Brainfreeze in Frozen Synapse

No matter how many words I piece together to form some kind of primitive description of how Frozen Synapse plays, I can't do it justice. Often, you spend so much time trying to come up with the perfect movements; down to a tee, only to find that your opponent has picked just the right moves of his own to counter yours. It's tense. Any second, one of those red guys could pop round the corner and finish you. I played a ton of matches with my brother on all of the 'Dark' modes, which means all enemies are invisible until there is a clear line of sight. It captures the fear-factor of X-COM, in that you're desperately scanning your screen for any signs of an enemy.


I don't rate the singleplayer campaign as highly (from what I have played of it),  much in the same way that I don't play 'Light' mode. I feel like being able to see your opponents through walls diminishes the feeling of dread, and it removes one of the key layers of tactical play. However, I do like the style of the campaign and the Cyberpunk setting. You play as an A.I (or shape form) called 'Tactics', and you occupy a virtual reality called The Shape, which gives you your ability to oversee a simplified, un-textured version of the terrain and come up with the perfect set of moves. It's like playing as a program in the Matrix. At the start, another A.I called 'Charon's Palm' declares himself your enemy, and the first few missions kick off; introducing you to the city of Markov Geist, your pals in the splinter group Petrov's Shard, and the bad guys, called the Enyo-Nomad corporation. The campaign isn't heavy on plot, from what I've played. It just about works as glue to piece together all of the missions, giving an excuse for some of the tactical scenarios.

The maps are semi-randomly generated each time, so there's no Trial&Error here.

On the main menu screen, there's a list of the day's top players, the most 'liked' replays, and global leader boards. It's reassuring to have a game so unique fully supporting its competitive scene, no matter how limited it may be. The added bonus is that your replays are permanently stored on-server (as far as I'm aware), so there's a way to back-up your bragging rights, like winning a game of hostage rescue, where the hostages freed themselves (Sorry, Ben!).


The four game modes are:

• Charge: First, you place bets on how far you can get your guys across the map. The one who bet highest has to get their guys across that line to score. The further the bet, the higher the score that player gets.
• Extermination: This is my favourite, despite being a plain and simple death match mode. The player with the last man/men standing wins.
• Hostage: One player must defend the hostages with superior numbers. The rescuer must deploy, and then move in with fewer men and move the two hostages out of the 'safe zone' and to a designated edge of the map.
• Secure: This is the one I've played the least of, but it's a territory-control game mode. Gain control of the map without spreading yourself too thin.
• Disputed: Boxes are dropped in random places on the map. The two players have to retrieve them and get the carrier to the edge without losing him. Failing that, you could just kill each other. That works too.

"These need re-calibrating, don't you think?"

I'd suggest buying it with a friend. Considering it's buy-one-get-one-free on Steam even off the sales, it makes it a really cheap, rewarding mind-duel, that you'll keep coming back to.