Release Date: 26/05/2011
Played On: Win
Available On: Droid / iOS / Lin / Mac / Win
Time Played: 23h 48m
Progress: Many multiplayer matches
Developer: Mode 7 Games
Publisher: Mode 7 Games
I haven't been feeling myself lately, as I've come down with a bad case of 'enjoying multiplayer' in many games. Honestly, I'm a little worried, as I haven't really enjoyed any multiplayer gaming since I played games like Counter-Strike, Team Fortress, and Quake III over dial-up internet. For some reason, over the last few years there have been a number of multiplayer games that managed to squeeze their way into my day.
Despite the unsettling nature of these developments, I think I know precisely why it's happened. The main reason I've avoided most online gaming since VOIP became a thing, is that I developed a strong aversion to children swearing at me through crackling microphones. For some reason, toxic players never really bothered me much when it was just in-game text chat, or maybe they were easier to ignore, but now when the foul-mouthed ten-year-old with their Justin Bieber blaring in the background decides to scream racial slurs in my ear, they're hard to avoid.
Meanwhile, I've never had a lot of friends who are into gaming as much as I am, which isn't a bad thing, but it limits the opportunities available for playing exclusively with friends. The ones that do play games either stick to their yearly instalment of FIFA, or they already have a close group they game with anyway. It's just the way the world works sometimes and I'm not complaining, just highlighting circumstances that have left me at the mercy of public lobbies and homophobic children.
a regular death match style game
In fact, it wasn't until the last few years when I was able to start branching out with individuals I've met in gaming communities online and try out some random games here and there. Most of the time it takes a little wrangling with schedules and time zone differences, but I consider myself fortunate enough to have taken part in a bunch of fun multiplayer gaming sessions with folks who want to enjoy themselves and not just abuse everyone within ear-shot. I'd like to say that it's the result of playing with actual adults, but I've been on CS servers where some middle-aged prick has spent the whole round swearing their head off and complaining about everything I did.
Maybe it's just a matter of building some kind of loose rapport with the people you play with before jumping into a game, as I've had the most fun with people I know a little bit already. A lot of the time it's been a casual acquaintance from the only gaming Discord server I frequent, but through playing games and having a few laughs, we've gotten to know each other well enough that I'd consider us to be gaming buddies. Over time I've ended up with a nice handful of gaming buddies from all over the world, so I've been experiencing some of the more enjoyable side of online gaming as a result.
Funnily enough, there are a heap of games out there that are a lot of fun when you're playing with friends. It might seem obvious to say, but for someone who never really got stuck into online gaming, I've missed out on some gems that I'm only now getting to play and understand. After all, it doesn't matter how much single-player Civilisation V you play, it really comes alive in multiplayer when the other nations are making human decisions based on emotional responses instead of coded AI functions.
Thus, as much as the joys of multiplayer gaming may be perfectly apparent to many of you out there, I feel it's relevant to understand that all of this is new to me. I'm baffled by how much fun can be had with friends who are sometimes on the other side of the world, playing the same game with little to no interruptions. It's no surprise that playing with friends is more fun than playing with random strangers, but I never knew quite how much fun it could be and how joyful a game could make me feel.
‘disputed’ game mode where boxes appear after a certain turn and points are awarded for picking them up and escaping
Which brings us to the game of the moment: Frozen Synapse. You may have heard of it, as this was a celebrated game in its time, despite having disappeared into relative obscurity over recent years. I suppose when there's a sequel and even an upgraded version of a game, the original can easily be forgotten. However, this is a game that continues to hold up and is still a lot of fun to play despite its age and obscurity.
The basic premise of Frozen Synapse is that each player controls a team of soldiers in a small arena as they battle against the other player's team over a number of highly strategic turns. Through careful decision making and precise tactical orders, each player attempts to outwit their opponent and gain the upper hand. It's a delicately executed game of cat and mouse that relies more on clever thinking than brute force, with the slightest mistake often leading to failure.
Each team starts with a handful of soldiers who each have their own abilities, such as the long-ranged sniper, short-ranged shotgun, and the devastating rocket launcher. The arena itself is a random collection of full and half-height walls that create rooms and cover to navigate and use to your advantage. It's possible to play matches where each player can see the location of the enemy soldiers, but we preferred playing with that option turned off. Instead, the only time we learned any information on where the enemy units were, was when we either had line of sight, or when they took a shot that revealed their location.
You can see all of this play out in the video replays I've used for this post instead of the normal screenshots. These replays are real-time playback of matches that we actually played, except all units are visible for the sake of it being a replay. While the actual game takes a lot of planning from one turn to the next, these videos are a good way to at least get an idea about what's going on from start to finish.
a ‘charge’ game where one player has to reach the highlighted line, as the other player tries to stop them
However, the largest difference between the replays and the actual game loop, is that every five seconds in the game is a single turn. These are played in a turn-based fashion, so the match only advances by 5 seconds at a time, as each player awaits their opponent's move before continuing. During each turn, players map out the actions of each of their units, telling them where to move, where to aim, whether to crouch or stand, and just about everything else that's possible throughout the match.
This is where the arena's cover becomes one of the most important aspects of the game, as your units are able to hide behind full cover, or crouch behind half-cover. With line-of-sight being essential to knowing where the enemy is located, hiding behind cover at the right time is essential to keeping your location a secret. Although, you'll never be able to eliminate the enemy if you hide in cover, so peeking around corners, or over half-cover is needed to turn the tide and get the jump on your opponent.
What's more, grenades can be thrown over half-cover to damage an area of effect, while rockets can be shot at walls to destroy them completely, along with anyone hiding on the other side. Using these tactics carefully and in the right places can leave the enemy with nowhere to hide, opening them up to your sniper and machine gun who are waiting for a glimpse of a tasty unit to shoot.
Additionally, each unit comes with various factors that influence the time it takes them to react when spotting an enemy, such as the time it takes them to aim and fire. If your unit is running through the map it will take longer to aim at an enemy, especially one who is already sitting behind cover waiting for you to enter their sights. Each unit has their own statistics and speed, but they are all influenced by their actions and surroundings. Hence why a unit sitting in wait will usually fire faster than the enemy sprinting and looking around frantically.
This leaves each turn of five seconds full of small decisions to be made, such as where the unit is going, what direction they're facing, and whether to ignore enemies they see in favour of covering more ground, or to stop and open fire. Making the best decisions for each situation makes all the difference and will often be the one factor that wins or loses a match. Then again, sometimes you just get lucky and throw a grenade in what seems to be an empty room, taking out two or three enemies who were hiding and unable to respond fast enough.
another ‘charge’ game
To really tie everything up with a nice bow, Frozen Synapse also comes with a bunch of different game modes that change your tactics and objective to keep the game interesting. Of course, the standard mode is a typical death match where you must kill the opposing team, but things get interesting when you're trying to capture a point, or advance a certain distance across the arena. These different modes go a long way to shifting your focus from offense to defence, or by forcing more aggressive strategies over cautious ones. I've made sure to include a few different modes in the videos with this post, so check them out for yourself.
Finally, the entire game's presentation is brilliantly realised with minimalist abstraction of its top-down arenas and units. There isn't anything on screen that doesn't need to be there, which allows the player to focus entirely on their decision making and strategising for each turn. However, there's enough visual information available at all times that you know it was your own fault when you make a mistake, or fail to notice the enemy unit shooting at you from the previous turn. Along with the bright colours and excellent ambient soundtrack, this game ends up making it a pleasure to concentrate on each move and spend time analysing every possible outcome of each and every decision.
There's something about playing a game like this against a real human opponent that could never be matched by AI enemies. I played a little bit of Frozen Synapse's single player campaign, which presents a number of challenging scenarios to overcome, but I ultimately got a little bored and stopped altogether. I suppose there isn't a lot of satisfaction to be found in out-smarting AI units, and it feels cheap when you get destroyed by an AI player. Knowing that the other side is being played by a person with just as many flaws as you really makes all the difference.
another death match - the mode is called ‘elimination’
Needless to say that my friends and I had a blast playing through a number of tournament brackets in Frozen Synapse and experiencing each different game mode available. This is the kind of game that I could dip in and out of on a regular basis, as it manages to feel completely accessible, while still offering a deep layer of tactical decision making. For a player like me who does better with my brain than my twitchy motor skills, this is just what the doctor ordered.
It might be old these days, but that just means you can usually pick it up cheap in a sale or a bundle every now and then. This is a fantastic game to play with friends and despite its single player campaign, it really wants to be played in multiplayer. If you have a group who are looking for something a little different that you might not have tried before, this is one title that needs a place in your library.