So after 73 hours i have finally finished my first playthrough of Phantom doctrine. Would i recommend it? considering the game can be bought on sale for less then a £5 I would say yes. Its a competently made game but it has some (serious) issues that makes it means it doesn't stick the landing.
The best way to think of PD? Think a stealthy version of XCOM. The mission starts in infiltration mode and when cover is blown you go to full combat mode. on the whole, the stealth mechanic works fine and there are some tactics involved when sneaking (ie hide around corners, close doors, hide bodies, don't take out too many guards and/or disable security etc. its all very compelling stuff as you methodically complete the maps etc.
Not going to lie, the game does come with some interesting features that even give XCom a run for its money. The stealth mechanics is PD's strong point. The breach mechanic for rooms is seamless and pretty cool. The fact you can use support your agents is a good a idea, simple stuff like clearing fow to lobbing smoke and explosives. MK ultra is a neat feature - as you interrogate agents and do all sorts of nasty things. By the end game it became a human bomb factory; kidnapping enemy agents, get all the info out of them and then releasing them back into the wild and blow up their own hideouts. The overworld strategic element as you manage your agents across the world is quite good. Problems arise when trying to have enough resources in the US and in the far east as they typically take the longest to travel to.
There is an interesting story in the game as you try to uncover what beholder is, what they're planning and trying to stop it. its not the longest game, its only 7 chapters long and there is no real dooms day clock unless you ignore far too many things. There is some longivity though. The opening chapters are different for each facton (KGB/CIA) and if you beat the game you get new game plus where you play as mossad and apparently the main missions are changed up a bit.
Apart from a couple of Ui issues, flawed crafting/acquisition mechanics. PD does have some seriously glaring problems that seriously hurt the game's enjoyment. The combat isn't all that great and the mechanics just doesn't feel like it works properly. Attacks either hit or miss and either does serious amounts of damage or do minimal damage frequently. There is strategy like flanking, using LMGs to suppress and strip awareness etc, but too often the best strategy is to get in close (ie standing next to the enemy) and just letting rip as they can't avoid the attacks. Enemy agents especially can be troublesome as their awareness is what determines evasion and use of skills and this can burn away extremely quickly leaving you getting picked off. Failing that, grenades works wonders in all situations and the enemy knows this as well.
Unfortunately in this game you can't hide from combat forever, the game has an annoying feature where on some missions after 3 turns the enemy just becomes alerted and you're forced to fight. It doesn't happen too often, but when it does its either load the game before you started or struggle through a mission (usually prepared for stealth rather then combat). Another annoying feature is how some main missions just forces combat onto you. You may have stealth/sneaked your way to the objective but open the box etc and all hell breaks loose. Starts off with reinforcements before they send a helicopter gunship to start firing explosives at you.
The other bigger issue is the repetitive nature of the game. Too often i visit the same locales and each one has the same building layout/restricted areas. Sure, the enemy placement is slightly different as are the collectibles but its still far too predictable, played some maps often enough that i had a rough idea where enemies will be and it remove the tension.
But that's not all, the problem the whole thing is just rinse and repeat. The same type of missions and the same strategy. The repetitive nature is not just in maps, its also management activities. New agent recruits frequently use the same handful of photos, nicknames or designs (at one point i had 2 new recruits wearing the same clothes and head, hair style etc!), the cork board whilst initially compelling slowly became a chore as the same documents and words are rotated constantly. its probably why you have the option to fill analytics department with agents to do the work for you. So that streamlines all the processes but you'll probably spend large periods of time twiddling your thumbs waiting for things to happen.
The best way to think of PD? Think a stealthy version of XCOM. The mission starts in infiltration mode and when cover is blown you go to full combat mode. on the whole, the stealth mechanic works fine and there are some tactics involved when sneaking (ie hide around corners, close doors, hide bodies, don't take out too many guards and/or disable security etc. its all very compelling stuff as you methodically complete the maps etc.
Not going to lie, the game does come with some interesting features that even give XCom a run for its money. The stealth mechanics is PD's strong point. The breach mechanic for rooms is seamless and pretty cool. The fact you can use support your agents is a good a idea, simple stuff like clearing fow to lobbing smoke and explosives. MK ultra is a neat feature - as you interrogate agents and do all sorts of nasty things. By the end game it became a human bomb factory; kidnapping enemy agents, get all the info out of them and then releasing them back into the wild and blow up their own hideouts. The overworld strategic element as you manage your agents across the world is quite good. Problems arise when trying to have enough resources in the US and in the far east as they typically take the longest to travel to.
There is an interesting story in the game as you try to uncover what beholder is, what they're planning and trying to stop it. its not the longest game, its only 7 chapters long and there is no real dooms day clock unless you ignore far too many things. There is some longivity though. The opening chapters are different for each facton (KGB/CIA) and if you beat the game you get new game plus where you play as mossad and apparently the main missions are changed up a bit.
Apart from a couple of Ui issues, flawed crafting/acquisition mechanics. PD does have some seriously glaring problems that seriously hurt the game's enjoyment. The combat isn't all that great and the mechanics just doesn't feel like it works properly. Attacks either hit or miss and either does serious amounts of damage or do minimal damage frequently. There is strategy like flanking, using LMGs to suppress and strip awareness etc, but too often the best strategy is to get in close (ie standing next to the enemy) and just letting rip as they can't avoid the attacks. Enemy agents especially can be troublesome as their awareness is what determines evasion and use of skills and this can burn away extremely quickly leaving you getting picked off. Failing that, grenades works wonders in all situations and the enemy knows this as well.
Unfortunately in this game you can't hide from combat forever, the game has an annoying feature where on some missions after 3 turns the enemy just becomes alerted and you're forced to fight. It doesn't happen too often, but when it does its either load the game before you started or struggle through a mission (usually prepared for stealth rather then combat). Another annoying feature is how some main missions just forces combat onto you. You may have stealth/sneaked your way to the objective but open the box etc and all hell breaks loose. Starts off with reinforcements before they send a helicopter gunship to start firing explosives at you.
The other bigger issue is the repetitive nature of the game. Too often i visit the same locales and each one has the same building layout/restricted areas. Sure, the enemy placement is slightly different as are the collectibles but its still far too predictable, played some maps often enough that i had a rough idea where enemies will be and it remove the tension.
But that's not all, the problem the whole thing is just rinse and repeat. The same type of missions and the same strategy. The repetitive nature is not just in maps, its also management activities. New agent recruits frequently use the same handful of photos, nicknames or designs (at one point i had 2 new recruits wearing the same clothes and head, hair style etc!), the cork board whilst initially compelling slowly became a chore as the same documents and words are rotated constantly. its probably why you have the option to fill analytics department with agents to do the work for you. So that streamlines all the processes but you'll probably spend large periods of time twiddling your thumbs waiting for things to happen.
Last edited:
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram