When you mention post-apocalyptic video games to most people, the likes of Fallout are what immediately comes to mind. RPGs with exploration, choices and mini-quests are plentiful in this regard, as is the survival genre it often ends up paired up with. Frostpunk seeks to take a new spin on things with a city-building and attempting to establish a new society in a world which is freezing over.
The most obvious strength of the game from the start stems from Frostpunk’s aesthetics. The contrast of the dark steampunk city with white wilderness never fails to look beautiful in its bleakness, and the artistic direction perfectly captures the industrial revolution designs which made the genre so visually engaging. Furthermore, it’s very clearly set up to be an uphill battle from the start. You are granted little more than a single generator and a few houses to begin with. Venturing forth to reclaim technology, new supplies and even building up a greater population is a perpetual risk.
The actual timetables of individual citizens are taken into account with the mechanics, with work, sleep and free time playing an essential part in keeping your city relatively stable. What’s more is that there’s no single purpose solution to many problems. The division between the infirmary and medical post is proof enough of this, but other general choices such as whether or not to utilise child labour prove to be far harder to make than you might expect.
The main problem is that Frostpunk lacks the longevity or depth of many of its contemporaries. The story itself is relatively brief, and once your city is self-sufficient there really is little else for you to do with it. Furthermore, narrative choices all too often serve as merely flavour text to the work. This isn’t true for all of them, but many such as an apparently branching societal path only offers different aesthetics to your city and nothing more. Even after this, there are only two scenarios, and that simply isn’t enough to offer any great deal of replay value.
Frostpunk never fully achieves what it strived to do, nor does it quite offer the satisfaction of a true city builder. While the aesthetic and strong core mechanics will keep players enthralled until the end, the lack of an endless mode, short campaign and the surprising shallowness of certain mechanics means it lacks the lasting appeal the genre is known for. As a result, if you are a dedicated Sim City fan or someone seeking a new take on post-apocalyptic survival this will scratch that itch, but you will likely be left wanting a more fulfilling experience by the end.
FROSTPUNK / DEVELOPER & PUBLISHER: 11 BIT STUDIOS / PLATFORM: PC / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
