Frostpunk 2 is the long-awaited sequel to 11 Bit Studios' original, critically acclaimed city-builder survival game, which built a solid reputation as one of the most challenging IPs in the genre. The remnants of humanity continue to struggle for survival in a world beset by a neverending volcanic winter, and it's up to the player to ensure that survival is met no matter the odds, even when those odds seem impossible.
Story
The story of Frostpunk 2 serves as a direct continuity to the first game, keeping everything beloved about the franchise within the same universe and allowing veteran Frostpunk players to return to a very familiar setting. However, the story works just as well for newcomers thanks to that seamless continuity and the game's constant narrative lore that's interwoven within the gameplay.
Frostpunk 2 takes place 30 years after the first game's events. The story itself consists of six chapters (including a prologue) and the city of New London makes its grand return in the sequel. The "Captain" of New London, who you assumed the role of in the first game has passed away from poor health, and now you step into the shoes of the "Steward", the next person in line to inherit the city and all of its responsibilities.
As a game that's first and foremost a city-builder, its undeniably foreboding yet captivating story is brought to life in a variety of unique ways. For example, the introduction of each chapter paints a picture of where your populace stands and the daunting expectations you face going forward. As you expand New London further into the tundra and seek new opportunities in the Frostlands, different factions within the city take root, and every choice you make for them and the city itself has a ripple effect that can lead to a variety of consequences, good and/or bad.
As you make more decisions and build more structures, New London citizens will often make their voices heard via pop-up interludes, reflecting on how those changes have affected their lives. It's a creative alternative to not interacting with those NPCs in person and a narrative style that, while not for everyone, contributes to the game's overall aesthetic of dread and forced detachment.
Overall, Frostpunk 2's story is an experience that you quickly learn is not intended to have a happy ending, no matter how hard I tried to make it so. It's a dark but compelling narrative about handling humanity at many of its worst possible moments and staying alive in a world determined to snuff out the weak.
- Score: 4/5
Gameplay and Controls
Just like its predecessor, Frostpunk 2 contains many of the fundamental gameplay elements of a city-builder, allowing you to literally build upon New London's foundations as well as other settlements you discover out in the Frostlands.
However, there are several complicated layers that you have to take into account when reshaping New London. This is where the true challenge of Frostpunk 2 comes into form, as the staggering level of multi-tasking and complexity of your decisions is a constant concern while you battle not only the subzero elements but seemingly neverending political and sociocultural unrest.
It's all an incredibly delicate balance of constantly dwindling resources, careful allocation of manpower to the production of necessities, maintaining food, shelter, and safety for your populace, at times making sacrifices and drastic choices with no clear answer, and handling the politics of various factions that seldom agree on anything.
In terms of approachability, the scale of Frostpunk 2's difficulty is definitely not for everyone. I'm a newcomer to the franchise and always welcome a challenge, but even while on the lowest difficulty I found myself constantly struggling to the point of mental exhaustion about halfway through the game. Just like the first Frostpunk, there is no tutorial for you to get your footing in, and things can spiral out of control very quickly if you're not careful, and sometimes careful just isn't enough.
All in all, there is respect to be had for a city-builder game that is about as intense as it can possibly get and the impressive complexity it entails, but that considerable lack of approachability can still be a detriment as well.
- Score: 3/5
Visual Design
In terms of visual and aesthetic design, Frostpunk 2 once again keeps very in line with its cold and gritty predecessor, placing you right back into the desolate, snowy landscapes that are every bit as entrancing as they are threatening. New London's mechanized infrastructure exhibits a classic steampunk vibe, though ironically the fuel you seek to keep the lights and heat on is mostly coal and oil.
Just like the original Frostpunk, you conduct pretty much all of your gameplay from a bird's-eye view above the city, which given your role as Steward is very fitting. The NPC interludes that pop up from time to time feature realistic human faces ragged and worn by the elements — a grim reminder of your reality rather than fantasy.
Having the entirety of New London within your purview at all times is equal parts surreal and unsettling, and the game evokes that in different ways. If issues like squalor, sickness, or political unrest worsen, the city's lighting will start to change from a lively yellow to a menacing red. If the city is on the verge of complete collapse, the screen will start to "fester" and darken until you're ceremoniously removed from power.
Frostpunk 2 uses all of those visual design concepts and more in ways that perfectly accentuate the game's themes of bitter cold and dread.
- Score: 4/5
Sound Design
In tandem with Frostpunk 2's clever use of visually intricate design, the sound design is just as impeccable with many evident improvements from the first game. A broodingly beautiful orchestra soundtrack overlays the mechanical workings of New London, and that music seamlessly changes and evolves over time, depending on the choices you make and the direction the city heads.
Further complimenting the game's unsettling realism, every time a civilian event occurs where you need to make a sudden decision, calls of "Steward" echo in various tones, depending on the situation. If tension is high, those calls grow more desperate and angry, which only makes you feel more anxious as you struggle to figure out what to do next.
Also, on occasion, your character's characteristically British voice will boom from the city's speakers in regard to certain actions such as passing laws or matters concerning different factions. Perhaps the most frightening sound, however, is the bellowing foghorn sirens that go off when a Whiteout storm occurs, and that perfectly encapsulates the threat of your biggest adversary.
- Score: 4/5
Final Verdict
In the world of city-builder games, the Frostpunk franchise stands proudly at the snow-capped peak of Mount Everest in terms of what definitively is the most all-around challenging IP in the genre. Frostpunk 2 easily helps it keep that title in a tight-gloved fist, with its incredibly intricate game design and uncompromising difficulty that is best suited for the most fearless and ambitious of Stewards.
It could be argued its infamously steep difficulty incline unfairly discourages a substantial demographic of players from being able to enjoy the fascinating world of Frostpunk, and the outstanding amount of care and attention that 11 Bit Studios clearly invested into this sequel. However, there is something to be said for a game that tries to push the envelope in terms of capability, and if you desire to scale the miles-high summit that is Frostpunk, all the more power to you.
[Disclosure: A free copy of the game was provided to PGG by the publisher for review purposes.]
Want more Frostpunk 2 coverage? Check out Frostpunk 2 vs Frostpunk 1 – All differences here on Pro Game Guides.
Published: Sep 17, 2024 10:00 am