OK – hear me out.
I know that the general consensus is that Phoenix Point hasn’t lived up to the promise, or to the hype, but I disagree. This game, designed by legendary XCOM creator Julian Gollop, deserves a lot more love – and recognition that he has pulled-off a major feat.
Having put over 100 hours into the game, not only do I really like it, but I think that it is one of the most intriguing games released for several years. In this post, I’m going to explain why.
I’ll start by saying that I have played every single XCOM game (even the frustrating The Bureau) since I first fell in love with XCOM: UFO Defense in 1994. Back then, I was running it on my Commodore Amiga 1500 and was fascinated by the depth of play, grittiness of story, and the evil ferocity of the aliens. It ushered in a new genre and spawned 12 other games, with the franchise hitting its peak in 2016 with the widely acclaimed XCOM 2 from Firaxis Games.