Of course, Frostpunk 2's landscape is still incredibly harsh and death rates are high, but the people are not so much concerned with surviving the environment as much as they are surviving each other. In the absence of a totalitarian regime, players are now the Steward overseeing New London's construction, expansion, and legislation via the new Council Hall. Composed of these votes are various factions, from those who still see adaptation as the means of pushing this new frontier forward to others who look to ideals of order and/or technological revolution. Some factions are even more radical members of these communities, with some laws completely invalidating their beliefs. Game Rant spent roughly two hours with Frostpunk 2 at the 11 bit studios hands-on event hosted in Warsaw, Poland, and what's clear is how intense every decision made in the sequel truly is. Previous previews of Frostpunk 2 focused on its endless "Utopia builder" game mode, but this was a first look at its story.
The Prologue - A Lot to Learn
Frostpunk was by no means a simple game, with each of its systems being incredibly deep and long-reaching, and the same can be said of Frostpunk 2. The brief tutorial saw us outside the main city, introducing us to the core concepts of building districts, breaking ice, gathering resources, and all the hallmarks of the city-building game. What's clear is that, beyond the basics, Frostpunk 2 is not designed to hold anyone's hands. Perhaps the tutorial itself could be a bit more straightforward, as we instantly found ourselves inundated with activities and resources we needed to survive, goals we needed to accomplish, and the ever-forward marching turn of time that serves as our primary antagonist, but we managed to pick up enough to see it to its end.
We needed to find and gather materials to build, resources to keep our people warm, resources to keep our people fed, and try to wrap our heads around all the ways the gameplay management mechanics interact. The basics of Frostpunk 2 are as complicated, if not more so, than the first game—not only is there managing these resources, but it's not until we leave the prologue that we have to deal with currency generation, the demands of various factions, and the grander scale of Frostpunk 2. The beauty is the challenge packed into these gameplay elements. It takes time to learn and no one is going to get it right at first, even Frostpunk veterans. A lot of the mechanics are similar, but the scope is much bigger. Frostpunk 2 is not going to hold anyone's hands; instead, players are going to be tasked with building the future with their own hands.
There's also a nice little callback to the first game about midway through the prologue. Players will be introduced to a symbol from the first game, and what choice they make determines one of their first factions. This faction is based on the ideas of faith or order as established in the first game, letting players follow their own continuity if they so choose. After the prologue comes to an end, they are introduced to New London. From the moment chapter one begins, it's very clear how heavily it leans into its tagline. Frostpunk 2 says the "City Must Not Fall," but it's very clear that the city will fall multiple times before players are able to master its systems-rich gameplay. That may seem daunting to some, but it's also a valuable lesson inherent to the genre that ensures the game's apocalyptic vibe is not lost in outright easy gameplay.
Frostpunk 2 Focuses on the Future Right Out of the Gate
The story sees players immediately scaling up the city, building the Council Hall, expanding housing, and otherwise setting up what players need for the very basics of its gameplay. It's something players are expected to consistently work on, all while dealing with the other elements of the game. For example, there is fear in the city of diminishing coal resources, and it's up to the players to make the most out of the remaining coal while finding a new resource for the future. This means not only preserving the city in its current state, but also ensuring that what's left of the coal can last for the hundreds of weeks required to find a replacement. Without going too far into spoiler territory, it's worth noting that we took the steps necessary to find this resource but, for various reasons, had not yet begun using it during our time with the game.
While that is pushing the narrative forward, players still have plenty else going on. Frostpunk 2's focus on building a future, instead of securing a means of survival, means that everything is scaled up. Entire districts are erected, laws are voted upon, and players are not just building a city—they're building a society. They are given a functioning city from the onset of chapter one (since it would have still existed from the first game), complete with a few functioning districts, and must expand in practically every direction possible. This means an increasing need for resources that players must manage, while also seeking to accomplish various goals and appeasing those who live in the city. If dealing with factions, managing current resources, and looking for new ones isn't enough, part of the gameplay loop sees players sending expeditions out into the Frostlands. This uses manpower, just like any other element of the city, as well as a dedicated district. But players are then able to set up outposts (that must also be managed), accomplish tasks outside the city, and make important decisions beyond the walls of New London. It's very intense from the onset, and it'll be interesting and probably even more demanding as players make their way to the end of Frostpunk 2's story.
Faction Cold Wars
In Chapter One, we had about four factions to appease, but there was clearly space for more of these factions or, in some cases, for more radical branches of these factions to appear. Some of the factions we saw were New Londoners, Faithkeepers, and Frostlanders, but there's plenty more to contend with. At first, the whole process seemed relatively straightforward. Factions have a certain amount of Trust in the Steward, and the higher the Trust gauge, the better. If it were to drop too low, players get a timer to bring it up, lest the factions of the city depose the player. Trust can be built by investing in these factions, either monetarily, promoting their beliefs, through research, or letting them decide what the next agenda in the Council Hall will be, among other options. It's a dance of politics, one that seemed easy enough to learn. We'd pass laws, make promises, and try to balance out the factions.
One faction was insistent that we continue to adapt to the wasteland, another insisted we have a very strict and ordered society, and another was pushing for advancing technology. Whereas Frostpunk players ultimately made choices with no real contest, every choice players make in Frostpunk 2 is contested. If we passed a law in favor of one faction, the other would not be happy. We could grant their agendas elsewhere or invest in their research, but that in turn would make others unhappy. It's a very fine balance, and players will want to make sure they've walked this line closely. A dev reassured us it was possible to play favorites with one or two factions, but obviously, we couldn't experience that ourselves. And, before the end of the preview, we were deposed for being a terrible leader.
It's impossible to make everyone happy in real life, and we learned that the hard way in Frostpunk 2. While we thought we had carefully balanced decision-making among our factions, it quickly came crumbling down when we realized we didn't have the time to manage everything. Promises were accidentally broken, laws were repealed that had made other factions unhappy, and our Trust meter dropped like the weather in this wintry hellscape. It's possible to bring it back up within a certain limit, but we didn't realize how badly we messed up - even reloading a save from several, several weeks in the past couldn't wind back how badly we messed up. It's going to be a lot of fun, in the full game, managing these factions better, taking stronger stances, and learning to weave and to politic around these factions - as well as other Frostpunk 2 factions that will crop up.
Frostpunk 2's Challenging Gameplay Reflects Its Daunting Premise
That's also while expanding our city to keep our people warm, working, and fed, while expanding into the Frostlands to look for alternative resources, while managing our current resources, while keeping things like squalor down, while making decisions we believe are best for the future, and much, much more. The biggest antagonist of Frostpunk 2 is time, as the city is marching to the future one way or another, and players are going to realize that decisions they made weeks, months, or years prior can come back to haunt them. Whether players can lead it into the future, see it fall, or are left behind is all up to them.
Frostpunk 2 will test its players' resolve to see its story through to the end, reflecting the resolve that the Steward and the various New Londoners have in ensuring the future, and it is this challenge that will ultimately define the gameplay experience of Frostpunk 2.
