Rise like a… y’know.

The designer behind X-Com (and, crucially, XCOM) is back with a mix of familiar challenges and brand-new innovations with Phoenix Point, and the hype seems justified. The main issue so far seems to be less about the game itself and more about accessibility and user interfacing – as unfortunately, the in-game tutorial seems designed to confuse more than enlighten.

Thankfully, we’ve spent enough time with this fiendishly difficult game to break it down so that even the most inexperienced player can still have a bit of a head-start.

Take your time

The first thing to remember with this kind of game is that you need to be ready for a commitment of sorts. You are unlikely to pick Phoenix Point up in the first few minutes of play, even if you’ve played XCOM to death, there are enough unique elements that a bit of trial and error is going to be necessary. The game is also brutally difficult, but that’s part of the charm. Take your time, listen closely, and go to bed if you can’t stay alert!

…But not too much time

You’re on the clock here, so don’t gallivant off to every side quest area you possibly can without checking in with the main storyline once in a while. Replays are possible, so ration out your distractions if you can. Prioritise research and resources, and go on the defensive, remembering that you’ve limited time to save everyone from their impending mutations.

Never underestimate your squad

People matter in Phoenix Point, after all – you’re trying to save as many as you can. If you can’t bring yourself to humanise your troops this time around (they do look spectacularly unremarkable), then at least view them as an indispensable resource. As you can imagine with a game focused on stopping the populous from dying, people are in short supply. Don’t get cocky early on, and protect your staff with your life, if necessary. Troops will heal their overall health from healing items, but limbs will remain injured individually. If you want to heal up those broken arms and legs, you’ll have to complete the level and patch yourselves up in between.

Use all your options

You can leave your troops in their default armour – which is advised if you’ve no qualms with the way they perform, it is optimised for their specific skills – but individual items can be tweaked. If you want to swap out a bit of your sniper’s accuracy for some hardy resilience, feel free to change one body plate and leave the rest to maintain your base stats.

Get to higher ground

You will need to learn the terrain with this game just as much as any other strategy classic. If you can see and reach higher ground, get yourself there quickly. Use your scroll wheel to flick between levels, and send your snipers and long-rangers to the top of buildings to cover you when things get rough. You’ll also have the chance at a pre-emptive strike this way, and can ensure your men on the ground get more bang for their buck.

Know your enemy

Headshots are nice, but how are you going to execute one when your enemy doesn’t even have a perceivable head? Make sure you get nice and cosy with your enemies to try and learn their weak spots. Stronger enemies will go down more efficiently from a good few hits to their torso and limbs, or even taking out their weapon, than simply aiming for the head and shooting. You’ll cover more ground this way, leaving some enemies to suffer bleed damage whilst freely attacking others with more health. Don’t be afraid to also use the overwatch capabilities of your team – you never want to let anyone sit idle, so ensure that they are placed on guard duty if you’ve no better use for them.

Don’t be impatient

When in Geoscape Mode, make sure you give yourself enough time to plan everything in intricate detail. You should never have an empty slot, so keep building, strengthening, and exploring – and keep your time values slowed down. Arm yourself with enough time to think properly and you’ll get considerably further than someone with their game on high speed. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with Phoenix Point – the pressure builds quite fast – so reason out each of your choices and plan a few moves ahead.

Be ready for surprises

Phoenix Point offers a range of gameplay devices that are markedly different from XCOM, but also from gaming tropes in general. Don’t be shocked if your cover doesn’t actually protect you when a dude with a big ol’ claw takes a swipe at you – as in real life, claw beats whatever flimsy crate you’re hiding behind. Also, be aware that reloading your gun when you still have bullets in your clip will waste those precious resources. God knows how, but they always seem to get hoovered right back up in video games, but Phoenix Point makes a… point… about realism with its harsh withholding of crucial supplies. Speaking of…

Capitalism is crucial

Get ready to trade from the get-go. Don’t wait to be prompted, or to run out of a certain resource – pick up as many trade missions as you can. Crack on with the Haven Trade Protocols and get wheeling and dealing. That being said, don’t be afraid to spend – you will want to cement your troops with a medical bay and some kind of training apparatus. This way, even when idling, your team can enhance their skills, and you’ll have a better time of it if you can lose your dependency on item drops.

Make friends in high places

Diplomatic options are hard, but going it alone is even harder in the long run. It might seem like a great idea to swoop in and steal a ship for parts rather than spend ages cultivating relationships with needy factions, but the fallout makes it pretty painful. Approval ratings between factions need to be monitored, and with every quarter improvement you’ll reap some rewards. Some of these can really benefit your team, including the opportunity to acquire exclusive troop types, but you’ll have to choose wisely.

As you can imagine, the three factions aren’t the best of friends. You’ve got the standard split of fascists, communists, and theocrats; each offering their own unique missions, supplies, and rewards. You’ll want to choose early on who you want your primary ally to be, and support them on defence missions to really amp up that affection.

Don’t be too hard on yourself

You’re never going to be friends with everyone; sometimes you just have to be a jerk. If you are in dire need of a part or an upgrade and you’ve got a friend in an opposing faction, it can occasionally be worth the risk to take what you want without asking. Just make sure you’re appropriately beefed-up in advance. The best thing you can do is keep your head down the rest of the time, and not get caught up in the petty inter-faction squabbles that detract from the real enemy.

The long and short of it is, Phoenix Point is a damn hard game to master, but by keeping your eye on the right things, and using early-game pre-difficulty-curve missions to stock up, you’ll be saving every man, woman, and child in no time at all.