Frostpunk 2 Review – The Brutal, Enhanced Survival Game Sequel

Strategy games are all about making choices. Some of these choices are complex—when to wage war or what types of civilizational goals to embrace—while others are simpler, like choosing which military units to train or building specific buildings. Frostpunk 2The genius of a game about surviving an apocalyptic eternal winter lies in the difficulty or ease, emotional weight, and dramatic stakes it offers for every type of choice.

Frostpunk 2 creator 11 Bit Studios has done the same thing with previous titles, including the original survival strategy game and 2014's This War of Mine. In both games, the usual decision-making process of allocating resources or building structures is combined with a narrative context, either of people trying to endure daily life in an active war zone, or, in Frostpunk, of living in the midst of something unexpected. in the matter. The never-ending winter has begun.

Frostpunk 2, like the original game, is centered on a version of the past in which a severe global cooling event occurred, covering much of the world in snow and killing much of the planet's population. It takes place in the fictional early 20th century, rather than the original's 1880s, where the frozen city of New London has lost its leadership and must now rely on players, called stewards, to guide the community and help it survive, and even thrive.

The first Frostpunk excelled at combining a sound strategy foundation with a compelling premise and a strong narrative framework. There's always a concern that sequels to games, especially those in the strategy genre, will make previous games too complex to satisfy the need for more content in subsequent games.

Frostpunk 2 avoids this problem by balancing added content and simplifying the return system. It's still a game about trying to keep people warm, fed, and sheltered while trying to build a new civilization born from the frozen remnants of a vanished past. The sequel still requires maintaining a large heat generator powered by coal, oil, or steam, and a schedule that heralds regular fluctuations in temperature and the arrival of paralyzing storms.

However, construction is now much simpler, divided into a series of buildable zones - housing, food, fuel, logistics, etc. - which can be expanded to accommodate related structures, with more general options.

The most notable addition to the game is a council that meets as a sort of ad hoc parliament, with representatives belonging to party-like factions with different views on how stewards should further develop New London. New laws must be proposed and voted upon by a majority of deputies before they can be enacted. Each faction has its own ideological framework that affects how they feel, such as charging citizens for daily necessities or giving more or less control of the workplace to their managers.

The result of the council and factional system was a new source of tension that transcended the immediacy of physical existence. There are icons at the top of the screen showing the city's supply of food, housing, raw materials, and luxuries, but mirrored below them are images of each faction, their anger or happiness, forcing the player to consider options beyond what they want for the city. A personal vision of progress.

Load into a saved game and players chant "Steward" in unison, with every perspective demanding to be heard. If their needs are not ignored, dire situations can result. Often irritating a faction, for example, by ignoring their demands for policy changes or negotiating with representatives to introduce bills but never bringing those bills to a vote, they may express their frustration by going on strike - in the worst case Under circumstances, they can trigger violent rebellions that devastate urban areas and lead to death.

Faction dissatisfaction - as well as certain government policies or repeatedly broken political promises - can also cause the city to lose trust in the steward, which when the steward hits rock bottom, causes the game to end with the player being ousted from power.

It's difficult to satisfy the desires of these different factions while trying to keep the player's hope for the city's progress. The thesis of Frostpunk 2 seems to be that, for all but the most expert or savvy leaders, survival means sliding toward a disappointing or morally objectionable consensus—a compromise. , no one leaves all happiness, and society naturally moves towards a version of its own dreams. Only the most talented can manipulate democracy. The game knows that good intentions often lead to bad results.

If the first Frostpunk seemed at times too eager to show just how miserable existential conditions could become, the sequel applies that same cynicism to politics more broadly. Even if the player achieves some kind of victory, the game can't help but stick its knife in. After a campaign ends and a rundown of the choices you made to manage your faction, it'll ask you if you actually tried to accomplish those things, or if you just created a compromising situation. Is this what you really want, or are you just telling yourself to try and make yourself feel better?

This gloomy tone continues in the almost ironic "Utopia" sandbox mode. In it, players can experience the system of "Frostpunk 2" in a better way than the campaign. There are more factions, different goals to pursue (such as establishing three colonies, stockpiling resources, or reaching a large population), and a variety of maps, each with their own geographical quirks. Here, as well as in the campaign, the game's thematic misery and overall design feel familiar - and that familiarity dampens the excitement of a concept as novel as the first Frostpunk.

Viewers will know what to expect in this cruel world: filthy children toiling in factories, hundreds freezing to death every time the power goes out, and morally questionable policies. There is no doubt that the sequel is a more certain and fully developed vision of its predecessor. But ultimately, Frostpunk 2 is still a better version of what came before, rather than something truly new.

Likewise, it's a game that stands out in the strategy genre, with narrative considerations that give every one of its choices so much texture. While it's not a huge departure from its predecessor, what Frostpunk 2 achieves is more than worthy (on its own merits).