A deceptively simple tactical game that will push your knowledge of small unit tactics and co-ordination.
There's something about a top down strategy game. It's so delightfully retro, harking back to classic games like Civ, or early real time strategy games. But Frozen Synapse brings a whole new feel to the top-down perspective - in this independent game, the whole look and feel is more akin to a hyper-modern thriller, something that might be seen in a top-secret ops room or via some god-like hacker-controller's perspective. The combination is a pretty pleasing one, and given the nervy sense of growing addiction we're getting from our time with Frozen Synapse's beta code... it augers well for the final release.
Bang bang, you're pixelsFrozen Synapse's developers are promising a full single-player campaign (and you can learn more about the game from our interview with one of the devs), but so far there's no hint of any over-arching narrative that's tying each tactical challenge together. It's a testament to the game's basic building blocks, however, that it really doesn't seem to detract from the experience.
The game's premise is simple. You've got a top-down view of a level, essentially a series of rooms, walls and low obstacles, and a selection of units - machine gunners, RPG specialists and so on - and you've got five turns to clear the area of opponents. Each turn you order your men to move, via waypoints, around the map. The trick is, though, that turns are executed in real time - you never know what you're opponent's going to do, and once a turn's planning is committed you're locked in.
What makes the game great is the absolute focus on tactics and planning. Units are very general - this is not a game about gear or having the better gun - and making the most of each unit type is more about timing and placement. To that end, the game's waypoint and order system is very detailed.
Using a series of drop-down menus and the kind of click and drag interface that many graphic designers would be familiar with, you can tell units to aim at a point (like a door or window), shuffle to toward another door, then duck, turn and move on. If during the ensuing turn, a target walks past the window you're covering, your dude will take the shot - however, kills, like in real life, are not guaranteed. It's this combination of depth of planning and uncertain results that make the game so damn addictive.
With even just four units in play, and four opponents, there's a wealth of different approaches, and there's enough detail in the planning options so that almost any kind of tactics are viable. At each waypoint you can set a wait timer; if you think a target's likely to walk past a door, but you don't want to exit in front of them, you can tell the unit to wait. If your RPG-armed unit has a bead on a likely point where the enemy is going to pass, you can simply set them up with a fire order ready to let loose. Or you can model your approach on real world small unit tactics, which all work surprisingly well.
At time of review, the game's singleplayer AI is a touch... simplistic. It's as likely to dither on the best approach as to attack, and it's very easy to have a match that ends without any kind of result. Thankfully, the online portion of the game is not only well-coded (and the game's turn mechanism makes lag a non-issue - you could even play a game like this via emailed turn orders), but very accessible. You can easily see when other players are online and challenge them to a match.
This is where Frozen Synapse really comes alive, offering up endless challenge and tactical opportunities.
Finally, we've got to say we really love the whole cool blue graphical mood. This is a game that's just as at home on a netbook as it is a gaming machine, and would be even better if an iPad version were to made available. As it stands, however, this is another great indie gem, proving that there's a lot of good talent out there that's not hard-contracted to produce sports franchise after sports franchise.
Issue: 137 | June, 2012