Please stay in your seats if, at times during this review, you notice a presence in the shadows. Don t be alarmed, in fact, should you notice a silhouette wearing a suit and tie – he s just here to make his influence known. And if he seems familiar, there’s a good reason: the council of XCOM looms over Phoenix Point, and they won t let you forget it. This is a game about resuscitating an intergovernmental military force dedicated to stopping a global invasion. Where researching the adversary and its weapons gives you a fighting chance to turn the tide. Where the only way to meet the threat is down on the ground, with a few good soldiers arrayed against enemies unknown.

Phoenix Point would be easily dismissed as mimicry, were it not directed by Julian Gollop, the designer of the original, 1994 X-COM. After all, it s difficult to begrudge a man leapfrogging the developers he s inspired. What elevates this game beyond a victory lap, however, are the ways in which it undoes the streamlining of the turn-based tactics genre.

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Phoenix Point has arrived at last! From Julian Gollop, creator of the original X-COM, comes a new turn-based tactics game which tasks players with reviving the defunct Phoenix Project to save humanity after the emergence of a deadly alien virus that mutates human and animal alike to wipe out all of humankind.

Gripping stuff, and also very challenging – which should come as no surprise to veterans of the XCOM series. But never fear! I’ve been playing the game for a grand old while now, and I’ve put together the below Phoenix Point guide, filled with my 20 top tips covering every aspect of this ambitious strategy title, from combat to diplomacy and much, much more!

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Ranged combat in Phoenix Point utilises several innovative overlapping systems to give players an unprecedented amount of control and flexibility in games such as this. This Phoenix Point guide will cover two particularly important aspects of ranged combat: body part damage, and the Free Aim system. An understanding of both these systems is essential to getting the most value out of every single shot – so without further ado, let’s get started!

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One of the many things that Phoenix Point doesn’t do a great job of explaining is the process of capturing live Pandorans. Many of the research projects available to you are locked until you have the correct Pandoran specimen contained and ready for dissection – but how do you actually go about making this happen? This guide will explain exactly how to capture enemies in Phoenix Point, along with all the prerequisites you need to sort out along the way.

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Phoenix Point puts you in charge of the near-defunct Phoenix Project – an organisation meant to kickstart the recuperation of mankind after the emergence of the deadly Pandoravirus. But to do that, you’ll need recruits – and the game really doesn’t explain the recruitment process all that well. But hopefully this quick guide will explain to all the newer players how to recruit new soldiers in Phoenix Point, and what you’ll need to keep track of in order to successfully expand your army.

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The three primary factions of Phoenix Point dominate the remains of human civilization after the emergence of the deadly mutant-birthing Pandoravirus – and how you govern your interactions with each of them is entirely up to you. Our Phoenix Point Factions & Diplomacy guide will give you an idea of how diplomacy works in Phoenix Point, along with useful details on the three main factions in the game: New Jericho, Synedrion, and the Disciples of Anu.

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Of the fourteen gaming mice that have swished across my desk this year, six of them have been made by Corsair. With the Glaive RGB Pro, that number rises to seven – which is, frankly, a ridiculous number of mice to release within the space of twelve months, and way more variations on a theme than is perhaps strictly necessary. Some have been great – see the Ironclaw RGB and Harpoon RGB Wireless. Others, not so much, such as the Nightsword RGB and M55 RGB Pro. Thankfully, the Glaive RGB Pro ends my 2019 Corsair odyssey on a relative high, as it’s not only one of the comfiest gaming mice I’ve ever used, but its snap-on, interchangeable thumb grips also give it plenty of flexibility for different hand shapes. Here’s wot I think.

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Just like in real life, I can’t seem to pick a job in Red Dead Online and stick to it. I want to be a trader and collector and bounty hunter all at the same time. Rockstar are now adding a fourth Frontier Pursuit so that I can sell moonshine and own a speakeasy the real American Dream.

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Today is the day for this Shifting Tides update to Mr. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege that I keep hearing so much about. There’s a returning map, two new operators, and the addition of limb penetration. Here are the highlights from the new update so you can start thinking about new strats before you encounter these new operators in the wild.

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AOC’s C24G1 is an excellent gaming monitor for those on a budget, but for those of you who prefer flat screens as opposed to curved ones, then the AOC 24G2U is definitely the monitor for you. This 24in, 1920×1080, 144Hz, AMD FreeSync screen shares many of the same specs as the C24G1, but comes with a flat, even more accurate IPS panel instead of a curved VA one. It’s a fraction more expensive, going for 180 in the UK at time of writing compared to the C24G1’s usual price of around 173 (for some reason it’s strangely unavailable to buy anywhere in the US right now, but I’d imagine it will probably be more than the $145 asking price of the C24G1 if its UK pricing is anything to go by), but for the curve-averse, it really doesn’t get much better than the 24G2U.

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