New Moral Dilemmas In A City On The Brink
Frostpunk 2: Breach of Trust is here and in it, players will find themselves in the shoes of the First Citizen of New Edinburgh. The Old Captain has been deposed and after years of managing to secure heat and food for the city through the use of geothermal energy, plate tectonics has finally caught up with the city.
The steam that was powering the generator and providing warmth to the citizens, is also the source of new tremors that threaten to destroy the city. On top of that, food is scarce and the relationship with the nearby city of Aurora is turbulent at best. As First Citizen, players must decide whether to work with or attempt to conquer Aurora as earthquakes and famine threaten the wellbeing of the citizens and city.
New Tremors Shake Up Frostpunk 2
There are two new mechanics that have been introduced to the Frostpunk 2 formula in Breach of Trust. The first are the tremors that threaten the city. Throughout the campaign, a countdown will remain prominently fixed in the top corner of the screen showing how many weeks remain before a tremor hits the city. This timer can be extended by reducing the city’s dependence on steam for heat. Shutting down the districts extracting steam will extend the timer and delay additional tremors, but it also forces the city to acquire its heat from somewhere else. Thankfully there are rich deposits of coal near the city which can be used.
But tremors aren’t the only threat. While coal and other supplies can still be found around New Edinburgh, food is in short supply. The few deposits of fertile land are nearly depleted, and the only other way to acquire food is via trade, or threat, to Aurora. During my playthrough, I pursued a diplomatic solution with Aurora, which means trade.
What Aurora needs most is coal. While they have active fisheries and a steady supply of food for themselves, heat is another matter entirely. By securing the coal mines at New Edinburgh, players will have a steady supply of materials to trade in exchange for food. Of course, using steam to heat New Edinburgh makes stockpiling coal easier, but it also increases the frequency of tremors. Walking this tightrope will be vital for players looking to pursue a diplomatic solution.
Every Decision Carries Weight
Regardless of what the First Citizen does though, tremors will occur. Each time tremors hit, they do damage to districts which puts them out of commission until repairs can be performed. On top of that, civilian lives are in danger and the only way to keep them safe is by constructing shelters throughout the city. Eventually new hub structures can be unlocked that help relieve the geothermal stresses. But they don’t stop them altogether.
The plot continues to develop with this as the foundation, but to avoid spoilers I won’t dive any deeper into the story of Breach of Trust.
Improved Stability Makes Returning Easier
Overall, the changes that Breach of Trust make to Frostpunk 2 are interesting and force players to take new approaches to gathering supplies. In all transparency, I had not played much Frostpunk 2 since it first released, mostly due to issues with stability, crashes, and what I suspected were memory leak problems.
Thankfully, those issues seemed to be resolved during my time with Breach of Trust. I did encounter the occasional hiccup with the menu freezing, but my overall experience with the game was vastly improved compared to when the base game launched. Unfortunately, the new mechanics introduced in Breach of Trust are currently limited to the DLC campaign, so players hoping to see the new mechanics in the Utopia mode are out of luck.
But the campaign is challenging and is bound to provide returning players several hours of challenging gameplay, where every decision is met with scrutiny by not only the citizens of New Edinburgh, but Aurora as well. And while I personally pursued a diplomatic solution, there is the option to pursue building a militia to forcibly acquire the food New Edinburgh needs for survival. Ultimately providing an entirely new set of moral dilemmas that you as First Citizen will need to overcome.
A Strong Frostpunk 2 Expansion
Ultimately, I expect that players who enjoyed the direction that Frostpunk 2 went with the base game, will also enjoy the experience that Breach of Trust offers. On the flip side, those who did not enjoy the changes introduced won’t be won over by the new mechanics that Breach of Trust introduces.
The challenges introduced will push new and returning players to constantly adapt as food is constantly in threat, while the most readily available source of heat threatens to literally tear the city apart. Frostpunk 2: Breach of Trust is an enjoyable experience that provides a satisfying-to-overcome challenge. There are some shortcomings, but it stands to provide hours of new content for players to enjoy.
Important Links
Frostpunk 2: Breach of Trust Adds A New City To Save – Or Lose – https://www.thexboxhub.com/frostpunk-2-breach-of-trust-adds-a-new-city-to-save-or-lose/
Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/frostpunk-2-breach-of-trust/9p0dx8f4kh78
