Frostpunk has a successor inFrostpunk 2, but does the sequel live up to expectations? The original Frostpunk hit things off perfectly in stride with an experience that was bitter, brutal, but fair. It was an unforgiving game that asked a lot of players, but because of that, it was an extremely satisfying and engrossing experience.
Frostpunk 2 keeps a very similar formula, and takes it further. Does this larger scale do the idea justice, or does it water down what was a very focused and intimate experience in the original game?
7The Art
Frostpunk 2
The first thing anyone notices about a game is the art; how does it look? Both Frostpunk’s have great art direction, but they each have a unique vision. They have the grimy, dark, steampunk-but-covered-in-snow thing going for it, but they accomplish it in different ways.
The second Frostpunk has more resources available to it, likely due to a bigger budget, but also because of the incremental technological improvements since the first one was released. Realism doesn’t necessarily equal better, but Frostpunk 2 is able to land its dark, nearly hopeless aesthetic with more gravitas, because the artwork in that game makes it feel so real.
6Scaled Up
Tie
With Frostpunk 2 being a sequel, it takes the reigns pretty directly from the original game and moves forward with it. Instead of being charged with starting this new city from the ground up, you’re charged with keeping the already established city going. With that comes quite a lot of differences, some that are superficial, and others that are drastically changed from the original.
The broad strokes of these changes mean that everything is scaled up, big time. Populations are massive, and you’re building huge amounts of buildings at a time; you’re leading a civilization, and not, more or less, just a colony. Your mileage will vary with that change, and something could be said for both approaches. This one is a tie.
5Intimacy
Frostpunk
When it comes to feeling familiar with the people you’re charged with shepherding into a new society, the original Frostpunk has a little bit of a leg up, simply because of the smaller populations that you’re dealing with. Starting with a population of 80 is very different than the much larger population of the second, and for that, you feel a little closer to the people.
That’s not to say you don’t get any inside look in the sequel; you still get glimpses into the lives of the people living in your city. Oftentimes, you learn something about them directly related to a decision that you made, giving a little extra weight to every choice. But the original Frostpunk has that intimate feeling all the way through, and comes out on top, in that regard.
4Society
The larger scale of Frostpunk 2 makes it feel a little bit more like being in charge of a society, containing many people with different opinions, all having to figure out how to live together in relative peace. Frostpunk 2 forces you to take sides here, and you need to constantly compromise, or else risk leading a certain faction of your people into an open rebellion.
This really works in Frostpunk 2, forcing you into making decisions, researching things, or building structures you might not otherwise, simply tocurb favor with one faction, or else simply appease another. Sometimes these factions get pitted against each other, and sometimes they’ll agree and strong-arm you into doing something you really don’t like.
Either way, it makes the whole city feel like a living thing. That’s not as much the case in the original, where you’re really just making decisions strategically, and not politically.
3Laws
Spinning out of this whole society and faction system is voting, usually on new laws that are going to affect everyone in the city. Every faction has its own interest, and that dramatically affects how your city is going to be run and how you manage your resources. It’s a new way of handling it compared to the original Frostpunk, and really changes your decision-making process.
This, again, is a fantastic addition to Frostpunk 2. Aside from researching or building things for factions, they directly influence legislation, too. You might really feel like passing a certain law or act is the best thing for your city, but you need to get the council to agree with you, in a vote. This often means promising things to them; sometimes even vowing topass another law, in a certain timeframe afterward.
In the original, you do make decisions in regards to laws, but they’re more down to your choices, and not made to appease anyone else.
2Functionality
While the scaling is very different, both Frostpunk’s UIs and gameplay have a similar job, but the second one definitely wins out. This is probably just because of the greater experience on the part of the developers; it’s impossible to go into a second iteration of a thing and not learn lessons from having done it the first time. The original Frostpunk did what it needed to do, but sometimes getting the information you needed was a bit clunky.
The UI and overall gameplay experience of Frostpunk 2 is clearer and easier to manage than the original. It’s easier to glean the information you’re looking for at a glance, and it’s easier to know where to navigate to find something that isn’t right there at the top of your screen. All in all, it’s a smoother experience.
1The Verdict
Overall, Frostpunk 2 improves upon many of the elements of the first, managing to make a sequel that continues the story and makes for a better game, all in one. It handles the larger scale with deft hands, managing to poise your city on the brink of disaster, without making for an experience where it feels like you’re on a runaway train to doomsday.
That being said, the original Frostpunk shouldn’t necessarily be skipped over. For someone coming in new to both games, they do both offer something a little bit distinct, despite overall landing in the same genre. It’s a little bit more intimate, and even though it’s a little rough around the edges, is absolutely worth your time.
