When Frostpunk launched back in 2018 it became an instant classic by fusing together base-building, society management and an almost-hopeless post-apocalyptic setting. Frostpunk 2 manages to build on every element of that as it challenges players to reach outward to survive 30 years after The Big Freeze.
Frostpunk 2 doesn’t just build on the success of its predecessor, it completely dwarfs it. The first Frostpunk was a phenomenal effort, completely redefining a sub-genre and doing so with style and poignancy. I remember being captivated by it when I played through an extended demo of Frostpunk at Gamescom ’17, and that captivation stayed with me as I made my way through its main campaign multiple times.
But, that’s the first Frostpunk; a game about turning a group of eighty survivors into a city and giving them a chance at survival. Frostpunk 2 isn’t about that, its about the survival of a society rather than the formation of one. Mechanically, though, it’s all familiar albeit evolved. You won’t be powering up the generator a bit further so you can access another block of space to expand outward — in fact, the generator doesn’t have a warmth clearing around it, per se. Here you’ll icebreak out into the area around the generator, and beyond, to gather resources from further afield.
The threat of loss of heat, fuel, food as well as the resources needed to build and live well, are still incredibly pressing; and you’ll actually be able to create other smaller settlements that you can send goods between. In fact, between the discovery points and the secondary settlements on the map death is incredibly unlikely if you can keep the factions under control, regardless of which of the three routes you decide to take through its main story arc.
That’s because, to reiterate, survival of the society — vs survival against the elements — is the main trend here. Where the first entry in the series had players take on the role of an authoritarian leader, The Captain, you take on the role of their successor and don’t have the same ‘My word is law’ control over the populace. In fact, there’s an elected chamber of sorts where various idealogical leaders get to vote to approve or deny your laws.
This battle of ideologies intensifies as Frostpunk 2‘s campaign continues. The Frostlanders believe that New London should be ready for another societal collapse, and not get comfortable. The New Londoners believe that technology and changing the world is the route to survival. But, born from those two factions are stronger ideologies in The Pilgrims, who believe The Generator is holding back society, and The Stalwarts who are devotees who believe in order and honour but generally align with the New Londoners.
As such, as you can probably imagine, passing votes becomes harder and harder as you slide toward an oil-led or generator-free future in your choices. Stalwarts and New Londoner’s will, generally, vote alongside each other, as will the Frostlanders and Pilgrims, but factions will also change membership based on votes and other events in game — and if you pull too much in one direction and alienate a large group then you’ll need to make promises to them (or create a secret service to try and shut them down) in order to get laws passed.
Laws, and how your society adapts and evolves, remains the biggest element of Frostpunk 2; you can, if you’re delicate with things, pass laws that factions you are unpopular with support, while relying on the votes of the factions that are enamoured with you. Tiny tweaks, buffs and nerfs to your society structure and resource flow become collectively powerful, and while any one playthrough will only scratch the surface of the law system’s depth, it’s not felt anything short of responsive and impactful on each of my playthroughs. In fact, this legal and law system (and the width of it) makes this feel closer to an Engine Builder board game than any other game I’ve played — and I love Engine Builder games.
My first playthrough saw me focus with the Stalwarts as the tutorial — which takes place prior to the events of the main campaign and takes place at what will be your first future-outpost during it — presented it as a choice between Religion and a kind-of Meritocracy. I took the latter, which meant that the first act started off with the Stalwarts already in play. I followed that through and ultimately banished (encouraged) the Pilgrims away from New London after a spate of riots and secret-service-led restrictions against them. I almost stepped back towards Captain-level authoritarianism as an attempt to squash the fourth faction. Future playthroughs were very different, including one where I managed to please everybody and push towards a world where people can work alongside each other despite their differences… Once again, the law system is the real star of the show here.
After a couple of playthroughs Frostpunk 2‘s campaign starts feeling short and lacking though. But that’s where the ‘Utopia Builder’ comes in. That’s where you really get to mess around with the laws, free of chapter-structure. It also includes seven locations to start your city from, each of which have their own challenges and restrictions — which is great if you have started falling into a set mould.
Frostpunk 2 takes the baton from Frostpunk and starts running at full speed. It’s a success, and I was surprised at how far they managed to push it forward when the only real expectation had been more of the same.
Frostpunk 2 is launching on Steam, Epic Store, GOG, Xbox and PS5 later this year.
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