It’s been said that making a good first impression is the most important factor in establishing a new relationship. Well, if I’m being honest, my first impression of Frozen Synapse was “if I had hair, this game would make me want to pull it out.” I’m all for complexity in my strategy games, but the sheer amount of tactical variables in each round of each match had me bewildered. Thankfully, as I invested more time in the game (and opted for multiplayer matches instead of the single player campaign), my appreciation for it and its systems grew immensely.
When I was offered the opportunity to review Frozen Synapse, I was more than happy to oblige. Though I hadn’t heard of the game prior to that moment, I watched a few trailers and figured that the turn-based strategy game would be right up my alley. I think my mistake was imagining that it would play out like Valkyria Chronicles or even the 3DS’s Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars, which I’m currently playing. Putting those games next to Frozen Synapse is akin to watching Watson decimate its human opponents on Jeopardy.
Frozen Synapse’s greatest strength is also its most monumental barrier to entry; the complexity and customizability of each and every unit action is staggering. Each turn in a match begins with a planning phase, where both players plot their moves before simultaneously carrying them out. During the planning phase the player selects each of his units and doles out orders via way points and a variety of commands.
For instance, let’s say I need to get a unit from behind one wall to another while crossing the open doorway of a room that I think houses an enemy. One way to handle this would be to tell my unit to walk to the doorway, and then face in to the room while sidestepping across the opening, allowing him to immediately open fire on any unit that may be there. Once he is safely across the doorway, I’ll have him stop aiming, which increases movement speed, and make his way to the wall I picked out. Of course, there is a chance that the enemy is stationary in the room aiming directly at the doorway, in which case my unit will likely be killed as a standing unit always has the advantage over a moving one. So, perhaps I should tell my unit to run across the doorway while ignoring all enemies so as to not stop and engage in futile combat. Of course, once I make it to the wall, I need the unit to again engage any enemies he might see, so on his final waypoint I’ll enable engaging enemies on sight again. Oh, and I’ll have him crouch to help decrease his visibility.
That hypothetical situation barely scratches the surface of what strategy is available to the clever player in command. On top of what the player chooses to do, units also come with one of several different weapons, including shotguns, machine guns, sniper rifles, grenade launchers, and rocket launchers. While the tactical use of the shotgun, machine gun, and sniper rifle should be self-explanatory, the grenade and rocket launcher are interesting in that they can be used to deform and alter the terrain by destroying cover and opening up new entrances to rooms. These weapons add another possible strategy to the player’s already expansive repertoire.
Frozen Synapse offers a fairly lengthy and somewhat convoluted campaign mode, though I wouldn’t put much focus in that. Missions are varied and have different objectives, but they also feature a finite number of turns you may use to complete them, which just seems odd for a game that focuses on slow, methodical planning and execution. It’s also puzzling that, should you fail a mission and restart, the level is randomized, changing not only the positioning of player and enemy units, but also completely redesigning the level and placing objectives and cover in entirely different places. This means that it is almost impossible to learn from your previous mistakes and adjust your strategy accordingly.
While the campaign may prove helpful in prepping you for playing multiplayer matches, it would be much more useful to instead play a handful of the AI skirmishes, which generate matches identical to those found in playing against another human. Here you can experiment with the different match types, which run the usual gamut of wiping out the opponent entirely, killing or protecting a VIP character, infiltrating a designated area, etc. These matches are quick and make for a great way to learn the ins and outs of all that Frozen Synapse has to offer.
The real bread and butter here is the multiplayer mode, and it is without a doubt as fun as it is addictive. Each time Frozen Synapse is opened you are asked to sign in and join one of several servers. Once signed in, you are free to challenge or be challenged, as everyone online appears in an on-screen menu. Even as you play the single player game, you are able to accept challenges from opponents, make your move, and then return to your previous game. In fact, the whole point seems to be having a few active matches going on at a time, as there can be downtime between finish your planning phase and your opponent finishing his. The game even runs in windowed mode by default, seemingly encouraging active web-browsing while you wait for your next move.
Moreover, matches can span days as they stay open and active even once one or both players sign off. Earlier today I was playing a match when my opponent had to leave. Later, I was out shopping when I got an automated email alerting me that the player had returned and was waiting for me to make my move. When I got home, he was already gone so I made my move, watched our actions play out, and planned my next move before signing off, which will be queued and executed once he is back on. It’s a fascinating system that allows for a calm and thorough style of play.
I have to mention that while the game looks clean and should run smoothly on any modern computer, I do wish there was some variety to the chromatic scheme which is very, very blue. Menus, loading screens, floors, cover, and walls are all some shade of blue. It’s a neat look for a while, but as I played more and more, my matches began to blur together and become indistinguishable from each other as they all look the same.
Frozen Synapse is a rather unique and forward-thinking approach to the turn-based strategy genre. With an immeasurable amount of tactical possibility and seamless multiplayer integration, this game just begs to be running nonstop, even if minimized while you await your opponent’s next move. It’s something reminiscent of playing long-distance chess, waiting for the letter to arrive which details the move of one player to the other. Though tutorials are available in game, I must warn you again that the barrier to entry is high; Frozen Synapse’s stark blue corridors will seem cold and damning upon first arrival. Stick with it, though, and the game will unveil itself to you as something special indeed.
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Things We Liked: Incredible amount of control and possibility. The integration of multiplayer, from matchmaking to running several games at the same time over a span of days, is wonderfully executed.
Things We Disliked: A so-so campaign mode infuriates more than it encourages you forward. A whole lotta blue.
Target Audience: Strategy enthusiasts looking for something beyond the “you take your turn, then I’ll take mine,” grid-based, move-attack-finish model.
(Frozen Synapse – Developer: Mode 7 Games. Publisher: Mode 7 Games. Available for PC and Mac. A copy of the game was provided by the publishers for review purposes. Unfamiliar with CFD!’s review system? Read our newly revised explanation here.)
