Frozen Synapse Prime

Want a tactical turn based game that’s set in a futuristic cyberpunk world controlled by a mega corporation? What if I said there was amusing quippy dialogue by great characters and unique combat experiences? Oh, I had you at Cyberpunk 2077. Okay, well Frozen Synapse Prime by Double Eleven has all of that stuff and is definitely for you.

Gameplay

So here is the play of the game; you control an elite team of futuristic soldiers with varying abilities and classes in turn-based combat that requires a healthy dose of strategy. You plot paths, issue orders and attempt to predict your opponent’s movements to ensure battlefield superiority. Combat is procedural and requires you to stay on your toes if you want to survive.

This is technically a rebuild of the original game so there has been a few impressive improvements made. Destructible environments, cinematic replays and kill cams all to give it a unique but stylish personality not often seen in games of this ilk. Even the characters have new skills and strategies, they can slide around, they sweep rooms as they traverse the map and, best of all, the game has been expertly balanced. I would gladly bestow it the attribute of “Harsh but Fair.” It also allows you to expand and enjoy the customization options with both your team and the battlefield itself. Something I found very interesting, giving the game a huge amount of replay value.

Similar titles like X-COM have been known to taste of the sweet fruit that is turn based tactical but they are very different. This game focuses a lot more on a unique replayability with ever changing and directly alterable elements, while X-COM focuses on you shoving your boot so far up E.T’s tochus that some water on your knee would quench his thirst. One is the thinking man’s, game the other is the Astrophobics.

Setting and story

Cyberpunk is in at the moment and this game is fitting despite coming out in 2014. Set in a futuristic city called Markov Geist, the only city left and it is split into several factions. You play as Tactics, who joins a resistance group called Petrov’s Shard. I, personally, love the dystopian future setting and I found it interesting to see this new take on it. I really like how the game presents itself. It’s art style is something I can’t say I’ve seen before.

Multiplayer

This game has multiplayer and we are all the more grateful for that. The campaign is rich with over 40 challenging missions but with the introduction of other players, the games replay goes through the roof as your critical thinking, lateral problem solving mind is pitted against enemies who can be as brilliant and efficient as you.

Testing my skill against a computer is all well and good, it proves an interesting enemy but cannot think outside the box in the same way that another player can. Going one step further with “asynchronous multiplayer,” the game allows you to compete in multiple games simultaneously for some real tests of the mind.

Pros

• Interesting Setting
• Brilliant gameplay

Cons

• Too monochromatic
• Poor Keyboard UI