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Frostpunk 2 Review (Steam)

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Frostpunk 2 Review, Develop, expand, and advance your city in a society survival game set 30 years after an apocalyptic blizzard ravaged Earth. In Frostpunk 2, you face not only the perils of never-ending winter but also the powerful factions that watch your every step inside the Council Hall.

Frostpunk 2 Review Pros:

  • Decent graphics.
  • 12.8GB Download size.
  • Steam achievements.
  • Graphics settings – fullscreen mode, resolution, display, v-sync, frame limit, upscaling, frame generation, upscaling quality, sharpness, gamma, preset, textures, terrain, effects, shadows, fog, post-processing, meshes, city details, and lighting.
  • Steam trading card drops.
  • Can remap the controls for the mouse and keyboard.
  • Twitch Integration for Twitch council vote percentage, chat limit, and overall participation numbers.
  • Four default difficulties – Citizen, Officer, Steward, and Captain. You can customize and tweak the difficulty of each option which are – economy, weather, frostland, and society.
  • Survivor mode is like hardcore in that the game only saves on exit and there is no active pauses.
  • Man management survival sim gameplay.
  • Beautiful cutscenes and voice work.
  • Frost breakers are teams you send out to the designated area and make it so you can then build on the land.
  • Tutorials are plentiful and are a shortcut button press away in each menu or action menu.
  • Full 360 camera control including zooming in and out.
  • The Opening Prologue sets up the story and gives you time to learn the ropes.
  • Everything builds on a timer.
  • You can save and load whenever you want.
  • Building districts will have a number of tiles you need to have connected in order for it to be built.
  • When building or going deep into menus the game breaks down into tiles.
  • Game speed arrows on the Hud at all times.
  • Cold weather plays a huge part, you need to keep your people warm so they can live, cold kills and breaks down machines and districts.
  • Find deposit tiles and build the right building on top to get a steady supply of resources like oil.
  • Luckily you can see icons of deposits, fertile soil, etc so it makes it somewhat easier when it comes to frost breaking.
  • White outs occur and you do get a timer for their arrival, you need to plant and save food so people can survive.
  • It’s a game where you are constantly stemming the bleeding.
  • Events and issues will pop up as you play and you get choices on how you handle them.
  • Play how you want.
  • You can force people to work more hours but that brings risks like death or sickness.
  • It is a very difficult game.
  • Districts can break down and stop working.
  • Heat- The most important commodity in the game. You have a generator that requires oil to work and heats up connected districts. You can push the power and shut it down in order to keep it managed properly.
  • You get a lot more feedback than before with meters showing for resource gathering, building times, and pop-ups warning of impending danger.
  • When you fail (it will happen a lot!) you get a brief breakdown of what happened to your settlement and it’s people.
  • For me, it felt like a game where I would learn better ways of doing things through my mistakes.
  • Despite the glum-dark tone, it’s a very addictive and fun game to play.
  • Watching the world play out is a fascinating thing to behold.
  • Disease- Can happen and spread quickly. Heat can lower the risk.
  • Logistic buildings can allow you to open up new areas by sending people out to find more survivors and resources.
  • Districts can get special abilities to them like being able to allow overtime of workers etc.
  • You have to try and build trust with the settlements of the world and this can get to be a huge balancing act.
  • Prefab (prefabricated parts) is a kind of currency, you need these in order to build and expand and you get it from finding deposits and demolishing unused buildings and districts.
  • Utopia builder is a sandbox mode where you get to pick your location, and then you set your ambition (colonize/develop a metropolis/prosperous future), community, and difficulty.
  • Every run in Utopia builder will randomise what amd where deposits are in the land and where you start.
  • The Utopia builder mode is available to play straight away.
  • There are seven locations in the base game – windswept peaks, fractured gorge, broken shore, horizon, crater, dreadnought, and hanging rock.
  • Unlimited replayability.
  • Mod support for Steam workshop, and Mod.io.
  • A lot of keyboard shortcuts to make management a lot easier.
  • Special buildings can enable you to make laws, build a church, and get faster and more efficient ways of transferring resources.
  • Pop-ups happen from your people. These could be good or bad things or maybe warn you of an impending pandemic.

Frostpunk 2 Review Cons:

  • No controller support.
  • The way the tutorials are set up is great for veterans but not that ideal for new players.
  • So much to take in and for the first few hours it is a constant stream of new mechanics.
  • Feels like you need all the keyboard shortcuts written down as there are so many.
  • A lot is going on.
  • Controls are not that well described especially shortcuts.
  • Managing the workers is messy with you having to really work on what they are assigned to.
  • Feels too clever at times.
  • Really dark and bleak atmosphere.
  • You can screw yourself very easily if you do not plan well amd it always feels like you didn’t feel like you had all the knowledge.

Related Post: Core Keeper Review (PlayStation 5)

Frostpunk 2:

Official website.

Developer: 11-bit studios

Publisher: 11-bit studios

Store Links –

Steam

  • 9/10
    Graphics - 9/10
  • 9/10
    Sound - 9/10
  • 9/10
    Accessibility - 9/10
  • 9/10
    Length - 9/10
  • 9/10
    Fun Factor - 9/10
9/10

Summary

Frostpunk 2 offers a visually appealing experience with decent graphics and a manageable download size of 12.8GB. The game includes Steam achievements and trading card drops, adding to its replayability. Players can customize their graphics settings extensively, including options for fullscreen mode, resolution, v-sync, and more. The ability to remap controls for both mouse and keyboard, along with Twitch integration for interactive gameplay, enhances the overall user experience.

The game features four default difficulty levels—Citizen, Officer, Steward, and Captain—each of which can be customized in terms of economy, weather, frostland, and society. Survivor mode adds an extra layer of challenge by only allowing saves on exit and disabling active pauses. The gameplay revolves around man management and survival simulation, with beautiful cutscenes and voice work enriching the narrative. Frost breakers are a unique mechanic, allowing players to expand their territory by sending teams to designated areas.

Tutorials are readily accessible, providing guidance through shortcut buttons in each menu. The game offers full 360-degree camera control, including zooming, and the opening prologue effectively sets up the story while teaching the basics. Building districts require connecting a specific number of tiles, and the game breaks down into tiles when navigating deep menus. Cold weather is a significant factor, necessitating the maintenance of warmth to keep people alive and machinery operational. Resource management is crucial, with players needing to find deposit tiles and build appropriate structures to gather resources like oil.

The game constantly challenges players with events and issues that require strategic decision-making. Players can choose their approach, including forcing longer work hours at the risk of death or sickness. The difficulty level is high, with districts potentially breaking down and the need to manage heat through a generator that requires oil. Feedback is more detailed than in previous iterations, with meters for resource gathering, building times, and warnings of impending danger.

Failures are frequent, but they provide learning opportunities, making the game addictive despite its dark tone. Watching the world unfold is fascinating, and disease management becomes critical, with heat playing a role in reducing risks. Logistic buildings enable the discovery of new survivors and resources, and districts can gain special abilities like allowing overtime work. Building trust with other settlements is a complex balancing act.

However, the game has its drawbacks. There is no controller support, and while the tutorials are excellent for veterans, they may overwhelm new players. The sheer volume of mechanics introduced in the first few hours can be daunting, and the controls, especially shortcuts, are not well-explained. Managing workers can be messy, and the game sometimes feels overly complex. The atmosphere is dark and bleak, and poor planning can lead to significant setbacks, often leaving players feeling underprepared.

In summary, Frostpunk 2 is a visually stunning and deeply engaging survival simulation game that offers a wealth of customization and strategic depth. While it excels in many areas, including graphics, narrative, and mechanics, it can be overwhelming for new players and lacks controller support. The game’s high difficulty and complex management systems provide a rewarding experience for those willing to invest the time to master its intricacies. It is a game that stays with you long after you have stopped playing as you question the actions you did and didn’t make. You will learn a lot about yourself playing this game.

Jim Smale

Gaming since the Atari 2600, I enjoy the weirdness in games counting Densha De Go and RC De Go as my favourite titles of all time. I prefer gaming of old where buying games from a shop was a thing, Being social in person was a thing. Join me as I attempt to adapt to this new digital age!