a lot of the population and provides cover for a mysterious invasion of mutated creatures. The survivors are divided into dozens of widely-scattered factions with wildly varying agendas. The factions are as likely to fight each other as team up against the monsters, and resources (weapons, food, vehicles etc) will be extremely scarce. The game will also feature a dynamic campaign with events unfolding regardless if your faction is getting involved or not. If you want, you can hold back to see if other factions can weaken the enemy for you before wading in, but you then risk them also getting more loot and equipment in the process.

Particularly fascinating is that the turn-based combat mode will feature not just procedurally-generated levels, but procedurally-generated monsters, assembled from a vast array of body types and equipment. There is also a strong focus on an analytical AI, with the enemy reacting to your tactics. Specialise in snipers, for example, and they will develop counter-snipers or fast-moving creatures who can close before you can fire too many times. You will also have to contend with the mist, which forms a barrier and method of concealment on many missions.

The game is not due out until late 2018, but already looks amazing. Gollop is working on the game with a studio and is looking for a publisher. Given his already-excellent relations with 2K and Firaxis (he notes that the faction diplomacy is inspired by Firaxis's Alpha Centauri as well as his own X-COM: Apocalypse), it'd be cool to see the game end up there but I suspect there'll be a lot of interest in this game from other quarters. Part XCOM, part Stephen King, part H.P. Lovecraft, it looks absolutely great, even at this early stage.