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BaD#9: Frozen Synapse First Impressions
Published on February 12, 2015 11:31 PM
Part of the Series - Blog a Day (BaD) 2015
4 minute read
1808 Views

For those who don't know, Frozen Synapse is a Cyberpunk turn-based tactics game developed by Mode 7 Game and released on 2011. The gameplay is all about planning and simulating the movement and actions of your troops and the enemies, and then see how your actions unfold in succes, failure or nothing happening at all. Be warned though, as your opponent is also planning tactics.

I remember learning about this game for the first time when is watched Totalbiscuit's Top 10 of 2011. I got a wee bit interested, so I also checked later his WTF is take on the game. I was completely sold on the premise and music. Finally, when mid-January of this year had a very nice sale of the game, I decided to play the demo first to see if I would like it and I did much better that I expected, so I bought it with the soundtrack.

There's a lot depth involved in this game. You have to keep an eye on spots where you feel like you can hit an enemy, be careful with the path so it doesn't cross with the enemy acting first and otherwise find various ways to shoot and surprise on your route. You also have many options on movility and attacking, which are needed if are in a tight spot and you need to pass an oponent. The units offer variety and each has its pros and cons. Gunners have long range, but not a lot of aquaracy, shotgunners have short range, but are precise and excellent at close encounters, Snipers are precise and can hit instantly, but can only shoot one bullet at a time, rocket guys are slow and you need to aim the weapon yourself, but can kill groups and destroy walls and finally, the grenade launcher guys can make their ammo bounce walls and reach others that you can't have on your view, though I haven't played an ecounter with those so i'm just theorizing on my part.

The presentation is simple but pretty slick and looks good overall (although close shots aren't very detailed). There's also a single player campaign and though the story seems very simple, it has a lot of style to it and the characters are actually pretty livid, so it isn't boring in the slightest. Finally, the soundtrack is soooo good. It's catchy, well done and fits the game very well. I haven't actually played my first online match, so I can't comment on the modes it has.

Overall, i'm engrossed with this game. It requires patience, but I don't mind since tracing and making plans are actually engaging and make you actually think of what to do. I can't wait to continue more of this and maybe have my first online match.

I should also say that the game, no mather the pack, always comes with a second copy so you can give it to someone who doesn't have the game.

On other news:

- That Valentine's Day weekly bundle looks kinda interesting and I would like to get into more Visual Novels. But I already have Long Live the Queen....

Comments
0
Posted on February 13, 2015 12:21 AM

I got Frozen Synapse through PSN+ but I couldn't figure out what the hell I was supposed to do. I thought I was taking a tutorial but it just dumped me in a room and told me nothing. It might be fun if I can figure it out.

Posted on February 13, 2015 7:01 PM

I don't know what you did or what that port has, but on PC there IS a tutorial and I passed that just fine.

Posted on February 13, 2015 7:20 PM

I must have pushed the wrong button because that never happens right? :)

Posted on February 13, 2015 12:49 AM

Pretty sure this is the second game you've covered that reminds me of MGS VR missions.

Posted on February 13, 2015 7:02 PM

The first game is Frozen Synapse...... and the second is Frozen Synapse. Unless you mean another game, you mentioned that when I was giving away my second copy.

Posted on February 13, 2015 7:29 PM

Ah. Well that explains it then. lol

Posted on February 13, 2015 2:58 AM

I haven't played this yet, but I will eventually. Sometimes it takes me awhile to get to games because my backlog is insane. I'm glad to hear that it has some depth to it.

Posted on February 13, 2015 7:02 PM

Heh, I know about the backlog. I just hit 100 games on Steam and I haven't played all of them.

Posted on February 13, 2015 3:44 AM

I have Frozen Synapse thanks to Humble Bundle but I've never tried it. Looks cool though. Too many good games!

Posted on February 13, 2015 7:03 PM

If you have the patience, you are going to like this game.