Frostpunk 2 \ Xbox Game Pass Version FP2 Gameplay
2Frostpunk 2 is a city-building survival video game developed and published by 11 Bit Studios. Set 30 years after the original game, Frostpunk 2 tasks players to take on the role of a leader in an alternate history early 20th century in order to build and manage a city during a catastrophic, worldwide volcanic winter that almost completely destroyed human civilization while making morally and politically controversial choices to ensure its survival. The game was released for macOS and Windows PC on September 20, 2024, with a planned release for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S later in 2025.
Gameplay
Like its predecessor, Frostpunk 2 is a city-building survival video game. Set in New London in 1916, 30 years after the "Great Storm" of the original game, the game explores the consequences of the advent of the petroleum industry and players assume the role of the city's new leader, "the Steward", who replaces the now-deceased "Captain" (the player character from the first game). The city is struggling with overpopulation, food and coal shortages, among other issues. Unlike the original game, Frostpunk 2 allows players to build a much larger city. Players can now construct districts instead of individual buildings. Each district serves a particular function, such as providing food, energy, or shelter. Specific buildings can be placed in each district to unlock additional functions. Each district, however, also costs players resources, and players need to plan the design of their cities before expanding.
As the city expands, the player will meet different factions which often have conflicting ideals. Players can access the Idea Tree to investigate new research options. The Idea Tree allows players to explore different ideas proposed by the game's various factions to solve a problem. Adopting a faction's idea may upset other factions and communities. Unlike the first game, the citizens of New London are more involved in the policy-process making. At the Council Hall, 100 members of the community, each representing a certain faction, will cast votes on laws proposed by the player. Players can choose to negotiate with different council members, and they need to reach a certain threshold before a new law can be passed - simple 51-vote majorities for most laws, and two-thirds for anything that may grant the Steward more power (such as the possibility of granting the Steward dictatorial authority, becoming the new Captain). Negotiation, however, requires players to make specific promises for the future, and not being able to uphold them may further upset a certain faction. Unlike the previous game, the gameplay is set on a timescale of weeks, rather than hours and days. As players progress in the game, radicals may grow within each faction, and players must work to counter their influence to avoid the city from descending into chaos.
In addition to the main story campaign, the game also features a sandbox mode named "Utopia Builder". It allows players to choose the starting communities and factions as well as the main objective which is to build a huge metropolis, create large colonies around the city or stockpile supplies in large quantites. The team added that the sandbox mode will have more replay value than the one found in the original game. An official mod tool named FrostKit will also be available at launch.
Plot
In 1886, New London survives the "Great Storm" that followed the collapse of the British Empire, prospering under the leadership of "the Captain". After 30 years of rule, the Captain is dying, New London is overcrowded, and the Generator - the coal-fired steam engine that has provided heat and power to the city - is running out of fuel. In the prologue mission, a band of wanderers settles in the remains of an oil-fired Dreadnought train and uses its furnace to make camp before a "Whiteout" storm. Afterward, they set out to find New London. By this time, the Captain has died, and his loyalists have named a new leader as Steward. The choices during the prologue determine the route that New London took in the first game's campaign, which then determines the Captain-loyal faction: either the Stalwarts (Order) or the Faithkeepers (Faith). The Steward's first task is to find an alternate source of fuel. Scout teams in the Frostlands find the old Dreadnought and its intact supplies of fuel, and New London begins to adapt the Generator either to use oil exclusively, or a mix of oil, coal and steam provided from external sources.