Frostpunk 2 review: A post-apocalyptic simulator that’s as beautiful as it is brutal

A
few
hours
into
my
first
campaign
in
city-building

survival
game

Frostpunk
2,
I
was
asked
whether
I
thought
parents
should
be
able
to
accompany
their
kids
into
quarantine.
A
mother
had
been
waiting
outside,
desperate
to
sit
with
their
unwell
child.
Relaxing
the
law
could
help
my
trust
with
the
locals;
however,
it
was
a
risk
nonetheless.
Ultimately,
I
thought
it
was
fair
to
let
them
in.
Within
moments
of
this
decision,
I
was
notified
the
mother
had
died
of
the
same
disease
with
a
second
popup
letting
me
hear
the
thoughts
of
their
bereaved
husband,
who
‘wasn’t
sure
how
they
could
manage
without
them.’

It
was
painful,
and
depressing,
a
fitting
ambiance
for
the
broader
context
of
the
world.
In

Frostpunk
2,
empathy
can
often
feel
inessential,
frequently
undermined
by
the
brutal
but
engaging
task
at
hand.
However,
despite
the
overwhelming
urge
to
check
that
feeling
at
the
door,
this
complex
and
moreish
city
builder
wants
you
to
learn
from
your
mistakes,
consider
the
alternatives,
and
often
fail
dramatically
anyway.
But
regardless
of
how
it
goes,
you’ll
never
be
left
without
a
story
to
tell.
 

For
those
unfamiliar
with
the
series,

Frostpunk
2
takes
place
thirty
years
after
the
original
game,
in
an
alternative
history
where
a
volcanic
winter
has
left
society
in
an
eternal
state
of
ice.
With
limited
technological
resources
and
a
city
of
vulnerable
souls,
your
job
is
to
steward
the
remaining
civilization
to
utopia
through
excavation
and
exploration
in
frosty
outer
wilds
–
simple,
right?
But
of
course,
no.
The
journey
is
naturally
plagued
with
problems
like
disease
and
trust
issues.
However,
if
you
brave
the
many
(many)
storms,
your
nurtured
society
can
thrive
and
live
on
in
this
eternal
freeze.

My
first
run
at

Frostpunk
2
was
a
chaotic
balancing
act
as
I
acquainted
myself
with
the
cohesive
medley
of
systems
needed
to
survive
in
the
icy
post-apocalypse.
Thankfully,
suppose
you
are
a
little
rusty
like
myself
or
a
newcomer
to
the
series.
In
that
case,
developer
11
Bit
Studios
softens
the
landing
with
variant
difficulty
settings
and
a
short
but
sweet
tutorial
that
wraps
up
the
basics
of
how
to
play.
Through
this
opening
act,
you’ll
learn
to
break
the
ice
(literally)
to
explore,
find,
and
excavate
your
resources
and
manage
your
society
through
laws
and
research
upgrades.
While
the
bulk
of

Frostpunk
2’s
mechanics
come
later
–
and
through
harsh
lessons
–
this
introductory
level
was
the
perfect
amuse-bouche
to
the
feast
that
is
the
rest
of
the
game.

Through
this
introduction,
you’ll
also
get
acquainted
with

Frostpunk
2’s
striking
visual
style,
which
makes
the
most
of
its
late-1800s-style
setting
with
burnt
orange
and
copper
mechanized
industrial
buildings
and
parchment
paper
script.
After
spending
hours
staring
into
the
quiet
blue-toned
abyss,
I
found
myself
leaning
towards
the
warmer
parts
of
my
screen
almost
instinctively
to
stay
snug
despite
the
26-degree
forecast
outside.
It’s
clear
that
considerable
care
has
been
taken
with
each
detail,
and
I
was
always
pleased
to
find
and
inspect
the
finer
notes,
like
the
graffiti
details
on
the
drawings
that
accompany
pop-up
choices
or
unique
features
on
character
designs.

Get
resources
or
die
trying
 

Frostpunk
2’s
story
mode
is
broken
into
sections
that
unlock
as
you
achieve
specific
parameters,
like
finding
alternate
fuel
sources,
to
keep
the
city
of
New
London
afloat.
Success
leads
to
another
goal,
and
failure,
well,
that
ends
in
exile.
Despite
my
best
efforts,
my
attention
span
was
constantly
drawn
away
from
my
pressing
larger
goals
by
the
more
minor
but
equally
urgent
issues
like
food
management
and
rising
crime
rates
due
to
youth
delinquency.
That
is,
in
essence,

Frostpunk
2’s
central
ethos,
though
–
holistically
managing
and
considering
your
ever-present
and
ever-changing
parameters
and
goals
that
come
with
the
cost
of
keeping
thousands
of
people
alive.

As
such,
there
is
no
easy
answer,
and
I’d
often
have
to
sacrifice
the
quality
of
life
of
my
workers
to
maintain
the
incoming
supply
of
goods
to
satisfy
the
consequent
demand.
It
was
often
a
rough
decision,
especially
when
my
mismanagement
got
them
here
in
the
first
place.
Soon
enough,
that
would
lead
to
societal
discord,
which
meant
appeasement
and
new
regulations
to
keep
them
on
side. 

Surprisingly,
with
such
harrowing
situations
and
heady
topics,
I
never
wanted
to
disengage
from
the
nightmare,
and
instead,
I
fell
deeper
into
the
systems,
hoping
to
tunnel
my
way
to
success.
Where
the
general
ambiance
kept
me
engaged,

Frostpunk
2’s
off-kilter
humor
also
worked
well
to
lighten
the
emotional
load.
Sarcastic
tannoys
and
schadenfreude-filled
situations
occur
often
enough
that
those
bitter
failures
don’t
feel
so
bad,
and
equally,
triumph
isn’t
to
be
celebrated
too
quickly
either. 

You
can
improve
your
citizens’
lives,
though,
and
that’s
through
innovation.
The
Idea
Tree
plays
a
significant
part
in
your
survival
throughout

Frostpunk
2,
and
you’ll
need
to
choose
avenues
to
research
at
a
cost
of
currency
and
time.
There
are
political
factions
to
consider
when
bettering
your
society,
too,
and
no
group
will
agree
wholeheartedly.
Still,
you
can
invest
in
projects
like
Asbestos
lining
to
help
keep
heating
costs
down…
if
you
dare.
 

It’s
not
the
end
of
the
world
 

Speaking
of
factions,
city
management
inevitably
includes
politics,
and
you’ll
have
to
manage
the
needs
of
these
various
groups
to
keep
things
running
smoothly.
This
is
done
through
the
lawmaking
process,
where
you
broker
deals
in
backrooms
with
certain
factions
to
get
enough
votes
on
your
side
to
get
laws
passed.
As
with
The
Idea
Tree,
not
all
factions
will
agree
on
the
best
course
forward,
and
it’s
your
job
to
decide
which
direction
will
do
the
least
harm. 

As
much
as
it
pained
me
to
do
so,
I
often
sided
with
religious
zealots
because
their
ideals
felt
a
little
less
harsh
than
the
other
factions
and
because
their
numbers,
thanks
to
my
tinkering,
remained
so
strong.
You
can
easily
negotiate
too
close
to
the
sun
here,
too,
though,
as
on
more
than
one
occasion,
I
made
too
many
promises
and
got
myself
stuck,
humbled,
and
unable
to
pass
any
meaningful
laws
without
compromising
my
vision.

An
ominous
soundtrack
accompanies
your
endeavors,
blending
the
world’s
ferocious
howling
winds
with
symphonic
sounds.
As
with
the
visual
flourishes,
the
score
feels
appropriately
solemn,
offering
fleeting
moments
of
optimism
through
its
clever
orchestration.
The
intricacy
of
the
music
speaks
to
the
detail
that
extends
across

Frostpunk
2’s
vast
pool
of
systems
that
I’m
barely
scratching
the
surface
on,
–
if
you
haven’t
yet
got
this
impression,
it’s
definitely
a
game
that
is
best
explored
for
yourself. 

Despite
having
so
much
fun
with

Frostpunk
2,
some
recurring
issues
with
inconsistent
frame
rates
did
rear
their
head,
muddling
my
otherwise
smooth
playthrough.
Thankfully,
due
to
the
game’s
slower
nature,
none
of
those
issues
directly
impacted
my
playthroughs
by
too
much,
and
I’m
optimistic
that
11
Bit
can
solve
said
issues
before
launch. 

Once
you’ve
tried
your
hand
at
the
main
story
aspects
of
the
game,
you
can
also
jump
over
to
the
Utopia
Builder
mode,
which
offers
a
more
sandbox
approach
to
the
gameplay,
allowing
you
to
pick
certain
parameters
of
a
playthrough
before
you
dive
in.
Equally
as
difficult
and
just
as
enjoyable,
this
mode
was
a
great
way
to
throw
caution
to
the
wind
and
test
out
some
of
my
theories
without
feeling
too
heartbroken
when
I’d
inevitably
fail.

Accessibility

In

Frostpunk
2,
you
can
access
the
settings
menu
from
the
main
title
page
as
well
as
in-game,
and
you
can
toggle
most
features
whilst
in-game
or
before
starting
a
session.
Here,
you
can
find
a
slider
to
toggle
the
UI
text
size,
as
well
as
an
option
to
slow
down
game
time
when
messages
appear
on
the
screen.
For
audio,
you
can
set
sliders
for
SFX
and
Music.
Plus,
if
you
have
a
specific
keyboard
setup,
you
can
rebind
the
keys
to
your
preference.
 Requested
more
here.

Should
I
play
Frostpunk
2?

Play
it
if…

Don’t
play
it
if…

How
I
reviewed
Frostpunk
2

I
played

Frostpunk
2
on
PC
in
both
the
Story
and
Utopia
Builder
Modes
for
around
25
hours.
During
this
time,
I
experimented
with
various
difficulty
options,
researched
different
skills
in
The
Idea
Tree,
and
supported
a
variety
of
the
factions
we
were
presented
with.

I
played

Frostpunk
2
on
an
AOC
27-inch
QHD
VA
144Hz

gaming
monitor
with
a

Logitech
MX
Master
3S
mouse
and
a

Logitech
G915
TKL
keyboard.
For
sound,
I
used
my
external
Creative
Pebble
V2

computer
speakers
and
my

Audio
Technica
ATH-MX50X
headphones,
which
were
plugged
into
a
Scarlett
2i2
interface.
My
gaming
PC
has
an

RTX
3080,
and
an

AMD
Ryzen
9
3950X.