New gameplay footage from Phoenix Point has popped up on YouTube where Unstable Voltage, a Snapshot Games employee, is showcasing some of the game's unique mechanics, namely free aim and time units that are used for movement.
While my inner cynic is yelling "NO PRE-ORDERS", the rest of me keeps hearing whispers of in Snapshot Games. This is based on each new bit of Phoenix Point we get to see and the latest video is showing us various possibilities aiming and movement possibilities in the game.
Unstable Voltage took off to YouTube to show the game's progress once more and the video starts with him demonstrating how movement works in Phoenix Point. Snapshot Games have introduced a small meter at the bottom of the players' HUD showing how much "time" players' units have left in order to move and shoot. I put the term under quotation marks because it's not measured by regular time units but rather the movement and other actions undertaken in the game.
Snapshot Games
If you've played a game with other games with turn-based combat before, it is likely that you also noticed that equal amount of action was taken away regardless of whether you moved one or five tiles away from your original spot. Phoenix Point handles this differently, as you can see on the picture above. If you don't move your soldier too far, then only a portion of your time units will be consumed, allowing you to reposition the soldier again before taking the shot. This introduces more depth that was unavailable in XCOM Enemy Unknown and XCOM 2.
Speaking of depth, the combat will also be deeper thanks to the free aiming shown in the second part of the video. You will be able to do exactly that - aim like you would in a shooter game. Now due to the game's inherent RNG, your shots will not always land where you aim but the free aiming will still offer a world of possibilities. Unstable Voltage displayed this ability by attempting to shoot an enemy through a narrow space between a lamp post and a crate.
Snapshot Games
RNG gods didn't favour him this time but he proceeded to show that free aiming can be used to destroy some cover, by aiming his soldiers' gun straight at a crate as seen in the screenshot above. This time he completely destroyed the cover and provided an easier way for his teammates to aim at the crab behind the cover. On top of it, the shots that destroyed the cover would also damage the enemy in a regular situation but this particular crab had his shield pointed towards the soldier so he negated the damage.
All of this can be seen in action in the video above.
