Have You Played... Phantom Doctrine?

HomeFeaturesPhantom Doctrine

Have You Played… Phantom Doctrine?Do you trust me?

Do you trust me?

I like to use Have You Played to highlight games that are interesting, even if they don’t always meet the mark.Phantom Doctrineis a flawed tactics game, true, but it has a very fun premise.

You use your spy network to compromise enemy operations, through decisions made on a world map and XCOM-style battles. You’re always trying to get ahead of the enemy via surveillance, intelligence, and espionage, just like every other spy thriller.

But executing missions emphasises being unseen more than killing targets. You’ll sneak into buildings, knock out guards, and gather intel before anyone spots you. It’s this intel that can be used to uncover enemy plans, including known agents.

Phantom Doctrine features all of the spy cliches; an agent that you’ve put a lot of time and effort into training to be a ruthless killer might be adoubleagent, for example. It even makes reference to MK Ultra, a section back in your base that you can use to recruit enemy agents to your cause, revealing new intel, or potentially sending them back as moles. It may not have fully resonated with me or Matt, but the slightly pulpy premise really is loads of fun, and it’s bound to click with more than a few of you.