Hands on with Frostpunk 2 – Deciding to Survive

11 Bit Studios has become reliable since initially jumping onto the scene with Anomaly: Warzone Earth. The outstanding This War of Mine gave them that broader appeal, followed four years later by Frostpunk. The excellent reception of Frostpunk, critically and commercially, with over three million copies sold, meant a sequel was inevitable. This brings us to Frostpunk 2, which will be released later this year and is currently in an open beta.

It felt compact in the original game, as excellent as a city-builder and decision-maker it was. That made sense; you were creating an ever-expanding circle around the generator, and even though you did venture outside of your city bounds, it was limited - understandably limited by the resources 11 Bit Studios had at the time. Frostpunk 2 is looking to expand on every front, and even the 300 weeks (a few times, I may add) hands-on the beta gives you makes this clear, and it's only a taster.

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You could look at Frostpunk 2 as the launchpad from the first game. Your core is up and running, and it's time to expand outwards. I can't be sure that this is New London, as the game I was playing had my city surrounded by mountains, but who's to say that this isn't New Fort William? For my kilt-wearing haggis friends. The mode is the free-form Utopia Builder, essentially a sandbox. On a basic level, it's not too dissimilar to the initial game - you're expanding against the frozen apocalypse, trying to maintain your resources and keep your people alive while maintaining the delicate balance of the needs of the people in your settlement. Only it's much bigger now.

Food, Shelter, Fuel, Materials and Goods. These are what you'll be managing in terms of resources. On top of this, you will be passing laws and researching tech on a much grander scale, which becomes the new focus in this sequel. The tech tree is massive, and the preview build barely scratches the