Frozen Synapse Review
A Uniquely Complex Strategy Experience Makes it Way to Strange Shores
’s defining feature is its complexity.
It’s the kind of game that should come with a warning label right there on the Google Play Store that reads “Not intended for a casual mobile experience.” Oh sure, it’s theoretically possible to play a quick game of on your commute or in the waiting room, but trying to rush this game even a bit is almost a guaranteed way to ruin what it has to offer, and likely get your virtual characters horribly murdered in the process.
So besides complex, what exactly is ? It’s a turn based, randomly generated strategic experience that requires you to navigate small tactical squads in a Cyberpunk future to incredibly detailed degrees.
A basic game plays out like this: You take a turn maneuvering your squad around a map, in the attempt to take out the enemy characters strewn about. This is the planning stage, and it requires you to not only make smart decisions (often perfect decisions) regarding the movements and decisions of your squad, but to somehow anticipate the movements and decisions of the enemy along the way. It’s possible to “simulate” the movements of the enemy to see how your decisions will play out when the action starts, but the simulation is in no way a 100% accurate examination at how the next round will play out – It’s merely a logical theory.
Of course, this is all a gross oversimplification of the gameplay. Between the planning stage and your results, there are a million different options to consider in terms of the movement of your troops. Everything is managed to such a minute detail, you can change troop activities on a dime to get them to do exactly what you want.
Yet even with all of the control you have, the most exciting part of the game are the aspects you can’t control. This includes the randomly generated maps which insure an almost infinite supply of possibilities, but extend also to the simple fact that your success lies largely in your ability to predict the unpredictable decisions of the enemy.
It’s all very exhilarating. If you’ve ever played the original titles for PC, imagine the planning stage of those games converted into a full-fledged experience. is a tactician’s dream in that regard. A near infinite well of strategic possibilities.
This makes it something of an oddity for the mobile realm, where strategy games are so often of the tower defense variety, or similar build. There’s no hiding the fact that began its life as a PC game, and while the incredibly intricate nature of the gameplay makes that the preferable way to experience the game in many ways, everything that could have been done to translate this game to mobile devices has been. Although, in all honesty, playing this outside of a tablet really hinders the experience. Even the largest modern phones just don’t have the ability to convey the field of play necessary to really operate this game in the way it was meant to be.
But, no matter what device you play the game on, you will still get to experience the same wonderful atmosphere and music. While the visuals of aren’t quite exactly mind-blowing, there is a wonderful consistency to the art style that allows them to create a consistent and exciting future world, driven by a narrative that is somewhat downplayed, but nonetheless intriguing.
The music on the other hand needs no excuses. It is pitch perfect, and irreplaceable in contributing to the tension that is prevalent through every session.
Despite all of these obvious attributes, though, still feels odd on mobile. Sure sometimes this extends to the natural awkwardness that comes from trying to put so many control options on a touch screen, but it’s more about how the game’s incredibly deep nature requires you to be truly glued to your device. Satisfaction in this game doesn’t come as easily as it does in a good tower defense title like or through a purely visceral experience like that found in . It’s not something that most gamers will find themselves constantly compelled to come back to, meaning that for the time you will spend playing it, there’s an argument to be made it’s better experienced on its native PC platform.
Of course, no matter where you play it, you’ll still be able to participate in the multiplayer mode, where this game really shines. It’s cross platform meaning mobile players can play PC gamers, and both get to experience a competitive mode that takes everything great about the main game, and amplifies it through the injection of the intelligence of fellow human players.
could have made no compromises in its transition to mobile and still remained the brilliant game it truly is, and thankfully no compromises were attempted. While this leads to it feeling just a tad out of place on this new platform, if you are the kind of player not daunted by the game’s learning curve and are willing to accept this isn’t the type of game you’ll be able to leisurely experience at your desire like most Android games, then you are in for the type of strategy game that purists have long dreamed of.
Supply Hardcoredroid
Frozen Synapse Review - App Review 4U
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