Post-apocalyptic worlds have long captured the imagination of human beings. Imagining a scenario where life as we know it is severely affected, whether by natural disasters or direct human actions, has always been a great source of inspiration for books, series and games. Frostpunkreleased in 2018, was one of several games that addressed this concept, bringing us a strategy game whose objective was to survive and preserve what was left of the human race after a great blizzard that devastated the society we know and kept the earth eternally in a state of freezing.
Six years later, 11 Bit Studios brings the long-awaited sequel to the game that was a critical and sales success, with the promise of further expanding the brutal experience of the original title. Will it Frostpunk 2 Does it manage to deliver a truly elevated experience compared to its predecessor? Or do all the additions end up making the game too convoluted? Find out in our analysis below!
Beyond New London
Frostpunk 2 is divided into two distinct modes: the campaign and the utopia builder. For those who played the previous campaign, the story will sound similar, as it takes place 30 years after the events of the first title, continuing the saga of New London. After the death of the former leader, you must take on the destiny of the last foundation of humanity, but this time the challenge will be much greater than before.
If in Frostpunk we were limited to small buildings around our generator, in this sequence the area to be explored and expanded is much larger, exchanging structures with specific functions for entire districts with different attributions. This makes what in the old game was our entire base, just the center of the city to be built in Frostpunk 2.
Districts replace the buildings from the original game.Source: 11 Bit Studios/Disclosure
While this may seem like a bit much responsibility for an already difficult game, the campaign is meant to gradually introduce the player to these, and other new, concepts and complexities added in the sequel. But make no mistake, despite having a more explanatory character than the sandbox mode, the campaign Frostpunk 2 It is difficult and often mistakes, especially on higher difficulties, can be fatal.
Overall, the story mode is an excellent experience and, even though the game's high complexity can often be overwhelming, it does a good job of teaching the concepts needed to unlock this new destroyed land. But its merit goes beyond its role as a tutorial, as the story presented is engaging and often deals with players' moral dilemmas (something that is also done in utopia mode but on a smaller scale) who will be forced to make dubious decisions in order to achieve success.
Random events can change the player's current strategySource: 11 Bit Studios/Disclosure
The only pertinent criticism here is its length, which is relatively short, something that took me around 7 hours. Although there are multiple endings and alternative paths based on the player's decisions, which encourages you to come back to it a few times, it is undeniable, even given its quality, that it ends up leaving you wanting more after finishing it.
A political animal
Aristotle already stated thousands of years ago: man is a political animal due to his inclination towards community life. This concept is something that permeates the entire experience of Frostpunkand it has become even more relevant in its aftermath. If in the past we had an obligation, in order to preserve our position as regent, to please the people of New London, now it is even more important.
One of the biggest and most relevant additions to the game is the new political and faction system. If the former regent held dictatorial power and was free to make decisions for the civilization, Frostpunk 2 All decisions are voted on in a democratic system, which in some ways mirrors the voting structure we see in real parliaments around the world. This parliament is made up of people divided into different factions, each with their own beliefs and political positions, which often come into direct conflict with each other.
Factions have their own ideologies and worldviewsSource: 11 Bit Studios/Disclosure
For example, we have political groups that believe that maintaining New London as the last bastion of humanity is the best way to ensure the future of civilization, while others believe that expansion into the frozen wasteland is the vital way to ensure survival. To manage all these interests and philosophies, Frostpunk 2 gives the player a range of tools to manipulate the city's politics, from promises of laws to specific scientific research, to more aggressive forms of control, such as arrests and sabotage. Knowing how to manage all the factions is vital to success in the game, whether in the campaign or in utopia mode, since, in addition to having power over the laws that the player must pass, each of these groups has the power to create chaos in the city, holding protests or actively destroying districts to express their discontent.
I can say that of all the additions compared to its predecessor, this is easily the most interesting and in my opinion brings more diversity to the game. Firstly, because the way you deal with each of the factions in the campaign is what is responsible for the unfolding of the story and the paths to follow, but also because in utopia mode, where the map and these groups can be generated randomly, the different combinations of factions can directly change your start of the game and the way you deal with challenges over time.
Exploring the frozen lands
Anyone who thinks that the size of New London or its new political groups are the only changes is mistaken. Frostpunk 2. Another addition that also greatly affects the way you play is the new exploration system for the frozen lands. If in the past these vast spaces destroyed by the cold served only as a way to acquire extra resources through specific explorations, now the entire system has been expanded, even allowing the construction of colonies.
Adding colonies greatly changes the dynamics and difficulty in Frostpunk 2Source: 11 Bit Studios/Disclosure
These colonies basically function as a simplified version of your base city, having the entire gameplay cycle (resources and district construction) similar to the capital, but with a simplified version of the faction system (which are unified into a single group, called colonizers). The main function of these colonies is to capture resources that are not available in your city, and you can transfer all types of materials and even population between them, allowing your capital and these extra bases to have the resources they need to survive. As the resources in Frostpunk are scarce, the exploration and construction of these colonies are fundamental to the survival of your people, so managing them is essential to success in the game.
It is worth it?
In addition to the excellent gameplay additions, it is worth noting that Frostpunk 2 It also elevates its predecessor in terms of gameplay and setting, although this is expected due to the migration to Unreal Engine 5. Overall, 11 Bit Studios does an excellent job with the new entry in the franchise, taking everything that brought it success six years ago and expanding it to new heights.
Of course Frostpunk 2 It's not perfect and has its flaws, such as the short campaign and some graphical stuttering issues when the cities get too big, in addition to being a brutal title in terms of difficulty and complexity, not being very inviting for those who prefer a more relaxing or story-driven experience. If you're a fan of the original, or are willing to face the complexity, what we have here is an excellent strategy title that delivers a deep experience that, in addition to being fun, also encourages you to think not only about plans and tactics, but also about moral and ethical aspects and how far we are willing to go to survive.
Nota Voxel: 90
Positive points (pros):
- Political system is complex and fun
- Very well structured campaign
- Much larger scale than its predecessor
- Subtitles in PT-BR
Negative points (cons):
- Short campaign
- Graphic Chokes
- Too much complexity for new players
A copy of Frostpunk 2 for PC was provided by the studio for the purpose of this review. The game will be released on September 20th on PC.
Russian TV channel RT is on the ban list released by Meta.Source: Getty Images/Reproduction 
