Phantom Doctrine

Easily the most fun i've had from a game in the last couple of years!

How to gt the game running in Win 11 (all thanks to ReaperOnslaught on Reddit!) Step by step, you need to do the following; Head over to Windows Defender Firewall Click on Advanced Settings Once the Advanced Settings page is up, you should be on the "Inbound Rules" section, on the right side of your screen, there is a menu that says "new rule...", you need to click on this. Once the "New rule" prompt appears on your screen, you will want to select "Program" as your rule type, and then press next. After that, you'll have to pick your file's location. The files you'll want to pick (as you'll have to do this twice for Inbound Rules, and twice for Outbound Rules), are, firstly, "IWTB", and secondly "IWTB-Win64-Shipping", which should be in file locations listed below on your PC. Once again, once the file you want to make a rule for is selected, click next. You'll have the option to either allow the connection, allow it if it's secure, or block the connection entirely. You have to set it to block the connection every time. Once this is selected, press next. The next step is to select when the rule applies. You should ensure that everything is selected, which it should be by default. Afterwards, press next. You're now on the final step for creating your rule, which is simply to give it a name, and potentially a description, though descriptions are optional. I named my four rules "Phantom Doctrine Fix 1" through "Phantom Doctrine Fix 4". Click "Finish", and you've made a rule. Ensure that you have both inbound and outbound rules set up for both the normal "IWTB" file and the "IWTB-Win64-Shipping" file by roughly repeating the process presented in steps 3-8. When you want to do the outbound rules, simply click on "outbound rules" on the left side of the window and then start from "new rule..." again. Got all 4 of your Defender Firewall rules made? Go boot the game up. It should, hopefully, work out for you now. IWTB File (INSTALL DRIVE LOCATION)\Steam\steamapps\common\PhantomDoctrine IWTB-Win64-Shipping (INSTALL DRIVE LOCATION)\Steam\steamapps\common\PhantomDoctrine\IWTB\Binaries\Win64 Replace (INSTALL DRIVE LOCATION) with the appropriate string, such as C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\PhantomDoctrine

I abandoned the game partway through a few times over a couple of years before finally powering through on my latest attempt. While it wasn't terrible, I can't really recommend it. The turn based espionage was interesting at first, but the AI was nonsensically stupid, which kept things from being as engaging as they could have been. I mean, your spies can faceplant through windows right in front of civvies or guards, and they don't give a damn. They only react if they see a body, someone touching intel/objectives, or your dudes undisguised in a restricted area. But on the other hand, a crowded room with civvies and something (or someone) I needed to grab was a pain in the ass because there weren't enough ways to distract or manipulate people without causing an alarm. You can only really force people to look at a unit for a turn, and only if that unit speak's the region's language. In theory, it's not bad that an espionage game discourages open combat, but PD took things a bit too far. Once an alarm is triggered, everything becomes a rush to evac before endless waves of reinforcements can wear your units down. So, in practice, combat is something to avoid at all costs, which means having most of your away teams twiddling their thumbs in safe areas while your disguised units do nearly everything. The decoded intel tracing minigame was completely mishandled. It could have been removed completely, and nothing of value would have been lost. I mean, having to do randomized paperwork organization as one of the main ways to unlock new weapons, skills, and chemical compounds? No! Bad! I do enough paperwork at my actual job, thank you. At most, it should have been just something you occasionally had to do to unlock decisive plot missions - then the decoded messages could have actually meant something instead of just being semi-randomized vague nonsense. It's also baffling that there's an extended mode and an extra starting faction gated behind beating the game once, because even in standard mode, the game felt like it was dragging on well before the end, and the strongest impression the plot left on me was "It had one, I guess."

First mission is already bs, your squad sucks , you have three agents and they can't kill a single enemy in a round, and there are ten enemies just tearing you apart. NO balance, but I guess all the edge lords love it, because after minmaxing and retrying each single round 50 times they get it done and feel compelled to tell everyone who rightfully points out the bs to "git gud" because they think repeating a bad joke for a decade makes it somehow funnier. Terrible game.

Some, "What to play if you miss XCOM?" videos led me here and I'm glad I found this game. It's a great mix of XCOM-style combat with Invisible Inc.-style stealth mechanics and the mix works! It feels like the best of both worlds. This game really caters to different play styles. If I want to take my time on a map (completionist) or rush a map to get to the next thing, it's my choice. If I want to go full-stealth, push the envelope, or go in guns blazing... that's my choice too. I hope they release a 2nd version of this with improved character customization.

Phantom Doctrine klingt nach einer spannenden Kombination: Rundentaktik im Stil von XCOM, aber statt Aliens und Lasergewehren gibt’s Spione, Cold-War-Flair und eine spannende Verschwörungsgeschichte. Auch der Schwerpunkt, dass man sich Spion-mässig auf Schleichen und Unentdecktbleiben konzentrieren muss statt auf Rumballern, klingt erstmal erfrischend. Und ich behaupte, die Idee könnte super funktionieren. Leider bleibt es am Ende beim "könnte". Denn schon ganz am Anfang zeigt sich eine grosse Schwäche des Spiels: Es ist alles viel zu kompliziert und viel zu schlecht erklärt. Das könnte super funktionieren, wenn es richtig intuitiv ist. Doch das Gegenteil ist der Fall. Ein Beispiel: Beim Zielen auf einen Gegner erhält man zwei Schadenswerte. Was sie bedeuten? Erst nach länglicher Internetsuche kam raus: minimaler und maximaler Schaden. Okay. Aber was genau entscheidet, was passiert? Nicht der Zufall, denn dieser spielt in den Kämpfen keine Rolle. Auch hier spielen kompliziert gewisse Werte zusammen, was sich erstaunlicherweise am Schluss noch intransparenter anfühlt als das Fehlschuss-bei-99%-Trefferchance-Zufallsprinzip in XCOM. Beispiel zwei: Agenten haben zig Werte, was völlig unübersichtlich ist, sodass ich sie konsequent ignoriert habe. Geschadet hat dass es mir nicht. Aber warum sind sie dann überhaupt drin? Trotz diesen holprigen Einstiegshürden, entfaltete sich dann doch ein solides, wenn auch nicht überragendes Gameplay. Schleichen, aufklären, Flucht planen – das kann Spaß machen. Dabei hilft die durchaus ordentliche Grafik und der tolle Soundtrack. Leider nutzt sich das alles viel zu schnell ab. Die Missionen wiederholen sich, dauern zu lange, und irgendwann spielt man nicht mehr, weil es Spaß macht, sondern weil man „halt schon so weit gekommen ist“. Und die Story? Was spannend beginnt, verläuft sich in verwirrten Dialogen, Namen und Plotwendungen, die irgendwann egal sind. Im letzten Drittel wollte ich nur noch das Ende sehen (was es letztlich nicht wert war) und wenn ein Spiel das Gefühl auslöst "Hoffentlich ist es endlich fertig", dann ist das meist ein ziemliches Spielspasstodesurteil. Genau das ist hier der Fall gewesen. Fazit: Phantom Doctrine hat Ideen, die man mögen will – aber es steht sich oft selbst im Weg. Zu kompliziert, zu schlecht erklärt, zu zäh. Für eingefleischte Taktikfans, die XCOM auswendig kennen und mal was anderes wollen, vielleicht einen Blick wert. Alle anderen spielen besser noch einmal XCOM. Keine Empfehlung.

Xcom + Commandos + Hitman = PD? A unique turn based tactics game that plays out like a cinematic spy thriller. The paperwork mechanic is tedious, there can be excessive micromanagement as your agent roster grows, and most perks are geared towards action even if you're playing stealth. Gripes aside, its definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of turn based tactics, or spy thrillers for that matter. Maybe the upcoming derivative third person shooter sequel will increase awareness of the franchise and reinvigorate the original concept. One can only hope.

I wish I liked Phantom Doctrine more than I do. Its atmosphere, vibes, and story are impeccable, really bringing that gritty Cold War espionage movie feeling to the forefront of the game. Unfortunately, the gameplay is simply ‘we have XCOM at home’; very basic turn-based tactical gameplay, with a big emphasis on incredibly rudimentary stealth. It’s not difficult, it’s just clunky and rapidly grows dull, and all of the potential that the premise has feels very wasted.