Every now and then, we at Mash Those Buttons get to play something that really gets under our skin. While we all enjoy those triple-A titles we spend months anticipating, once in a while we are taken unawares by something completely out of left field which really leaves an impression on us. As a real diehard fan of strategy games, I can proudly stand before you and claim that Frozen Synapse is one such title. The newest release by Mode 7 Games is something so different from anything else out there and just so plain cool that I feel it is my personal duty to bring attention to it.
The premise of Frozen Synapse is your typical science fiction story with a few interesting twists. There’s an incredibly powerful, oppressive corporation which runs a futuristic city and a disenfranchised group of citizens have formed a ragtag resistance group aimed at bringing it down. While this is standard stuff for sci-fi, the player assumes not the role of a resistance member but rather a metaphysical being onto which they hang their hopes and dreams.
It turns out the dystopian city of Markov Geist is actually comprised of two realms: the real and the shape. While the real is physical and absolute, the shape is a digital/organic realm which has an influence on everyone and everything in the physical world. Sci-fi anime fans of the Ghost in the Shell series will be familiar with the overall concepts as the player actually controls a power in the shape known as “Tactics.” Just like in the iconic anime, Tactics is a sentient A.I. which is responsible for communicating and giving orders to soldiers in the battlefield. As Tactics, the player is contacted by the radical group Petrov’s Shard and will be solely responsible for keeping their operatives alive in combat.
Reminiscent of the original Rainbow Six Games, Frozen Synapse has the player giving complex and direct orders to their forces from a top-down perspective. Being that the player is an inhabitant of the shape realm, everything visible on the battlefield is reduced to a very basic aesthetic look. Although the battles in Markov Geist take place in ordinary places like office buildings and warehouses, the actual architecture is shown in a much more simplistic fashion. Combat forces are shown in a variety of colors, walls are a solid blue, and any sort of cover is colored in a lighter blue shade. The no-frills approach to the game’s visuals is actually quite helpful as it serves to keep usually hectic battlefields easy to understand even when combat gets intense.
In addition to being quite visually unique, Frozen Syanpse also plays out very differently from any other strategy game out there. While the player does give orders to each of their units, there is no actual direct control mid-battle. The combat in the game consists of individual turns which play out simultaneously for all forces on the field. During the planning phase of a turn, the player gives commands to each of his four units which are then carried out once both the enemy A.I. and the player submit their moves. In the outcome phase of combat, all orders take place over the course of five seconds at which point the action is paused for the next planning phase. Battles play out in small chunks of time until objectives are achieved or all friendly units are lost.
In each planning phase, the player has a wealth of options available with which to plot out potential victory. Soldiers come in a variety of types such as snipers, grenadiers, and close quarters operatives each with its own role on the battlefield. Every unit can be given individual orders to check corners, run past enemies, duck behind cover, and prioritize hostile targets for fire. In addition to giving orders to friendly units, players can also plot ghost paths for hostile forces so as to get a feel for which potential actions they may take as the actual combat plays out. Players have an unlimited amount of time to test out their floor plan and can even watch a simulation of the next turn before finalizing their commands.
Each battle in Frozen Synapse plays out in this cycle of planning and execution, but the combat never becomes tiring. While the planning portion of the game can feel much like examining a chess board before moving a piece, the actual combat itself rarely plays out like planned. A variety of factors are taken into account in combat, and rushing headlong into the fray will result in absolute defeat. Although the pace of the game may be methodical, there is never a lack of intensity to the battles as things can quickly go from bad to worse in the span of a single turn.
It also helps that players will constantly be on their toes as each scenario is randomly generated. Objectives in singleplayer missions will always be the same, but the battlefield will always change on subsequent plays. Each time a mission begins in Frozen Synapse, the layout of the battlefield, location of enemies, and even the types of soldiers at your disposal are always in flux. Although missions can always be replayed for better ratings, the player will never experience the same mission the same way twice. Restarting a mission because of a significant defeat means you’ll be looking at a very different battlefield and will require players to reassess their strategies time and time again.
While the lengthy campaign will keep many players busy for quite a while, it’s really the multiplayer and its integration into which truly shines. First-time players in Frozen Synapse are required to create login information for the game’s stat-tracking servers, but why this is required won’t become apparent until they dive into the game. At any time during the singleplayer, pop-ups may appear in the left-hand corner of the screen regarding multiplayer game invitations. Should the player choose to accept the challenge, he will be thrown into a multiplayer match against a human opponent as their campaign progress is paused. These pop-ups (which can be turned off) will continue to appear in any of the game’s modes and it’s quite possible to take place in over half a dozen multiplayer matches simultaneously. The Frozen Synapse servers are constantly running to help players get into multiplayer matches and then consequently record the results for player rankings.
The Mode 7 Games Team really has done a wonderful job here as the pacing of Frozen Synapse really lends itself well to its multiplayer structure. As is the nature of turn-based strategy games, matches against other players can often feel sluggish as cold and calculating opponents can take quite a while to end their turns. By allowing the player to have multiple games going simultaneously, there is always some sort of assurance that at least one match will ready for the next turn. What would normally be a rather dull and longwinded multiplayer component is kept constantly engaging and genuinely exciting.
It also doesn’t hurt that multiplayer offers the same level of random generation and number of strategic options as the singleplayer component of Frozen Synapse. In each of the game’s four multiplayer modes, each match is set up with random parameters. Level geometry and assigned units can vary wildly from match to match even when playing the same mode type. Each match can also be customized to include different rules or enable fog of war if the player chooses. There’s a lot of content in both the campaign and the online mode which can really make the game a lasting experience.
Although there is a lot to love about Frozen Synapse, it is not without its faults. For one thing, the game can be a bit brutal when it comes to the learning curve. While the tutorial does a good job of getting players used to the controls and basic concepts of the game, it will really be the School of Hard Knocks which will put the player through the game’s paces. Defeat can come suddenly in Frozen Synapse and there will be plenty of times early on where players will be confused to as why a soldier died. He was aiming the right way, started firing at the same time as the enemy, and was still mowed down. “Why did I lose?” will be a constant question on the player’s mind early on. Ultimately there are a number of tactical choices to be kept in mind that will take a few hours to really get down pat and frustration will be constant until those concepts are grasped.
The game may also drive off some gamers due to its basic aesthetic appearance and light approach to audio. Although diehard strategy fans will likely appreciate the game’s stylized visual elements and soothing late 90s electronica soundtrack, some gamers may fine the game a bit lifeless at first. Frozen Synapse really does benefit from its presentation and is truly unique, but some gamers may desire something a bit more visceral and immediately intense.
At the end of the day, Frozen Synapse is one of those titles that really sticks with you. It’s stylish, smartly designed, and so wholly different from most games of its ilk that it truly sets itself apart from the rest of the pack. While it won’t appeal to the more impatient gamers out there, anyone with a love for strategy games owes it to himself to give this one a try. Mode 7 Games should be proud of themselves as Frozen Synapse is certainly worthy of being considered an indie gaming gem.
Frozen Synapse is available through Steam for both OS X and Windows. The game is available at two prices: $24.99 (which includes two copies of the game) and $29.99 (which includes two copies and the soundtrack).
