Phantom Brigade

Phantom Brigade is a 2023 tactics game about a unit of mechs fighting to take back a country that has been invaded. On the campaign map the brigade moves from region to region, picking fights and gathering salvage. In battle, the game shows a timeline a few seconds long.

You plan each mech's moves and shots along that timeline, with a preview of what the enemy will try to do in the same window, then press play and watch it happen. Mechs are built from parts salvaged from defeated enemies, so how you win a fight decides what you can build next.

Its timeline is one of the most original ideas in tactics games of the last decade. It sits between turns and real time: you plan with full information about the next few seconds, then lose control as they play out. Salvage gives every battle a reason to aim carefully.

The campaign is repetitive and the story is thin. It is a game for players who enjoy the battle system enough to play it many times.

Phantom Brigade keeps X-COM's split between a strategic map and tactical battles, and replaces the turns with short planned spans of real time. It belongs in the line that runs from Laser Squad Nemesis through Frozen Synapse: plan, commit, watch.