Phantom Doctrine is a strategic turn-based espionage thriller set at the peak of the Cold War. Drawing on a wide variety of influences and capturing the subtle intrigue of classic spy films, the game thrust the player into a mysterious world of covert operations, counterintelligence, conspiracy an...
Phantom Doctrine is a strategic turn-based espionage thriller set at the peak of the Cold War. Drawing on a wide variety of influences and capturing the subtle intrigue of classic spy films, the game thrust the player into a mysterious world of covert operations, counterintelligence, conspiracy and paranoia.
As leader of a secret organization known only as The Cabal, you are charged with preventing a global conspiracy that seeks to pit leader against leader, and nation against nation. By carrying out secret missions, investigating classified files, and interrogating enemy agents, a sinister plot is uncovered. With the clock ticking, it must be thwarted in order to save the world from an unthinkable fate.
Features
A Deep Single Player Story Campaign: the 40+ hour Single player campaign mode features a rich gripping plot woven with numerous historical events and characters to bring the terrifying reality of the Cold War to life from a unique perspective.
Next-generation turn-based combat: offers unprecedented flexibility of movement and actions, including variable Overwatch modes and assault-oriented Breach ability.
Expanded battlefield: assets can be positioned around the world, enabling you to call for assistance in the heat of battle. But the enemy can also bring in reinforcements, including heavy weapons and even air support. Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight.
Knowledge is power: Improve your chances of success by infiltrating mission locations with undercover operatives. Attempt to stay one step ahead of enemy agents, who are also preparing to spring their own devious traps.
Lurk in the shadows with fully-fledged stealth gameplay: Clandestine operations can be completed with muffled weapons, silent takedowns and cutting edge Cold War technology.
Take charge of the crucial counterintelligence operation: Recruit from both the KGB and the CIA, the criminal fraternity, or even utilise the unique talents of subjects of secret government experiments. Weapons, resources and contacts can be secured around the globe, enabling you to command from afar. But if the situation requires a hands-on approach, you will be locked, loaded and ready to fight.
Innovative Investigation Board: Utilizing a classic pinboard and string approach, the Investigation Board is the hub from where cases, locations and individuals can be researched to reveal new missions, resources and technologies. In Phantom Doctrine, investigation and intel is an active and vital element of success.
Multiplayer Battles: lose friends and make new enemies in ruthless online multiplayer matches. Experience the deviousness and lethality of Phantom Doctrine in accessible 1v1 skirmishes.
Utilize ruthless Technology: New capabilities can either be stolen from the enemy or researched, and then ruthlessly used to your advantage. Often experimental and morally dubious, brainwashing, interrogation, body engineering and chemical enhancement are all fair game as you extract information by any means necessary.
Fully customizable character creation: Operatives can be customized each time they need a new identity. Change their appearance, forge their documents, train them in the deadly arts and send them back into the field.
Carefully Designed hand-crafted levels: Combining the best of both worlds: the quality of large, hand-designed maps and meticulous, smart design ensuring visual and gameplay variety. Travel the world of the 1980s in the grip of the Cold War on both sides of the Iron Curtain.
Replayable modular campaign: a wide array of mechanics ensures markedly different playthroughs. A unique experience is guaranteed by randomly generated character names and backgrounds, algorithmically populated and adapted maps, and randomized intelligence snippets.
A spy thriller from two different points of view: Play as either a former KGB counterintelligence operative or a renegade CIA wet work commando. Each has to come to terms with the truth and challenge the global conspiracy. Complete the campaign to be rewarded with an additional protagonist in Extended Playthrough.
No mission is too big or too small: whether infiltrating a busy government facility to clinically assassinate a target, or mounting a full frontal assault on an enemy base. With optional objectives linked to a mission’s complexity, as well as loot and intelligence to collect, every decision has an impact.
Goodies
Contents
Standard Edition
Deluxe Edition
manual
soundtrack (FLAC)
artbook
System requirements
Minimum system requirements:
Recommended system requirements:
Multiplayer notice: Phantom Doctrine features crossplay matches that you can play with your friends no matter where the game was purchased (PC only).
Multiplayer notice: Please note that GOG GALAXY is required to access Multiplayer.
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system.
Recommended system requirements:
Multiplayer notice: Phantom Doctrine features crossplay matches that you can play with your friends no matter where the game was purchased (PC only).
Multiplayer notice: Please note that GOG GALAXY is required to access Multiplayer.
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system.
Why buy on GOG.COM?
DRM FREE. No activation or online connection required to play.
At first, I thought it was a "meh" game, but I stuck with it and after around 8-10hrs I really began to enjoy it! When I got used to the game and it's system it felt good, really good.
It's a little rough around the edges but the devs seems to care and we already got 3 patches so im not that worried about that. I REALLY love the "No RNG" in combat and you gotta love the Cold War setting!
I do not experience any problems with perfomance or any major bugs atm.
I really Recommend this game so I cant see why it got "Mixed" review on steam because it deserves way better imho!
Finally, another type of turn-based tactics game. There is some good here but unfortunately a lot of bad as well. I liked the premise and story type. Some of the new things they tried, like implementing an “awareness” resource is a cool new idea. The combat system, in my opinion, is very unnatural and makes the game unplayable for me. I feel that a lot of situations are unfair, like how you cannot avoid taking damage while being fired upon even when you dodge. But I do appreciate that stealth is an option. It also has some weird quirks such as - you cannot perform a takedown on a character with more HP. While in mission you can hide bodies, but they miraculously disappear. You can gather intelligence and make connections (in game mechanic), but while this is a cool idea, the mini-game in its self is overly simplified. You also cannot pause the cinematics.
https://pixelloot.com
I really liked the premisse of the game, XCom but make it a cold war conspiracy game? Sure, why not! And while I do like all the basic gameplay elements, the way these are utilised just bores me. The combat is extremely repetitive, the conspiracy files are just generic "connect the dots" minigames instead of actually transporting the plot, and so on.
I wish this game was shorter and more focused on a narrative experience instead of a long, drawn out RNG thing.
This game came out of nowhere a few weeks ago for me, and I immediately fell in love with the concept. Controlling a freelance secret spy organization at the height of the Cold War, with a bevy of guns, gadgets and perks to customize your agents with? Also MKUltra? How could I resist?
A lot of complaints about XCom type games is the "chance to hit" system, which is NOT present here. Your agents have good aim, the only thing you have to worry about are the things standing in your agents way of getting that mortal or fatal blow, such as their ability to dodge or their cover. This all affects how MUCH damage you deal, not whether or not you miss. Which makes things less of a hail mary for every shot taken. This does take out some of the nail biting moments, but it also feels fair. Besides, the stealth has enough nail-biting moments to go around. With disguises and easy-to-see line of sights of the enemy, theres a fair bit of depth when it comes to the stealth, although getting to the point where you have enough supressors for your team can take some time or sacrifice. The story is very authentic, using all the terms, locations, codenames, and espionage you would expect from a cold war spy thriller. The Investigation Board system is fairly unique, and while simple, I find it to be a lot of fun digging through the lore and piecing things together in such an interesting way.
All that said I do have a few complaints. Starting out, this game can be challenging and feel like it isn't telling you things to the extent where you can lose missions because of it. It takes the long-haul approach to teaching you the ins and outs of its systems, so sometimes save-scumming is almost a necessity (I actually lost my first campaign on the second mission in Iron Man mode). Another issue is that the voice acting seems a bit... off. It's hard to feel for some of the characters because of this, and I understand it's a small issue, and I was able to overcome these issues easily enough.
I started three times over until I got a grasp on all the mechanics, escpecially on the strategy layer. Some aspects could use a little better documentation. On the tactical layer, the UI is a little janky. It was also necessary to start over to follow the sometimes confusing story (you begin as a CIA-division, yet you already command a group of agents with all kinds of background - so the transtition from CIA to your own freelance agency is a little blurry).
Other than that I LOVE this game. I circumvented the non-intuitive fights by going for a non-violent playstyle. Which is possible on almost every mission :) If you follow that path, the game can become an interesting puzzle. You need one agent who breaks through the window to take out a civilist, so the next agent can reach the camera control, so the third agent gets to the secret file, and you have to to that in the right order. This is the basic concept, in game that chain of commands can become complicated and really fun.
They got the atmosphere of that era, or at least the Hollywood-version of it, spot on. Think more of Three days of Condor than of James Bond, and you get the idea. The pinboard on which you connect your clues is gamewise not much to do, but it's full of flavor text that enriches the story of the game (most of it actually happens in those clues) and I liked that. It's more about suspense and less about XCOM-style action. The graphics don't look expensive, still really immersive and fitting to the 80s. Again, not the neon-cyberpunk Miami Vice 80s, but brown cassette recorders and ill fitting suits. The soundtrack makes me want to grab a coat and roam rainy streets. Instead I will listen to it in the background while I browsing the internet, but that's my fault.
I don't really have to say much about the game mechanics, for me this game is all about the atmopsphere and quenching my thirst for a neglected era in gaming. The developers did a great job!
This game is waiting for a review. Take the first shot!
{{ item.rating }}
{{ item.percentage }}%
Awaiting more reviews
An error occurred. Please try again later.
Other ratings
Awaiting more reviews
Add a review
Edit a review
Your rating:
Stars and all fields are required
Not sure what to say? Start with this:
What kept you playing?
What kind of gamer would enjoy this?
Was the game fair, tough, or just right?
What’s one feature that really stood out?
Did the game run well on your setup?
Inappropriate content. Your reviews contain bad language.
Inappropriate content. Links are not allowed.
Inappropriate content. Content contains gibberish.
Review title is too short.
Review title is too long.
Review description is too short.
Review description is too long.
Not sure what to write?
You cannot save your review due to the following reasons:
You need to select star rating
You need to enter review title
You need to enter the content of your review
Show:
5 on page
15 on page
30 on page
60 on page
Order by:
Most helpful
Most positive
Most critical
Most recent
Filters:
No reviews matching your criteria
Written in
English
Deutsch
polski
français
русский
中文(简体)
Others
Written by
Verified ownersOthers
Added
Last 30 daysLast 90 daysLast 6 monthsWheneverAfter releaseDuring Early Access
Your review should focus on your in-game experience only. Let the game stand entirely on its own merits.
Avoid noise
To discuss topics such as news, pricing, or community, use our forums. To request new games and website or GOG GALAXY features, use the community wishlist. To get technical support for your game contact our support team.
Critique responsibly
To keep our review sections clean and helpful, we will remove any reviews that break these guidelines or our terms of use.
Ok, got it
GOG Patrons who helped preserve this game
{{controller.patronsCount}} GOG Patrons
Error loading patrons. Please refresh the page and try again.
