Frozen Synapse

Oh boy, how do I go about describing Frozen Synapse? It is a strategy game, though tactical would be a bit more apt of a description, but we're really just talking semantics at that point. Turn based also applies, but not in the way that you would normally think, because both you and your enemy plan and act at the same time. Maybe Frozen Synapse is a simultaneous turn based tactical game. Actually, that sounds kind of cool. Yeah, let's just go with that for the remainder of the review.

So now that the genre is established, how about the actual game? It alternates between two sections: one in which you plan your moves, ordering your shotgunners, machine gunners, grenade launchers, snipers, or rocket wielding units to move from point A to B, aim or fire in a specific direction, check behind them, focus or ignore certain targets, or duck behind cover; and the time spent actually executing those moves, which only plays out the first 5 seconds. When combined with the fact that both you and your opponent plan and act simultaneously, you get a game where you must agonize over your potential actions more so than, say, a turned based game like XCOM, since in those games you're insulated from the immediacy of an enemy's actions, yet lack the ability found in traditional RTS games, such as Supreme Commander or Starcraft, to instantly change direction if it turns out a particular course of action isn't going to work out like you hoped. Basically it's a pretty tough game where you can spend a lot of time trying to craft the best possible plan of attack, only to cringe as it all falls apart during that 5 second results section.

This looks good now, but unfortunately I failed to take into account how close my machine gunner's path was to a wall.

To help make your like more difficult, or potentially easier, during the planning stage not only do you have control over your own units - planning out their moves, seeing how they react to enemy positions, etc. - but you can also plan out your enemy's moves. These aren't the actions that your enemy will ultimately take, but a tool that you can use with which to build and test your strategy against a possible enemy strategy, for the purposes of refining your strategy. Or, in other words, just check if your idea will work at all. It's great for testing if your machine gunner is safe where he is, or needs to aim a different direction because, yes, the enemy can actually run all the way around and flank you within the next 5 seconds, or if your cover is vulnerable from a certain angle. In my experience, while it was very nice to have this ability, I found myself fretting every possible choice, and ultimately found it far better to trust my instincts about what the best move would actually be, very much in a "Luke, trust the force" Epsiode 4 sort of way.

There are a couple of other mechanics that work to keep the game from getting stale, as inevitably you'll find yourself playing the same mission over and over again, because there is no saving midway through a level, or going back and doing that last turn over - basically, you must accept the results of your actions, good or bad. Should you replay a level, what you'll notice right away is that the map is not the same. The layout of structures will generally have a similar feel to what you were working with before, and if there are key components of a mission, such as a main hallway down the center, those will still be there, but the rest of the layout will be different with new doors, different rooms, and different unit placement. Thus, while your general strategies will always be useful - have a unit duck down under cover until at the middle of a window, then pop up and kill the sniper that has another unit pinned down - you have no guarantee that anything will play out the same as it did the last go round. Actually, what you have is pretty much the guarantee that nothing will play at as before, so take your preconceptions of predicable enemies that always follow the same pattern and toss that out the window.

Another valid strategy is to blow a hole in a wall will units already aimming at the to be hole, ensuring they are ready to wipe out any enemy that might otherwise have been secure.

Now I pointed out that some missions have key features that will always be there, and that's largely down to the variety of gametypes you'll encounter. During most missions you'll be tasked with simply eliminating all or nearly all enemies within a set number of turns, and those are the ones that change the most between different attempts. Victory in other missions comes from keeping enemies out of a protected zone, or the reverse, finishing a turn with one of your units in a certain area. Some require you to protect a unit not under you control, requiring you to act as a screen with your own units to pick off those hiding behind cover and ready to kill your VIP. For yet others you must collect "intelligence," red squares around the map, but the collection only counts towards your goal when you run a unit out of bounds, thereby taking him out of play for the remainder of the game. There is at least one mission in which you must keep enemies out of the left half of the map for a set number of turns, or kill any units that make it across that midpoint. Levels are further diversified by the addition of things like the occasional fog of war concept, such that you won't know your enemy's movements until you sight them, at which point they leave a ghost on the map for your next planning stage.

There are a total of 55 missions that make up the original campaign. There is also a skirmish mode if you want something a little different, or multiplayer if you would rather go that route. The game does surprisingly well at keeping things fresh, thanks to it's large combination of gametypes and possible modifications, and that it usually groups 3-5 missions in with a specific operation, breaking up different operations with more story. The story itself is interesting, though a bit complex. You are a tactical program named, appropriately, Tactics. You come to join a rebellious group that does not like the condition of this city-state, headed by one of the founders of the corporation that rules the city through the use of predictive algorithms. Various factions are involved, from religious groups, to hippies, to a university. It's all a very strange story, involving a collection of humans, robot soldiers, and programs that exist in the shape, which is somewhat like the internet, but still makes for an interesting break from the main game as you speak with different characters, read dossiers, and catch the latest news headlines between operations. Plus the game has a nice twist at the end, at least 50% of which I saw coming.

This is a combination game type. I need to get one of my three units into the green zone in the middle to bring down the walls around the red intel, which I then need to pick up three of and take to the edge of the map. Also, I'm outnumbered 2-1.

There are a few faults within the game, I am sad to say. One that bothered me most had to do with the destructible environment, which happens when you fire a rocket at a wall. While this is a great way to take out enemies, it is an even better way to make new paths and flank enemies. Therein lies the problem. While planning out your moves for a turn, you are incapable to ordering a unit to move through the hole that will be made during that turn. I'm sure this is because the game could potentially end up having to handle a case where an unit is ordered to move through a wall, but the rocket unit was destroyed before the hole was made. A few times I ran into an issue where there was a difference between the way things played out during the planning stage, and the actual game, concerning things like a rocket's or grenade's explosion radius and the proximity of my unit, or which of two snipers actively aiming at each other during the last turn would actually fire first. That was particularly frustrating, because there was one mission during which it had come down to an enemy rocket and my sniper, with the rocker having just been fired come the end of the five second results stage. Everything indicated that the rocket would explode nearby, but that my sniper would be fine, remaining in position for just a split second longer before killing the rocket unit. However, when theory gave way to practice, there was a discrepancy that shouldn't have existed, and I failed that mission. The final bug, which was particularly troublesome, involved the final mission, as I would have units suddenly disappear between turns, and all replays actually showed actions taken that were not mine. In fact, the only reason I finished the game was because, on something like my 10th attempt, a shotgun unit miraculous appeared inside the zone I needed to capture, despite the fact that I had lost my shotgunners much earlier in the mission. This problem wasn't unique to me, but seeing as only 0.7% of players (thanks Steam achievements!) have actually beaten the game, I'm not sure many people have gotten that far (similarly, 42.5% have finished the tutorial).

During missions you'll got conversation bits from other characters. On missions where I did particularly well, I wondered if I finished to fast to get the whole picture, since you would only see a bit each turn.

My experience with strategy games is pretty limited, and generally I'm more likely to try a RTS than a turned based game. Still, Frozen Synapse stands out as a really unique experience with a lot of replay potential. Actually, as of this writing, I've been playing XCOM: Enemy Unknown for an upcoming review, and I've found that I enjoyed  Frozen Synapse far more, as it delivered a purer tactical experience that was unforgiving in the way it punished you for sloppy decision making but that also had enough variation to keep things from getting stale as you endlessly strive to do better, which you could do because you don't have deal with the meta game of keeping soldiers alive to have any chance in the future. I played the game over the course of 9 months or so, dropping in and out of missions as my frustration with my own strategic failings ebbed and flowed, but still my playing time totaled 22 hours, which covers just the base game and does not include the time I will (eventually) log on the Red DLC.  The pricing on this game is a little hinky though, and while I managed to get it for 90% off the normal $25 price tag ($35 for the complete pack, an additional $6 for the fantastic soundtrack, or $30 for the original and the soundtrack, plus an additional $10 for the DLC), the game comes with two copies, so that $25 is really $12.50 each. That's about right, assuming you actually can find someone else to trade the second copy to. Frozen Synapse is certainly an excellent game, bending and blending traditional strategy elements into a beast I've never seen before, resulting in perhaps the most challenging gameplay I've ever seen, because ultimately the real enemy isn't the red guy, but your own failures and inability to accurately predict all possible scenarios - 10 out of 10.

So, the final breakdown:

Score: 10/10

Suggested Price: $12.50

*****

For more Frozen Synapse, check out this collection of screenshots otherwise unused in this review. Click any one for a full sized image.