Frostpunk review
By: Shane Siddall
Of the following, who do you save?
A mother of three
An orphaned boy who lost his parents to the frost
A valuable factory foreman that leads your industry
Do you prioritize the steel workers, the engineers, the coal miners, or the farmers? What’s more valuable: scarce resources or human life? Do you save as many as you can or do you buy the last city on earth more time?
In the frozen ruins of the old world, hope is scarcer than food, and the bad habits of what remains still has its roots in deep. When the people rise in power, will you demand their loyalty through blind faith or forced obedience? Will you use public penance and punishments or will you execute those who stand against you and make an example of the opposition? Will you be humanity's salvation or damnation?
In the story, this is the intro in this cold, dark world of Frostpunk:
“In the summer of 1886 the snowstorms began. Crops failed, people starved. Millions fled south. They met only destruction, famine, and death.
In the farthest reaches of the resource-rich north, the British Empire began construction of massive heat-radiating Generators, These grand engines would allow a chosen few to survive the frigid global winter, safe from the chaos of crumbling civilization.
They ran out of time.
An apocalyptic ice storm came from the south, devouring all in its path. People fled in panic. Some managed to cross the seas and reach the site of a Generator, only to find it frozen solid.
The Generator was designed to power a City capable of weathering the end of the world...
It falls to us to build it.” (Stokalski 1)
When the frost came, the world as humanity knew it ended, once thought immortal empires crumbled under the elements, the old world failed and the scars still run deep in this new unforgiving world, you lead a group of scattered survivors to the last operational generator on earth. Frostpunk takes place in a steampunk inspired frozen world, hence the name, both the books and the game are known for their horribly depressing nature, yet at the same time are applauded for their realistic decisions, in that every decision comes with a cost. Every choice that the player makes or the characters make in the books feel real in that the weight of every decision is known and felt. Every choice in this world costs either time or lives and it is up to you to decide what is more valuable, with a massive blizzard bearing down on the city that can get down to -150C no matter what choice you make, it never feels right. In both the game and the books, each decision you are forced to make will make you sick, and often not making a decision is far worse than choosing one of two evils. The stories themselves are about desperation and every snowflake that falls is a reminder of the frost that threatens to snuff out life itself. The stories and the game perfectly reflect that with every person that you meet having experienced such loss and hardship that it is amazing that hope survives at all.
Overall the books and the game are those of a masterwork, its story is unparalleled and artwork from the universe looks like Da Vinci himself made them. These books and games are not simply survival stories or a city builder game, it feels visceral and real, when reading the books it is not uncommon to feel conflicted about the choice the characters have made. The same can be said about the game where when you make a decision you might feel tinges of regret but you can’t change what has already been done. I would highly recommend these forms of media to anyone who appreciates a far deeper story that goes beyond the standard bounds of the survival genre. If I had to issue a rating to the books I would give it a perfect score of 10/10, for the games on the other hand I would give them a 9/10 for the reason of lack of replay-ability. But nonetheless these works of art are absolutely the best books I have ever read as-well as one of the best games that I have ever played.
For in this dark, cold age the only spark of humanities hope that lives on is in your hands, and whether you choose to smother or ignite it our future will weigh heavy on your shoulders. How far will you go to save the last city on earth?
