When a game asks if I allow data collection, I say no. When I say no, Frostpunk 2 closes. Literally unplayable.
Thank you GOG for bringing this game on the platform. I have been waiting for it for a while. Then I read the EULA. Well, I started reading the EULA. a few hundred words in I closed the game and uninstalled it. Unfortunate.
So I waited to buy the game until it got decent discounts, because that's usually when games are mostly bug-free. Kind of depressing that the people who pay the most are also the ones who get the nastiest bugs, but what can you do. Anyway, I go and start the game, roll a character that is kinda fine, I will probably regret it later but whatever, start the game, and save. Except nope. Saving the game is impossible. Literally. That is what the error says: saving the game is impossible. I'm sure at some point I wil be able to save the game. You know, when the devs decide I've earned it or something. I just don't care. I have other things to do with my time, I can't wait for you to decide that I have somehow earned the right to save my fucking game. So, congratulations, you get a MEH review and a MEH rating. Because you couldn't be bothered to implement a save function.
Let's start with the good. Crash. The graphics are really nice, Crash. The customization is decent. Crash. The variety of weapons and general items is interesting.. Crash Being able to craft your own stuff is a plus. Crash. Now the mediocre. Crash. The game system is... Poor: Crash: - I can't use weapons I collected off the bodies of felled enemies because why? Crash? My level isn't high enough? Crash? WTF does that even mean? Crash? - How can I stab a guy in the eye three times without him even noticing? This is JUST A GUY. He doesn't even have a fucking helmet! Crash! - The same exact item, at different levels, has wildly different stats. The same shirt can have 8 armor, or 100 armor, or more. Crash. The game is very clearly made for console, with keyboard and mouse a distant afterthought. Crash. The storyline is... Bleak. There is no good ending, and your choices matter little. Crash, Combat with friendlies is... No. Just no. Crash, And finally the terrible. Crash, The audio is... WTF? The NPCs sound like they are speaking into a cheap intercom. Crash. The 3d sound... Isn't. You cannot reliably use aural cues to determine the position of NPCs, or anything else really. Immersion definitely breaks often and hard there. Crash. And dulcis in fundo... Crash. Crash crash crash crash crash.
This isn't "how I single-handedly rebuilt civilization after the zombie apocalyse". If you are looking for that game, this is not it. The premise of the game is "this is how you died". The endgame is your death. This means that the game ends when you die, and you die when the game ends. The game delivers on this premise by providing you the means to survive, until the end of the game, which is when you die. Maybe you'll die of starvation, maybe you'll die of an infection, maybe you'll die mobbed by zombies. You won't die of old age, I can tell you that for nothing. The game delivers exactly what it promises, and, at some point in the future, it will deliver even more. Lather, rinse, repeat. "In development" doesn't mean "this game isn't done, please be patient as we make it". Not for this game, at least. For this game, it means "the game is pretty well done as it is, but we will keep adding stuff to it, because more stuff means more fun, and fun is fun". This game will never be finished. This is fine. The game is done*. Come back in ten years, and it will be done* better. Come back in 20, and it will be done* even better, assuming the devs don't catch the zombie plague or something. That is okay. A game doesn't need a "done" tag to be worth the price. This isn't a movie, or a book, where "not done" means that the end is missing or something. The only way this game could ever truly disappoint me is by, at some point, declaring "release" and putting a "done" tag on it just for the sake of selling more copies. As long as it stays "in development", I will call my purchase money well spent. Because it was money well spent.
First, the good news: the tutorial did not crash on me. Damning with faint praise? Well, read the other reviews. Now the bad news: the controls don't... Necessarily... Work consistently. Or at all. And of course there is no remapping keys. Because this is a console game. This is a disturbing trend in recent games, where devs just know better than users which keys their players want. Here's a hint: not everybodyo has the same keyboard; even more importantly, not everybody has the same HANDS. Here's hoping the anniversary edition will fix as many bugs as it promises, AND ADD A BLOODY KEY REBIND. One star because the game didn't crash on startup, one star because the concept is nice and the game has potential, and one star because I want to believe this will be fun to play... Eventually.
I didn't especially want to jump on the bandwagon, but the game really really wanted me to leave a review, so here it is. - If you don't care about single player, you can add an extra star. The game is a fine single-player experience, - If you only want to crush your little brother in MP... Then you better hope there's a matchmaking server ready and willing to let you play with him. Some other, older titles on GOG have the same issue, of course, but in this day and age I would expect better.
