PAX South 2018 Impressions: Phantom Doctrine

Phantom Doctrine is a turn-based tactical game from CreativeForge Games. They are a Warsaw-based game development studio founded in 2011. The team is full of industry veterans from several studios like Techland, CI Games, and Flying Wild Hogs. The game will be available on Steam in Fall 2018.

Phantom Doctrine is an alternate history thriller about a global conspiracy during the Cold War. Players can play through two campaigns as either a KGB counterintelligence operative or a CIA network commando who has controls a nefarious group of agents known as The Cabal. The Cabal are a multi-national organization of specialists interrogating enemy agents and stealing top secret information to stop a sinister plot and save the world.

The folks over at CreativeForge are taking full advantage of the game’s unique Cold War setting. Counterintelligence is at the forefront of long term strategy. Every agent has their own backstory, motivations, origin, and loyalty. It is possible for one of your agents to be a double agent. It is possible for one of your own agents to be captured while on a mission, brainwashed, and sent back to you with hidden agendas. It’s also possible to brainwash enemy NPC’s into joining you, or returning to their base revealing hidden locations. As players complete missions and gather intelligence you will use an in-game poster-board complete with Kodak photos, thumbtacks, and most importantly strings that connect all the dots. It will be possible to put an agent to work on it, but they won’t be available for other missions around the world.

Phantom Doctrine promises next-generation turn-based combat with its variable overwatch modes and assault-oriented Breaching abilities. Not only will the game feel more fast paced than most other games of the genre, but the player can also use stealth throughout the levels so that nobody fires a single shot. Stealth and combat are also improved by much more flexible movement and the ability to select other agents during another’s movements.

Phantom Doctrine will launch in 2018 on Windows PC and consoles.

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Matthew Davis

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I was born and raised in a town so small there were more cows than people. I joined the USAF as soon as I could, and I currently reside in San Antonio. I am a singer/songwriter on the side, but I've been a gamer since birth. I grew up with PlayStation and Nintendo, though, I don't discriminate between consoles and PC. I have a PC with a 3080, Steam Deck, and a PS5.

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