Frozen Synapse Prime

 PlayStation Vita
Metascore
84

Generally favorable reviews - based on 16 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
  1. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    Nov 16, 2014
    90
    A great solo experience; an extraordinary multiplayer one. [Dec 2014, p.95]
    All this publication's reviews
  2. Push Square
    Sep 30, 2014
    90
    Frozen Synapse Prime is a seriously addictive handheld title that’ll keep you coming back to tweak your plans for just one last sortie.
  3. Pocket Gamer UK
    Sep 30, 2014
    90
    A strategy game that can be enjoyed by strategy buffs and noobs alike. Practically essential for Vita owners.
  5. Gamestyle
    Sep 24, 2014
    90
    A wonderful strategic game that will test your logic and deduction skills to their fullest.
  6. Gaming Nexus
    Jan 8, 2015
    88
    It may take a few rounds to warm up to, but Frozen Synapse Prime proves to be one of the year's best turn-based strategy games.
  7. IGN
    Sep 30, 2014
    87
    Prime’s simultaneous turn structure makes for a tense experience that’s both intelligent and rewarding.
  8. 4P.de
    Oct 24, 2014
    85
    Intense tactics with a very unique pace.
  9. IGN Italia
    Oct 13, 2014
    85
    Frozen Synapse Prime is like a chess game: it's always up to you win or lose. This one of the finest strategic game on them market, and definitely a must have for PS Vita.
  10. Gaming Age
    Oct 6, 2014
    83
    In Frozen Synapse Prime, when you beat a level, it's because you figured out your own way from Point A to Point B — or, more accurately, because you figured out how to make all the moving pieces of your own little Rube Goldberg Machine of Death come together. What could be more satisfying than that?
  11. Playstation Official Magazine Australia
    Nov 28, 2014
    80
    Horribly frustrating to begin with, but more than worth it in the long run. [Christmas 2014, p78]
    All this publication's reviews
  12. DarkStation
    Nov 11, 2014
    80
    With only some minor hiccups in the execution, it’s a well thought out formula that produced a challenging yet fun game worth your time.
  13. NZGamer
    Oct 15, 2014
    80
    One of the most rewarding games I've played on the Vita.
  14. The Vita Lounge
    Sep 30, 2014
    80
    At times it can be extremely frustrating, especially early on whilst you adapt to what is needed to succeed and for the controls click, but when you do get your head around it the game becomes that much more enjoyable as you plot your paths around to victory.
  15. Everyeye.it
    Sep 30, 2014
    80
    New Contents and a revised look for a great tactical game. This new PsVita version blends classic and touch controls for a smooth and catchy experience.
  16. GameCritics
    Nov 2, 2014
    75
    While the multi never panned out for me and the campaign missions can sometimes be more frustrating than fun, there's something undeniably juicy about Frozen Synapse Prime.
  17. PlayStation Universe
    Oct 1, 2014
    70
    Frozen Synapse Prime marries classic turn-based action with thoughtful design like turn previews and asynchronous multiplayer. Graphics can be bland, and design frustrations wear at the experience, but it's a satisfying strategy romp made better with friends.

Awards & Rankings

5
#5 Best PS Vita Game of 2014
49
#49 Most Discussed PS Vita Game of 2014
26
#26 Most Shared PS Vita Game of 2014

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 38 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 38
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 38
  3. Negative: 11 out of 38
  1. Paskill
    Sep 23, 2014
    8
    Frozen Synapse Prime’s gameplay solely bases itself on committing to a plan and watching it fold out. You set up your troop’s movements,Frozen Synapse Prime’s gameplay solely bases itself on committing to a plan and watching it fold out. You set up your troop’s movements, actions or lack thereof and end your turn, also known as “Priming” your turn. The enemy AI/player then primes their turn and an outcome is shown. This is where you’ll see your troops kick ass and take names, or have their names taken, and you guessed it, their asses kicked. If you make a mistake it can cost you one or all of your guys. The difficulty of Frozen Synapse Prime is unforgiving but fair, however I did notice that enemy AI tends to follow the same pattern every retry. You can study these patterns post-mission as whether you lost or won, can view a replay or the game seamlessly, allowing yourself to find where you messed up or the enemy got the upper hand. While enemy patterns can be understood in missions where you are protecting an area or escorting a VIP, in a straight up kill all enemies in the area type-mission, it can feel a little less dynamic.

    While games like X-COM: Enemy Unknown simplify the concept of turn based combat to area of effects, cover dependency and dice rolls, Frozen Synapse Prime offers a wide variety of actions each soldier can do. You can queue up multiple pathways with different actions, such as making your guy sweep by every room for enemies as he runs through a hall. You can save a guy who was about to return fire at a sniper by telling him to ignore any enemies he sees, duck behind cover, wait for the sniper’s shot to miss and run to safety while the sniper takes the time he needs to line up the shot. It’s that level of control you can have over your soldiers that isn’t left to a dice roll like other turn based games that gives Frozen Synapse Prime its own feel of complete control over every situation.

    The game offers multiplayer and offline skirmish options that actually have a nice twist. To compare the infrastructure to another game, think the way mobile games offer the ability to come back to the game to take your turn. Frozen Synapse Prime has that feature, which is a thing I don’t think I’ve seen on the Vita before. It’s nice to be able to create a match, take your turn, and wait for an opponent to join and take their first one too. The game lets you know if you have any games waiting for your turn, allows you to find games, select quick match or just create a game and take your first turn in a randomly generated map with balanced squads of up to 4v4. When creating games, you can adjust things like map size, shape, whether or not enemy soldiers will have to be in line of sight of your soldiers to be visible to the player and turn limits. You can set how what soldiers your opponents will use, which hopefully everyone will be nice and mirror squads so everyone can be on the same page. With that in mind, each class is fairly balanced. Even putting a group of snipers up against a group of shotgunners will put both players at disadvantages.

    For aesthetics, Frozen Synapse Prime is a welcomed change in colour palette and visuals. The change from the dark, deep blue environments of Frozen Synapse on the PC to the stark white polished steel look of Frozen Synapse Prime is stunning, especially on a handheld. The framerate can get a little hitchy at times with things like explosions or panning across the map when multiple things are going on, but nothing that really draws from the experience. While the gameplay I’ve shot off of my camera might not do the game’s visuals justice, here are some screenshots I’ve taken, along with a gallery of screenshots I’ve included in the description of the video. The soundtrack to Frozen Synapse on the PC was stunning, and with the port to the Vita, Nervous_Testpilot’s work is still great to hear. I recommend picking up the soundtrack, whether in the bundle at a small discount or separately, there’s some seriously good stuff in there if you like anything electronic.

    Frozen Synapse Prime is a great example of how a remake is supposed to be done.    … Full Review »
  2. Mithaldu
    Jul 29, 2015
    0
    Complete fraud. The game is PBEM by nature, but has no method whatsoever of notifying you that your turn is up, without actually loading intoComplete fraud. The game is PBEM by nature, but has no method whatsoever of notifying you that your turn is up, without actually loading into the game. Multiplayer is dead. Additionally it also has serious performance issues even if you care to only play the single player. Just get the PC version. It is better in every way.… Full Review »
See all user reviews »