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Frozen Synapse is a simultaneous turn-based strategy game originally app eared on PC. On each turn, you give your units set of instructions for the next five seconds the enemy does likewise, and then things play out in real-time until the next turn.Stages are semi-randomized each time, but once the battle begins there are actually no random elements at all- engagements when troops meet play out according to a complex set of factors including weapon type, cover, range, readiness and direction faced at the moment of contact, and movement speed. You can plan things out in tremendous detail. Troops can walk with their weapon readied, run, crouch, crawl, be ordered to stop and engage or keep moving when the enemy is encountered, move in one direction while looking in another— and all this can be changed as much as you want at any point along the route. Of course, unlike a conventional turn-based game, the simultaneous turns mean you can’t know for sure what those factors will be once the shooting starts. There’s a neat feature where you can give orders to your troops and the enemies, and then run a simulation of what would happen in that circumstance to help you plan. This is tremendously valuable, though only as effective as your ability to anticipate the enemy. (It also has an interesting in-universe justification that ties into the story, which is cool.) The result is extremely involving, satisfying, and tense. There’s also a very cool cyberpunk-inspired setting and ongoing storyline that goes in some surprising directions, great atmosphere, and great music. The game’s Spartan graphics style actually helps in this regard, since your troops are genetically engineered combat “vatforms” linked to an artificial intelligence that controls them. It’s a cold, impersonal, dehumanizing scenario, seen through the “eyes” of a machine intelligence less human still. If you enjoy strategy, and especially if you like science fiction stories, check it out.
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