With simply over one week to go till Phoenix Point launches, the builders have defined what they’ve been sharpening and tweaking for the reason that final construct for backers. It sounds good! Some adjustments cut back frustration, equivalent to making Haven assaults much less frequent so commanders have extra time to discover, whereas others sound simply plain fascinating, like a “complete rework” of faction weapon stats. Phoenix Point has always seemed fascinating, as you would possibly anticipate from X-Com co-creator Julian Gollop directing a brand new tactical worldwar about defending Earth from an ever-mutating menace, so I’m glad to look now and nod “Ah yes, almost here, just a bit of polish, that’s just lovely, good.”
“Now that the final research options and story mission content has been added, most of the work we’re doing now is balancing, polishing and bug-fixing, along with finalising the cinematics, and getting the last few pieces of recorded dialogue added,” Snapshot Games mentioned within the newest monthly development update on Saturday. They additionally detailed a couple of tweaks they’ve made in response to participant suggestions.
Faction weapons now “feel more like an upgrade than just a slight variation” and ones requiring analysis are “much more powerful.” Haven assaults are much less frequent so it’s “easier to explore without having to return to defend Havens too often.” Aircraft now have pathfinding and may deal with refuelling by themselves in order that they want much less micromanaging. Missile and different launchers now have some inaccuracy so excessive explosives are much less of a surgical software on the battlefield. Soldiers can now not fumble ranged weapons, solely melee. And soldier stamina loss is now primarily based on mission size, so your dudes received’t be pure shagged after a five-minute stroll on the seashore to shoot a child crab within the face.
I’ve been ready for the complete launch of Phoenix Point reasonably than shopping for into the betas however studying the submit does make me enthusiastically murmur “Yes, quite, that sounds very sensible.”
That full launch is approaching December third, two-and-a-half years after a crowdfunding marketing campaign helped get it going. It’s coming initially to the Epic Games Store and Xbox Game Pass, with Steam and GOG releases anticipated in late 2020 or early 2021.
Given that Epic’s Store ruffles a couple of feathers, Julian Gollop mentioned individuals who backed the crowdfunder or pre-ordered the game earlier than Snapshot introduced the deal will get the first year of paid DLC for free – or can have a refund.
Snaphot have additionally been making a series of videos explaining Phoenix Point to individuals who know XCOM. Here’s the newest, from a couple of weeks in the past, poking across the Geoscape map:
