The new Phoenix Point mod for the XCOM-style strategy game hopes to provide a complete overhaul in the spirit of XCOM: Long War, focusing on Lovecraft-style horror themes. The Phoenix Point: Terror from the Void mod evokes the spirit of a 1995 standalone add-on to the classic XCOM: UFO Defense game called Terror from the Deep.
Terror from the Void features a revamped story, along with new characters, new dialogue options, rewritten lyrics, and new rewards. Of course, you’ll be facing a plethora of new enemies, from common foes to deadly bosses, as well as a host of new tactical modifiers that can change the fight. To help you out, there’s a complete overhaul of player classes, as well as a complete rebalancing of weapons, items, and abilities.
Of course, with supposed inspiration from Lovecraftian themes, it’s no surprise that paranoia and madness are strong points in Terror from the Void. The mod reintroduces Dream Delirium, a mechanic previously introduced by Index, which functions as the game’s “doomsday clock”, signaling Pandoran’s win condition, which was removed from the base game in its 1.6 update.
Factions will react to your actions and may fear that you are not there to protect them. Infected soldiers will begin to see monsters, and dead soldiers may return with horrible transformations caused by the infection, meaning you may even meet your fallen comrades returning as monsters from Pandora.
You can choose how to fight the infection: do you want to use bionic soldiers immune to its effects or do you want to use the potential of alien forces and mutate your soldiers to make them even stronger? Experimental mutagens can affect your troops with unique conditions that can give them new abilities, but can affect their effectiveness in other areas.
Terror from the Void promises to be “extensively customizable”, as the developers state that “if you don’t like something, you can turn it off”. However, they promise plenty of challenges for those who want them, claiming “a legend of difficulty that lives up to its name” for seasoned Phoenix Point veterans and those who really want to embrace horror.
Phoenix Point: Terror from the Void entered open beta on October 7, with the team saying that players should “expect bugs and balance issues” at initial launch. You can download it from Steam, but note that the entire Phoenix Point DLC is required to play. You can see the trailer below:
If you’re looking for something else to play, why not check out our picks for the best tactical RPGs on PC, or perhaps the best turn-based strategy games? We also have news on the release date of Marvel’s Midnight Suns: game developer Firaxis promises that XCOM “absolutely” has a future, but clarifies that they couldn’t pass up the opportunity to develop a game in the Marvel universe.
Source : PC Gamesn
