Fray finally works now, but I couldnt test it yet. It also still seems like the servers might be a bit too strained. People get randomly kicked from the chat server.
A few immediate impressions after reading the tutorials though:
- While its turn based MP, there is a time element to it, since being the first to end a turn will give you a bonus for your characters
- 4 player deathmatch is the only available mode at the moment (7 kills to win). While there is a wide range of possible squad setups (maybe even equipment configurations), the basic gameplay options are rather limited.
- Absolutely no SP content. Not even training missions, which is bad form in my opinion. You can't even "try" things without a time constraint due to point 1.
- Tutorials are completely barebones and are not even close to explaining the game. Lots of missing sections. Clearly an afterthought that was just pushed in right before the launch.
- There is a very in depth upgrade system for each class, which in itself looks fun, but also greatly weighs down on new players who dont yet have upgrades. I couldnt try them yet, but it seems likely that new players will have a hard time getting into the game against levelled ones.
- The match making system is rather unsmart, since they tried to keep it as close to "usual" FPS matchmaking as possible without considering their own genre. FS gave you a quick option to invite every player who might want to play. Here players need to go into a server list, to check for and open up games, which greatly reduces the open games at a time.
- You need to stick to one game after you started it. Exiting will result in a loss, which means:
a) The advantage of turn based play is moot since you need to start and finish a match in one sitting, and
b) You can only ever have 1 game going, which also means there are way, way less matches available than in FS. I had 40 people on the server, which gave me 1 game to play if I was lucky. In FS 40 people on the server mean you can instantly play 10 games at the same time.
Except for graphics, the own squad setup and the 4 player deathmatch mode, Frozen Synapse wins in every regard. Going to post some actual gameplay impressions after I got to playing it, though, but I definitely do not like the vibe I am currently getting from this game.
