Frostpunkis dark. I recently played through it for the first time in anticipation of checking out the second game, and it left a lasting impression. Tough, morally ambiguous decisions, a gripping narrative and a stellar survival/city-building loop hooked me from minute one and increased my excitement for the sequel ten-fold.
During my visit to 11 Bit Studios in Warsaw, I had two hours hands-on withFrostpunk 2. I can say that while it shares a lot of the original’s DNA, it feels like a vastly different game - and that’s a good thing.
A Far Deeper Experience
One of my big issues with the first game, if you can call it that, was the lack of a cohesive campaign mode. It had all the components of a killer story mode, but theindividual scenariosdidn’t fully scratch that itch for me. Frostpunk 2 looks set to remedy that.
During my preview, I was thrown into the game’s first chapter. Frostpunk 2 is set across a much more open landscape than the first game - I immediately set to work trying to save New London (v2’s) 3,000 inhabitants. This was far more people than I’d ever dealt with in the original game, which meant the stakes were higher and the issues more pressing. Not only did I have more mouths to feed and people to home, but I also had a faction to appease. I could use these people to my advantage, but in doing so, risk upsetting them, or try and let them exist without rocking the boat.
The scale of Frostpunk 2’s map brought a different set of challenges. Sending people to get food was more of a risk and resource points became further and further away as they were exhausted. It meant my colony had more room for growth, but it did take a little bit away from what I loved about the first game — the claustrophobia of having such a small area to work within. While decisions still had to be made about whether to build medical facilities or homes closer to the central furnace, I had such an area to work within, it felt slightly easier to figure things out. But that’s the only time things felt less stressful.
The scale of Frostpunk 2’s map brought a whole different set of challenges.
My first attempt was a complete failure. Played on a week-by-week basis, as opposed to day-by-day in the first game, I became desperate and relied on this group more than I should, taking their scraps (the new core building resource in the game) and making some questionable decisions. This led them to exile me to the Frostlands, prompting my untimely demise and game over.
I learned from the mistakes of my first run during my second attempt. Knowing which resources to prioritize, namely food, ahead of the incoming storm, I set to work. I started to build a city around the Old Dreadnought, an ancient piece of machinery which would act as my furnace and center point for my inhabitants. I stocked up on oil, which the Drednought runs on, as opposed to coal, built a housing district and things started looking up. But I still had some typically Frostpunk decisions to make.
Darker Decisions
In speaking to the game’s co-director, Łukasz Juszczyk, I was told things would be darker, and he expected me to have to make decisions that “hit closer to home.” In my brief time with the game, I certainly found things that struck more of a chord, and things certainly felt bleaker.
In the first game, amputations, child labor and the occasional sacrifice to repair the mines kept things ticking along. Now, I had to worry about causing the extinction of entire animal species.
Early on, some of my folk stumbled upon a seal colony. Knowing I had a harsh winter ahead, I had to choose whether to hunt them to potential annihilation and build up a healthy stockpile, or leave them be for future generations. Being an animal lover, I decided to spare them. It was the wrong choice. I wound up seriously irritating my townspeople, and it was one of the many missteps I took on my way to being exiled. There is no room for humanity in Frostpunk 2.
There is no room for humanity in Frostpunk 2.
My lack of food then snowballed, leading me to have to make a second, equally harrowing decision. The elders of the group realized the situation we were in, noted that they were a strain on resources and offered to take a terminal walk into the Frostlands. It was an offer which, at this point, I couldn’t refuse. As they set off on their way, the looming faction growing ever more impatient, I realized I’m the type of person who’d save seals over humans and things got a little philosophical. In my second attempt though, as much as it pained me, I wiped out the seals, and we had food for days.
Despite not having touched the series until a couple of weeks ago, Frostpunk 2 is now one of my most anticipated titles releasing in the second half of this year. Quality of life improvements, a full-fledged story mode and deeper, darker decisions make this a must-play for me.
If you enjoyed my preview and want to find out even more about the game, I implore you toread my interviewwith the game’s co-director, as he shares a lot of interesting information.
