Yeah I saw that post. I haven't actually been in any firefights yet.
I only managed to play the first few missions last night. The one stand-out thing is that I think it nails the feel of playing a spy agency during the cold war.
It seems that there is a big emphasis on stealth rather than something like XCOM where you go in guns blazing.
The first proper mission after the tutorial was just me sneaking around knocking guards out. I didn't shoot anyone.
The shooting system itself is not percentage based. Rather you deal damage in a range and the final damage you deal will depend on the skills you are using and how high the awareness of the enemy is. Using skills and beings shot reduces your awareness, but it can recover over time. Cover also plays a part in how much damage you receive.
There is a corkboard where you get to connect up info you have gathered on a mission in order to figure stuff out which is a really neat feature.
The base building and character progression seems quite dense and pretty daunting right now.
I should be able to put a good amount of time into it tomorrow as I'm off work now until September. Won't get to play it tonight as The International 8 starts in 5 minutes so that's my evening filled up.
Phantom Doctrine [PC, PS4, XBone]
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DjchunKfunK
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DjchunKfunK
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Re: Phantom Doctrine [PC, PS4, XBone] - Out 14th August
Played a bit more of Phantom Doctrine this morning. The main loop has you sending agents to hotspots on a map to investigate. When they get there they can try and stop whatever the spy is trying to do, some actions require more than one spy and if you get there too late the only way you can stop it is by infiltrating. This is where you go into tactical combat. You can choose to go into combat from the start if you want and once you research a particular skill you can setup recon before you go in. Infiltrating allows you to gain XP for your agents, find more information on the case you are working and equipment. You still get info if you just try to stop the enemy agent without going into infiltration, but you don't get the XP and don't have the chance to search for equipment. So there some risk/reward at play.
When you go into Infiltration every round starts with you being undetected. There are areas clearly marked that will result in you trespassing and if you are spotted in these areas then the alarm is raised and combat will begin. So it is perfectly possible to sneak around and locate your objective without going into combat. However on the two missions I've just done it wasn't possible to complete the objective without raising the alarm. You can only incapacitate people if their HP is lower than yours and in both cases the target's HP was too high so I had to take them down. There is a really cool mechanic though which allows you to do something called Breach. You station two agents by doors then select targets for them and then hit Breach and they will move in and shoot the targets. If you have silenced weapons you can do this without raising the alarm, but I haven't found any of those yet.It then gets a bit hairy when you have to extract. You have to make it over to the extraction point which usually takes three turns to become active and then another three turns before it is compromised. Reinforcements are usually on their way as well making escaping a bit more difficult. On the first mission I got away fine, but on the second one I had to run the gauntlet through enemy fire and just about made it. This is where the issue with LOS raised it's head. It wasn't very clear why some enemies were able to see one of my agents. The developers say they are working on making it clearer, it's something to do with how when attacking you step one square over.
Even with this issue I had a lot of fun sneaking around trying to collect as much intel and equipment as I could and then making my escape. You can see where the extraction point is at all times by clicking a button so that allows you to plan your escape before 'going loud'.
When you go into Infiltration every round starts with you being undetected. There are areas clearly marked that will result in you trespassing and if you are spotted in these areas then the alarm is raised and combat will begin. So it is perfectly possible to sneak around and locate your objective without going into combat. However on the two missions I've just done it wasn't possible to complete the objective without raising the alarm. You can only incapacitate people if their HP is lower than yours and in both cases the target's HP was too high so I had to take them down. There is a really cool mechanic though which allows you to do something called Breach. You station two agents by doors then select targets for them and then hit Breach and they will move in and shoot the targets. If you have silenced weapons you can do this without raising the alarm, but I haven't found any of those yet.It then gets a bit hairy when you have to extract. You have to make it over to the extraction point which usually takes three turns to become active and then another three turns before it is compromised. Reinforcements are usually on their way as well making escaping a bit more difficult. On the first mission I got away fine, but on the second one I had to run the gauntlet through enemy fire and just about made it. This is where the issue with LOS raised it's head. It wasn't very clear why some enemies were able to see one of my agents. The developers say they are working on making it clearer, it's something to do with how when attacking you step one square over.
Even with this issue I had a lot of fun sneaking around trying to collect as much intel and equipment as I could and then making my escape. You can see where the extraction point is at all times by clicking a button so that allows you to plan your escape before 'going loud'.
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DjchunKfunK
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Re: Phantom Doctrine [PC, PS4, XBone] - Out 14th August
Developers have posted an article explaining the LOS system.
http://www.creativeforge.pl/cfg-blog/20 ... m-wallhack
Interesting how a system universally used can seem unfair if the readability is bad.
http://www.creativeforge.pl/cfg-blog/20 ... m-wallhack
Interesting how a system universally used can seem unfair if the readability is bad.
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DjchunKfunK
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Re: Phantom Doctrine [PC, PS4, XBone] - Out 14th August
The patches this week have pretty much fixed the LOS issues, it's now a lot clearer why you are being shot. It takes some getting used to knowing that you are not safe if you are standing on the corner of a building, but it works both ways so it's not unfair.
I've played a few more missions today including one that starts out in combat so I got to try a bit more of that. Even then though it is very much about making it to the evac point as any enemies you take out will eventually be replaced by reinforcements. There is always a handy timer on the screen telling you when they will arrive. It's a real change of emphasis from XCOM where you are trying to clear all the enemies out to complete the missions. Here it's very much a tactical retreat every time so you need to approach things differently.
I learnt today that if you knock-out too many guards the rest will start to investigate to see what is going on and obviously if they find an unconscious guard they will raise the alarm. So you can't just sneak through the level knocking everyone out and then taking out the objective.
I also managed to knock-out one of my targets today for the first time. Thought I could then freely explore the area to pick up the last pieces of equipment that are scattered around every level. However the target only stays unconscious for 5 turns so I had to make my escape before he woke up.
I've played a few more missions today including one that starts out in combat so I got to try a bit more of that. Even then though it is very much about making it to the evac point as any enemies you take out will eventually be replaced by reinforcements. There is always a handy timer on the screen telling you when they will arrive. It's a real change of emphasis from XCOM where you are trying to clear all the enemies out to complete the missions. Here it's very much a tactical retreat every time so you need to approach things differently.
I learnt today that if you knock-out too many guards the rest will start to investigate to see what is going on and obviously if they find an unconscious guard they will raise the alarm. So you can't just sneak through the level knocking everyone out and then taking out the objective.
I also managed to knock-out one of my targets today for the first time. Thought I could then freely explore the area to pick up the last pieces of equipment that are scattered around every level. However the target only stays unconscious for 5 turns so I had to make my escape before he woke up.