I dig giant robots, but this mech tactics game is a mixed bag - Phantom Brigade Quick Review

PLAY IT OR SKIP IT?

Play it if you're a fan of games like Battletech, but be aware that it has some problems. Phantom Brigade features awesome-looking mechs and a unique combat system, but performance issues and unintuitive gameplay make it a frustrating experience. There’s a lot to like here, especially if you love mechs, but it falls short of other games in the turn-based tactics genre.

TIME PLAYED

I’ve played around four hours of Phantom Brigade, splitting my time between story missions, optional fights, and unit customization back at my base. Most of the maps are on the small side, and missions can typically be completed in around twenty minutes.

WHAT’S AWESOME

• Great customization options. Not only could I upgrade parts and weapons, but I was able to make tons of cosmetic changes to each mech. There’s an option for a full-body paint job, but I preferred painting my mech part-by-part so I had more control over its look. I was able to mimic the look of some of my favorite mechs, like the MBF-02 Strike Rouge from Gundam Seed Destiny.  Any changes I made showed up in cutscenes, which is something I always appreciate. I was even able to personalize unit names, avatars, callsigns, and more. Little details like this give the game flavor and made me more attached to my units.

• Strategic gameplay. While Phantom Brigade has turn-based combat, units take their turns simultaneously. At the start of each turn, I saw a prediction of how the enemies would move and act. Instead of moving, attacking, and waiting for my next turn, I plotted out multiple attacks on a timeline. Once I’d set commands for every unit, I started the turn and watched the mechs duke it out. Time is paused when plotting out turns, and it was exciting to watch units spring to life after I confirmed my actions. There’s a lot happening onscreen during combat, but everything is mapped out one turn at a time, it doesn't feel overwhelming.

• Parts salvaging. In order to upgrade mechs, I needed to salvage weapons and parts from enemy units. If I rushed in and blew things up, I wouldn’t have anything to salvage, so I needed to be thoughtful about each attack. The risk-reward trade-off was really compelling and had a big impact on gameplay. I tried to disarm or disable opponents whenever I could, but sometimes wiping out enemies and losing out on loot was the best way to keep my mechs safe.

WHAT SUCKS

• Slow framerate. I tried Phantom Brigade on my Steam Deck and gaming laptop and experienced framerate drops on both systems. Since the game is turn-based, it didn’t have a  significant impact on gameplay, but it still detracted from my overall experience. Normally, I’d blame these problems on my hardware, but demo players have reported similar issues. The devs are aware of the problem and are working to optimize performance.

• Limited information about your attacks. While Phantom Brigade let me view the status of enemy units and what those units would do next, it didn’t tell me how much damage my attacks would do. This made planning tough, especially when I wanted to limit damage to enemy mechs, and it also led to awkward scenarios where an enemy was destroyed before a unit finished its attack, so it would just shoot aimlessly at the ground until the end of the turn. Some players might enjoy calculating attacks themselves, but other essential pieces of information are missing. The range of a mech’s main weapon was visible on-screen when I moved my unit, but there was no way to see the range of secondary weapons. The lack of info makes it hard to strategize, which isn’t ideal for a tactics game!

• Clunky and unintuitive controls. Phantom Brigade’s combat is snappy, but the rest of the game is littered with baffling design decisions. Controls aren’t consistent throughout the game, which makes for an aggravating experience. For example, during missions, pressing right click cancels actions. On the world map, you need to hold right click to travel to new locations. This was so confusing that I initially assumed it was a bug. I figured it out eventually, but the unintuitive controls slowed my progress and got in the way of fighting giant robots.

💬 Do you plan on suiting up for mech battles in Phantom Brigade, or are you going to passing on this adventure? Share your thoughts in the comments!