Phantom Brigade

Phantom Brigade hands-on — A clever blend of turn-based and real-time combat

Phantom Brigade is an indie that is a clever combination of turn-based strategy and real-time tactical combat in a role-playing game. It combines futuristic sci-fi weaponry like mechs with modern-day combat units like tanks and infantry squads.

The action is like Combat Mission, where you issue commands and then watch the results play out in real time. That sounds familiar, but there’s a twist, based on a short demo I saw at a preview event. Brace Yourself Games is publishing the title this year and showing it at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), the big game trade show this week in Los Angeles.

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Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.