Frozen Synapse Impressions

After self-financing the development of Determinance and releasing it online in 2007, Mode 7 Games is now ready to unveil its second project. Described by the developer as the "ultimate tactical game," Frozen Synapse is a 2D turn-based strategy game, where two players each lead a team of specialist soldiers to try to beat the other team. We got a chance to talk to Mode 7 about the game, as well as see it in action for the first time.

Frozen Synapse is a deceptively simple strategy game that's based on turn-based team play. At the beginning of each round, you are dealt a random selection of units--machine gunners, shotgunners, grenade launchers, snipers, and rocket launchers, among others. Shotgunners are faster than other units and good up close, while rocket launchers can blow through scenery to get to opponents. All of these units are placed onto a randomly generated map, and from there you have to try to outsmart your opponent by guessing what he's going to do next. There's a heavy emphasis on using cover, reading the terrain, and second-guessing your opponent--it's basically a top-down representation of those antiterrorist exercises from Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six series.

The visual style is minimalist but stylish, using bright colours and simple geometry. The resulting look is similar to the Metal Gear Solid VR missions, and this technical simplicity means that the game can be played on low-spec systems. The visuals also serve a tactical purpose, with light-blue areas denoting cover. This means that while the levels are completely different from one another, they are all instantly understandable from a tactical perspective. You can also save a map once it has been generated, so if you really like it, you can play it again, while videos of each match can be automatically uploaded to YouTube.

We got to see two of the four multiplayer game modes during our time with Mode 7 Games. Disputed is a game where you have to collect boxes to win, while in Hostage mode, the offensive team has to try to get two captured units to the exit under the watchful eye of the defenders. The opponents are invisible in this game mode, but you can set up ghosts to mark their last-known positions and then run tactics to try out possible outcomes. The developer is also working on developing a single-player mode ahead of release, and while it's not in the beta, it will include a campaign as well as skirmish and puzzle modes.

Right now in the beta, multiplayer matches can be over in a few turns or can go on for days. The luxury of the game is that it's turn-based, so you can play your go, head off into a different game, and wait for your opponent to do the same. Indeed, many of the players in the beta are juggling multiple games at a time. All of the moves are stored on the server, so you can log in from anywhere in the world as long as you have your key. It's a system that the developers say was inspired by the original X-Com, whereby players could take turns via e-mail.

The beta for Frozen Synapse launched last week and is available for anyone who preorders the game from Mode 7's Web site. Because there's an emphasis on two-player head-to-head play, each preorder comes with two copies of the game, something which should help it spread virally. The full game is set for release at the end of 2010 on the PC, although Mode 7 claims that it could slip to early 2011. Currently housed within Mode 7's office is a Mac version of the game, which will be released soon for people to test. As for console versions--it's something that the team would love to do but is not currently in the process of building. We'll be keeping an eye on the development of Frozen Synapse. For more from the developers, check out the April 22April 22 edition of the GameSpot UK Podcast.